In the direction Melvin was looking, he gazed upon an expanse of land that stretched endlessly to the horizon, brimming with lush greenery, vibrant trees, and a lengthy brick-paved pathway meandering through the verdant landscape.
However, his keen eyes noticed that the meticulously laid paving abruptly ceased at a certain distance ahead. In the direction of his gaze, the land extended indefinitely, and most importantly he was filled with warmth.
When he turned to look to his right, his eyes immediately squinted as they faced the morning sky that had already begun its daily ritual, and he couldn't help but think, 'If this is like the previous world, then the sun would rise from the east which means that to my right is the east, the south behind me, and in front of me the north.'
The sun's rays felt very warm on his skin making him close his eyes in utter satisfaction, and the fact that the previously strong disgusting stench of corpses was replaced by a beautiful breeze carrying the smell of the nearby trees, rich fertile soil, and the various plants and flowers made the situation a thousand times more gratifying.
He started taking very big breaths in an attempt to cleanse his lungs that felt violated by the stench, and as he was doing so he couldn't help but hear a faint noise that seemed to be gradually increasing.
At first, he reasoned that it was just the leaves of the nearby trees and plants rustling, but soon the sound increased to the point that he could tell exactly what it was, 'Wooden cartwheels?'
His previously closed eyes jolted open at the ridiculous thought and started crazily darting around, and before long he saw a distant black mass to his immediate left in the western direction which proved to be the source of the sound.
'Oh no, what should I do?' The fact that he was a corpse that had just risen from the dead made him feel stumped, and the fact that this would be his first interaction with people of this world made the situation all the more overwhelming for him.
Before his mind could start pointlessly panicking once again, he breathed in the beautiful fresh air, and began to think critically, 'I shouldn't be worried about communication, I think. I understood those strange words from the interface so I should be able to speak with them.'
However, the incoming cart proved to be too fast for even his thoughts as he could already make out the shape of a white monster pulling the cart that looked like a mixture between a bear and an ox with great protruding wide grey horns on both sides.
He immediately concluded what he should do, and sprung into action.
He gripped the edge of the ground tightly, leveraging his weight to move slowly to the right, step by step, each movement sending bits of dirt and soil tumbling down, some finding their way into his hair and across his face.
Deciding it wise to wait for the wooden cart to pass along the road before making his move, he ensured the previous pile of bodies he'd painstakingly assembled remained stable. Thus, reluctant to risk disturbing it by leaping, he opted instead to shift positions cautiously with his hands.
Once he reached what he deemed a safe distance from the pile, he released his grip and landed with soft a thud and the sound of cracking bone echoed as the elbow of a corpse gave way.
However, most of his attention was on something that appeared in front of him.
[You have killed a Nebula-winged Gnat. You have received 0 XP]
Just like before, several golden characters appeared providing him with such a ridiculous piece of information.
'What?!' Melvin yelled in his mind, although this time it was more so an exclamation of shock rather than confusion.
After he started relating some of the mechanics of this world to video games, he began to realize that a lot of things started to make sense, and even this mind-blowing information that would have sent him spiraling into an endless sea of uncertainty before now made perfect sense.
'It seems like I need to kill things to raise my rank?' He concluded, 'And if I raise my rank I will probably increase my strength and the level of my class...'
Still, he quickly dismissed such ideas from his mind for now, there were other urgent things he had to pay attention to.
Because he had already enjoyed the clean breeze for a minute or so, meeting the old dead rotting smell once again made him feel like vomiting, but he managed to hold it in with great difficulty. Although there was still nothing to vomit, he didn't want to make any noise that might alert whoever is passing by.
He fixated his gaze on the cloudless blue sky, a deliberate effort to distract himself from the pervasive smell while honing in on the sounds around him.
After a while, he could hear that the cart had already reached the point in the path closest to the pit, but for some reason, instead of the sound getting farther and farther away as he was expecting, it was doing the exact opposite.
Soon, the sound completely shifted as a dangerous realization dawned on him.
'It's impossible! Did it leave the paved road?' Melvin couldn't understand why it would do so, and he figured he must be just not hearing well. However, to his horror, the sound felt so close that there was no mistaking it, the cart was coming to the pit for some reason or other.
Reaching this conclusion, he swiftly laid on his back and tried to act dead.
