Rape.
A crime so shamed upon that it can lead one to death when sentenced. This was the situation Vell found himself in. A few months ago he was accused by his cousin, she claimed that she got drunk and he took advantage of her.
This was obviously not true, the only thing he did was cover her with a blanket on the sofa but of course no one believed him. He begged his parents to believe him, they have known him his entire life, he would never do this but…they didn't believe him.
Rumors spread like wildfire and before even a week passed, everyone knew, his family, the entire town and even those that were 800 km away heard of it, his life was ruined. Many called him, not to ask his side of the story but only to insult him and tell him never to contact them.
What made it worse for him, his cousin that accused him was his favorite person to be around, his best friend, someone he trusted but she crushed that powerful bond and for what?
He later got kicked out of the house and ended up living on the streets eating in dumpsters and begging for money and food. When he spotted his family, he would always hide, he couldn't handle it, any more than that, he would have broken.
***
"Look at that, another one of those players just cleared another high rank dungeon, what I would do to be in his position."
The man said, walking past Vell giving him 50 credits but not taking eyes off his phone. Vell got a quick look, seeing a powerful playing basking in glory and fame.
"Thank you."
He thanked the man in a low and rough voice. He continued watching the man disappear into the crowd, still hearing the whispers about players.
He looked into his cup and slowly reached down to pick it up but common bullies showed up and kicked it away, scaterring his credits all over the street. He didn't even bother getting up to pick them up, he just watched the bullies walking away laughing.
"Fucking loser."
"Haha, I heard a crazy rumor about him, apparently…"
Those are the last words he heard before a loud crash noise erupted on the other side of the building he was seating at. He listened more before reacting and he heard faint noises, after really concentrating he heard monster growls and people screaming for help.
{warning, E-rank monster has escaped its master's control, evacuate until a player arrives at the location.}
The alert played on the massive screens on the buildings. People began running, pushing it other, stumping it other and as Vell watched this play out in front of him, he was disappointed.
'Humans never change, they only care about their own lives despite who they have to sacrifice, what a truly disappointing race.'
He slowly stood up and began walking between the buildings heading towards the direction of the monster. Through that narrow path, many thoughts crossed his mind, why did monsters suddenly appear on earth, what exactly dungeons, towers, powers, where did they all come from. All these thoughts clouded his mind and before he knew it, he was on the other side, looking at the monster eating a civilian.
'Why…..why did I come here.'
He stared at the 15 feet panda looking monster. It has red fur, sharp claws and a fat body, it was only E-rank but that is enough for a monster to hunt civilians like ants.
It noticed Vell standing right at the exit he came through, just standing there in awe.
"So this is a monster huh…ugly ass bastard."
His eyes shifted towards the corpse on the ground and despite how mutilated the body was, he felt nothing. As it charged at him, he didn't feel fear, he stood there, accepting his fate. To him, this was an escape from his cruel world. Its mouth wide open with its fat body coming down at him and in his last moments, he could only think of his cousin and how much she truly broke him.
In the very last second, a figure appeared kicking the monster away. Something left its mouth landing in the alleyway but he didn't notice that, he was more shocked at who saved him.
'I-it can't be, why are you here?"
He thought to himself, taking a step back but she already noticed him.
"Vell-"
She noticed his condition, worn out clothes, messy dirty hair and skin looked crusty because of all the filth on his body. His once smooth face is now covered in big pimples and even though she was far from him, one could say his horrific smell could reach her. She bit her lip and turned around, as if not wanting to see him in such a state.
'Dammit, why is he here…..d-dammit, what should do…yeah, I should just walk up and talk to him.'
She turned around but he was nowhere in sight. She tried to follow him but the monster was still not dead, she glanced at the monster chasing a civilian and then back at the alley wanting to chase after her uncle.
"Kyaaaa! Someone help me!"
'Kugh, dammit.'
She ran to save the civilian and Vell peeked out one last time, seeing her running on building and using powers, despite all she had done, part of him felt proud.
'So she became a player huh...good for her but what was with that expression on her face….that face, i have seen it so much, that means she was feeling bad about something. Is she finally feeling back for accusing me?....So what? The damage has been done, I am not sure why she did it but hope it was worth it."
As he walked away, he felt a sour feeling in his chest, as if telling him to turn back around but he just kept walking until he kicked something in his path. He looked down seeing a stage gold tube with intricate writing that has never been seen before.
He stared at it for a few seconds, seeing it glow, just waiting for him to touch it but he just went around it and continued walking. He exited the alleyway and spotted his credits on the ground and thoughts of his life on the streets played in his mind, he took a look back into the alley and sighed.
'I feel like this is a bad idea but whatever.'
He walked back in and stood in front of the glowing object. After a few seconds, he reached out and grabbed it and just as he expected, it was most definitely a bad idea.
A force threw him to the wall causing him a lot of pain. He tried to shake the object off but it was stuck. The symbols floated off its surface and attached to his skin right before the rest of the object exploded damaging his hand.
'What the hell?'
He thought, looking at the symbols sinking into his skin. He tried to stand but the world spun and he fell to the ground unable to move. A strange sensation went through his body, a warm cosy feeling which lasted mere seconds before a severe pain followed, making him flood everywhere as a dark strange substance exited his body.
'K-kugh, I knew something bad would happen, dammit.'
He could not move no matter how much he tried, he just laid there taking all the pain. After a few minutes the pain stopped, he was now able to move and he quickly got up, noticing all the black stuff on the ground and how clear his skin was looking.
"What the hell."
He continued looking at his body, touching it, smelling it, even licking it, he was clean, too clean.
[1st stage complete.
Satisfactory results.
commencing beast forge...]