Rock Bottom

I couldn't breathe. The giant, red, four-armed cyclops had his hands wrapped around my neck, my back pressed hard against a tree as he squeezed the life out of me.

"I will kill you now, boy," the monster growled into my face. "I will break your bones, crush your chest, and rip your head from your body," he added, grinning down at me as he tightened his grip on my throat.

I was going to die. There was no two ways about it. I was trapped in here with this creature — no backup, no skills to defend myself, and no way out.

"Nighty night, little insect," the one-eyed beast said, bringing his face closer to mine. "You should never have jumped into the depths of an S-Class dungeon. Time to sleep and go into my belly."

"But I didn't choose to come into this place," I gasped, struggling to speak as my windpipe was being crushed. "I was pushed off an airship." My voice came out as a croak. "Please… don’t kill me. Just let me go, and I will never come back again."

"Stupid insect," the monster spat. "Haven’t you heard? No human who’s fallen into this dungeon has ever left alive. Besides, you had me chasing you for a while back there, so I’ve worked up an appetite. It’s only fair that I eat you now, as compensation for the exercise I never asked for. Don’t you agree?"

There was nothing I could do to save myself. I was weak. Defenseless. All alone. Unwanted. I was finished.

As the life slowly drained from my body, only one thought ran through my mind in that moment. This was not the fantasy world I had always dreamed of. This was not it at all.