'Should I keep my eyes closed or open?' This seemingly simple question bugged him so much that he started shaking.
Naturally, keeping his eyes open posed a risk; a reflexive blink or a curious fly could easily give him away. But shutting his eyes entirely presented its challenge—how much force should he use behind their shut?
"Fuck!" he muttered under his breath as the cart came to a halt beside the pit. With quick reflexes, he flattened himself against the ground, lying on his stomach.
The first thing he saw nearly caused him to choke as a yell almost escaped his dry lips; an elderly, toothless woman's face loomed dangerously close to his, flies buzzing in and out of her open mouth, occasionally brushing against his nose.
Just as he was preparing to shift his position, he caught the faint but steady rhythm of footsteps approaching on the dirt-covered ground. He closed his eyes and started slowing down his breathing, straining to make no sound as the footsteps drew nearer.
The disgusting flies soon started hanging on his lips, nose, and close to his eyes which made him feel itchy all over, but what made it so difficult was the psychological turmoil he was going through as he kept imagining how dirty and disgusting those flies were.
Understanding that his line of thoughts would only make him vomit, he tried to focus on his breathing, but the smell was even worse, and thus he felt himself stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Suddenly, an old voice echoed through the pit, halting his stream of thought. "What in the gods' name happened here?"
The voice belonged to an old man, his skinny frame and rough, tanned skin indicating a life lived in harsh conditions. He wore a strange bamboo hat atop his head, its brim casting a shadow over his weathered face. His attire was simple yet worn, consisting of a cheap dark brown vest layered over a black shirt.
As he glanced down at the pile of bodies placed on top of one another with a simple pitchfork in his right hand, a mixture of shock and anger flickered in his eyes before he began cursing, "Is it those Dark Mages again? I told the guards that they should put someone here, but they don't listen."
Once his anger subsided his expression was replaced by one of uncertainty as he uttered, "Mhhm... Or maybe some poor fella with a hungry beast to feed that came here?"
Thinking of that he started shaking his head in disagreement, "Too risky if the guards find out about it his beast would be taken away and killed,
after all a beast that tasted human flesh becomes untrustworthy, who would guarantee he wouldn't jump on the first helpless child he meets with an empty stomach?"
He had witnessed the aftermath of the dark mages' activities in the pits of the irredeemable before, and this scene was starkly different. Initially, he had assumed it was their handiwork, given recent rumors and the threat they posed to his old life which made him jumo to that conclusion.
With the pitchfork in hand, his seemingly frail arms bulged with unexpected strength as he began to hurl the tall stack of bodies to different corners of the pit, undoing all of Melvin's painstaking efforts.
The victim of this ordeal fought back a surge of despair as bodies thudded onto the ground all around him. His only relief was the realization that they had all missed him. Otherwise, he would be in a world of pain if some of the bodies landed on top of him, his back was already aching with pain after having slept on an elevated waistbone for god knows how long.
Once the man had spread out the bodies and leveled them, he began to contemplate what actions to take next regarding the situation.
After a while, he shrugged his shoulders and retreated saying, "It's not my problem, I'll just do my job and get back, the ceremony is about to begin."
When the word ceremony escaped his mouth, a wide toothy grin soon followed as his eyes lit up with anticipation.
Melvin who heard everything couldn't make heads or tails of what the man was talking about, but he was certain of one thing, 'Goodness, I am indeed in a new world.'
Now that he had processed some of the burdens weighing on him, his heart couldn't help but flutter with excitement.
In his previous world, who didn't yearn for the extraordinary. The call for adventure, and a life filled with magic and endless possibilities.
Flowing with that line of thinking, Melvin felt his heartbeat quicken, and for the first time in this world, it didn't do so because of fear and anxiety, but pure unadulterated excitement.
Just as Melvin was relishing one of the first positive emotions he felt in this world, that even the revolting rot-filled flies couldn't obstruct as they fought to land on his lips, a heavy object fell directly on his already aching back that a muffled pained noise unconsciously escaped his mouth due to the abruptness and intensity of the pain.
To make matters even worse, the old man came back yelling with an unmasked petrified tone, "Who's there?", however, despite the intense pain that threatened to make him lose consciousness his mind started spinning rapidly trying to think of what to do.
