Garrick groaned. His whole body was sore from something. It's almost like he fell hard from somewhere. The area he was in was pitch black, the moonlight illuminating the immediate area around him. He struggled to move his limbs, for some reason, he felt smaller, and his skin was greenish.

Could it be the result of excessive radiation exposure, did he drift ashore after the explosion rocked the boat, did the rebel army capture him?

He couldn’t quite figure it out.

His hands weren't tied or cuffed, which threw that theory out of the water. Next to him, he saw an empty water bucket and cut-off rope. He could hear a trickling stream of water flowing not too far away from him.

I’m inside of a well?

Was he dumped here with no way out? Was he alone?

“Great just fucking great.”

He tried standing up but struggled to move. His whole body felt unbalanced, out of control. Something was broken inside of him. And he pained, Oh did he pain.

“Ok Garrick, focus on the bright side, you are still alive. You're still breathing. Stay calm.”

Then, he saw the shadows move, like the light under the moonlight was twisting around it, even in the darkness. He could see it. A deep, and mischievous voice echoed through the unseeable darkness.

“Well, well, well…I thought you died Grubbub or is it Garrick? It seems you’re at your wit's end.” It laughed a slow but heavy chuckle, like whoever it was, definitely was mocking him.

‘Grubbub.’ There was that name again, that he heard echoing through his mind.

“Who the fuck said that! Show yourself!” He started searching for any equipment he could utilize. Nothing except the bucket near him. He picked it up, as prone and paralyzed as he was. Constantly looking around for whatever was casting the shadow.

Of course, they must have taken his weaponry, no point in hoping to shoot the spook in the dark.

“Shhhhhh. It can hear you, It can’t hear me….”

“What do you mean.” Confused. Was there something down here, was this other person in a remote location, was he stuck with a mutant freak or something.”

He heard a massive thud, like something putting its foot down. A pipe started creaking like it was being bent. The sound of water dripping faster and faster.

The voice didn’t answer him. Then he heard a rising guttural growl, something really was near him. His heart starts beating rapidly. Something was lurking in the shadows, a mutant gator perhaps. Those things love sewers and rivers.

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He had never been trained for this moment, and he had also never done good in any animal-related sim. Should he stay still and or quiet or nope the fuck out. Either way, he was fucked.

“Oh, you’re definitely not alone in here,” the voice cackled on. “Last I heard, that thing hasn’t eaten in ages. I’d get out of that well if I were you. If you find it in you’re heart to run away like a little bitch, I might even give you a gift.”

He did not like being toyed with, Soon as he found the voice he was going to give it the back end of his fist.

“What the fuck do I do,” he whispered.

“There’s more than one way out, you could even fight it if you had the right amount of battle power.”

Battle power!? What the fuck is he on about. The pain was real as hell, Garrick thought the voice implied it was a sim. But if it was a sim would he be feeling pain?

The thick footsteps started to get closer and the low-growl had gotten louder.

“Close your eyes, trust me, and when you see the blue light run towards it.”

“Are you mad…”

“Trust me or die.”

He did as he was told.

At first, he saw nothing, and then… static movements of light, followed explosion of colors that appeared before him. He felt ‘enlightened.’ Like he just had the epiphany, and then there was darkness. In that darkness, there were two burning fires, A red one. The beast. And a moving orb of light, like that of a willow wisps.

The words Mana Vision Appeared in his head like it was something to be toggled on and off.

Was this a Trapped in-game scenario or something worse?

He opened his eyes again, knowing in what direction to run, but unable to veer away from the thing.

It stared at him, its red glowing eyes locking with his. It had the face of a dinosaur, the protruding wings of a chicken, and the claws of a lizard-like beast. It was massive, it stood taller than him, bipedal and hungry. It twitched its neck and started snarling like it was actually saying something. Saliva dripped from its mouth, and it sharpened its claw.

“Oh hell naw!”

“Close your eyes and run you fool. Tho the far end."

Somehow, with all the pain and injury he felt, he managed to force his small fragile body up. His eyes once again blindfolded, He ran in the direction of the moving orb of light. There was nothing else he could do. Running blindy and wildy, he could feel adrenalin kicked in.

“Running away, Garrick…It suits you.”

“You’re the one who told me I should run away!”

“BWAAAAAAAAAAAKKK!!!!” It roared behind him

Garrick, breathed very hard, huffing and puffing his chest out, he glanced back to back to see the beast giving chase. Each of its steps made the ground shake beneath him.

Then with a loud thunk, he bumped into something hard, metallic, and cylindrical pipelike.

He let his MANA VISION subside, and there was a small glimmer of light breaking through a hole. The thing in front of him was a ladder.

“Climb! Climb Now!”

He did as he was told. The beast was surprisingly slower than he expected, he half wondered if he should have been in its mouth by now, perhaps it was weak from not eating a lot.

As he scales the ladder, the monster leaps into the air, its jaws wide open. Garrick narrowly evades its bite, the thing fell to the floor below. Readying for a second jump. He knocks over the manhole cover above his head and climbs out onto a street. He looked down again and saw the beast retreat into the darkness.

Now that he was able to catch a breath, he took a long hard look around him. The buildings around were crude, practically medieval, the street lights were powered by some kind of energy that was not electricity. No way a society like this has constructed superconductors and the like.

It would take a delusional fool not to realize they were very far away from his original world. The pain was real, that much was certain. The memories-

More than a single set of memories was embed in his brain, two lives, like oil and water. He was a miner here, he was also Grubbub and he was not. Grubbub also died. Which was weird why was he here?

He couldn’t make sense of it all, then he heard below had also disappeared.

Before he could make any sense of reason, he heard heavy footsteps rushing down the street. Three soldiers appeared, all reddish and had long pointy ears. All clad in metal armor

“You! Green trash. What the fuck are you doing here?” A red Goblin asked him, twice his size and stature.

“Don’t sweat the details, get him out of the district, before the civilians see him.”

They grabbed him by the arms, held down his legs, and picked him up.

“Wait, give me a chance to exp-” Garrick attempted to plea, but the hand of the hobgoblin was a large as his face. His voice was drowned out.

“We don’t care, greeny, you’re not allowed here.”