"Life used to be simple. It went from being the happiest moments of my life to ending up in this hell hole of a factory. When did it all go so wrong?"
Back when I lived in the real world, I had it all. I was wealthy. I had a girlfriend, friends, and family who cared about me, and I had everything a person would dream about, but life is never fair. I remember the day I lost it all. I was walking home with my love one night.
"Hey, why don't we go over to your place? I wanna have some fun," she said gleefully while grinning like a kid.
"Sure, I don't mind," I replied, just happy to be around her.
I remember that she was running around like a kid. However, suddenly while she was running around, oblivious to her surroundings, a car was swerving around. I could tell the driver was drunk. I noticed that the car was about to hit her, so I ran toward her.
"WATCH OUT!" I yelled while running toward her.
I was able to save her. However, I was not so lucky. I remember hearing her voice one final time crying about it all. However, the only thing I wish I could tell her before dying is, "Don't blame yourself for this." however. Life does not give you second chances.
I thought death would be living in a black void of nothing or having your soul meet up in the skies. But for me, I meet a goddess.
"You can choose to be reborn in a new world, or you could choose the afterlife." The goddess told me.
I was stunned at the moment and blurted out. "I Choose to... uhh... mmm... Reborn!"
"Very well then, you will be born into this new fantasy world filled with many adventures to be told." That's what was said before I saw the white lights, and that is how I was born into this factory.
For me to describe this factory, it looks grim, and no one can find any happiness here. It's mostly dark, with the occasional light source illuminating the halls and rooms.
Our leaders were just assholes, and we barely spoke to one another. Many of us look like humans but mix with different types of animals. My roommate, or should I call him "cellmate" since that feels accurate, looks like a human-tiger hybrid.
My bosses have told me that I look like a wolf even though my tail looks more like a cat. I don't trust those bosses anyways, so why should I trust them?
I'm not sure how long I have been here. But I think I have been here for at least ten years. this is because we have had ten different birth ceremonies to welcome our "brethren," or as I like to call them, "future cellmates."
*Up to this point, the narration has been inside Urufu's head, but from now on, its story narration*
One morning Urufu went to have the usual breakfast, which he didn't consider much or even anything good. But he still ate it. And after breakfast, when he was supposed to go to his workstation and work, one of the bosses stopped him.
"Hey kid, why are you staring at the ceiling for?" The Boss asked Urufu
"Nothing..." Urufu replied while changing his direction forwards
"ARE YOU GIVING ME AN ATTITUDE?!" Yell the Boss at Urufu
"No, sir!" replied Urufu.
"What is going on?" asks another Boss to the first Boss
"I think this kid is giving me attitude!" says the first Boss to the second Boss.
"Should we teach this kid a lesson?" asks the first Boss to the second Boss.
"Yeah, I think we should!" says the second Boss to the first Boss while smiling.
The first Boss proceeds to punch Urufu in the first, while the second one joins in to kick him in his stomach. The two bosses beat Urufu to a bloody pulp to the point that he can't move on his own anymore.
When the two Bosses finish beating Urufu to a pulp, they stop two other kids. a rhino-looking kid and a hippo-looking kid.
"Hey! can the two of you bring this kid to the medical unit." asks the first Boss to the two kids.
"And once the two of you finish delivering him, go back to work!"
"Yes, sir." Spurted out while the two kids picked up Urufu to bring him to the medical unit.
"Are you okay?" asks the rhino-looking kid to Urufu while carrying him.
"ye...a..h..." whispers Urufu while sounding like he's in a lot of pain.
"Getting beaten up by two Bosses sounds ever harsher than being beaten by one." says the hippo-looking kid.
"I'm fine," said Urufu while gaining some of his voice back.
"I'm glad to hear that." said the hippo-looking kid looking relieved.
"Try to avoid the bosses at all cost." said the rhino-looking kid while looking worried.
"I know. I guess that particular Boss just had a bad day." said a damaged Urufu while smiling.
Rhino and Hippo started to chuckle after Urufu told them that.
They arrived at the medical unit, where Urufu said goodbye to the rhino-looking kid and the hippo-looking kids. Upon arriving at the medical unit, Urufu is healed and told to rest for a bit.
After sleeping for a couple of hours, Urufu woke up to the doctor who healed him talking to himself.
"I know the leaders around here can get strict, but this is very harsh." said the doctor who healed Urufu.
"I mean, the kid is around ten years old. How are they expected to earn respect from these kids by brutally beating the shit out of them?" said the doctor to himself.
"wh-what?" said Urufu while waking up.
"Oh? You're awake?" replied the doctor while being surprised.
It took a few seconds before the doctor realized that Urufu could have heard what he said.
"Don't report me to anyone! Act like you didn't hear a thing I said just now." said the doctor while panicking.
"Don't worry, I won't snitch." said Urufu.
"I do agree with you. Our treatment isn't the best," told Urufu to the doctor.
"Say kid, if you promise me that, you don't tell on me. Then do you want me to help you escape this place?" asked the doctor.
"You can do that?" asked Urufu.
"Yeah, give me your arm for a second, but close to your eyes." said the Doctor.
Urufu gave out his arm and felt a slight pain in his arm.
"You can't escape just yet, but once the time has come, you will know." said the doctor.
"What did you do?" asked Urufu
"You will know at the right time." said the doctor.
"Get back to work before the Bosses suspect a thing." said the doctor calmly to Urufu.