In the direction Melvin was looking, he gazed upon an expanse of land that stretched endlessly to the horizon, brimming with lush greenery, vibrant trees, and a lengthy brick-paved pathway meandering through the verdant landscape.
However, his keen eyes noticed that the meticulously laid paving abruptly ceased at a certain distance ahead. In the direction of his gaze, the land extended indefinitely, and most importantly he was filled with warmth.
When he turned to look to his right, his eyes immediately squinted as they faced the morning sky that had already begun its daily ritual, and he couldn't help but think, 'If this is like the previous world, then the sun would rise from the east which means that to my right is the east, the south behind me, and in front of me the north.'
The sun's rays felt very warm on his skin making him close his eyes in utter satisfaction, and the fact that the previously strong disgusting stench of corpses was replaced by a beautiful breeze carrying the smell of the nearby trees, rich fertile soil, and the various plants and flowers made the situation a thousand times more gratifying.
He started taking very big breaths in an attempt to cleanse his lungs that felt violated by the stench, and as he was doing so he couldn't help but hear a faint noise that seemed to be gradually increasing.
At first, he reasoned that it was just the leaves of the nearby trees and plants rustling, but soon the sound increased to the point that he could tell exactly what it was, 'Wooden cartwheels?'
His previously closed eyes jolted open at the ridiculous thought and started crazily darting around, and before long he saw a distant black mass to his immediate left in the western direction which proved to be the source of the sound.
'Oh no, what should I do?' The fact that he was a corpse that had just risen from the dead made him feel stumped, and the fact that this would be his first interaction with people of this world made the situation all the more overwhelming for him.
Before his mind could start pointlessly panicking once again, he breathed in the beautiful fresh air, and began to think critically, 'I shouldn't be worried about communication, I think. I understood those strange words from the interface so I should be able to speak with them.'
However, the incoming cart proved to be too fast for even his thoughts as he could already make out the shape of a white monster pulling the cart that looked like a mixture between a bear and an ox with great protruding wide grey horns on both sides.
He immediately concluded what he should do, and sprung into action.
He gripped the edge of the ground tightly, leveraging his weight to move slowly to the right, step by step, each movement sending bits of dirt and soil tumbling down, some finding their way into his hair and across his face.
Deciding it wise to wait for the wooden cart to pass along the road before making his move, he ensured the previous pile of bodies he'd painstakingly assembled remained stable. Thus, reluctant to risk disturbing it by leaping, he opted instead to shift positions cautiously with his hands.
Once he reached what he deemed a safe distance from the pile, he released his grip and landed with soft a thud and the sound of cracking bone echoed as the elbow of a corpse gave way.
However, most of his attention was on something that appeared in front of him.
[You have killed a Nebula-winged Gnat. You have received 0 XP]
Just like before, several golden characters appeared providing him with such a ridiculous piece of information.
'What?!' Melvin yelled in his mind, although this time it was more so an exclamation of shock rather than confusion.
After he started relating some of the mechanics of this world to video games, he began to realize that a lot of things started to make sense, and even this mind-blowing information that would have sent him spiraling into an endless sea of uncertainty before now made perfect sense.
'It seems like I need to kill things to raise my rank?' He concluded, 'And if I raise my rank I will probably increase my strength and the level of my class...'
Still, he quickly dismissed such ideas from his mind for now, there were other urgent things he had to pay attention to.
Because he had already enjoyed the clean breeze for a minute or so, meeting the old dead rotting smell once again made him feel like vomiting, but he managed to hold it in with great difficulty. Although there was still nothing to vomit, he didn't want to make any noise that might alert whoever is passing by.
He fixated his gaze on the cloudless blue sky, a deliberate effort to distract himself from the pervasive smell while honing in on the sounds around him.
After a while, he could hear that the cart had already reached the point in the path closest to the pit, but for some reason, instead of the sound getting farther and farther away as he was expecting, it was doing the exact opposite.
Soon, the sound completely shifted as a dangerous realization dawned on him.
'It's impossible! Did it leave the paved road?' Melvin couldn't understand why it would do so, and he figured he must be just not hearing well. However, to his horror, the sound felt so close that there was no mistaking it, the cart was coming to the pit for some reason or other.
Reaching this conclusion, he swiftly laid on his back and tried to act dead.
