《Second bite of the apple》 Prologue "Another cold morning," he muttered, his breath fogging the air. No matter how many heaters they installed, the chill always found its way through. "It may be fitting," he thought. "Comfort wasn''t meant for people like him." "Three more years, only three more years." It was a mantra at this point, a number slowly growing closer. Was he ready, though? Did he ever deserve to leave? Shaking himself from the thought, he got up and started walking down the long corridor. The walls were rough, cold to the touch, and streaked with a faint feeling of water. This place could be underground for all he knew. They now used white LED lights throughout the complex, which messed up what time of day you thought it was, but that was just another part of being here.If you encounter this tale on Amazon, note that it''s taken without the author''s consent. Report it. Hunter sighed again. He walked up to the heavy door that led to the much larger room and stopped. He waited for the buzzing sound before the door slid out of the way. He stood there for a few moments before walking in, but on his first step, something happened. Did he start to feel warmth? "Yes," he thought as it sparked in his chest, a foreign sensation making him freeze. The warmth steadily increased until it seared through him like molten iron. His body convulsed, the flames tearing through him. All he could see were white flames. His eyes burned with smoke as his screams echoed back at him from the stone walls. His skin crackled, and a horrible smell of burning flesh engulfed him. He fell to the ground hard, barely feeling the floor below him. He heard screaming, laughing, and running, but only one thought entered his mind. "I deserved this. I had always deserved this." And yet, as he felt the fire consumed him, some small, defiant part of him whispered: "Not like this." Chapter 1 Integration Some people say they see a light when they come close to death. Others talk about glimpsing heaven. One guy even told him he met an angry, dwarf-like creature during a coma who warned him to change his life. None of that happened to him. Before he woke up, his mind was...empty, not in a bad way¡ªjust a vast, endless expanse where he didn¡¯t even seem to exist. Then, everything changed when he tried to open his eyes. Or at least, he thought he did. At first, thoughts trickled into his head, sluggish and sticky, like honey pouring from a jar. Every effort to think felt exhausting, like dragging a boulder uphill. But he could think. That much was certain. When he finally pried his eyes open, darkness greeted him¡ªan oppressive, suffocating void. He tried moving his arms, but they felt impossibly heavy, like submerged in thick molasses. Slowly, he forced them upward, each movement a monumental struggle. He contemplated going back to sleep; then, it would be over. Somehow, he knew that. A small part of his head told him he could just go back to that emptiness, go back, and be done with it all, and truthfully, he almost did. But as he was closing his eyes, something caught his attention. In the nearly complete darkness, he thought something was there, a dim light. Focusing his eyes in the direction of where the light had been took a lot of effort, but he pushed through by convincing himself he could go back to sleep afterward. Hunter waited moments for the light to reappear, but when nothing happened, he slowly pushed his arms out. Again, it was heavy as he reached out; he struggled, and then there it was again. A dim light filtered in. Inching his arms further allowed him to see more light, and he wasn''t just putting his arms up but pushing against something. A thick material was all around him, cocooning him. Hunter never liked tight spaces; this reminded him of how spiders would entrap their prey. His heart quickened at that thought, and he tried to focus on his breathing. He opened his mouth and took in long, measured breaths: In¡­Out¡­.In. It was even difficult to breathe, and something wasn''t right. The air was heavy as if breathing a liquid. A horrible thought passed His mind, and he moved His arms around again. To his horror, it seemed between him and the edge of the material was a liquid of some kind, and he was breathing it. Hunter''s heart pounded harder, and His breathing tried to quicken, but with the new realization, it only felt like he was choking; he started coughing out the liquid, only for it to be replaced by more. Panicking, he pushed hard and reached for the material again, desperate to rip it, but even with His arm fully stretched out, the cocoon was always just a fingertip out of touch. The coughing got worse; he was sputtering hard, and he could feel pressure in His chest; the walls felt like they were starting to crush him. Holding His breath, he pushed out with His legs as if on His tippy toes and reached above him; he could feel it now; the material was rough, and the liquid made it hard to latch on. Hunter felt the world slowly wobble and spin around him, and a loud ringing was in his ears. He started to feel weak. His mind wanted to give up. Then, he felt it. His right hand had a small pinch of the material. "I did it! I grabbed some," he thought. With all his might, he held on, pushing through the pain in his chest as he slowly reached over with his other hand. He felt like he would lose His grip on it at any moment. His left hand made it. He pulled the material slightly closer and got a proper hold with both hands. He couldn''t hold his breath for too much longer, and his arms felt weak. He didn''t care. Hunter found some energy reserve he didn''t know was there and pulled his arms apart as hard as possible. The material stretched. He pulled harder, desperate to not die someplace like this. As he pulled, more and more light gave way, and slowly, a small tear started to form. Then, almost like a