In Another World...

The meat was tough and thick. With every bite, Kaito had to pull hard to rip it from the body. There was nothing to cut the meat, leaving him with no choice but to eat straight from the source. Every bite brought disgust and regret. Kaito forced it down his throat, cramming as much as he could despite the terrible flavor.

“I need to find water soon.” His mouth, mid-chew, straining as he spoke out loud.

Looking up, he saw the sun slowly falling. One single yellow sun, beginning its descent behind the trees, down toward the horizon.

Crap.

—--

He ran and ran through the forest, making sure to avoid any and all animals. The forest was getting dark and he could feel the change in atmosphere as the light disappeared. He needed to find a place to hide, a place to pass the night.

Maybe I can find a tree without those freaky insects. That could work. Or a plain with weak dirt to dig a hole. Or a river bed. Or…anything.

Something.

Please.

He kept moving, scouting his surroundings in distress. Nothing but trees, more arm-sized bugs, and bushes as far as his eyes could see. The sun hid itself behind the abundance of leaves, and stars began to glimmer through gaps in the tree leaves.

The forest was dark, and Kaito could hardly see anything anymore; nothing farther than a few meters. He needed to find a place to hide and rest. His legs cried out in pain as he ran, each step shooting agony straight through the calf, up to his thighs and into his hips and lower back.

Grunting in pain, Kaito kept running for another hour and a half, his legs nearly reaching their limit. He was moments away from collapsing right where he stood as he was dehydrated and immensely tired, pushing forward through sheer fear of the forest and the monstrous creatures within it. He kept going, sluggishly walking until he saw it, out of the corner of his eye. His light at the end of the tunnel, shining dimly in the distance.

Kaito made his way over carefully watching as the light grew brighter. He began to hear noises—ones that were raspy and incongruent. Taking a few more steps forward he heard more and more, and past these many foreign sounds, Kaito made out a certain behavior. A multifaceted human behavior and emotional expression; giggling and laughter.

I’m saved!

He sped up his walk, pushing his body against the trees as a way to boost himself. Ragged and sweaty, he made his way through the bushes, disregarding any sticks and sharp leaves that were getting caught on his clothes. The laughter coming from the light grew as he started to make out pointed pieces of trees serving as fences; holding the giggles within its perimeter.

The cold and rough bark pressed against Kaito’s face as his body landed against the last tree in his way. The air was thick with an unpleasant stench, a powerful stench that made him gag as he caught his breath behind the tree. Holding back his sense of utter disgust, he peered past the fences in the dirt.

Short humanoid bodies gathered around a campfire. The light illuminated the “people’s” green skin and pointed ears, the jewelry around their necks and the limb-sized insect that was roasting above the fire. They jumped around the fire and laughed maniacally; the fire crackling and pebbles bouncing in their wake.

Are those… Goblins?

Kaito recalled the few MMORPGs he played during class in his youth. They were one of the weakest monsters, always showing up in the early game. They had big noses and pointed ears, pupilless yellow eyes, and were usually very short, typically a little over a meter. This was the basic template for any goblin mob that was put into such games, and the exact description that illustrated the “people” he had been happily walking towards. Looking closer, Kaito saw that most of the goblins were armed, as he began to walk around the perimeter of the fenced area.

The atmosphere grew from cold and dark, to humid and murky as he circled the campsite carefully. He counted four of the six goblins to be armed, holding knives high in the air as they danced. His intuition and past experiences led him to give up on staying there for the night.

Those things were not human and he was not planning on finding out if they were hostile or not.

Kaito observed the campsite one last time as he readied for his tread away from the light. However, a glimpse of a strange light caught his eyes. Leaning forward, he put pressure on his left leg and his hands on his knees quietly as he focused on looking closer. The light seemed to distort, creating wavelike patterns similar to the fire.

Kaito inched closer.

Waves of light, they look so much like the fire, what the heck is it? What is it doing with these goblins?