'Should I keep my eyes closed or open?' This seemingly simple question bugged him so much that he started shaking.
Naturally, keeping his eyes open posed a risk; a reflexive blink or a curious fly could easily give him away. But shutting his eyes entirely presented its challenge—how much force should he use behind their shut?
"Fuck!" he muttered under his breath as the cart came to a halt beside the pit. With quick reflexes, he flattened himself against the ground, lying on his stomach.
The first thing he saw nearly caused him to choke as a yell almost escaped his dry lips; an elderly, toothless woman's face loomed dangerously close to his, flies buzzing in and out of her open mouth, occasionally brushing against his nose.
Just as he was preparing to shift his position, he caught the faint but steady rhythm of footsteps approaching on the dirt-covered ground. He closed his eyes and started slowing down his breathing, straining to make no sound as the footsteps drew nearer.
The disgusting flies soon started hanging on his lips, nose, and close to his eyes which made him feel itchy all over, but what made it so difficult was the psychological turmoil he was going through as he kept imagining how dirty and disgusting those flies were.
Understanding that his line of thoughts would only make him vomit, he tried to focus on his breathing, but the smell was even worse, and thus he felt himself stuck between a rock and a hard place.
Suddenly, an old voice echoed through the pit, halting his stream of thought. "What in the gods' name happened here?"
The voice belonged to an old man, his skinny frame and rough, tanned skin indicating a life lived in harsh conditions. He wore a strange bamboo hat atop his head, its brim casting a shadow over his weathered face. His attire was simple yet worn, consisting of a cheap dark brown vest layered over a black shirt.
As he glanced down at the pile of bodies placed on top of one another with a simple pitchfork in his right hand, a mixture of shock and anger flickered in his eyes before he began cursing, "Is it those Dark Mages again? I told the guards that they should put someone here, but they don't listen."
Once his anger subsided his expression was replaced by one of uncertainty as he uttered, "Mhhm... Or maybe some poor fella with a hungry beast to feed that came here?"
Thinking of that he started shaking his head in disagreement, "Too risky if the guards find out about it his beast would be taken away and killed,
after all a beast that tasted human flesh becomes untrustworthy, who would guarantee he wouldn't jump on the first helpless child he meets with an empty stomach?"
He had witnessed the aftermath of the dark mages' activities in the pits of the irredeemable before, and this scene was starkly different. Initially, he had assumed it was their handiwork, given recent rumors and the threat they posed to his old life which made him jumo to that conclusion.
With the pitchfork in hand, his seemingly frail arms bulged with unexpected strength as he began to hurl the tall stack of bodies to different corners of the pit, undoing all of Melvin's painstaking efforts.
The victim of this ordeal fought back a surge of despair as bodies thudded onto the ground all around him. His only relief was the realization that they had all missed him. Otherwise, he would be in a world of pain if some of the bodies landed on top of him, his back was already aching with pain after having slept on an elevated waistbone for god knows how long.
Once the man had spread out the bodies and leveled them, he began to contemplate what actions to take next regarding the situation.
After a while, he shrugged his shoulders and retreated saying, "It's not my problem, I'll just do my job and get back, the ceremony is about to begin."
When the word ceremony escaped his mouth, a wide toothy grin soon followed as his eyes lit up with anticipation.
Melvin who heard everything couldn't make heads or tails of what the man was talking about, but he was certain of one thing, 'Goodness, I am indeed in a new world.'
Now that he had processed some of the burdens weighing on him, his heart couldn't help but flutter with excitement.
In his previous world, who didn't yearn for the extraordinary. The call for adventure, and a life filled with magic and endless possibilities.
Flowing with that line of thinking, Melvin felt his heartbeat quicken, and for the first time in this world, it didn't do so because of fear and anxiety, but pure unadulterated excitement.
Just as Melvin was relishing one of the first positive emotions he felt in this world, that even the revolting rot-filled flies couldn't obstruct as they fought to land on his lips, a heavy object fell directly on his already aching back that a muffled pained noise unconsciously escaped his mouth due to the abruptness and intensity of the pain.
To make matters even worse, the old man came back yelling with an unmasked petrified tone, "Who's there?", however, despite the intense pain that threatened to make him lose consciousness his mind started spinning rapidly trying to think of what to do.