balloon popping, the material popped. At that exact moment, the liquid around him made a loud, squelching sound as it slowly ran outwards, free from its balloon prison. Hunter''s world was instantly changed. The cocoon was replaced with a dark, jagged stone far above him, light filtering in from an opening far away. Finally, he tried to breathe, but his lungs felt full as if he had already taken a large breath. Then, his body tried to excise the air, leaving only liquid in his lungs, and he started coughing it up. The liquid didn''t want to leave, though. It slowly oozed out of Hunter''s nose and mouth as he continued to heave. Coughing repeatedly, Hunter felt his vision starting to darken. Something interesting happened then. The liquid was starting to lessen. Hunter''s air pipes were clear enough to let some oxygen in and keep him breathing. He continued to heave. His vision was clearer now, and he saw that nothing was being expelled anymore as he coughed. The heaviness in his chest continued lowering. His coughing subsided as he took short, shallow breaths, just thankful to be alive. His body told him it wasn''t happy with that whole charade by giving him a sharp pain and headache in His head; although he had the pain, His head felt clearer than ever. Happy to just sit there and regain himself, Hunter saw the liquid draining somewhere near him. He looked around for the drain, following the path of the liquid, which seemed to be right beneath him. Scooting out of the way, he was surprised to still feel so heavy, as if the liquid wanted to cling to him. He glanced back at the spot where he had been sitting, but the fluid was no longer draining there; instead, it still appeared to be pooling underneath him. Hesitantly Hunter tried to stand, it felt like he was trying to lift the ocean with him, and he immediately fell back to His butt. Then a realization struck him: He could now almost breathe fully. "I know that the body can remove liquids from the lungs, but it usually takes an immense amount of time, so does that mean I am absorbing this liquid?" he thought. Hunter felt curious at that thought and looked down. He saw his skin where he was sitting, almost shuddering. He hesitantly touched it; it felt like pudding under his skin. When he focused on his skin, which was absorbing it, he could feel pressure from the inside, like the liquid had to filter through his skin. A tingling sensation like static electricity followed anywhere the liquid was being absorbed. Now, without fear of death, Hunter could take a good look at himself. He was still hunched over, like when he played games on the TV. His skin was white, not white, as if he had always stayed inside. More like he had never been touched by the light of the sun. It wasn''t like he was albino, but it was a much different color than it had been. He touched his right arm where the scar was; it had been a memory of what he had done. The rough scar, however, was gone, leaving only soft skin. Hunter dug in with his fingertips, feeling phantom pain from the memory. Shaking himself from the thought, he looked at the rest of himself. He looked lean. He hadn''t been in the best shape before but had considerable muscles. This new body seemed small, with no fat and no muscles. Reaching up, he felt his hair. It was long and about to become shoulder-length. He had never grown it out before, so it felt odd. He reached up and pulled on it, feeling a sharp pain for his efforts. Hunter brushed some hair to the front and looked at it. His new hair was a reddish brown. Brushing his hair back, he asked the room. "What is going on? " he heard someone say. His head flicked around, looking for where it came from. The only thing he spotted was his hair in his eyes. This made him realize again that the voice he had just heard came out of his mouth. Hunter froze, whispering to himself, "Hello, I am Hunter. This is my voice." His voice before was lower¡ªnot anything crazy, but it was pretty deep. This voice he heard, no, not heard, had spoken was a good bit higher. It didn''t sound feminine, but it was pretty high for a man. Hunter reached up and touched his face. Even that was different. The roundish face with the acne scars was gone, and left was a smooth diamond shape. Hunter felt alien in his own body, he could feel shivers of fear and anticipation of what that meant jolting through his body. "I must be dreaming." He again heard that foreign voice say. Hunter began to look over his body again with intrigue, only then realizing the bumps forming along his skin. The bumps were forming near where the liquid was getting absorbed and were slowly moving up to his chest. He poked one of the bumps; it felt soft, and the liquid gave way under his touch. He watched them move upwards in lines, getting closer to the top of his chest. Then he started to feel weird. His legs started to tingle as if they had fallen asleep. "Is this stuff absorbing me?!" he cried out as he tried to stand, but his legs wouldn''t even move. This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.His arms started to feel numb. Hunter looked around, trying to find anything to use as a tourniquet. There was nothing but slick rocks. He started using his hands to press down and push the liquid down his body and hopefully out, but the liquid only seemed to be going quicker. Losing any kind of control over his spine, he fell over hard, hitting his head on the cold stone; his whole body was tingling, and he could feel the liquid crawling its way up his neck. "This is it," he stammered, "I should have stayed asleep." Hunter closed his eyes, clenching them shut. His jaw was starting to burn now; opening it to cry out made it pop in pain. The silent cave disappeared for him as a loud ringing became his world. As his ears ached, he felt his blood pulse through them, giving him a ping of heat and shock every few