I made my choice.
I was going to help Fran. Not because I wanted to though. She was already heading towards me in this linear cave. Behind me was a dead end and a cockroach nest. The only way forward was the way Fran was coming from. I immediately turned my phone light back on and shouted out.
"What are you running from?!"
"Ruby?! Thank God! Please save me!"
"Point your light and show me what's chasing you!"
Hearing what I said Fran pointed her phone behind her. The thing that was chasing her looked like some sort of living mud. It wasn't that big with only a diameter of around 1 meter and a height reaching up to my knees.
"It already got Renz! Please!" Fran said while tearing up.
'What?!'
Renz was Fran's boyfriend. He was the tall and athletic type who chased after Fran for 2 years before she finally agreed to go out with him. If he was done in by that thing, then there was no way in hell that I could do anything against it. Plus, it looks like a slime type monster, which from my knowledge of gaming and novels, is resistant to physical attacks.
I immediately turned around and started running.
"Follow me quickly!"
I shouted towards Fran. Looks like we have no choice but to try the cockroach path.
"Kyaa!"
Oh for f*ck's sake. Fran tripped over a rock.
"Nooooo! Ruby come back!"
As if. I'm not going to risk myself to cover for your own mistake… But of course I'm not completely heartless. And I do feel a bit of pity for her since I knew that Renz and her were so lovey-dovey.
I turned around, pointed my light towards the living mud like thing and threw a rock.
*Blub*
It immediately sank into that thing's body with no visible effects. Sorry Fran but that was all I could do. Fortunately, she wasn't sitting around waiting for the thing to catch up. She got back up and started running again. I threw another rock despite knowing that it won't help just to show her that I'm attempting to. I ran afterwards.
This marathon continued for a while with me and Fran gasping for air. Soon we were nearing the fork in the road.
As I shined my light down the path, I saw my marking on the floor. But soon I regretted doing so. In the path ahead of us were tens of cockroaches crawling about. It seems that they came out because of the racket we were making.
"Shit we got giant cockroaches in front of us and a living mud monster behind us."
Fran who had caught up to me started to cry after hearing what I said. I wanted to cry too. My first adventure in another world and I'm gonna die in the beginning area. I can only pray that there's a respawn mechanic in this world at this point.
I stopped running just as I reached the fork and told Fran that the other way is where I came from and is a dead end before she started running there.
"So how do you want to die? By cockroaches or living mud boi over there?"
I said trying to lighten the mood in my trembling voice as tears are now bursting out of my eyes. If I'm going to die might as well be a man about it even though I'm a girl. Just ignore the unmanly crying I'm doing.
Fran who heard what I said started looking around to find a solution. Just give up like me okay? Unless there's some sort of hidden passage around here, which I highly doubt, there was no coming out of this alive.
As the living mud grew closer to our position I looked over to the cockroaches. To my surprise they started to run away like they sensed a predator approaching. Maybe the living mud was their natural enemy. Anyways this was good news for us since now we can go that way following after them.
Just I was about to tell Fran this, I saw that she was looking intently at me. This was the first time I've ever seen her look this way and it scared me because it was so out of character.
"Hey Fr-"
As I was about to tell her that we can follow after the cockroaches now that they ran away, she suddenly pushed me towards the direction of the living mud.
"Ugh."
I fell over and dropped my phone. Hearing a small cracking noise which probably meant that my screen just cracked, I grimaced. But before I could reach out and grab my phone and ask Fran what the hell she was doing, I felt a wet sensation touch my legs. It was the living mud.
"What? Ouch! No! Fran, why?!"
I started to feel pain coming from where the wet sensation was. I screamed at Fran who I saw bolting passed where the living mud came from.
"I… I'm sorry!"
She screamed as she ran away leaving me with the living mud.
I see now. She used me as a distraction so that she can escape.
"YOU F*CKING B*TCH! AHHHHHHH!"
I screamed at her as the pain in my legs intensified. Was it her grief of losing her boyfriend that caused her to do this or was she always such a b*tch? Either way, she f*cked me and not in the good way.
The living mud had started crawling up my legs. I think that it's slowly dissolving me.
"Shit shit shit shit shit! No get off of me!"
I tried to punch it with my left hand only to have it sink into its body. That was probably not the brightest idea but what can you expect from a girl in extreme pain from having her legs dissolved facing her death?
"ARGHHHH!"
The pain got worse as the living mud had now completely dissolved the skin on my legs as it kept crawling up my body. My left arm had started to dissolve as well. I claw at the ground with my free right hand to try and escape from it but it just would not stop sucking on my juicy flesh.
"HEEEEELLLPPP! Erg!"
I let out a hopeless cry for help as the living mud had reached my lower abdomen. It ignored my clothes as it completely decided to keep munching on my skin and flesh.
With lots of pain and the feeling of death imminent, my life flashed before my eyes. I grew up in a poor home with my Dad always leaving me with babysitters as he tried to earn money for living expenses. I waved goodbye to the friends I made in school as I moved yet again to a different home. I happily looked at the clouds that were flowing out the window of the airplane I was riding with my Dad. I introduced myself to my high school class and became friends with Flaire and Danae. I celebrated with my Dad after he got the news that he was being promoted. I was transported to some cave, killed some cockroaches, and after seeing some hope of escape was betrayed by my classmate Fran.
'So the life flashbacks before death were true. Guess this means that I'm definitely going to die then.'
Tears were pouring out of my eyes as I looked down to see that my legs below my thighs were completely gone and my shoes and socks were stuck inside the mud. I was feeling pain from all over my body except my right arm and my head to chest as the mud had yet to reach that part but was getting close to.
'Dad, *sniffle* I'm sorry. Your daughter who you raised with so much effort *sniffle* is going to die just like this in a foreign world.'
My deepest regret is not being able to repay my Dad for all that he has done for me.
I started to become numb from all the pain. Guess this means that it's time. I lay down on my back and close my eyes accepting my fate.
But just before I passed out from all the pain and blood loss as the mud reached my neck, a bright red light flashed.
[Skill … Awakened]
I felt like I heard something right before my mind shut down.