CHAPTER 1

I couldn’t tell how much time has passed before I started regaining my senses. First, there was touch. I could feel myself lying on cold concrete in an uncomfortable position. There was no pain. There was only the fogginess that still enveloped my faculties but as I lay there on the floor I could feel it slowly dissipate. Then there was smell. Putrid, strong scent flared my nostrils, scent whose source I could not pin down. It smelled of musk and moss after rain, it smelled of earth and the many worms that wiggled in it. Stringed through it all, was a faint smell of blood.

Was I still in my room? Did I hurt myself? The lack of pain led me to a negative answer. It was hard to explain the sensation that overwhelmed me in those moments. I could remember being in my room, playing the game, then in the next moment I was here, wherever this “here” was. The transition seemed all but instantaneous yet in some inexplicable way I felt as if an eternity has been placed in that single instant, as if I had lived out whole lifetimes, lifetimes whose contents I could not recall, fickle memories that escaped my waking mind, barely out of reach, like chasing a firefly in the night.

Then, there was sound. A drop, that was the first thing I heard, drops of…something, hitting the floor. Then there were voices, incoherent yelps and murmurs, feral howls produced by some animal, what sort of animal produced these sounds, I could not tell. The chorus of the beastly roaring went on for some time until a new voice chimed in.

[Passive skill “Tongue of the Kindred” has been activated.]

This voice seemed much closer, almost as if it was coming from inside my mind. I stood there as I listened to the animalistic howls slowly transform into words with meanings.

“Hungry…”

“Starved…”

“Feast…”

“Tasty…”

I heard a repetition of those words over and over again as the sounds inched closer and closer to me. I finally forced my eyes open. That simple act of opening my eyes had seemingly jolted all my dormant nerves awake, as I felt my hands clench into fists involuntarily. I was met with a tall ceiling, ridden with moss and age, the decrepit blocks were radiating with a weak glow, providing some light for the room. I turned my head to look around. There was no doubt about it; this was the same room, the same dungeon as the one in the game. I looked down at myself; I was wearing minimal armor, a half-rusted chainmail and a simple breastplate over it. I rocked my legs left to right to see if I had indeed been in control of the body that I had suddenly come to inhabit.

“Living…” I heard that low growl again, I had almost forgotten about the voices.

I looked around and was met with a horrid sight. I couldn’t tell how many of them there were exactly, but their number was not small, that much it was easy to deduce. It’s hard to describe these things when there was nothing in our world that I could compare them to. They moved on all fours, though their front legs seemed more like arms than legs. They had round bald heads that seemed as if they were covered in burn scars. Their eyes had a golden tint to them as they held their gaze chained to me. Mouths open, tongue lolling around, sharp fangs covered in blood. I was in disbelief, though the sheer shock of my circumstances overpowered the fear that I should have felt when faced with those things.

“Smell good…” another one added.

It was that very same shock that led me to write all of this off as a dream or a nightmare rather, although all my senses were in tune with what was transpiring before my eyes and in my mind a sudden clarity prevailed, I still refused to lend any credence to the situation that I was in. I tried slapping myself a couple of times with the hopes of waking up, but besides the slight sting across my cheek I achieved no further effects. I was still in doubt when one of the things lunged at me, its razor sharp claws glistening with a silver hue. I did not intend to move, usually in nightmares, when the worst thing happened that was the time when you woke up. I simply wanted to be done with this. Despite my decision, my feet instinctually moved by themselves; in an attempt to remove me from the reach of that foul thing. My feet had reacted a moment too late. I felt a searing pain in my left thigh as the claws of the creature grazed my skin.

Almost immediately afterwards I heard that voice again.

[You have been struck with an attack containing poison. If you get hit one more time you will be affected with a “Paralyzed” status.] The voice announced in a matter of fact manner.

When the next attack came I was ready and willing to act. I jumped out of the way before its attack made contact with me. They were slowly closing down around me, peaking out of the stone arches, cutting off all route of escape. I had to fight, that thought prevailed over all else. My eyes scanned the room for a weapon. There it was, near the place where I had woken up. A dagger, the very same one that the player character was using in that damned tutorial. It was all that game’s fault that I ended up here. It had to be.

Unauthorized duplication: this tale has been taken without consent. Report sightings.

I jumped again in the direction of the dagger, I was surprised by the lightness in my feet and how fast I was moving. I clutched the hilt of the dagger in my right hand as a sense of security washed over me. It felt like a waning ember had suddenly been light aflame. I slowly mapped out my surroundings, keeping watch of the creatures that came closer and closer with each second. I could face them now, I must.