moments. Then, his eyes; he had pink eye before, and he''d experienced someone throwing alcohol in his face. This feeling was much the same; his eyes itched and burned in tandem. He was blinking rapidly, and with each blink, tears rolled out; he slowly saw his vision caving as his thoughts became slower until both his eyes and mind became dark. The pain was gone, his sight was gone, he could not feel anything, the only way he knew he was still alive was the loud ringing in his ears. It felt like he stayed that way forever, accompanied by a loud-pitched whine. A few times, he felt the start of a thought or what he thought was feeling coming back to him, but just as quickly as it had been there, it also vanished. Hunter didn''t know how much time had passed, but eventually, even the ringing left him, leaving behind his slowly aching mind. He could feel his brain working again like it had just woken up. The thoughts came slowly but deliberately. "I''m...alive?" "Where...am I." As expected, no one answered. Relief washed over him as he just enjoyed the feeling of being alive; however, as his mind continued to thaw, he saw something white appear in his vision. A white outline of a rectangle-like box appeared in the middle of his vision. Hunter tried to open his eyes, but with a shudder, he realized they were already open. He could not see anything else but the white box; however, it didn''t seem to illuminate the cave, so it didn''t seem to be really there. "Is this AR?" he asked himself. His vision slowly started adjusting, bringing into focus that there were words written on the white box they read. Incorporation complete¡­starting system¡­ Complete¡­ The white box disappeared and then reappeared with different words. Stats: Inventory: Map: Hunter looked at this screen for a long time. "What is going on? Am I alive? Maybe this is a dream of a game I played." he looked over the options, confused. He stopped, allowing himself time to breathe. Eventually, centering himself again, he looked at the options. "Stats," he thought. "What stats?" Hunter heard an auditory buzz sound as the stat screen opened. First-time integration¡­. measuring competencies¡­ Complete¡­ Hello Hunter, here is a breakdown of what your last life meant and how much of an impact you had on it¡­ A giant list appeared before him, taking up all his vision. It started scrolling, not waiting for him to be ready. Hunter was still grappling with the whole situation but knew this might be important, so he muttered to himself, trying to focus on one thing at a time. "Silent but deadly level 6, Cleaning glasses level 7, Cooking level 3." All these skills were deemed worthless and categorized as "Useless," but he eventually reached skills classified as "Transferable skills." When he did, the page stopped scrolling, allowing him to scroll for himself. Transferable skills Sloth: You were a part of the introverts; you liked staying home when all your friends were out doing actual stuff. Wait, did you even have friends? -1 agility. Hunter mentally took a step back as he reread the message. "I had friends," he thought at the message, feeling the need to defend himself. "Also, why does that give me less agility?" The message didn''t respond. A new skill popped up next. Daydreamer: Imagine a reality where you could only be if you were slightly better; this is you, a daydreamer. +1 wisdom and +1 intelligence. "Rude¡­" He thought and looked over the gains, trying to parse them, "Wisdom and intelligence, this feels like a game." A new skill again replaced the last. Forgetful: this skill is for those who need to go grab a glass of water and then, on their way to the kitchen, start thinking about a dumb joke and ask themselves, "Why did I come in here again?" -1 luck. He shook his head at the skill. "Why are most of my skills bad?" he asked. Hard worker: you showed a consistent effort to improve yourself. +1 to all stats, but luck. Good liar: How would someone be a good liar? Well, you may get this from telling white lies, or maybe you tricked others into allowing you to steal that promotion all your work friends were going for. +1 intelligence. Cat obsession: This is given to those who adore cats, but unlike normal people, you never got a cat of your own. Do you feel bad now that you will never get that chance? Creatures are slightly less likely to want to murder you. He found the last one odd, especially since it gave a Buff. "Is that the right word?" he asked himself. Eventually, a new screen replaced the rest. Stats: Strength: 3+1=(Hard-worker) Durability: 4+1=(Hard-worker) Agility: 4+0=(-1 Sloth +1 Hard-worker) Intelligence: 6+3=(+1 Hard-worker +1 Good Liar +1 Daydreamer) Wisdom: 5+2(+1 Hard-worker +1 Daydreamer) Level 1 XP 0 Hunter looked at the list, confused for a few moments. To him, this resembled many games he used to play, but his stat screen didn''t seem to show everything. He tried to think of the Forgetful stat, and it appeared again. Just like he thought -1 luck, but there were no mentions of it on the screen, he thought of the last one, cat obsession. It said something about creatures being less likely to harm him. Hunter always felt like his neck was on fire when he got stressed, and he was starting to feel like that now. ¡°Having a negative in luck may come back to hurt me; I guess that''s only if I had a low luck stat luck stat to begin with." To that extent, he tried to think back on his previous life. It wasn''t like he had ever won a raffle or a Powerball, but he never considered himself unlucky. Pushing those thoughts away, he looked at the bottom of the screen. "Level 1, at least I can increase my skills. If 5 is the average for skills, I''m a little behind, but I will have to work hard if it''s something like 10." Hunter''s vision, feeling, and hearing came back all at once, momentarily overwhelming and overstimulating him. He