The first day

I wake up with a headache. It must be hangover. It was too long since the last time I got so wasted that I couldn't remember what I did. And that's happening right now. This doesn't look like the resort room with pool access. It still is a room though, with its bed and nightstand. No balcony, only one big window close to the bed. The sunrays are not helping with the hangover, damn!

Ok, relax. Slow breaths, deep breaths. Try to recall what happened last night, me. I remember Dennis giving me some drinks. Did he spike them? I dunno, apart from Dennis, Matt was at the party. John too I think. Trying to remember more makes my head hurt, so I leave it for now. I have something at least. Glad I didn't go full amnesic; that would be bad.

I realise that I'm naked except for a dog tag that I'm wearing on my neck. I grab the cold metal to examine it better. As I pass my finger through the inscription on the plate a vision appears. Is the trinket proyecting this? It reads "Radulf, dark knight of death" What an edgelord: dark night of death. Ha, ha, ha! Wait... Why do I have this? Is it mine? No way! As I thought this, my head aches in confirmation. No, please! I don't want to be a cringe knight of lame! What did I do last night?!?!

Deep breaths, again. For now, let's check my surroundings. I can see a black armour tossed nearby. Close to it, a sword. I unsheathe it. My hand grabs its hilt, and instinctively do some swings. Its crimson blade looks cool and fit the dark night vibe. Oh, shit. Maybe I'm starting to lose it. I sheathe it. The most logical explanation is that both things are mine and now I'm an expert with a sword. With no other clothes on sight, I don the armour and grab the sword. I'll check the nightstand: a meal voucher for the Ultramort Inn. Is this place called like that? Maybe, that would make sense. I scan the room and find no more beds and also a bathroom. Let's check it.

There is a toilet, a sink with its mirror and no bathtub nor shower. A pity, a relaxing bath would work wonders for my hangover. I look myself in the mirror. A black knight fully clad in armour is what I see. I grab my helmet as I fight a sudden urge to avoid seeing my face in the other side of the mirror. I close my eyes and remove my helmet in one swift move. I open my eyes and a thought resonates in my mind as I see my reflection: "At least I'm a human" What in the actual f*ck is wrong with me?!? Why?! Why am I like this now?!

Deep breaths. Deep breaths again, for good measure. Nothing good will come for being worked up. The sink doesn't have a faucet but water is coming when I put my hands in there. An automatic system to save water. Whatever, I will splash my face with water as many times as needed. Now that I calmed down (but not totally), I look myself in the mirror. It's me. Nothing wrong with how I look. But the previous thought is still lingering deep in my brain. No use of wallowing; let's use the meal voucher. Just before reaching the door, I notice that I don't have the room's key. I look around and check other furniture but there's nothing of the sort. Oh well, let's go fill my stomach.

I step out of the room and walk through the woody hallway. I go downstairs and try to find the reception. To my right there's this hotel's exit. The whole thing has a rustic air. It wasn't long, but boy sure I miss the resort. There's the reception near the exit. There's a tall man behind the desk. For some reason his face is red. "Excuse me, where I could use this?" I ask him while showing the voucher. "Yes, sir. The canteen is at the back. Enjoy your meal!" He responds as he signals with its palm. Okay, that confirms that this is the Ultramort Inn.

There is another man in the canteen entrance. This one's skin is yellow. Too hungry and lazy to care. I give them the voucher and he guides me to an empty table.
"Please wait a little. The food will be ready soon. What could we get you for drink? We have water, wine, mead and fruit juice." The yellow man politely asks.
"Red wine, please." I reply. The best cure for hangover is more alcohol, as Dennis usually says. Again, at least I don't have total amnesia but it still sucks that I could barely remember a thing about the resort party.

A minute or so later, I have my food and drink served in my table. It's a grayish green soup with some bread slices as a side dish. There is also a small plate with minced meat. I guess you can put it on the soup and eat it together. I do so and start eating. It tastes good. The bread is okay though. Halfway through, a buff man comes and takes a seat in front of me. "I'll have what he's having. And also mead, please." The man makes his order to the waiter. The service here is excellent. 
"You are Radulf, are you not?" The man says while looking me in the eye. His voice and looks are intimidating. It seems that he only wants to talk, so my life is not in danger... yet. He wears a beanie and a sleeveless shirt. His arms are very hairy. He also has a beard and mustache.
"According to this, yes. I am Radulf. Who are you?" I say, trying to sound as calm as possible while I show him my dog tag.
"I'm Joanot" He takes out a piece of paper and starts writing something with a small pencil. "Read this but not out loud." I grab the paper and do what he says.

