Murphy didn't think his heroic journey would end before it even started.
I mean, he was never at living, he had made a few bad choices in his life. In the matter of fact, a few too many.
One moment he was counting the pennies he had left to make sure he would have enough for a coffee. The next—he's dying.
Like, for real this time. He found himself on a sidewalk nobody really uses in the middle of a godforsaken winter.
He was freezing.
Alone.
In a sideway.
"Really?" He muttered to himself as he felt the cold slip under his three-sizes-too-small jacket. He could feel his fingers stiff, or... maybe he didn't really feel them anymore.
"So... this is how I go?" He scoffed, pulling his legs closer to the chest. "This? Not by being struck by a truck or while rescuing a puppy from a burning building. What a life..."
He let out a forced, bitter laugh. Somewhere in the back of his mind, a voice wondered if it was karma.
But Murphy couldn't care less anymore. He was too busy trying not to suffocate in the snow.
But then he heard the voice again. It was soft and smoothing, like a creampie. Too calm for this type of a situation.
"What?" Murphy chattered. "Am I going mad?"
[ANSWER: NO]
"It looks like it for me." He sniffed. "Is this the moment when I get reincarnated as a prince and build my harem?"
[ANSWER: UNKNOWN TERM USED]
[QUESTION: WHAT IS HAREM]
"Uh... don't worry about it..." He sniffed again. "God, this is insane... I'm talking to an imaginary voice in my head."
[ANALYSING...]
"Okay, I'm waiting... not like I've got much of a choice." Murphy said, he felt like there wasn't much time left.
[ANALYSING COMPLETE]
[DO YOU WISH TO KNOW THE RESULTS]
"Do you really need to ask? Ehh... yes." Murphy murmured. He saw the snow piling up around him like the world was trying to insult him for the last time.
[VITAL SIGNS: ABSENT]
[STATUS: DEAD]
[CORE STATUS: FRAGMENTED]
[DO YOU WISH TO CONTINUE]
"Do I wish to continue? Continue what? Give me a definition." Murphy squinted his eyes, was he hallucinating or was the snow falling backwards?
[DEFINITION: PERSIST IN AN ACTIVITY OR PROCESS]
"Yeah, I know that. I meant... what does it mean in this situation? What am I going to continue?" Murphy shivered, he wasn't sure if the words were still coming out of his mouth or was he actually dead-dead.
[ANSWER: UNKNOWN]
Murphy sighed, or at least he thought he did. "Great. So I won't even know what I'm signing up for. By the way... who are you?"
[ANSWER: AI-29745538735537356288836362637]
"Do you have a shorter name? I doubt I'll be able to remember that." Murphy muttered, hie eyelids were growing heavier and heavier in seconds.
[NAME: SYSTEM]
Murphy shivered again. His mind bearly registered the word. His eyelids felt like lead, and his breath was coming in shallow, cold gasps. "System? Like in a game?"
No answer.
"Alright, system. So what are my choices anyway?" Murphy muttered, his voice slurring.
[POSSIBLE OUTCOMES: CONTINUE]
"And the second one?" He waited for a few seconds, but no answer came again. "Are you... not gonna elaborate?"
The silence stretched between them. Suddenly, Murphy felt a wave of loneliness, after all, whatever it was, it gave him its time. But he quickly pushed the feeling away.
"Yeah, no. I'm not playing your games. I've been through enough. Thanks. Decline. Reject. Just no." Murphy breathed out, didn't feel his body anymore, but the defiance still burned deep inside him.
[DO YOU WISH TO CONTINUE]
"Oh for the love of god, you're still here?" Murphy scoffed and then coughed out something that he hoped was just his saliva. "Can't take no as an answer, huh?"
[ANSWER DENIED: CONTINUATION IN PROCESS]
"Wait, what?! Wait, I didn't say yes!" He screamed,shaking his head, however there was no real force behind it.
[ANSWER: YOU DID NOT SAY NO EITHER]
"I literally did, you fu—" Murphy tried to protest, but it came barely as a cough. His body gave up and his mind was slowly doing it too.
The cold was no longer biting at his skin—it was deep inside, like he became an icicle. "I said... no."
[ANSWER DENIED: PLEASE STOP RESISTING]
"No."
[TRANSFER IN PROGRESS IN 3... 2... 1...]
The world flickered. Everything came to a stop. Then glitched.
It's not how Murphy imagined his death. There was no reunion with his parents. His grandma wasn't reaching from him from above.
Just... snow dancing before his very eyes. It was falling upside down after all.
"System?" He tried to ask, but no words came out.