eventually got used to the cave''s smell, the cave floor''s coldness, and the sun shining on him again. "The sun?" he thought. It was so nice to see the sun; he hadn''t seen it in years. He smiled at the warm light radiating from what must have been the cave entrance and stood up. Or he tried to. A few things happened when he tried to stand up. First, he slipped, landing back on the cold stone. Second, the feeling of cold made him look down and realize he was naked. Lastly, a bar appeared in his vision, mostly filled with red, with the smallest chunk missing on the right. His mind played tennis, and with each court of his brain, he tried to decide what to think about. "I''m naked? A red bar? Why am I naked? The bar appeared when I fell. Is this a health bar?" The thoughts of the health bar won, and he stared at it; after what felt like a minute without it changing, he turned his attention back to his naked body. Again, he was surprised at this person''s scrawny build and white skin. He just sat there looking at himself for a few moments before scooting over to the side of the cave wall and pushing up with his legs and arms. He could feel the pressure of his form on each joint. His body lacked calluses, so each step on the uneven stones felt sharp. He slowly took each step while guiding himself along the wall with one hand. Following the light, Hunter had to squint as he approached the edge of the cave. He let his eyes adjust and then took in the view. He was in a cave on the side of a mountain. From his angle, rolling hills were below him, and to his far left was a vast forest. A gust of wind blew in the smell of pine and water from a river somewhere out of sight, the corresponding sound of wind greeting his ears; he sighed deeply; it was beautiful. The mountain looked like it was at a 35-degree angle, with old trees and boulders jutting out randomly. Sharp rocks dotted the side. Leaning out of the cave, Hunter looked up. He was about halfway up the mountain, and similar dangers were above him. He looked up and down a few times, trying to decide, but then he heard the first signs of life other than himself in this world: a bleat came from his left. "A goat?" he heard himself say, looking to his left. Sure enough, there was a goat. The goat had dirty brown fur, stood around three feet tall, and had horns that twisted in small circles until they came to impossible sharp points. He and the goat looked at each other as the goat chewed the cud. Only a few moments passed before he saw the goat swallow and turn its head upwards, letting out a high-pitched BLEAT! Covering his ears, he watched as the sound made the red bar in his vision go down another small chunk. The goat wasn''t done there. However, it narrowed its eyes and charged at Hunter; this charge was more of small hops as it found footing closer and closer to him, Hunter finally removed his hands from his ears and looked around again for anything; not seeing much, he was left with a choice. "Fight the goat barehanded, try and hide in the cave, or run." He chose to run. With his limited agility, he decided to try to go down the mountain at a side angle to his right. Hunter would step on a rock or piece of wood every few steps and see his red bar go down. He was surprised he didn''t feel any pain. He could feel a light pressure on his body, but it didn''t feel like pain; it felt more like an ache. Hunter kept running, eventually sparing a look behind him. He saw the goat gaining and kept running. His bar was at three-quarters now. "What happens if I run out? Do I just die?" He could hear the goat now; it was getting louder, and its four legs were finding much better traction than his. Hunter''s heart throbbed in his chest as he kept running, a new bar appearing, a green one. This one was already three-quarters gone. The goat was getting closer, The green bar only had a fifth left; he had to do something. A new sound itched at his ears, and he locked onto it like a lifeline, trying to find his way. Hunter ran with all his might towards the sound but wasn''t fast enough. He saw his red bar go from three-quarters to half in an instant. Hunter watched as the goat ran past him, some blood still on its horn. His back felt warm, and blood flowed. He watched his health bar lowering visibly as he lost blood; the goat was still running full speed, turning widely to come back for him. Without any more hesitation, Hunter ran right at it. He only had one chance; he counted himself down, 3¡­2¡­1¡­ Hunter put out his left arm to try and guide the goat''s horn out of his path, It worked, mostly. Hunter''s palm was slick with red blood, but his health bar hadn''t lowered too much, He clenched his fist and kept running, knowing the goat would be back. The sound was roaring now, and he knew he had to be getting close. The goat made another terrible bleating sound, and the earth seemed to tremble as it started racing toward him. He was only a few steps away. His green bar hit zero. It felt like he had run a marathon all at once. He felt aches in his whole body, his heart pounded even harder, and sweat poured down him quicker than rapids. Hunter pushed anyway, desperate to escape. His health bar started diving quickly with each step. He was so close. His health bar was only at a fifth The presence of the goat was gigantic behind him, and he knew it would only take moments before he was skewered. He reached the edge and fell. Everything slowed His body twisted as he fell, Hunter watched as the goat passed right over him. The goat now had glowing red eyes, and its brown fur glowed a light red underneath. He started to pick up speed, Hunter knew this was a stupid plan, but he had to do it. A light mist of water started lightly pattering at his body. Hunter watched his health bar lower as he fell, now only a tenth of what it was. "This might have been a bad idea." He thought