Urufu starters to walk toward the exit door, but he decided to turn around and ask the doctor something.
"I forgot to ask, but what is your na-." asked Urufu before realizing that the doctor was gone already. this was strange since there was no exit behind him.
Urufu walked back to his workstation as if nothing had happened. Multiple days have passed by with nothing changing. Urufu starts to believe that the doctor lied to him. Right before going to sleep one night, his cellmate started a conversation.
"Even though we have shared a room for ten years, I never learned your name." asked the Tiger-looking kid.
"My name?" asked Urufu.
"Yeah, we have all been given a name based on our appearance." said the Tiger-looking kid.
"My name is Taiga. What is yours?" said Taiga.
"I'm pretty sure my documents call me Urufu." replied Urufu.
"Urufu, huh? It has a ring to it." said Taiga.
"I'm sure we can soon join the troops." said Taiga.
"The troops?" asked Urufu.
"You were never told, huh? You get recruited to the troops when you get old enough," said Taiga while smiling.
"That doesn't sound too bad." said Urufu smiling.
"Enough chit-chat. It's still some years left in this factory. Let's get some more sleep before tomorrow." said Taiga.
"Sure," replied Urufu.
"Also, Urufu, before we turn off the lights. Do you want to be friends?" asked Taiga.
"Sure, Taiga, you're a friend to me," replied Urufu.
"Alright, good night," replied Taiga.
"Goodnight," said Urufu back to Taiga.
Taiga turned off the lights, and they both fell asleep. Little did they know, this would be their last interaction before... THE AWAKENING.
Urufu, who was fast asleep, dreamt about him and Taiga being in the real world."
"Woah, this tastes amazing. What did you call this?" asked Taiga.
"It's called Ice cream," replied Urufu.
"Hehe, this is so much fun."
But suddenly, Urufu's dream shifted to a deformed nightmare where Urufu and his Girlfriend turned into stretchy monsters asking him, "Why did you die." "Why do you even bother staying alive in this new world."
Urufu wakes up from the dream, but he realizes something pretty quick. It's morning, but he's outside. It looks like he was far away from the factory.
"Am I still dreaming?" asks Urufu himself. He punches himself and realizes this is reality and that he has escaped, as the doctor told him would happen.
"Woah, I escaped? Holy shit! FINALLY!!!" Yelled Urufu.
"But where is Taiga, or anyone for that matter?" asks Urufu. He decides to look at his arms and sees them covered in blood. This scares him, and he runs to the nearest lake and sees he's covered in blood.
"Why am I covered in blood?" Asked Urufu while looking terrified.
"Did... did I kill Taiga?" asks Urufu while tearing up.
"Nooo, Nooooo, NOOOOOOOO!!! TAIGA!!!!" Yells Urufu while crying, realizing the escape plan that the doctor had for him might have involved killing his new friend.
Urufu starts crying for a bit, but he stops when he realizes that he can't just cry about it forever.
"I guess I should look for shelter," said Urufu.
"But first, I should wash off this blood," said Urufu
So he bathes in the lake to clean the blood from his blood. After that, he starts his adventure to look for shelter. Once it hits dawn, he finds a nearby tree to sleep by, but when he wakes up in the morning, he finds himself away from where he slept and covered in blood.
"Again? What happens when it hits night? Do I go rouge at night?" Asks Urufu to himself.
And this cycle continues for multiple days when he travels to find shelter in the daytime, but when he sleeps at night, he wakes up being further away from where he fell asleep and covered in blood. One day he meets a gang of thugs trying to mug two weird-looking kids.
"Get away from my sister!" yells the older weird-looking kid.
"What are you going to do, huh?" says the gang leader.
"Brother..." said the weird-looking younger kid in a sad tone.
"Don't worry, sister, I will protect you no matter what." said the older brother.
"Oh really, you think you can protect your pathetic sister?" said the Gang leader.
"HEY!" Yelled Urufu.
"HUUH?? Who the hell do you think you are?" asks The gang leader to Urufu.
"Leave those kids alone. If you want a fight, THEN FIGHT ME," says Urufu.
"Don't underestimate me, kid. I can kick your butt harder than you-." says the Gang leader, but before he can finish, Urufu runs up, jumps, and stomp kicks the leader in the face.
"Oi Boss." said one of the gang members.
"Boss, are you okay?" asks another gang member.
"If you want me to kick your asses like I did your leader, then be my guest. If you want to get your ass kicked, I suggest running," says Urufu to the gang members.
The gang members start running, and one of them carries their leader before running off.
Urufu turns around and asks the older kid, "Are you okay?"
"Yeah, I'm fine. So is my sister." replies the older kid to Urufu.
"What's your name?" asks the Older kid.
"I'm Urufu, and what is the name of the two of you?." replied Urufu.
"I'm Simon," replied Simon.
"And this is my sister Sofie," said Simon
"I wanted to ask, do you have a place I could stay at?" asked Urufu to Simon
"Yes, I live pretty close to here. I can introduce you to my Mother and Father. They are both magic users." said Simon
"Magic?" asks Urufu
"Mommy is a mage, and Daddy is a wizard. They are both cool. Brother and I are trying to learn magic as well." said Sofie
"Ahh, okay," Replied Urufu.
At this moment, Urufu was thinking, "So, this world has Mages and Wizards, but also magic. This is about to be fun."
*Introduction Arc Chapter 1 Fin.*