Inching closer and closer, the musky and smokey smell from the goblin’s campsite became evermore noticeable. Kaito soon made out a crate, or something akin to one. It was under the strange light—behind one of the goblins.

“Is that..?” Kaito almost fell over from anger and embarrassment.

A reflection. How’d it take me so long to realize. Aghhhh this forest is messing with my head.

He pressed his left thumb and index finger against the top part of his nose, the area in between his eyes. The strange light Kaito had been looking at was nothing more than the reflection of the light coming from the fire. He cringed at his moment of idiocy, growing deadly serious and treading carefully toward the campsite.

There’s no shot I’m leaving without checking. I need it.

Kaito’s throat moved up slowly and then descended painfully, his mouth dry without any saliva to swallow.

I need it.

He recalled his science class in elementary school. His grades were never top of the class, but he was still praised from time to time. The classroom was mellow; the light shining warmly through the blinds. Mr. Tanaka, his teacher, would often have him stand in the hallway as punishment for sleeping during class. He would tell him to focus in class or else he would never succeed in life, that sleeping more than you needed only promoted the dulling of sense and made you unfit for the evolution of humanity. He was a man passionate about philosophies and theories of life; however, to the 11 year old Kaito it all sounded like straight gibberish. Mr. Tanaka never got through to him, and would never realize that Kaito had learned to focus. That he rose the ranks of his high school’s class and landed himself a job in society. He would never learn of his death, or that Kaito’s ability to survive was now being put to the test, in another world. He would never know that Kaito was about to face nature’s ultimatum. The very thing he had warned him about all those years ago. The survival of the fittest.

Returning his focus back to the current situation; Kaito knew he wouldn’t be able to last another day much less another night without some sort of hydration.

“Ooookay” he sighed quietly, skulking toward the wooden crate. The crate that harbored a liquid capable of reflecting the campfire’s light.

“All I need is that crate.” was the thought that replayed over and over in his head as he crawled toward it. The green monsters continuing to celebrate, unaware of Kaito.

A single drop of sweat made its way down the former salaryman’s face as the damp air pressed against him. The more he looked the more the creatures disgusted him; their green skin sagging as they jumped. The yellow and black teeth that appeared and disappeared in the campfire’s light, their essentially only bone and skin physique. Appearing to celebrate the meal they were preparing, the goblins anxiously waited by the fire. Their mouths drooled with slobber, and they were visibly growing restless. Kaito’s throat contracted painfully, trying to gulp once more, his mouth dry as cement and nose growing stuffy from the humidity made him all the more afraid. He nearly collapsed on the spot as he took a deep breath—the air pungent and putrid—right on the ground where the monsters stood. His body was exhausted, yet the chance of water was right in front of him. The risk had to be taken.

Taking one final deep breath, he crawled like an animal toward the crate as the festivities continued between the goblins.

Please be water, please be water, please be water.

His eyes locked on the crate.

Water, water, water, water, water.

His crawling hastened.

Water.

Water!

WATER!

*Snap*

The waves of light coming from the crate stilled, and the laughter and dancing ceased. A cold silence pressed down on Kaito’s body; paralyzed in fear. His eyes dropped down to the floor, his eyes wide and broken breath leaving his mouth. Shifting his gaze on his right knee, he saw it, resting atop a broken branch. He could hear the green creatures hissing and snarling toward each other.

About three seconds passed—all in complete silence. Kaito felt the seconds slow into anxiety spewing hours. A cold chill ran down his spine, his muscles freezing against his wishes

The goblins grew louder in their hissing and he heard one of them take a step. In distress, Kaito’s eyes shot up in their direction.

Their sinister smile and beady yellow eyes looking at him in elation. The fire cracked under the night sky and multiple feet started stomping against the floor. The goblins all lunged at him whilst cackling together, the fire still burning with the giant insect.

He flit on his feet and backed up to gain distance. His eyebrows furrowed, his teeth gritting in anguish.

