1 The Birth of a Monster (Part 1)

How long has been...since I came to this hell? Hours, days...weeks? I can't really remember, honestly. The only memories I've had from my time here...are full of pain.

Physical pain, mental pain, hunger pains...I must've died and gone to hell, right? There's no way out of this place. Even if it says I can exit once I've killed that Minotaur...how am I to be expected to kill such a thing?

Flashes of the blood red beast went through my mind as I curled even further into a ball as I felt the terror ravage my mind, just as more hunger pains rang throughout my stomach and body.

I felt the drip drop of water collide against my neck and my eyes shot open as I gave out a dark chuckle, "...So it's that time of day, huh?" my voice was hoarse as I craned my neck backward and looked at the blue crystal above me, a steady stream of clear and sparkly water dropping down from it's surface.

Opening my mouth, I drank the liquid as it dulled the pain I was feeling. All while doing this, I remembered the time I got sent here.

. . .

It all began after an average day of school. Before coming back home I'd spent time with one of my friends; Yuuto Kiba. He was the Prince of Kuoh Highschool but when you got past all that, he was a normal guy, just like me. The two of us usually played at the arcades after school for a few hours a week, purely because it was a decent way to cool off and relax while also having chats about stuff most teenage boys speak about:

Girls, usually.

I wonder how the girls of the school would react if they knew that Yuuto was a bit of a lecher himself? Though he seems completely ignorant to Rias and Akeno's beauty and focuses more on the Student Council girls. Mainly Tsubaki.

Though that day's conversation was about his DeviTube show called, and I quote, 'Handsome Dude Does Cooking'...he'd asked me to make an appearance which was something I'd taken as a compliment but I declined - I hadn't wanted to face the comments of the teenage girls who only wanted to see Yuuto and not me. I was decently handsome, sure, but not at Yuuto's level of looking like an idol.

Anyway, after all of this, I came home, threw my bag onto my bed and was about to go on my computer...when a black maw-like hole opened up at my feet and swallowed me whole.

I had thought I was dreaming at the time. After all, this was the real world, it couldn't be so outlandish, could it? Well...I was wrong. It turns out it was that outlandish, as within a few seconds of being in what looked like an underground cavern I was attacked by massive wolves. Double the size of normal wolves and more than twice as terrifying.

Every fiber of my being screamed for me to run...so I did.

I ran and I ran, yet the wolves easily kept pace with me, like they were playing with their prey.

It was at that point that I discovered that I held some sort of superpower. As I was reaching my limits, a flush of heat entered my body and I was not only able to run for longer but I was running quicker and harder than I ever had before.

Information flooded my head and told me this was my innate ability. Being in this place, called [The Minotaur's Maze] had awakened it. The ability was called [Doubling Physical Abilities] and it did just that. I went from an above average athletics student, to an Olympic-level Athlete in terms of body prowess.

That rush of energy gave me a flood of foolish confidence and I turned around to deal with those wolves.

...It was then that I learnt something valuable:

My innate ability? It was trash.

Those wolves easily dodged my punches and easily bit and tore through my skin. They tore and they tore, they bit and they bit...my entire body was littered with deep injuries and I was bleeding so much blood I'm surprised I even survived.

The only reason I did survive...was because a bigger predator arrived. It killed one of the wolves and started some sort of turf war between the two groups. The wolves biting and tearing into me left my body alone, leaving their crippled prey for later, while they went to fight against that bear.

Unlike me, that bear was strong. Even outnumbered it still outmatched the wolves. It was at that point that I realized another vital thing - the law of the jungle is absolute, and strength is of untold importance. Even if that wasn't the case back in my old life, something told me that it would soon become my everything. That my everything would be centered toward gaining strength.

So while the beasts were fighting, I flipped myself onto my stomach and began to crawl my way away from them.

I gripped the dirt with everything I had, pulling myself even when it hurt so much my vision went white from the pain. I pushed through it all. Even as I aggravated my injuries, even as the fingernails chipped and ripped off in places; I pushed on. Or it would be better to say I crawled like a pitiful worm with everything I had.

It didn't take long for me to crawl into a hole and keep crawling until I reached the end. When I reached the end I collapsed in a bloody pile, my head collapsed into a puddle of clear and sparkling water.

As I passed out, I slurped at the water, desperately hoping it would do something.

And it did. My wounds stopped bleeding and I passed out. That's how I ended up where I am now, going through a cycle of waking, drinking, and fainting. My wounds had healed by now but my body was covered in scars, showcasing where I was bitten and clawed at by those damn wolves. I'd learnt something about the water as well:

It kept me alive no matter what. Even if I still felt hungry, even if I still felt thirsty...I was still alive.

As long as I had this water, I'd be able to survive.

. . .

So, that's how I got to where I am now. Though one question has plagued me over the course of me being stuck in this hole...

...Why? Why me? Why ME?! I didn't ask for anything like this. I didn't ask for a special ability nor did I ask for anything more than the mediocrity I'd gotten so used to!

So WHY ME?!

Why why why why why why why why why why why why why why why...!

...Why...?

I finished drinking the water for today but this time I didn't collapse. This time, I got onto my stomach and began to crawl out of the hole. Why? I'd been asking myself that question quite a lot lately, and now, I'd got an answer.

Why am I crawling out of this hole? Because I'm sick of living like this. Sleeping, drinking, fainting, all on repeat for god knows how long.

I'm sick of it.

Either I'm about to die because of my suicidal plan, or I'm about to get some food to finally put an end to the pain flushing throughout my stomach. My target? One of those goddamn fucking wolves. They tried to eat me? So it's only fair if I try and eat them as well, right? That's the law of the jungle, right?

For the first time in who knows how long, I smiled. But it wasn't a normal smile. It was a smile so wide and manic that I felt my cheeks stretching too far and hurting from it.

I knew something had snapped in my head. But whether it be my sanity or my need to act like a human:

It didn't matter to me anymore.