The the world flickered again and he wasn't in the alley anymore.
It was wet.
And cold.
And... slimy?
Murphy groaned, or tried to. Instead, he sputtered as something viscous slid down his throat. "Oh, god." He gagged. "Did I wake up in a fungus's digestive system?"
The smell hit him even harder, it was a mix of rot, moss and... a wet raccoon? Something sticky coated his face. He wiped at it, but the thick liquid only smeared, adding to the gross feeling.
"Ugh. Definitely not how I imagined waking up. What the hell is this thing?" He tried to push himself up, it was then when he realised he landed on the floor—face first. It was slimy and moving, ugh, just purely disgusting.
"Great. I'm in Satan's basement. Could it get an worse from here?"
[ANSWER: YES]
"Oh, you're here... again." Murphy sat up, his clothes were soaked in a mysterious-looking goo, like a snot or something.
His body felt... off. It wasn't cold anymore, nor aching in any way. Just... off. It was too light, too floaty. Like he had no weight.
"What the hell is this place?" He muttered, wiping his face with the sleeve of his hoodie, which only succeeded in giving the slime a broader canvas.
[PROCESSING...]
"Oh, cool, you're working just as fast as my grandpa's computer." Murphy murmured, looking around this so-called shit hole.
[PROCESSING COMPLETE]
[WELCOME TO: THE CAVE OF FORGOTTEN SOULS]
[WARNING: DECEPTION IMMINENT]
[PLEASE REMAIN CALM]
"Calm?" He repeated, blinking slowly. "I wake up in a pile of nose juice and you're telling me to stay calm? Are you serious right now? I've been calmer during dentist visits."
He staggered to his feet, or what he hoped were his feet. The floor squelched beneath him, groaning like it resented the weight of his existence. Fair. Murphy often resented the weight of his existence too.
The cave pulsed. Literally. The walls looked like they were breathing, expanding and contracting with a rhythm that made his stomach lurch. "Oh cool. Organic architecture. My favorite."
Murphy took a deep breath, looking for any source of light—the exit should be somewhere where the light is, no? "Okay, where should I go now?"
[WARNING: YOU ARE NOW IN COMBAT]
"What?" Murphy blinked before turning around, almost slipping on the goo. "Wait, what?! Combat? What the hell are you talking about?!"
[THE ENEMY IS APPROACHING: 10 SECONDS LEFT UNTIL THE CONTACT]
[PROCESSING POSSIBLE MOVES...]
[RECOMMENDATION: RUN]
Murphy's stomach did a twist. He just got here and now he was told to run?Run from what? Who? Where?
"Man, I need a break!" But as he shouted, he heard a squelching sound. Something was coming to him or for him. Fast.
"Okay, okay! Don't panic." But as he said that, panic rose in his chest. Murphy's head was empty. This entire situation was like a nightmare coming to life. And unfortunately he didn't have much time left again.
[5 SECONDS LEFT UNTIL THE CONTACT]
Murphy's heart hammered in his chest. He didn't know what kind of hellhole he'd landed in, but one thing was for sure—he wasn't getting out of it just by standing around.
"Cool. Alright. 5 seconds. That's enough time to... do something." Murphy muttered, trying to clear his vision from the goo, only making it worse. "God, help me. I'm gonna die again!"
[3 SECONDS LEFT UNTIL THE CONTACT]
The squelching sound was getting louder. It was like something—or someone—was moving toward him.
[2 SECONDS LEFT UNTIL THE CONTACT]
"So this is how I die. Again." He whispered quietly, before forcing out a chuckle. "Two deaths in one hour, that's probably a record, huh?"
Murphy tried to walk, but it was like his feet were sinking in the goo, he stood there. Frozen. This time not by cold, but... fear?
[1 SECOND LEFT UNTIL THE CONTACT]
Murphy was about to feel like an idiot.
No, scratch that. He already did feel like an idiot—just that now, it would be more official. Like getting a gold medal in stupidity.
There was no time left. No time for a grand escape, no time to make a witty comeback to the voice in his head, and definitely no time to find a way out of whatever nightmare pit he'd managed to land in.
[CONTACT: IMMINENT]
"Probably, nobody will even remember me... hope they at least find my body and bury me properly." Murphy sniffed, holding back the tears that dared to slip. "Damn, my life has sucked until its very end... second end, actually. I don't know which one was worse."
[ERROR]
"Yeah, I know..." Murphy muttered, closing his eyes. A sudden wave of nausea ran through him. "It was great to meet you, despite your attitude, you were—"
Before he could finish another message appeared: [EMERGENCY ABILITY USE: VOID FLICKER]