‘Please connect to the Wi-Fi before accessing the television network.’

“Wi-Fi? That’s right. I forgot all about the Wi-Fi.”

He went back out to grab his bag and withdrew the VR headset. It had gotten a bit wet and it was covered in water droplets but it was a high class piece of technology so it should be water resistant or waterproof. At least, he was hoping it was. Otherwise it might as well be a useless piece of scrap metal.

After drying it out a bit using one of the bathroom towels he placed it over his head. Now that he thought about it some more, he felt a bit silly. There were so many soldiers at the gathering, and they were from all over the cosmos. Even if they didn’t recognize him that was perfectly fine because the other soldiers were probably ignorant about the other soldiers identities too.

They were all strangers to each other and as he gathered, the General wasn’t from planet Almega either. So it should’ve been fine if he took off his helmet. But what’s done is done, he was safe and that’s all that mattered.

The helmet connected to the Wi-Fi and he felt his entire body go limp as he fell to the bed.

“What a strange feeling.” It felt like cold water had been drenched over him. It was similar to an outer body experience. It was like his soul was being pulled out of his body and thrown into another world. In fact it felt like his reincarnation all over again.

When he came to his senses, he was inside the body of a small child. But his hands weren’t real human hands, they were hooves but they were hands. They were hoof hands. His body was covered in fur and his legs were like those of a horse, but he stood straight and tall like a humanoid.  He felt his nose and there was a ring in it and on his head were two small horns.

“Minotaur… I’m a Minotaur. I don’t get to pick or customize my character? What the hell…”

As he inspected his characters body a giant thump was heard as a big Minotaur walked through the tent door.

“Get up boy, it’s time for your trial by fire.”

“My trial?”

The Minotaur puffed his nose in annoyance, then picked him up by the legs and threw him over his shoulder.

The tale has been illicitly lifted; should you spot it on Amazon, report the violation.

“Fresh meat.” He said and then threw Lucif over the gate.

He was tossed 5 meters into the air and then landed in a muddy pit. He stood up and looked around. All around him very various other Minotaur’s sitting on their seats cheering him on. There was also a large stack of young Minotaur corpses piled up on the side. Some of them had bites taken from them and others were in pieces. The majority of them were nothing but bone. It was incredibly realistic, even the rotten flesh smell was undeniable.

“Damn, they went through a lot of effort to create this game alright. Even the smell is so realistic.”

As he looked around, he realized where he was thrown now. He was in a colosseum and this was his trial by fire, a fight to the death.

“This kid looks frail and weak. He won’t stand a chance against the Myrmecoleon.” One of the elders mentioned to another.

“Don’t be so sure, the Myrmecoleon is a fierce beast for sure. The product of a Lion and a Gigantic Ant. It has the body of an ant and the head of a Lion. The Lion craves flesh whilst the ant can only digest grain, therefore it has an insatiable hunger that can’t be quenched. It eventual starves or explodes. How many has it eaten so far? It must be nearing its limit by now.”

The Minotaur elder nodded his head, “You are right, it is about that time. Look, he can’t even finish those other younglings. More than likely, its hard outer shell will burst and it will die soon. The real question is, can this calfling last that long? Luck is also a part of survival. Hahaha….” The two elder Minotaur’s started to laugh and cheer as they placed their bets.

The Myrmecoleon charged at Lucif, its giant teeth were like sharp spikes aiming to bite his head off in one fell swoop. But who said it would be that easy?

Lucif jumped to the side and slid across the mud. ‘Damn, what is that thing?’

Lucif dived to the side again as it bit into thin air.

‘It’s hideous and its proportions are totally out of whack. I want to complain to the game designers!’

‘Did you create this game just to traumatize me?’

‘Did you have to stain my eyes with such an ugly creature?’

“Roar!” It’s voice screeched out as Lucif ran and ducked for cover once again.

‘And what’s with this plot? Why was I thrown into a game without a backstory? I want a refund!’

He jumped again and continued to complain. Even though he stole the helmet, he was the type of person to demand a refund for faulty equipment even if he had stolen it.

But his complainful nature wasn’t something that was innate to him; it was something that he had developed over the years as a form of stress relief. By complaining he was venting and after he was finished venting he would feel better.

When he had to deal with incompetent people that caused problems for his Mafia and fix their mistakes, it offered the much needed stress release he needed. He loved berrating people and complaining!

But his complaining seemed to have triggered the Myrmecoleon as it started to rashly attack him endlessly. Its flurry of attacks seemed to grow faster and faster with each passing moment.

‘Its moves are still quite slow but it seems to be warming up. I better finish this quick, I don’t know what will happen if I let this drag on.’