right before he impacted the water. Chapter 2 Secrets of the river Back and forth, back and forth, the feeling of a light breeze blowing on his skin, the trees waving in the wind. Hunter had always enjoyed hammocks; they were therapeutic to him. Cracking his eyes open, he sat up quickly. "Where... am... I?" he sputtered, coughing up some water. Hunter found himself in shallow water. Sitting up left him up to his chest in it. The water was an underground river from side to side, about 12 feet across. The fresh, earthy scent of the cave and river momentarily enraptured Hunter. The flow where he found himself was slow and was rocking back and forth. The river he was in seemed to be in a cave valley combo; the walls were vertical for what must have been 30 feet, the walls curving to entomb the cave, and small holes from the surface poked through the rock, letting in beams of light, making the water sparkle. Hunter tried to blink away the weird site. "Why am I here? How did I get here? Why does my head feel like someone hit me with a baseball bat?" He raised a shaky hand to his head, trying to feel around for a bump or bruise; not finding it, he attempted to scour his memories further for why he was down here. The small amount of adrenaline his body was able to muster quickly ran out, and with that, the pain in his head changed from a dull headache to an ever-increasing tightness; somehow, his body was worse; it felt like someone had put him in a bag and hit him against anything near then pulled him out and compressed him in a vice. With a start, the memories all rushed back at once. Hunter immediately spun his head as if on a spindle, looking for the goat. Not finding it, he finally noticed a blinking light at the top of his vision. There, his health bar was blinking at what must have been less than a tenth of its original size. Hunter watched it closely and sighed. "At least my health has stopped going down." He felt behind him to where the goat had cut him, and the start of a scab was there protecting it. The headache worsened like someone was driving a spike through his eye; the pain was unbearable. He focused on it. And it all immediately subsided, and as soon as he did, it was replaced by a glowing screen in his vision. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª You have killed Slightly annoyed goat. 27xp earned Level up, now level 2 Level up, now level 3 You have gained an achievement; let me speed run death. Within 20 minutes of arriving here have your health go below 10%. Durability +2 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª After mentally clicking through the screens, Hunter felt a rush of pain and power, almost like the heat of a long workout on his bones; his mind felt tired and clearer simultaneously. Hunter mentally thought stats, and they appeared. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Stats: Strength: 5+1=(+1 Hard-worker) Durability: 6+1+2=(+1 Hard-worker +2 Achievements) Agility: 6+0=(-1 Sloth +1 Hard-worker) Intelligence: 8+3=(+1 Hard-worker +1 Good Liar +1 Daydreamer) Wisdom: 7+2=(+1 Hard-worker +1 Daydreamer) Level 3 XP 27 ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Hunter looked down at his body. It didn''t look different, and he felt just as sore, but it felt different. He felt his skin, which seemed to feel tighter; it wasn''t bad. It just felt weird. "Can I really be changed by just a value on a screen?" Hunter asked. He didn''t like the idea of his strengths being a quantifiable value that could change at the whim of whatever controls this system. Shaking his head, he decided to change his focus to only the immediate concerns: "I''m alone in a cave with a river in it; there must be a way out somewhere, maybe a game trail that leads down here." Although he felt motivated to get up, his body felt stiff all over. He let out a loud "Uuuuuugghhh" as he stretched. Looking at each way the water moved, Hunter decided to follow where the water came from, hoping to find some path out. This proved difficult as the cave slowly narrowed the closer he got, and as it did so, so did the height and power the water had behind it. Hunter could spot the waterfall now. It came from an amazing height. The peak must have been 300 feet up; where he had fallen was easily over 150. "How did I survive that?" he wondered out loud. He continued toward it. The cave was getting even smaller now. The pressure was immense, so Hunter reached out, touching either side of the walls and using them as a brace. The water was past his shoulders but not quite at his neck. To progress forward, he had to brace his arms and push off like a runner from a starting line, making startling little progress. Even so, he was slowly inching his way closer as he continued repeating the process. Hunter got close enough to see where the water fell and hit the cave. He looked down through the churning water. The waterfall must have been here a long time since the plunge pool was massive; he couldn''t even see the bottom. With hope still somewhere in him, he looked around for any way to get out, but his heart only sank as he spotted nothing but slick, mossy rock. Then, one thing caught his eye: About halfway up, a rock was jutting out. The platform-like rock had what looked like brown moss draped over it. "That''s not moss; that''s the goat." "I''m lucky I missed that on my way down." Immediately after determining the figure was the goat, a screen appeared in his vision, scaring him. Hunter instinctively brought his arms in front of him to block the screen. This was a mistake, however, since without the brace of the sides, the water picked him up like a naughty toddler and quickly pushed him back down the tunnel. With the power of the water against him, it only took 30 seconds for him to lose the progress he had made over the last half hour. Not wanting to hurt himself any further, he stood up once he felt he was moving slowly enough to place his feet down without scraping them. This time, the water reached halfway up his chest. Sighing, he glanced at the screen, which had caused him to lose all his progress. