System(1)

The sound of water flowing reached his ears. Alex groaned as he opened his eyes. His head lay on a rock while his lower body was submerged in freezing water. He shivered as a chilly wind blew out of nowhere.

He groggily pushed his aching body out of the water. Even a slight movement of his head made it feel like needles were being pierced into it.

"Ugh, fuck this hurts… Where… Ah, that's right. I fell from the bridge."

He had fallen down the dungeon thanks to Hiyama firing him with a fireball. He had almost given up but thanks to a stroke of luck, his life was saved.

Halfway down the cliff, he had discovered water falling through a hole in the wall. He had overused his psychic power to redirect his fall into the water before falling unconscious.

He stripped off his pants before checking his surroundings. His surroundings were dark but thanks to the glowstones on the wall, it wasn't pitch black. The river behind him was around 5 meters wide.

He looked at his reflection in the water. His near flawless face was marred with dirt stains sticking onto it. The lights in his eyes were a little dim.

"Why is this happening?"

Alex couldn't help but mumble to himself. He knew he had to get strong and this was most probably the place where he had to. But how was he supposed to do that? He didn't even have any magic. Just when will the fucking 'destiny' of his arrive.

His thoughts were interrupted as his spine suddenly tingled. He immediately got up and left after wearing his pants. Not a minute after, a rabbit monster the size of a dog with large and muscular legs arrived at the same spot.

It looked around the area and hopped forward, following the trail of Alex.

***

Alex huffed and panted as he kept running while his right hand limped lightly. He gritted his teeth and popped his dislocated shoulder back in its place. He bit his lips as tears pooled in his eyes but Alex dared not cry for the fear of attracting monsters.

A dull impact hit his back as a loud howl exited his mouth. The rabbit monster kicked Alex as he was sent flying forward. He flew over a rock but did not hit the ground. Instead, his fall broke by landing on something. It had white fur like the rabbit but it was a lot bigger. His heart beat faster as he stiffly turned his head around.

Alex looked straight into the red eyes of the bear-like monster that reflected anger at its sleep being interrupted. His body trembled as his heart threatened to leap out of his chest. The bear just swatted him away like a fly. A deep cut appearing from his right shoulder to his right hip.

"AARGH!"

He shouted in agony as he once again went flying. He tore through a thin stone wall­ and hit the ground. His face was filled with tears all the while he kept losing blood. He coughed out blood and his body was covered in cuts from the sharp rock.

Exerting all his strength, Alex dragged himself using his left hand not daring to look back. He kept heading forward will nothing but the will to survive. But as he kept going forward, his eyes blurred and he slowly lost consciousness.

'Will I… die again?'

***

I looked towards the light. In the gloom, that was the only hope. I was sure of it.

I walk towards the light, trying to ignore the darkness around me but it tried to bind me down. I still ignore it. I don't want to face it. The light is better. It's warm, unlike everything around me.

I walk and walk; all the while the darkness binds me harder until I can move no longer.

"LET ME GO"

I roar at the surroundings. The darkness shook as if sad to see me go. I glare at it with unbreakable resolve until finally; it loosens itself like giving up.

I smiled happily as I run towards the light like a child finding his parents. But the light seemed to be farther away. I panic as I run even faster.

Yes, it's getting closer. I do not stop. I get even closer to it.

I was just a few steps away from the light. I laughed happily as I took another step. But I fall down.

The light disappears as I keep falling. I was so close. WHY? I let out a cry of frustration.

I kept falling and falling and the moment I hit the ground…

***

"Haah!"

Alex's eyes shot open as he suddenly sat up.

He tried to remember the dream he had, but he just couldn't remember it. This was the first time he forgot something.

Then Alex suddenly figured out the situation he was in.

He checked his chest out of reflex only to feel it completely fine. There was no wound or a scar. He saw the hand on his chest. It was his right hand. How was it all healed up?

He figured the answer as something behind him caught his attention. Looking up, a blue ball was stuck on the three-meter high ceiling. A small puddle formed out of the liquid dripping out of it directly below it. He shuffled through his memories and recalled reading about something similar. It said something about mana pooling together and crystallizing over the course of thousands of years. And the liquid dripping out of it was called…

"The elixir of life, Ambrosia!"

Another drop was about to fall and Alex hurriedly went below it and let it flow into his mouth. Immediately, his brain felt refreshed and all the fatigue left his body. But he was still weak and felt dizzy right now. He had lost too much blood and it would take time to recover.

He was famished. He hadn't eaten for who knows how long and his stomach ached as it begged for it. He smiled bitterly as he just couldn't catch a break. He felt very lucky that he had discovered the ambrosia.

But that wasn't the only thing in this cave. There was a dead body of a monster too. It was the same as the bear monster that had swatted him away. Half its body was buried in the walls while the other half up from the chest was outside. The tip of its paws submerged in the puddle of ambrosia.

It must've been years since the monster died yet its body wasn't rotten or absorbed by the dungeon, like normal. Was that because of the ambrosia too?

Looking at its dead eyes still open, his emotions began to swirl and he couldn't control himself anymore.

"AAAHH!"

He screamed at the top of his lungs as he lunged at it and started battering it with his fists. All the while curses kept escaping his mouth. Curses at chaos, or this damnable destiny, the 'God Ehit' who summoned him and his class to this world, the fucking classmates of him who betrayed him, and these monsters who played his life like an amusing toy.

'I hate it! Why do I have to suffer? Why am I so weak? I hate it. I hate being weak. Just you see, you monster. I'll kill you! And I'll eventually kill this fake of a God too.'

