A lone body of an emaciated man laid sprawled out face up on the ground in a dark cobblestone corridor. The quiet sound of him breathing in and out mixed with the crackle from the torches broke the silence in the hallway. As the torchlight danced across his body, he squirmed like a child having a nightmare. Farther down the hallway in the darkness, an orb of pitch blackness floated down the corridor and into the light stopping only a short distance away from the man.
"WAKE UP!" (???)
"Fuck!" Startled the man eyes flew open and he stared up at a cobblestone ceiling as the light flickered across it. Pain shot thru his entire body as he tried to pull himself up into a sitting position only to fail and fall back. Laying there he closed his eyes and groaned with every twitch and jerk. "Am I dead?" he thought while observing his surroundings expecting to see the Devil himself appear from the darkness down the hall. Stomach growling and his throat parched, he rolled over and crawled to the wall dragging his legs behind him. Reaching the cold wall, he pulled himself up on his knees looking down the hallway again he noticed something shimmer as the light from a torch hit it. Sliding on his knees in the direction following it like a moth to a flame he finally reached what looked to be a large stone basin resting on the floor. Leaning against its raised rim, he gasped for air as the crawl across the floor had taken what little energy the man had.
The blue surface of the liquid reflected a dark silhouetted version of the man's head back at him as he drew closer to inspect the strange substance. Thirsting getting the better of him, he threw caution to the wind and almost fell into the basin as his mouth was filled with the strange fluid. The cough medicine like taste was cold and soothing, and the man drank copious amounts as he felt a soothing sensation across his entire body. His aches and pains seem to melt away as he pulled his face out. Cupping the liquid and bring it to him he took a few more slurps of it before using the fluid to wash the sweat from his face. Sitting back, he kicked his feet out and leaned back against the wall feeling rejuvenated and oddly satisfied. "Where am I," he thought looking around and then back down into the reflective surface of the liquid again. The man staring back at him had bags under his eyes, an unkempt month long beard, and a disheveled head of hair that looked like it had been thru a hurricane. "You sir, look like shit," he mumbled with a laugh leaning back again against the wall. "Your name is Nickolas Bowman, you are from Texas, you don't have a job," he rattled off the information working thru his memory before it hit him. "I jumped off that building," he mumbled as if remembering something or minor importance," I've got to be dead." Standing up as he stretched his arms out feeling like a new man as he tried to piece together things. "This can't be hell," he muttered to himself wishing there was a sign or person to welcome him. Looking left and right down the dark hallway he sighed and thought,"what now?" As if waiting for that cue, a screen appeared in front of his face blinding his eyes which had become accustomed to the dark hallway. Blinking a few times, he opened one eye and began to read the strange box before him.
If you're reading this Nickolas, then you didn't die from the initial transfer. Good Job! I'm hoping you will do a better job with this life than your past one. They've placed you in a pretty dangerous place. You're going to need to be smart and play it safe if you want to get out alive. I've gifted you with some 'special abilities' so please do try and stay alive. Good Luck.
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This game like notice message seemed only to ask more questions than give answers. "What were these 'special abilities' and who was watching," Nickolas thought reading over the message several times trying to find more information. He quickly looked to his left and right down the hallway both sides leading into the unknown. Returning his attention to the glowing blue screen in front of he tried thinking of a way to close it. "How do I close th-," Nickolas mumbles out as the screen shut instantly. "Well, that's one question answered," he sighed dejectedly. "Now options, I could stay here until I die from starvation or…" Nickolas trailed off as he stared down the hallway. "I could go down this dark and ominous hallway and get killed by something," he laughed walking over and pulling one of the torches out of its holder. "Decisions decisions, well standing here isn't going to give me any answers," he thought while slowly walking down the hallway into the unknown.
Ambling down the hall, Nickolas held the torch out lighting the hallway revealing what seemed to be an endless corridor. Walking along cautiously, he noticed three short slots running across the ceiling. Observing them, he saw it looked as if something could come thru them but they were too thin for anything larger than a hand. Looking down Nickolas spotted a few large square stones among the others with X marks scratched into the surface. Looking from the floor to the roof, he guessed it was a trap of some sort. Pressing himself against the wall, Nickolas carefully crossed the space trying not to step on the stones with markings across them. Reaching an area beyond the marked stones, he waved his torch back and forth to make sure no other surprised were laying in wait before using the back end of the torch to mark the wall as best Nickolas could. He turned to walk down the path leading away from the marked area only to be interrupted by an audible ding resonating in his ears. The same familiar blue window appeared from before with new words written across it.
Skill gained: Detection Level 1
Detection allows you to detect traps and enemies in your surrounding area.
"What does that even mean," Nickolas muttered as he walked forward. Closing the window, he moved deeper down the hallway hoping he wouldn't run into any more trouble. As the hall started to warm up and Nickolas thought he must be closing in on an exit. "What now," he thought hearing shuffling ahead of him. Nickolas peered forward as the sound of heavy breathing filled the hallway. He thought it might be a person that was injured or freaking out from the strange scenario that had been put in. "Hey, are you alright," Nickolas called out before stopping in his tracks as he heard shuffling and a large "thing" walked into the torchlight.
A bulls head appeared from the darkness with drool secreting from the beast's mouth like a rabid dog. The creature proceeded to take a few steps towards Nickolas and stand in the light of the torch towering over him like an adult before an infant. Its muscles strained against its skin with each breath as the beast stared back with rage-filled red eyes. Time stood still as Nickolas stared up at this giant "thing" in front of him unable to look away or run as his mind tried to process what was happening. The sound of metal across stone brought Nicklaus back to reality as the creature lifted up an ax large enough to split him in half and threw it over its shoulder. "Fuck this," Nickolas yelled as he threw his torch at the beast face and turned to run.