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Dead body of slightly annoying goat spotted. Would you like to loot? ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Two small icons floated below the screen, one with the word YES and the other with NO. Hunter felt his inner gamer come out as he started getting excited. "I can loot enemies? That''s awesome." Then, he felt slightly saddened. "A goat can''t have much, though," he said, a slight disappointment in his tone, stopping himself from hesitating anymore. He selected YES, and a list with one item appeared. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Looted items: Goat skin shorts ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Hunter mentally clicked off the screen and waited for the shorts to appear. And waited. And waited. Eventually, a thought came to mind, and a smile played across his face. "I have an inventory?" Hunter then felt a small memory scratch at the back of his mind. It was a memory of how to use the inventory. What confused him was that he had never used it. The memory almost felt more like watching a video on how to do something without physically doing it. With some hesitation, he flexed the muscle he knew he had, and a new screen appeared. The layout was grid-like, with different menus and tabs on the left. Again, Hunter knew where to go and clicked armor. The goat skin shorts were categorized as armor; when he selected armor, they were the only option. The color matched that of the goat: brown and slightly dirty-looking. He mentally selected them, and they appeared in front of him. And dropped. The water started pulling his shorts away as if wanting to steal the one thing he owned. "Apparently, knowing how to use something doesn''t help me know how not to be stupid," he said, pushing through the water. He seemed to be losing progress on the shorts, but over time, as the water started going down, it felt like he was making progress. Eventually, with determination in his eyes and the shorts within reach, he grasped for them. Upon grabbing them, he wondered if he should have let them go. The shorts were waterlogged, heavy, and scratchy. He raised them to his eye level and examined them. They were, unsurprisingly, mostly made of Goat fur. What was odd was the thread and elastic waistband in them. "How did a goat give me this? Do goats sew?" He slipped them on, thinking it was better than walking around with nothing on. The inside of the shorts felt slightly itchy, but what he really hated were the tufts of four-inch fur hanging off. As he moved, it felt like something crawled on him. He frowned at the shorts. "At least they''re my size." With only one direction left, Hunter looked to the direction the water was flowing; the cave was steadily going downwards; he followed it, thankful for the holes in the ceiling giving him some light; as he walked, he was given the first time being alone with his thoughts. "I really am in another world, aren''t I?" he said. To Hunter, parts of This world felt foreign but also eerily similar, but how did he get here?Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation. Hunter tried to retrace his steps. "I remember waking up in my original world. I had been waiting for the door at the mess hall when I remember feeling like I was catching on fire." He looked down at his white arms, which were free of damage or burns. "Is this the effect of going crazy? Maybe my mind has finally broken; it would serve me right." His mood soured at that; it always soured when he thought of why he was sent there. "I still had three years; if I haven''t gone crazy, how is it fair that I don''t have to pay for what I''ve done." Feeling a sharp pain, he looked down at his arm; he had unconsciously been clawing into his arm where the scar had been, making a few dribbles of blood fall from it and into the water. For what must have been the millionth time, he wished he had done something, said something, but what could he do now? He could continue. Hunter distracted himself by focusing on placing each foot in front of the other. The walls finally seemed to stop getting larger, leaving his feet covered with water only a few inches above his ankle. He was able to walk almost unimpeded now and was making good time. The cave ceiling had started lowering now. The light from the periodic holes had also lessened. Now, looking ahead, it seemed that he had just passed the last hole, and the way ahead was bathed in darkness. There were a few things that Hunter didn''t like, such as tight spaces and the dark, and this cave slowly became both of them, but with no other way out, he pushed on. The change was immediate. The rock he was walking on, carved somewhat smooth from the water, gave way to smooth, almost slippery stone. Hunter froze when he took the first step; it was like stepping into a swimming pool. He looked down but couldn''t see anything, as the light was no more than a memory at this point. He reached down and touched it. Yeah, this was definitely manufactured. Hunter walked over to the side of the cave, which was made of much the same material. With an arm outstretched to the wall, he continued walking this way for what felt like forever. "This has to lead somewhere," he kept telling himself. He was starting to see dots appear in his vision from the pitch black and was thankful for something to put his arm against. Then he thought he saw something. Stopping, he stared hard at where the tunnel led; maybe it was his imagination. He continued walking for a moment when it happened again: a small yellow light flickered on, then strobing a few times as it dimmed to