He kept hitting the monsters until his fists were bloody and he was exhausted.

He took a deep breath and sat down in a corner. His head buried in his knees. His shirt turned wet as tears dripped from his eyes uncontrollably.

He kept it up until he fell asleep.

***

Alex with half-open eyes lay directly below the dripping ambrosia.

It's been ten days since he arrived down in this hell.

Looking at the dead bear, he could not help but want to tear it up and devour it. Eating monster meat was tantamount to committing suicide. It was poisonous to humans and anyone eating it would have a gruesome death.

But even that felt like a better release than what he was experiencing now. While the ambrosia could keep someone alive through the most heinous conditions, it could not sate hunger.

He had repeatedly asked himself 'Why is this happening to me?' hoping to somehow get an answer. He had hoped that somebody would come to help him. Maybe his classmates would care. But in the end, all his expectations were crushed.

He couldn't sleep because of the hunger, and if he drank more ambrosia, all it did was clear his mind to let him feel the pain more vividly. Over and over, his fatigue brought him to the edge of consciousness, only for the hunger to draw him back. And then to escape the pain he would drink more Ambrosia, which only invited further pain. He had repeated that cycle more times than he could count.

His starvation attacked him in full force and excruciating hunger pangs continuously wrecked his stomach.

'I might as well just give up.'

He resigned himself to fate as he moved out of the way of the dripping ambrosia. He lay there looking at the cave ceiling with empty eyes. He could not help but remember his life in Japan. It was so peaceful. He went to school every weekday. There, Kaori would greet him with her eager eyes and enthusiastic attitude. Just her presence was enough to lighten the mood and make him smile.

Alex did not want this...

He closed his eyes but a sudden unwillingness spread through him. He did not want to die like this. He wanted his life to be meaningful. He did not want to be just a prey, but he wanted to be the one preying. He wanted to make that monster regret not killing him when it had the chance.

He groggily pushed himself up and took out a small dagger from his pockets. It was the only weapon he had.

He went to the bear and cut into its wrist. It was a small cut but he did not give up. He cut again and again and when he was done, the meat from the elbow down was cut into small chunks.

He did not have the luxury to cook it. He took a piece in his hand and directly swallowed. It tasted like shit. The meat smelled raw and disgusting, bringing tears to his eyes, but Alex felt the food relieve his excruciating hunger pangs, and compared to those, such minor inconveniences were nothing.

He did not stop. He took another chunk and gulped it down. He kept eating until he devoured all of it within an hour, sipping the ambrosia along to help. His stomach threatened to vomit the sudden food intake but he kept it in.

After a few minutes, a change suddenly occurred in his body.

His veins bulged as his heart start beating faster. A searing pain shot through him. It felt like something was eating him away from the outside. As time passed, the pain only grew worse.

"Aaaaah! Guaaaaah! Ugh!"

It was unendurable agony. The pain was trying to eat him from the inside out. Alex writhed on the ground, screaming in terror. This pain was far, far worse than the hunger pangs he had been feeling previously.

Alex barely dragged his body to land headfirst into the small puddle of ambrosia. The pain receded for a moment before continuing again with greater intensity.

"Hii…. Aaaargh! Fuck! Heal… dammit!"

Along with the pain, his body began to throb and pulse like one big organism.

The next moment, the ambrosia kicked in and healed him, but the pain returned again. Once healing finished, the pain returned. And once the pain returned, he was healed again. Thanks to the ambrosia, he couldn't even faint and he was forced to endure the hellish pain not meant for humans to bear.

Alex screamed incoherently, begging for someone to release him from this hell. His wish went unanswered, of course.

Eventually, his body began to morph.

His black hair turned white as the red ends on them became brighter and brighter until crimson just like blood.

His muscles were torn and grew anew stronger than before, before being torn again. His body that was slightly bulky because of the muscles began to contract to become compact muscles hiding great strength.

The pain seemed never-ending as his body went through a transformation.

'Why do I have to suffer so much...? What did I ever do to deserve this? Why me... Why did it end up like this? Ehit just kidnapped me and dropped me off at this place... And then my classmates betrayed me... I was looked down on by a monster...'

Like black ink slowly spreading, the remainder of Alex's pure heart slowly grew sullied. Someone was at fault, someone had pushed this unfairness on him, someone had hurt him like this... His mind started searching for an enemy to hate. The inhuman pain and darkness all slowly eroded away Alex's sanity. His dark thoughts continued to grow.

After a few hours, even the hatred and anger were washed away. He didn't have time to waste on these things. His anger wasn't going to help him get through the pain.

His heart filled with only thoughts of survival. Everyone who got in the way of survival was labeled as an enemy. Those who stand in his way… 'Kill them'.

'Kill or be killed.' He would mercilessly slaughter anyone who got in his way.

As such, the torment continued while his thoughts continued.

But as if that wasn't enough. Another hour later, a metallic 'ding' rang in his head.

Like a dam burst open, a wave of nausea overcame him. His sealed memories alongside his enhanced brain. It was at this moment that his wishes to chaos were being realized. His head felt like it was being pounded by a hammer. He could not think straight anymore.

The pain he was steadily got used to increased by a notch. His body began changing even faster. His now compacted muscles slowly became bulkier again only to be torn apart then shrink again.

At this point, Alex could not do anything but lay on the ground. His body continuously convulsed like having seizures.

As he lay on the ground in pain without ever-growing used to the pain; three days passed.