"Welcome Host to the Dark Web System."

"Help me, please!" Dean was experiencing too much pain to fully comprehend or care what the voice was saying. All he knew was that this voice may very well be his last chance at salvation from the horrible situation he was in.

Inhaling another deep breath to scream for help again. He realized with a start that he could once again breathe deeply like this and the pain from being eaten alive was nonexistent. Moreover, hadn't he just spoken actual words instead of making those Grudge-like croaking sounds?

'Hmm, what's going on? Why has my physical condition improved so drastically? Even if that wretched fellow was scared off by the voice from before I should still be hurt with chunks of meat missing from my leg.'

'Why then, do I feel as if I've slept a full 10 hours after drinking a glass of warm milk before bed?'

Glancing down at his left leg with confusion, Dean realized that his leg was completely intact. The skin on his leg seemed smoother than it'd ever been and seemingly possessed a glow as if he'd fatefully followed a skincare regiment his entire life.

'Wait, it doesn't just seem as if it's glowing, it is glowing!' Looking around some more, Dean realized with horror that his entire body now possessed an inhuman soft glow that barely illuminated his surroundings.

'Calm down. With all of the pollution these days, when that fellow dragged me in here he probably rolled me in something that caused my body to glow like this. For now, I'll just leave this place.'

Taking large gulps of air to calm himself down, Dean decided to address this matter later after he left the dumpster and flagged down the owner of that voice from earlier.

Getting up from the sitting position he'd been in before Dean, was only able to take one step before his entire lower half phased through the surface beneath him.

Wondering how he was able to suddenly sink waist-deep in a dumpster, Dean looked down only to be greeted with the sight of his waist extending from his favorite Eagles hoody.

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Dumbfounded by this discovery, Dean allowed his gaze to wander down the hoody to rest upon a mutilated bloodied leg that only had bits and pieces of flesh below the knee.

"P-please don't tell me." With this pleading cry to himself, Dean woodenly turned his head to stare at a face distorted with fear and pain. With dried-up snot and tears caking this face, one would ordinarily be unable to look without feeling sick to their stomach. However, when Dean saw this gruesome sight he only had one thought on his mind as he slowly processed the scene before him.

'That's me right?'

*********************

15 minutes later.

Dean was still staring mouth agape at what he knew to be himself.

"Host, the system can explain your current situation."

Taking this time to make its presence known once again, the system as it called itself began speaking.

"Host, welcome to the Dark Web System. As you may have noticed your mortal body has been murdered by the individual across from you."

"Luckily, the host met all of the parameters which allowed for the system to take the appropriate measures to ensure the host's survival. Albeit in an alternate form of existence."

"Alternate form of existence?" Dean chuckled darkly as he responded to this statement, "What kind of existence can I lead without a body?"

"Host, do not despair with the system's help you can experience a world unknown to most individuals. Allow the system to extol the many benefits-"

"Benefits?", Dean finally lost himself to anger as he lashed out, "F*ck your benefits! How can I care about your measly benefits when I'm looking at my own dead body over there? Will your benefits bring me back to life? AHHH!"

Dean felt like he was about to go crazy.

It was another 10 minutes before Dean grew weary of screaming incoherently. Once again seeing a chance to explain itself the system interjected.

"Host, you may have died but through the system and hard work on your part, the host may experience what this world refers to as level-ups and eventually evolutions."

"System or whatever you are, I don't care about anything you're saying at this point. I just want to live. If you're so amazing can you do that for me? Can you make it so I can have my body back?" Dean quietly asked these questions as he gazed at his dead body,

"Host, bringing you back to life is impossible. While there are ways in this world to reanimate corpses, the system has no way to truly bring you back to life."

When Dean heard this, he lowered his gaze as his eyes lost their last bit of focus.

"However, the system has ways to improve the host's current situation..."

The system's words were wasted because if anyone had seen Dean at this point they would have been startled at how dead his eyes looked. It was as if the words spoken by the system were not spoken to Dean, but rather a dead fish that had been left ashore for 3 days.

Seemingly aware that its words were falling on deaf ears, the system decided to save the technical matters for later as it spoke a sentence that it hoped would garner its host interest.

"Didn't the host swear to get rid of evil scum that sacrifices others to satisfy their desires?"

Hearing this, the deadpan expression in Dean's eyes somewhat faded as the words of the system punctured through the haze he'd fallen into.

"Didn't the host hear its murderer mention a chat group that caters to individuals like himself who possess sick and twisted fetishes shunned by society?"

"If the host is interested, the system has a method to access this chat group and assist the host in ridding the world of these individuals."

At these words, the last remnants of the deadpan expression in Dean's eyes receded only to be replaced by a terrifying resolve as he responded, "Tell me more."