nothingness. Hunter froze. "What could be down here? Could it be something like the goat with glowing eyes?" Hunter''s mind and body wanted to run. "Run to where?" he kept asking himself. This did not elevate the growing pit in his stomach but did allow his shaky legs to move forward bit by bit. Another minute, another light. It was getting brighter as he approached, but he still couldn''t determine what it was. The light was bright enough to hurt his eyes each time it appeared. The yellow light hadn''t moved from the middle of the tunnel. Hunter felt a mix of excitement, curiosity, and worry building in his stomach as he continued watching it. Another minute passed as he got closer. The light appeared. This close, he could hear a light thrumming from it every time it pulsed. To him, it looked like it was hanging from the ceiling, suspended by something. Hunter was sure he could get under it by the next time the light appeared, so he continued walking. After another minute, the light appeared. He had overshot it by a few feet but was happy he wasn''t blinded as bad as the light glowed behind him. Turning around just as the first pulse disappeared, he watched as the yellow light created a small wave of light that moved out from it. About 7 feet from the thing, he was given almost no time to react as the warm light flowed over him. He looked over himself as another pulse appeared. Nothing seemed different. Hunter walked right under the device and reached for it. It was a few feet out of reach. Hunter jumped once, trying to reach it, and felt every bone in his body express its disinterest in doing that again. With his mind preoccupied with pain now, he continued walking, wondering if this was a good thing. "If this contraption is here, people might be here, too." A white light was slowly becoming visible at the cave''s far end. "The sun!" He exclaimed. His eyes slowly adjusted, showing him that it wasn''t the sun. The light came from what looked like a large glass dome at the top of a massive domed room, hundreds of feet in each direction. The dome had offshoots of light that traveled in lines from it in four directions, which led to smaller domes emitting white light. The room had a river flowing down the middle and two main sides. One was a forest-like side mainly made of trees and grass, and the other was lined with stone houses. Hunter wasn''t sure what he found weird about the houses until he got closer when it came to him. "The stone isn''t cut or stacked; it''s all one piece." The whole town was carved out of the stone all around them. As he got closer, he saw stone doors on hinges, stone windows, and spots for decorations carved right in. Then, with a start, he realized something was missing from this town¡ªthe sound. Aside from the burbling stream, it was silent. There was no scuffling of people, no cries or laughter, just silence. This suffocating silence worried Hunter more than the darkness. "Why would people just leave somewhere like this? Maybe this place is a last-chance bunker?" But as he walked to the closest house, he realized that wasn''t it. The door was left open, and peeking inside, he saw a perfectly set-up house. Without walking in, he pushed the door inwards, knocking on it. "Hello, anyone here?" he asked, feeling warmth radiated from the inside of the house. The enticing smell of fresh food seemed to entice him. "Is that bread?" Hunter spotted a table set for one. The table was huge¡ªit had to be 8 feet long¡ªand it was filled with fresh chicken, bread, and steamed potatoes. It smelled heavenly. Everything seemed set in the house like the person had left after cooking. Something felt off, and Hunter stepped back from the door. "Why would a town this silent and with no one around have fresh, still steaming food on the table? Also, who cooks that much for themselves?" Worried, he walked back to the river and continued walking inside it. The sound from the water soothed him somewhat. He came to another house, this one larger. It was a two-story house carved with flowing lines. The front door was left open a crack, but Hunter walked up to one of the windows carved out of the stone. Inside, the scene was very similar. The large home had a bed, kitchen, and table with food on it. This room was that much more odd to Hunter, however. "Who builds a house like this? Why is everything just one large room? Also, who eats alone in this type of house? Also, again, where are the people?" Looking back to his stream, he wondered if he should walk in, grab some food, and leave, but a chill ran down his spine when he turned his head back to the window. Hunter blinked once, twice. "No, it''s still there." The room had changed. He could still see everything, but everything had moved. The table was in its own room, now one with three chairs around it. The kitchen had an island that separated it from the rest of the house, and the bed was visible through an open door just past the kitchen. He stood there gawking for a few moments until he heard whispers coming from deep inside, the cacophony of voices all speaking as one. "Join us," they said, then said, "Aren''t you hungry? We are." Backing up, he held his breath, not daring to look away. He stepped ever slowly, ever silently away from the house. "What was that? Whatever that was, it can''t be good." Getting back to the river, he looked at the whole town. The whole thing felt weird to him, even without thinking about the house changing. He could see light through the windows of each home and inviting smells through cracked doors. Hunter decided to trust his instincts and leave. As he was nearing the edge of the town, he noticed a stick near the river''s edge. He picked it up and examined it. It was an honest-to-goodness stick, no trickery. Then, a thought came to him: a way to test whether the houses were safe. At the next house, he walked about 6 feet