When the door opened before me, an overwhelming sense of unease invaded my senses. "Don't come in," a voice inside me urged, "Danger." Every instinct was screaming at me to back away. "Interesting," whispered the voice behind the camera, "hehehe, one that has intelligence." The door burst open and the rat the other hooded priests called Plaguecaller appeared before me.
Its face, similar to that of other rats I had seen, rose a few centimeters from mine. He looked at me with the same indifference one might show to an ant displaying unexpected intelligence, as if curious that a mere slave could exhibit something beyond basic instincts.
"Hmm... looks like this might be more than just a success," he muttered out loud, as if he didn't expect me to understand his words. His assumption was correct; I had no idea what he meant. However, I found myself walking towards a wooden board adorned with strange symbols, reminiscent of the carvings there in the "church", if you can call it that.
"Go to the stretcher, I don't have all the time in the world," he ordered, throwing a menacing look in my direction. Without hesitation, I obeyed. I didn't want to waste my life so abruptly. Even if the experiment proved fatal, there was at least a glimmer of hope for survival. I settled as best I could on the uncomfortable wooden stretcher, while the figure, presumably some kind of high-ranking official, returned to a table adorned with test tubes and peculiar symbols carved into stones.
"Let's see..., yes, he has black eyes, so he could use Vorthul's shadow magic...", whispers were heard coming from the rat. He was probably here for some kind of experiment. Shit. Vorthul. Could it be the statue of that thing above? Terrible thoughts and conjectures ran through my mind faster and faster. You wouldn't inject me or make me drink that stuff, would you?
Haaa, whatever God wants, although from what I see, in this world it is possible that there are multiple of Them.
"Mmm?, oooh, you're smarter than I thought, hehehe, interesting, I'll give you a small gift, if you survive of course, hehehe."
Bastard, it seems like compassion doesn't exist in this race. While I was internally cursing the rat that had just spoken to me, it prepared to pour the liquid into the different tablets filled with runes. Meanwhile, I remained completely absorbed. The tablets began to light up in absolute darkness, creating a wonderful contrast. How could such a dark color stand out so much?
"HAHAHAHA, incredible, isn't it? Behold, little vermin, this is the power of the one who creates the plague, of the one who devours the world, Vorthul, HAHAHA"
As he laughed, the tablets seemed to come to life, the dark colors shining with an intensity that seemed to devour everything, like a black hole with infinite hunger, like a primitive being that awakens after millennia of slumber, with a voracious appetite. "What kind of power is this and why do I feel it calling me?"
"HAHAHAHA, yes, perfect, it's a success, now little thing, meet with Him, and pass His test, and if you can..."
"Hmm? It seems he has already called you, hehehe, so impatient, my lord. I'll wait then."
"Ughhh, my head is killing me." When I quickly regained consciousness, I noticed that I was no longer on that crazy shaman's wooden board.
"But...where am I?"
"It seems you've woken up," a voice rang out, its tones harmonizing in an eerie chorus.
"Hahaha, interesting, a soul not commonly found in the bodies of my children," the voice commented, getting closer, its words sending shivers down my spine.
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"How is this possible...?" I started, but before I could finish my thought, the voice interrupted me. "No need to lie to me, hehehe, I can hear your thoughts," he chuckled. Suddenly, a huge beast materialized before me. It was indeed a rat, but unlike any he had seen before.
Huge is the word that comes closest to describing it. Before me stands a beast hundreds of meters long, similar to a rat, but with six horns adorning its head. Two long horns protrude from the top, each tens of meters long. On the sides there are two horns reminiscent of those of a ram, while two "small" horns protrude from its forehead, each the size of a car.
What perplexes me the most are the numerous symbols adorning the six horns, each with three colors: red, black and green, which match the eyes of the rats I have seen before.
The body was as huge as the head, black like I had never seen before. In the end, the body seemed to deform into what seemed like an infinite shadow, lacking hind legs, resembling a ghost. Its front legs ended similarly to mine, but with huge green claws. However, the most terrifying thing was his eyes. The sclera was black, like a starless night, the iris red like a cloud stained with blood, and the pupil green, similar to the deadliest poisons.
Only one word came to mind as I stared in shock at the colossal creature: Vorthul.
"Where... where am I? And why did You bring me to this world?" I asked, the questions gnawing at me from within. Instantly, I regretted voicing them. "Idiot, why would you ask God why an ant has been reincarnated in the body of another ant?" I scolded myself, praying that He would not grow angry.
He simply stared at me, as if He found something interesting, but after a while, He simply lost interest.
"Hahahaha, your situation is simply the result of bad luck," stupid, yes, that's the word to describe how I feel now.
I thought... "Did you think you were special? In this world, not even I am special." And with that terrible truth, He was disappearing little by little. Yes, of course, it was going to be like that. No one in the world is special, not even a God. But for some reason, I don't feel disappointed. "Not even Him, is special..."
"Pfff...hahaha, if He's not even special, then wouldn't that make all of this more interesting?",
With that thought in mind, my heart raced. Yes, there are no laws, no ties. I'm weak, perhaps the weakest, but there's always time to grow stronger. Survival comes first.
Now, let's see what this test the shaman mentioned is all about.
With a renewed spirit, I prepared to take my first step, but for some reason, the dark world to which I was summoned began to slowly distort.
"What is...?" Before I could wonder what was happening, everything became blurry and dark.
After a moment of what I assumed was unconsciousness, I managed to slowly open my eyes. "What the hell happened?" After managing to focus my vision, I was greeted by a scene that I thought I would never see again. My computer was on, the room illuminated only by its soft glow. An old habit I had for when night fell, but why? I was meeting a God a moment ago, and now I was here again. Maybe... had it all been a dream?
But why had it been so vivid? It didn't feel like a dream; it was too real. As my head spun with thoughts of everything that had happened, the doorbell began to ring. It was that stupid doorbell I bought for $5, which sounded like Jingle Bells.
"Yes, I'm coming," I muttered as I approached the door. I didn't recall ordering anything, but then again, I also remembered an experience in a fantasy kingdom with rat men and their God. Right now, I couldn't trust my own memory. As I approached the door, a nagging feeling of forgetting something important washed over me, but the lingering headache made it difficult to think clearly.
Before I could dwell on it further, I opened the door, only to find nobody there, just a package lying on the floor. "Damn delivery people, they're getting worse at their job," I muttered as I picked up the package. Curiously, it only had the street and floor number on it. Where was my name? A sudden wave of pain pierced through my head, making it hard to concentrate. How could I forget? The shaman spoke of a test. The pain became unbearable, and in my frustration, I hurled the package to the ground, which made the sound of breaking glass.
After slowly recovering from the headache, I noticed the package lying on the ground, a faint fluorescent green glow emanating from within. After what felt like an eternity, I prepared myself to reach for the package. "I have already met a god, what more surprises could there be?" I pondered, regretting the thought even as it crossed my mind. Nonetheless, I steeled myself and picked up the package.