He suddenly rushed toward the closest goblin heading his way and grabbed its shoulder, shoving it to the ground as hard as he could. Another goblin darted at him waving its knife around and laughing freakishly. Throwing its arm toward him as he regained his balance, Kaito caught the short, muscle-less, arm and yanked the weapon from the hand holding it. He heard the laughing of another while yanking the knife, noticing the attack just in time to have the goblin’s knife only graze his lower back. The stature of the goblins benefited him greatly; having reached his max height of 180 centimeters while also being fairly strong and athletic, Kaito had the upper hand. However, with his exhausted body and injuries from the explosion earlier that day, made even just one goblin take an immense amount of energy from him.

He kneed a third goblin to the floor before falling to the floor himself. His hands and knees holding him up as the fourth, fifth, and sixth goblins all charged him while on the ground. Pushing his body backward and rolling onto his feet, he grabbed the goblin he had stolen the knife from and stretched out its arms, attempting to use it as a meat shield. The three goblins continued their charge, unconcerned with the Kaito’s shield, impaling their kin in their attack. They were grinning from ear to ear, as they pulled the knives out and flanked him at his sides.

Kaito swung the bleeding goblin in a twisting motion, knocking both goblins on their behinds. He threw himself onto the goblin on his right and used his stolen knife to quickly stab it in desperation. He cleaved and cleaved, ensuring that it was dead before jumping atop the one on the other side, hacking away until it stopped moving. The goblin victim to Kaito’s smuggle jumped on him from behind and scratched away at his back. Yelling in pain, Kaito struggled to his feet and charged to the closest tree. The goblin scratched and dug away at his back as Kaito grabbed its leg, slammed himself against the tree. Knocking the goblin unconscious, he slashed its neck a few times to ensure it would no longer move and staggered back to the camp. Two goblins had gotten back on their feet and looked at him apathetically as he neared the campfire once more. They did not smile, and instead yelled incomprehensible sounds as they charged toward him.

Kaito parried the first goblin’s attack but had his left arm pierced by the second one. He cried in pain as he jabbed at the goblin’s nose. Switching focus moments later and hammering away at the first goblin. Kaito quickly incapacitated it before running like a wild bear toward the last goblin, who was holding its scrunched up nose in pain.

He pushed and pinned it to the ground before pummeling it repeatedly, his fist holding the knife sideways. He cried in pain as tears dripped from his eyes. Seconds turned to minutes as he kept hammering away at it; his body slowly running out of adrenaline.

After about 4 minutes of continuous attacks, Kaito’s body gave out and collapsed onto the barely living goblin. He could hear its faint, raspy breathing, its malnourished chest against his own, and the stench of rot coming from its skin.

The final resting place of the goblin happened to be right next to the crate filled with liquid, his sole reason for fighting for his life.

“Finally” raspy with thirst, Kaito pulled the crate toward him, being careful not to spill it. He submerged his hands and cupped them as he collected the liquid. The light from the fire reflecting onto his hands, the liquid dripped onto his knees as he pressed his mouth against them.

Salty tears combining with the liquid as he lowered his head into the wooden crate. He drank and drank in the company of the fire, chugging away at his ticket to life.

This water tastes like crap.

Kaito had killed something for the first time. He’d killed goblins, killed them to survive. The heart beating out of his chest, and legs aching in pain; he laid down next to the creature.

With his thirst now quenched he closed his eyes. The sound of the wind filled his ears, the leaves shaking with every gust, and the fire, crackling under the stars.

—--

12 Hours Earlier:

As Kaito woke from a blood-curling screech, someone else woke in a bed lined with gems.

Far east of the forests, above a vast body of water, the continent of Menak is found. Past the port and through grand plains, a wall of mountains marks the end of the continent—at the most eastern edge of the land. A castle rests within the wall, harboring the ruler of the continent. It is in these walls that a girl with long black hair wakes. Her slender body shuddering in her sheets as she begins to regain consciousness.

She jolts awake, gasping for air, her eyes darting around in alarm. The sound of a truck’s horn ringing in her ear and its blinding lights replaying in her head. She clutches her fist, pressing it against her chest. 

“Is this...the afterlife?”