away from the window and threw it inside. Immediately as the stick passed through the window, the whole rock building shuddered. Waves of stone pulsed as the building closed in on itself like a fly trap, making a grinding, slurping noise. Hunter watched in awe and horror as the building caved in and lowered into the ground, becoming the same texture as the ground around it. "Nope," he said as he backed away and continued down the stream. Nearing the edge of the town, Hunter followed the river into the other cave. On his way there, he spotted another stick and added it to his arsenal of monster-finding gear. Wanting to get as far from this town as possible, he continued walking. It only took him a few minutes, but he eventually saw the yellow pulse of another glowing contraption. Hunter looked at it and passed by it without issue. Immediately after passing by it, he got a terrible pain in his head; it felt like someone was digging at the back of his skull with a jackhammer; he immediately let out a yelp of pain. "What is going on?" he wondered out loud. That was confirmation enough, and a screen popped up. ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª Achievement unlocked; they were so hungry. You found a mimic and escaped from it; you may have known it was a mimic; you may not have, but what matters is that it will be going hungry tonight. +1 luck Achievement unlocked. Prey. You were being hunted by more than twenty creatures at once, and you survived? Lovely, +1 intelligence +1 wisdom ¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª¡ª "A mimic," he stammered; Hunter had found them in chests before in games but felt another wave of relief that he had felt something was off, or he would have, well, he would have been dead. "I don''t think I want to be here anymore," he thought, and then a realization hit him: "Why did he just earn that achievement? Was it because of the yellow glowing things? Was it because he got far enough away?" Knowing he wouldn''t get an answer, he trudged on more carefully than before. The bricks below him eventually turned back into regular cave stones, and he sighed, feeling somewhat safe again. The light was gone again, but he could live with it if he had his trusty stick. He had his right hand on the wall guiding him, and his left arm outstretched the stick in its grip. Eventually, the cave split. The only way he knew this was that the wall he had his hand on stopped abruptly. He followed it, and stairs lead back toward the direction of the town. Hunter could hear the water continuing downwards, but with the option of freedom, this was no choice at all. Hunter found himself quickly exhausted going up the stairs, but it felt familiar, and he craved that feeling right now. Eventually, that feeling was gone, as a small line in the walls started glowing. He looked behind him. The glowing line continued all the way to where the stairs met water. The stairs before him continued until they opened into a large room. He took a rest before cresting the top of the stairs and looking around. The space was empty. It was a large rectangle, approximately 100 feet by 30 feet. The ground was a lush carpet, which felt like heaven on his feet. The room''s carpet let off a dim glow, softly illuminating it and the wood that the walls and ceiling were made of. Each wall was decorated with moldings in an elaborate modern style, and pillars broke up the room. It looked out of place so far under the Earth. Hunter spotted another set of stairs on the other side. Upon reaching the stairs, Hunter sighed. "I guess it wasn''t meant to be." The stairs announced the end of the carpet. "Goodbye, beautiful room," he said longingly before walking upwards. The stairs curved back in on themselves and led to another room. This one was a lot different. The whole space was made of logs. It was as if someone had taken the sides of log cabins and smashed them together into some amalgamation of a room. As he passed the threshold, the pungent smell of pine invaded his nostrils. Hunter had always loved pines, but the strong, sudden smell worried him. Breaking up the rest of the room, four wooden pillars in each corner let out a soft light. "This room is odd. I wonder what is going on?" At the other end, another set of stairs led to yet another another room, seemingly odd in its unique way. This continued for three more rooms until he came to one which looked slightly different. Hunter audibly gasped upon seeing it. This room felt ripped out of a Roman church, similar in size to all the others before it. A path led down the middle. To each side were archways, with the light coming from the bulbs of beautiful blue roses blowing in a nonexistent wind. White arches led the way to the center, where a glowing cyan liquid lay suspended in midair. Bubbles floated around the liquid as it spun clockwise slowly; large flowing characters ran around the liquid cylinder in a circle. The language didn''t look like any language he had seen on Earth. The characters were made up of glowing lines and flowing dark carved points, making it look like light poured into the carved portions like liquid. Before he could stop himself, Hunter found himself reaching out to the liquid. A new feeling enraptured him. Hunter thought the feeling of the shorts was bad, but this was worse. His whole body, especially his back, itched immensely. Hunter groaned in surprise. The liquid reached for his arm, and the itchiness extended inside him. His lungs, stomach, and mind felt itchy. "Why is my mind itchy?" he exclaimed, trying to close his eyes to help with the sensation. He finally tried to pull his arm back but was pulled closer instead. The water engulfed him, entirely increasing the itchy meter. Even with his eyes closed, a light was now visible. A white amber light was increasing in intensity as his world became nothing but itchy.