"Bye Taiji, see you soon, baby!"
My stomach dropped. I knew this scene very well; it was the day my parents died. I wanted to warn them about the accident, but no words would leave my mouth. I was standing there frozen.
I heard the doors of our family car close and the engine start up.
"No... Don't go!"
I looked towards the driveway, which was now empty. According to my memory, my parents would be killed later that day during their trip to the airport.
But if I stopped them, could I prevent that from happening? I forced myself to walk towards my phone, which lay on the sofa a few feet in front of me. I scrolled through my contacts to find my mom's number. Was it here? It wasn't. The number was missing. Panic started to set in as I frantically searched for it.
[Wake up... I don't have all day.]
I heard an unfamiliar voice pierce through my mind. It was just a dream. I was stupid to think that I could stop something that had already happened.
....
[You're awake.]
An ominous chittering voice slithered into my mind. It felt as if it were itching the far regions of my brain, looming over all my thoughts and dreams.
Startled, I tried to move, only to find myself buried under a mountain of rubble. My limbs were crushed underneath jagged pieces of debris, rendering me unable to move an inch.
Terrified, I started to hyperventilate. I struggled to take deep gasps of the air around me. Eventually, my adrenaline died down, and I was rendered exhausted and unable to move.
[-are you done yet?] A scornful voice asked me, growing impatient.
[You should hurry up and get out of there before you bleed to death.]
"How can I? Can't you see my limbs are all crushed!" I snapped.
....
The voice laughed.
[Remove your limbs; they'll regrow.]
[I will explain everything to you once you get out of here, so do as I said if you want to live, boy.]
This was absurd. Who in their right mind would mutilate themselves just because a voice in their head told them to?
"This is bullshit!"
....
No response. A building rage took root—a rebellion against the voice that dared to invade my thoughts.
In my rage, I twisted my body with such violence that my right arm ripped off cleanly. The pain was agonizing; an unrelenting burning sensation filled me. It twisted my body into contorted knots of suffering, each breath a sharp intake of torment.
[I told you it would grow back.]
The pain stopped as I turned to look at my arm.
"What?!" I screamed, as attached to my shoulder was none other than my arm, although this time it was free to move. My dismembered arm was still crushed under the rocks, lifelessly lying there.
[I told you, didn't I? Now hurry up and finish the job.]
I calmed down. If what it said was true, then it was really trying to help me. I decided to speak to it.
"Why are you trying to help me? What do you want from me?"
[You're my player now. I'll teach you everything you need to know after you're free.]
I thought for a while. I would eventually die if I stayed here for too long, but how could I be sure that this wasn't all a trap? That it would lure me into a death far worse and painful than this.
[Are you scared?]
I saw red. I found myself flailing wildly, ripping off my legs and the remaining arm that I had. The provocation was enough to push me to do it, determined to prove this being wrong. I was always quite timid and meek, so it was unlike me to get so mad. Maybe the countless forms of bullying I had received had finally hit their mark. Or maybe it was the sudden sight of my parents leaving the house toward their deaths.
I endured the excruciating pain; blood flowed from my wounds as my limbs regenerated one by one. The blood eventually formed a puddle beneath me, seeping through my clothes.
"I'm surprised. I didn't think you'd have the courage to do it."
I paid no attention to it. I was busy trying to find a way to lift the rubble off me, but it was no use. It was too heavy.
[Unknown entities have started to observe you.]
[Many entities are shaking their heads after seeing the state you are in.]
[Some entities remark that you are rather lucky.]
"...Lucky? Dammit. How is this lucky to you?!"
[Because you're my player. If it were anyone else, you would have died already.]
"You seem like you're full of yourself. Do you have any way of getting me out of this wreckage, then?"
[Haha, open your menu and burrow down.]
Open my menu? I couldn't tell if it was joking or not, but from the tone of its voice, it sounded serious. If it was like a menu in video games, I would normally access it by pressing 'M' or something.
"Menu."
A red window opened in front of my eyes.
[Player−RikuTaiji]
Age - 17
Sex - Male
Title - None
Contractor - Man-Eating Giant (*******)
Skills:
[High-speed regeneration]
[Burrow]
[Remaining skills hidden]
I read through it intently. It was like a fantasy RPG menu spread in front of me. I had doubts that I could have been caught up in some sort of sick prank, but all of those thoughts went away. This was real.
[What are you waiting for? Hurry up and free yourself.]
I paused. It seemed that I had a set of skills I could use shown in the menu, one of them being high-speed regeneration, which must be what I used earlier to heal myself. The skill "Burrow" was the only one left that I could see.
"How am I supposed to use the skill 'Burrow'?"
[Just imagine using the skill in your mind, and it will do it for you.]
The words it said caused me to think for a minute. I couldn't understand what it meant by imagining using the skill.
Suddenly, I felt the rubble above me shift. I didn't have much time left.
I focused my attention on the floor in front of me, beneath me, imagining myself burrowing down into the earth. Surprisingly, the floor caved in just enough for my body to fit through. Grinning, I continued to burrow down, eventually creating an area big enough for me to stand again.
"Oi, Man-Eating Giant, how do I know where to go from here?"
[Sigh... use the antennae you have to find a safe spot to go to.]
Confused, I looked up toward my head. Disgusted, a look of shock and horror filled my face as I observed the antennae sway from left to right with the motions of my head.
[Be grateful, as without those you would die in this tunnel.]
I ignored the statement and began to expand the tunnel, with my skill 'Burrow' requiring me not to put in much effort.
[As promised, I will now teach you about the game and why-]
"Before you do that tell me your real name. I cant keep calling you man eating giant forever."
[Haha, Very well. My name is...]
[Ōmukade]