[You are in possession of a weapon that can be imbued with the “Layer of the Abyss”. Do you wish to do so?]

The voice spoke to me again; it had the qualities of a female robotic tone.

Layer of the Abyss? What did that mean, some sort of unique skill? I did not have the luxury to meditate on it for too long, not when potential death was coming ever so closely with each wasted second.

“Yes.” I shouted, not knowing how else to respond to the voice.

[“Layer of the Abyss” activated!] The voice announced as I watched a dark layer envelop the edges of my dagger. I did not know what kind of effect this had but I prayed that it would work in my favor.

As the next creature tried its luck with me I side-stepped out of the way just enough to escape its claws as I raised my dagger in a swift motion. I felt the blade cut through its stomach, it did so with impressive ease, like cutting through paper. Blood and organs spilled out onto the floor as the beast crushed onto the ground.

[Prey identified] the voice came in [You have just slain a ghoul. Information on Ghouls obtained. Would you like to view it?]

“Yes,” I said with some dose of hesitation, “but make it quick, please?”

[Request a brief summary of the creature?]

“That would be great yes.”

Ghouls, I was familiar with ghouls based on different media such as tabletop games and videos games but I asked for the information in case these ghouls were any different from the ones I was already familiar with.

[Ghouls are a species of undead creatures. Mostly feast on human remains and can usually be found in graveyards and battlefields. Getting struck by a ghoul twice will result in “Paralysis” status. They have no notable powers and no notable weaknesses. As long as you slash them and chop them up nicely they will not present a problem. Usually hunt in packs.]

“Alright, thanks.” I said meekly as I dodged another attack and slashed yet another one of them.

That was all the information that I was already familiar with, which was a good thing. It meant that they can’t do anything that would take me by surprise.

Carried away in the frenzy of battle I jumped, spun dodged and slashed through the horde, almost as if we were engaged I some sort of dance. Except none of us was an exceptional dancer. Although I stood my ground against them, the struggle was by no means graceful. I stumbled and tripped and had one of the ghouls pry his claws in the direction of my face that was way too close for comfort on multiple occasions. The problem was that I was somehow unaware of my own abilities. I was stronger and faster than I had anticipated but I was not used to it. It was akin to having all the right tools right in front of you but not knowing what to exactly do with them.

The dance went on. I bested one ghoul after another like it was a piece of cake.

“Lives…”

“Die…”

I heard them screech.

I kicked one against the pillar as I stabbed the next one in the neck. I jumped over one of them and landed on another, with my dagger lodged into its back. I could see as their numbers slowly diminished.

When I had already gone through at least half of them I was greeted by that robotic voice again.

[Alert: This dungeon will collapse in 5 minutes.]

This time the voice was accompanied by a window that appeared in front of me, white background with black letters. The window was displaying a countdown, starting at 5 minutes. As soon as the alert appeared the dungeon began to shake as slight tremors that grew stronger with time ran through the ground.

“Wonderful, this is exactly what I needed right now.” I shrugged under my breath.

The ghouls would not give up and they did not seem to care that the dungeon was falling apart in the slightest. I had to make a quick work of them.

“Remove the countdown.” I ordered as the window faded into nothingness.

I began moving even faster than before, bouncing from one wall to the other, slashing the foul monsters that came at me one after another with such fervor. They were driven by hunger, it was one of the primary drives for all living things; it was the drive that oftentimes led us towards actions that ended with catastrophic consequences. I had no idea how to convey this to them but I wish they understood that coming after me was one of those actions.

I didn’t count how many I have slain in those passing minutes but if these crumbling walls had eyes they would tell you that the entire room was drenched in the blood of those things. Before I even realized it they had all been down, I have slashed through every single one of them. Thirty of them lay on the floor at the very least, probably more.

“How do I get out of here?” I asked, half to myself half to that voice. No reply came.

“Check the countdown.” I said.

The window appeared and the timer was just below the three minute mark.

That’s when I heard yet another growl. I looked around to see if I had forgotten to finish one of them but they all lay sprawled on the floor, unmoving. Then I sensed a movement from the shadows before my eyes even managed to register it. It was another one of those things, another ghoul, except this one looked slightly different and had a different aura surrounding him. He seemed more dangerous, more deadly and he smelled way, way worse.

[Enemy identified. Leader of the Ghoul pack has appeared. The leader stares at you with contempt.]