"Where did he ... from?"
"Maybe the ... brought him...."
"No one's come ... since..."
Low grim voices echoed in Jin's ears. He imagined he was just having a weird dream, until a strong putrid stench drifted into his nostrils.
He inhaled, trying to recognise the odour. It was a mix of damp and earth, and another distinct smell he'd recognized before.
The smell of rotting meat.
He exhaled sharply, forcing his eyelids open as he lifted himself from the cold, hard floor. He rose to his feet in haste, but a dizzy spell sent him staggering back down.
He landed on his hands and knees, his kneecaps protesting as they struck the floor. For a moment he remained in that position, then raised his head again when the spell faded.
What is this place? He thought, glancing around the dim-lit room.
In front of Jin, was a large gate, made of wide bars that ran crisscross over each other, with a gate fixed in the middle. The other three sides of the cell were made entirely of stone, with no openings whatsoever, leaving the entire room in a state of near-darkness.
It would have been dark, save for a dim glowing orb in the hallway outside the cell.
Props to whoever owned this movie set, Jin thought. It was a damn-near realistic dungeon cell, and it was pretty spacious, almost the size of his room.
He lifted himself off the floor, staring at his clothes. His leather jacket and trousers were gone, now replaced by what looked like a battle tunic from the Dark Ages, and smelled like it hadn't been washed in ages.
He marched to the edge of the cell, glimpsing around for any sign of a camera or wires, but when he found none, his heart thudded faster in his chest.
"How did I get here?" he muttered, grabbing the bars of his cell.
"Good question lad," a deep voice bellowed behind him.
Jin spun around, goosebumps erupting on his skin. For the first time, he noticed two other figures who sat on the floor at the far corner of the cell.
Both were dressed in medieval armour, but one of them had long brown hair, and long ears that pointed away from his head. The other had curly auburn hair, and a long scar that ran across his nose.
Jin kept his eyes on them, startled by their grotesque costumes, but he summoned up courage and trudged toward both men.
"Where are we?" he asked, trying to deepen his shaky voice.
The scarred face simply looked up at him, his eyes devoid of any compassion.
"Hell."
Jin could almost hear his heart pounding in his chest. The room suddenly felt smaller, like it was shrinking in on him.
Then, something clicked in Jin's skull.
He could remember it now. The bright yellow headlights that flashed in his eyes, and the loud thud he heard when the truck slammed into him at full speed.
He remembered falling back and smashing his head against the hard wet tarmac, the streetlights above growing blurry. Unable to move a muscle, his eyes fell shut and his consciousness gradually slipped away.
Was he... dead?
No. He couldn't be dead, not when he could feel his heart pounding in his chest, and his breath escaping his lips in short, ragged gasps.
He brushed his palms over his face and pulled a strand of hair from his head. Everything about him seemed the same. Everything except for the rags he wore, the cold numbing his bare feet, and the medieval dungeon cell he found himself in.
Was this... the afterlife?
The sound of large iron boots marching on the floor reached Jin's ears, pulling him out of his thoughts.
A tall, dark, muscular figure emerged on the other side of the gate. Unlike the men in the cell, this one wore a black modern combat uniform, similar to the military costumes Jin had seen on most sets. But when Jin raised his eyes to look at his face, a silent gasp escaped his lips.
Staring back at him, was a menacing dark-complexioned face, with deep-set eyes, and sharp tusks emerging from his mouth.
Jin was not mistaken. He had seen this before, in every fantasy manga he'd read since he was a kid.
It was an Orc.
"You," the orc soldier bellowed, pointing at Jin. "Who are you?"
"M... Me..." he stuttered. "I'm... I'm..."
"How did you get in here?!"
Jin wished he knew the answer himself. But his mind was as blank as a slate.
"I... I don't know."
The orc stared at Jin for a while, his eyes almost boring into Jin's skull. Then he shook his head, and let out a dissatisfied sigh.
"No matter," he growled. "You fight. Now."
The word re-echoed in Jin's skull. "Fight?"
The soldier pulled out a bunch of keys, pushing one into a keyhole. A loud creak filled the air as the soldier pulled the steel gate toward himself.
"Out! Now!"
Without hesitation, Jin slipped out of his cell, his bare feet silently brushing the floor. He turned to the left and found himself face-to-face with another orc soldier.
"Come with me," the soldier ordered.
Jin swallowed, "Yes sir... Please don't eat me."
The orc squinted his brows, but ignored the remark.
They moved in silence, through a series of long dim-lit tunnels that—to Jin—seemed to stretch endlessly. As they marched, he came across many more orcs, dressed in similar uniforms, their faces cold and expressionless.
One thing Jin noticed, was the red insignia on each soldier's chest. Any hopes Jin had that he was on a movie set and this was some sort of mistake, slowly faded into memory.
After minutes of walking, they arrived at a small door carved into the wall. The orc pushed it open, and they stepped into a small room, filled with various uniforms and melee weapons.
"Get dressed!" the orc commanded.
Jin silently obeyed, sifting through the uniforms for a size that could fit him. He found one and slipped it on, along with a pair of small black boots.
When Jin was done, the orc soldier approached him and handed him a sword.
"Move!"
Jin accepted the weapon, wondering what it was meant for. He had never used a sword before, except as a prop for a stage performance in acting school.
However, this was no prop. Its edges were razor sharp, and the sheer weight of it made his wrist ache.
They marched towards the door, the orc walking ahead of Jin. Once outside, the orc led him through another series of tunnels, just like the ones that came before.
Eventually, they arrived at the end of the tunnel, a bright light shining from the other end. Jin paused, squinting his eyes to make out what was beyond.
"Keep moving!" the orc's deep voice thundered behind him.
Once again, he obeyed, not wanting to find out what would happen if he didn't. He stepped towards the end, raising his arm to shield his eyes from the blinding light.
A loud uproar erupted all around Jin as he stepped out of the tunnel. He froze for a moment, confused by the sudden noise. But slowly, his eyes adapted to the bright light.
Jin found himself on a wide hexagonal platform, surrounded on all sides by people whose faces he couldn't make out, due to the bright spotlights shining on him from above. The air was heavy with the stench of sweat, and patches of blood decorated the floor.
"What is this place?" Jin asked himself once again, his heart thudding faster with each step he made.
Right on cue, a loud, voice echoed through the arena, as if to answer his question.
"Our next match tonight is a new challenger. Never seen in this arena before. But has he got what it takes to go against the undefeated champion?"
Jin swallowed, realization hitting him like a truck. "Undefeated?"
A sudden roar erupted from the other end of the platform, rising above the cheers of the crowd.
Jin narrowed his eyes to catch a glimpse of who or what was on the other end. As soon as he did, his jaw fell out of his mouth.
"Fuck..."