"In case that you don't remember, you are Robert and I'm John. But don't use these names here. Let's catch up." The note says. Holy hell, is that John? I don't remember him that fit. And that hairy, too. His voice hasn't changed, now that I realised.
"Wow, there's a lot to process here! I don't know what to ask first." I say.
"Don't worry, it's not that I know everything. Do you know anything about the rest of the..." John pauses for a second. "...wolfpack?" He says with an annoyed tone. I remember that John (or Joanot as he calls himself now) wasn't a fan of this moniker. He is playing the part of not using our real names well, so I'll do the same.
"No, nothing. I guess you also don't know, right?" I answer.
"Nope. I was alone just like you."
"But wait! How did you know where to find me?" I blurt out.
"It wasn't difficult to find a human around here." He replies. I don't like what I just heard. The thought from earlier "At least I'm a human." wildly resonates inside my head.
"Wait! What does that mean?! Are you not human?!" I couldn't be calm anymore.
"Relax. You don't want to cause a scene here, do you?" His voice was calm but firm.
"Sorry. I am okay now." I say after calming myself down. "Please, go on."
"Let's talk about what's most important. What do you remember from our party?"
"I only remember Den- the one that says wolfpack, was there encouraging me to drink different cocktails. I must have drunk a lot. I only know that I woke up here with a hangover that is not cured yet."
"No shit! You are still drinking."
"That's right. It's not that I have to go to work right now. Ah!" I suddenly realised. "Where are we, though? Do you know?"
"Try to not freak out."
"Okay. I'll try." I interrupt him.
"Um, yeah, Okay. So, how to say this? We are in another world."
"Really, now? Are you pulling my leg?" I find this another world thing ridiculous. I don't know why does he think it's the time to crack jokes.
"I'm not joking. See." He says while he takes out his beanie. On the top of his head, there are two dog ears. Weird... He twitches them to make me realise that they are a real part of his body.
"So that's why I had that thought."
"What thought?"
"At least I'm a human."
"Yeah. You were lucky. I'm a monster now!" He says with a sad tone. It must be hard for him. But I'm not sure if being a cringe knight of black death or whatever is better.
"Well, you can hide those ears with that beanie, right? It's not the end of the world. Whatever world it is now..." I try to cheer him up.
"You don't know nothing! I am now transformed."
"What?"
"Here, look" he stands up.
After he says that, he starts growing bulkier and hairier. Fortunately, his clothes adapt to the transformation. What are they made of? More importantly his face changed to one of a wolf and now he has a tail. Yeah, I lucked out. Now he is a damn furry, lol.
"This is my original form. Believe it or not, you stand up more in there." He says that as he keeps this original form of his.
"Why? Are you saying that I'm the only human around here?"
"Yeah. Didn't you notice that the hotel staff are all demons?"
"Ah! That's why they have that skin colours."
"And the horns, man! Did you not see them?"
"Nope, but now that you mention it..."
"Moving on... We need to discuss the most important thing. That is: what are we gonna do now?"
"I think the most important thing is how we ended up here and why like that. I mean, I'm still human but..." I say just realizing that could come as insensitive.
"It's OK. It must be divine punishment for cheating on my girl" his voice reflects regret and sadness.
"So you remember more about the party! I only remember driking like a fish. Heaps of drinks, like they were infinite. And afterwards, I wake up in this inn. Wait... did I get laid too?"
"Rude! Nope, I can't remember much about any of us. Just partying with all of you and some other women. Did D- the wolfpack guy bring them?"
"He is the most likely suspect, yeah."

We conclude that that was all that we know about the time before the dimension travel. John gives me a rundown about the area that we are in. As he said before, this is no human's kingdom. The people of this world know better than risking their lifes in this monster-infested area. Aptly so, this zone is called the Monster Kingdom. Apparently, I'm way more powerful than a simple human and that's why I can do fine here. But that made me famous around here. John tolds me that I shouldn't be surprised if I get duel offers to test my might. We talk about what to do now and John asks me "Do you remember how to fight?" That hits me. When I picked up my sword after waking up, I instintively did some swings. It seemed easy there but I'm not sure how would I fare in a real battle. Will I be fine? Will I panic? Will I yell special moves names like a edgy teenager? A flashback from my past hits me like a mace. I was an edgy teenager. I mean, who wasn't at some point? This black knight thing would be right in my alley in my younger days. I feel like I'm close to a revelation but my hopes fade when I cannot get anything else from this thinking. I reply "Not sure. Maybe it's one of those things that you only know when you try."
"In that case, you should sign up to a tournament in this town's coliseum. You need to be able to fight if we want to look for our friends."
"Yeah, but... Do they fight to death here? I'm not a fan of dying."
"That's right, but don't worry: you won't die. There are healers that take care of that"
"Is that true?"
"Yeah. We can go there if you want to verify. Unless you want to hunt monsters in the forest. You won't have healers to help you, there."
"I was meaning to ask. What is your combat style? I don't see you carrying any weapon. Do you use magic?"
"You are way more proficient with magic than me!" he answers like if it was that obvious. "No magic, no weapons. I'm a pure fighter."
"Despite that, you seem pretty strong, am I right?"
"I can protect myself, if that's what you ask."
"Cool. I guess there's no better option that attending the tournament."
"Of course. There is no sign up fee. And there's the prize money in case you win. A win-win situation for you."
"Will you enter the tournament too? To up the odds?"
"I'm not sure. With regular monsters, it's no problem. But against a magician... I only have speed to my advantage. If they hit first, I'm cooked."
"Got it. At least, please go with me to the coliseum."
"Absolutely. That's what friends are for."
"Thanks! If I was alone here, that would suck ass."
"Indeed!"

Next goal: the coliseum. It is the best course of action, but that doesn't mean I'm excited to participate. Fighting strong opponents is scary. I should be optimistic: I am a black knight of death (ugh! I'm not used to it yet). Apparently strong. Or just because I have great magic stat? I'll cross that bridge when I get there. We finish our meals and leave the inn.