The lore being shoved into my head wasn't all that different from the lore I had already seen. Shao lived a miserable life on Earth. Her father was somewhat abusive before he died. Her mother got into prostitution and drugs before she died. She was harassed and abused by her foster family, slowly becoming more and more bitter and distrustful. She used to read manga and imagine she was reincarnated into another world. Then one day, it happened, and she tried to have a second chance.
However, that chance was obliterated. The village she started in wasn't much different than Chalm. It sat on the border between the Imperial Cloud Meadow and the demon lands, a place far in the north that was uncharted in my maps. However, where my town was a refuge for slaves, this place was a refuge for criminals. The Adventuring Guild wouldn't even give her a chance since she was jobless, and she quickly ran out of food.
Town thugs try to harass her, and narrowly escaped being raped several times. A madame kept trying to pressure her into becoming a prostitute, and after a week without food, she was so hungry that she almost started. Yet, before she could, the Imperial Cloud Meadow did what they called spring cleaning, killing all of the demons on the border of the demon lands, declaring them unclean.
She tried to stab a soldier but failed. She was so hungry and weak, that she passed out immediately. The soldiers decided not to kill her since she was still a virgin girl, so they handed her to the slavers instead to earn some profit. This slaver decided not to sell her as a prostitute, but to toss her in the arena. She was actually put against their treasured gladiator. This match was special because they had slipped some aphrodisiacs into the gladiator's drink before the match. They told her if she survived, they would free her.
They were always trying new things to keep people interested and watching. Man against bear. Man against tiger. Man against multiple weaker men. The match was a horny man against a young virgin girl. Naturally, he was supposed to push her down and rape her to death in front of a cheering crowd. While he had been pushing her down, she had managed to get a hold of his weapon. Their cheers stopped when his head fell from his shoulders.
That's when she learned she was a demon, far stronger than humans, and was made to fight in the arenas more and more often. As for freeing her, now that they saw value in having her fight, they decided to forget their promise. She killed and killed some more until there was a river of blood. She began to become unbeatable, but because she wasn't the form people liked, a strong, muscular man, and because she was too efficient at killing, the crowds lost interest in her. Her challenges became more and more aggressive, the slaver trying to bring her to death, but she stubbornly struggled to survive. Each time, they said it'd be the last fight and then she'd be free, but they were always lies.
Eventually, the slaver had enough of her performance, neither showy enough to please the crowds, or weak enough to face death, and so he sold her rather than free her, taking every last coin he could. She ended up in Aberis under the Slavers Guild's care. At this point, all the fire had already gone out in her eyes. The world had become a meaningless pit of despair, and life and death were meaningless.
"I know a Master, he may take you in." A slaver told her one day. "He's a good man, he takes care of his slaves."
That slaver was Figuro, and that man was me. However, even his promise had turned into a lie, because I didn't come in time, and then Lord Tibult appeared.
"A woman?" he sneered. "I told you to show me your strongest! I must conquer a dungeon, not bake a cake!"
"She was a gladiator for three years. She's strong, that's all I know about her."
"Very well, pack her up."
She remained in a small room for over a week until one day she was finally let out. The Slave Master took her, used her, humiliated her. Compared to the arena, they just wanted her life. This man wanted her soul.
"He must be a Slave Master too…" he hissed under his breath.
She glanced at the man on the other side of the arena. It was the first time she had acknowledged me. Four girls were jumping on me. Those… are slaves? How?
Everything else occurred much like I remembered, except then there were the visions she had while I was destroying her miasma. They weren't visions of her own life. They were visions of my life. I didn't want to see these visions. In fact, it was unsettling seeing my own life flash before someone else's eyes.
I saw when my father left me. I saw the relentless bullying I got in school. The boys beat the shit out of me, but the girls were cruel. I saw the endless rejection. I saw isolation and loneliness. Mother worked all of the time with two jobs. I was all alone. There was no one with me. I retreated into videogames. This world… it was a chance to start over again. It was a chance to be someone better. Someone people liked.
"You… you're like me?" she said.
I suppose I was.