The man found himself in pitch-black darkness, a plane consists only of nothingness as he looks around and finds a pale man wearing a purple cloth and a menacing cow's skull on his head, sitting on a throne made of bones of various kinds of creatures, reading what seems to be old paper.
"_________. 30-year-old man. Unmarried. Good deeds in life. No crimes committed. Cause of death: Lethal food poisoning... it seems like you lived quite a miserable life, mortal." The pale man speaks with pity in his voice.
"...!" The man cannot speak at all in the pale man's presence, no matter how hard he tried to let out a voice, it cannot come out.
"You have only a few happiness in your life, overshadowed by your life like a worker ant, doing others bidding even against your own will... truly pitiful." the pale man scoffs as he turns his sights from the paper he's holding to the man before him with his deadpan stare through the holes of the cow's skull.
The man can only shiver, his legs shaking and on the verge of collapsing.
"... how about this. I'll give you a chance, and a choice. Either I put you in your deserving rest in the underworld for eternity, or I recreate this 'videogame' world in which you have the fondest and happiest memory of, and put you in it. Now, speak."
The man's throat is lifted from whatever is blocking his voice after the pale man commanded him to speak.
"W- where am I?! And who are you..?" The man asks in a panic.
"Hmph. I guess mortals have forgotten of our existence..." The pale man then stood from his throne and spawns a staff and held in in his hands. "I am Hades. The one who rules the underworld. You, mortal, are currently in your after-death trial."
"Wha?!"
H- Hades?! 'The' Hades??? I- I can't believe it... I thought he's only a myth...
"I'm very well not a myth, you fool. Now, pick your choice. I don't have much time in dealing with you."
He can read my mind?! W- well... the choices he gave me... I think...
"O- okay... then, I'll..."
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"Agh!" I yelped in pain as the vision comes to an end and I came back to my senses.
The pale man then removes his cold hand from my cheeks and his eyes no longer shine red.
"Now you remember." The pale man then disappears right in front of me and reappears on his throne, sitting in a disinterested manner. "I will not repeat this again. Are you content with your choice?"
I... I remember... I was trying to play the game that I brought from the train back on earth and I... died... then why can't I remember my name? From the vision he showed me, Hades gave me a choice and I chose the latter.
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"I... I think I'm content... but why am I a zombie..? and my powers..."
"I gave you the physical feature that perfectly suits you. You should be grateful that I even gave you your powers, fool. And as for your past name, it doesn't matter now. You are now known as 'Zombie King' in the world that I put you in. Am I to be understood?"
"I- I guess..."
"Then my check-up on you is done. I'll converse with you again sometime in the future. Now, begone." Hades snaps his fingers and my sights suddenly turned dark.
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I opened my eyes again and I saw a beautiful, orange-painted sky and there are trees and bushes surrounding me. I looked around and saw the slope that I slid to that made me crash against the ground and made me lose consciousness.
Ugh... I can't feel any physical pain, but I can still suffer mental pains... my head hurts.
I looked all over my body and I noticed that my right arm is all twisted and bends in the wrong direction. Some minor bone adjustment fixed my twisted arm without any pain at all. I looked at the distinct, dark-colored leaves of the trees and looked at the darker grasses, and I realized that I know this forest.
Isn't this forest a part of DynaFantasy..? no, I'm not crazy, I know the colors and lushness of this part of the forest too well and I think it is really is the Richlinet Woods, but the deeper part of it, not that far-away from the starting point of the game. The fact that Hades himself said that he created this world based on my happy memory of playing the game enforced my thinking.
"Ghaaaa..." A ghastly wail was heard near me, I immediately looked at the wail and I saw Clyde standing near me, brandishing his sword smeared with blood, his arms are severely damaged and I see vicious bite marks on it.
Clyde? Oh, yeah! Why the hell did he not protect me when those three humans chased me through the forest trying to kill me?! W- wait... blood on his sword..? the blood looks fresh as well... dripping... looks delicious... n- no! D- did he...
I commanded Clyde to show me what he killed with his bloodied sword. Clyde then starts to slowly walk in a direction not too far away from me as I followed him. I smelled a delicious scent in the air as Clyde stopped walking and points me towards a dead, grey-furred wolf that got slashed in its stomach and its guts are spilling out a bit, making the delicious smell of fresh blood even more intense as I began to unconsciously drool and grit my teeth.
This scent... blood... eat..? ... no... NO! Come on, me, you're better than a beast that eats animals like this raw... but wait... this wolf... I think this is a Greystride Wolf, an average of 20-23 leveled monsters in the game and it's commonly found in..! ... so I was right... this is the deeper part of Richlinet Woods... oh no... this is bad.
The deeper part of the Richlinet forest is home to dangerous monsters around Level 20-60. This part of the forest is a death wish if you enter it. Not only that, even if you manage to kill the monsters, there's always a forest guardian that comes after you and OHKO whoever trespasses this part of the forest, practically impossible to defeat regardless of what types of strategies you use. The only solution for it is to offer the forest guardian with an item obtained from a side quest pretty late in the game, which leads to the player able to access a hidden item in the forest, a powerful one at that.
Crap, we need to get out of this forest ASAP... but, this wolf... it'd be irresponsible to not do anything to the wolf after Clyde killed it... so...
I ordered Clyde to sheathe his sword and bring the dead wolf and follow me. He immediately sheathes his blood-smeared sword and puts the dead wolf over his shoulder with no problems whatsoever. Given that I know the routes of this forest, I immediately ran as fast as I can towards the quickest route out and we managed to get out of the deep part of the forest and to the safer and low leveled part of the Richlinet Woods before the guardian come after us.
Phew... that was exhilarating... is what I'd say if I can feel any emotion at all... but now... I'm feeling a little bit agitated... I'm... hungry... and I seem to lose control when I'm hungry... I'm afraid that I'll kill another human if this does not get taken care of...
I looked at the wolf that Clyde is carrying on his shoulder with its fresh blood dripping down Clyde's light armor.
What should I do with the wolf?