"...This isn't a dream."

Sat with crossed legs, a young man in a student uniform, with black hair that reaches his chin.

He stood up, his height around 165cm or 5'5ft, his black eyes looking around the stone walls carved like bricks, with some glowing blue bricks that dimly lit the wide room.

There was only one exit, a short tunnel that then forks into three paths.

Now, how in tarnation did he even get here? All he remembered was that... He was in the classroom, before the doors all shut, the windows too before darkness covered them. The room shook, and some sort of magic circle glew beneath everyone. After that, everything went black.

'And I appeared here. Great, I didn't think I'd start in a dungeon, and neither did she probably... Or not, she's always obsessed with all this stuff that I probably wouldn't be surprised if she was ready for this.'

He paced around the room while keeping a hand over his mouth and nose, thinking about what to do now after pinching himself earlier and all the reality checks his isekai-obsessed friend taught him.

But then, he noticed. There was a blue screen in the corner of his eye, turning his head in that direction didn't work, so he focused his mind to look at that corner. And it worked.

[Records of 'Rei Anamada']

[Might: 5]

[Agility: 7]

[Toughness: 5]

[Physical Tier: Mortal]

•Mana: 0•

•Mana Tier: Dormant•

•Abilities: None

•Skills: None

•Spells: None

•Runes: [???]

'What's this...'

Rei looked at the status screen or records as the system called it. He was a fast reader, three stats he couldn't say whether it was big or not, or how big a +2 difference would make, but he did note he was better at speed than being strong or tough. Though he was more interested in that [???].

"Mmm."

He wanted to try something, pressing the screen on where the [???] was to Inspect it.

But it didn't work, and while he was looking through the transparent screen, he saw it, a well-known threat to all fantasy tropes. Or, not much of a threat, but a well-known weak monster.

The green skin, the small stature like a toddler, and a disgusting face. Goblins.

And yes, goblins, there were three coming at him from the entrance, two carrying shortswords, one a dagger, they were closing the distance fast and he didn't react fast enough before they were close enough to swipe.

Goblin A, the one with a shortsword and a leather bracer, swung its sword at him.

Thankfully he was fast enough to step to the side and dash back.

'I shouldn't have stared that long!"

Rei started cursing himself while being under attack, the dagger-wielding one, he'll name Goblin B, lunged at him with a thrust of its dagger.

Rei stepped to the side and threw a punch, if there was one good thing about him, it is how adaptive he is. Alongside the situational isekai/fantasy questions that his friend Yukana kept throwing at him.

And bam, one fast punch along with some momentum as Rei turned, it surely hurt! For both sides actually! Rei hissed as he returned his fist. While Goblin B stumbled back in pain.

'Damn, punching sure does hurt.'

But he couldn't idle for long, the two goblin was coming at him, Goblin B was starting to get up, but, the dagger was just right on the side.

'I should be fast enough to get it right!?'

Rei bent down, reaching for the dagger and grabbing it quickly before the two were on him, swinging their swords, one at Rei's arm and the other to his leg.

And so he backed away, but a lunge of a sword chased him.

Rei stepped to the side and thrust his dagger toward the goblin, gritting his teeth while not thinking too deeply about the fleshy feeling he was about to feel.

But then, the lunging sword changed directions and swung horizontally, Rei felt a sharp pain as it sliced through his side.

"Krehhh!"

"Aghhh!"

Rei stumbled back, his two hands pressing where the wound was, he was intensely breathing with wide eyes as he stared into the blood.

"Holy... Fuck, fuck."

He didn't even focus on the fleshy feeling he felt when he stabbed the goblin in the eye, Goblin A lie dead on the floor, its sword now in the hands of Goblin B.

And the two weren't idle, they were coming right at him.

'I can't just stand here!'

And so Rei begins running away, fortunately, the cut didn't dig in too deep, he was bleeding yes, but, his guts weren't spilled.

And so he kept running, choosing the right path, the brick wall design was gone, and he was now in some cavern, spiky rocks around, blue dots lighting up the cavern.

He ran until he couldn't run anymore, stopping in a ditch, sitting down, and catching his breath while looking at the cut again.

'This is bad...'

There was a lot of blood, but that wasn't the only bad thing, he felt dizzy.

If he was right, this could mean that the swords were coated in poison, or was it toxin? Whatever, there wasn't much time to think if he was dying from poison.

And the third bad thing was that he could be drawing a monster to him with the scent of blood.

"Fuck... I didn't expect that I'd die so fast in some isekai setting."

Rei hoped for his isekai-obsessed friend, however.

"If it's Yukana... Maybe, just maybe she could survive this place. But, hah, it isn't even clear if we were all transported to the same place, maybe I was just the unlucky one."

He laughed to himself, feeling himself give up, but he took his focus and placed it back on the system, multiple logs...

[Goblin LV1 killed: +50% EXP]

[You have reached your limit to move: +1 Agility]

"Urgh... That's useful."

He was left alone with his thoughts, maybe, just maybe he could kill another goblin, and level up, and hopefully, it will restore his health.

Or that rune he couldn't use.

The poison, however, was settling in now, unfortunately, and he started coughing blood. He just, lay down there, while tearing up and gritting his teeth. If only there was something he could do, he thought.

He stood up, determined to keep living, maybe there would be a cure somewhere... Some sort of mushroom, and he found one, taking one and eating it.

It didn't taste good, but he hoped the glowing blue mushroom did something positive.

[Mana +1]

"Huh-"

Just before he could say something, he begins to violently cough blood.

'Guess not...'

He wiped his bloody mouth and stood up from his kneeling position, he felt dizzy... And from there, things went down here.

CRUNCH

He felt torturous pain on his leg before he was dragged down with his glasses falling, something was stepping down on him, and as he looked over his shoulder, the only thing his blurry eyes could see, was a black furry maw descending on his neck, before it closed down with its sharp teeth crushing his throat.

🩸

And it all began... With death

Rei was back in the starting room again, groaning and twitching, his legs felt weak as he collapsed tearing up, he was coughing, feeling his neck and it was... There, he was fine, but he couldn't forget the pain.

...

[???]

[Has recorded your first death]