The Fate Of The World Is In My Hands, But All I Want To Do Is Eat!
'Kill monsters, eat meat' 'I mean, Kill monsters, save lives. Got it.' 'Tut, I could've sworn that the first one sounded better.' She wasn't a girl looking for freedom or self-righteous liberation by a hero, or whatever shit a girl who suffered for almost all her life would crave. -the shit of a life she was living was horrible, but it was bearable, and so she got used to it. Rather, instead of freedom, what this little missy wanted was money. Lots and lots of them so she never has to worry about the next day. Money - bountiful enough that when she has to spend, she doesn't need to look back or calculate her assets to see how much she has left. Money - bountiful enough to get all the fried chicken she could ever dream of. Yeah, you heard it, fried chicken. For those who did not have money to spare leisurely, getting fried chicken was like a pipe dream to them and she had been one of those unfortunate souls. A comfortable roof above her head and no worries as to when she would get ordered around to steal. No worries about when she would get her next meal-- That was her liberation. And she got it. Just that, she got it most absurdly. Awakened! Those were the people ruling the world, alongside beastly and deadly monsters who threatened the safety of average human beings. And those awakened call the shots. Alice never dreamed she would one day be awakened, and compared to others with their game-like system displaying their attributes and strength; she had a full-grown man whom only she could hear, watching her back at every turn and telling her what to do. He was kinda a pain in the ass but she couldn't complain. It was this gift he had bestowed on her that made her the most powerful Awakened there was with stats that even S-class awakeneds couldn't compare to. She was the boss, now. Mwa-hahahahaha. But life didn't go as easy and leisurely as she planned. With great power comes great responsibility, right? Well, in her case with great power comes great hunger. She couldn't go a moment without getting hungry and her stomach had become a bottomless pit. And to get food, she needed money, and to get money, she had to hunt monsters. The monsters plagued humanity, causing catastrophes and taking lives mercilessly. Those monsters, as scary as they may be, were her target and she had to face them head-on. The bigger the monsters the more money she would gain. Yeah, that was the plan, but... This guy acting as her system seemed to have other plans, putting her at the forefront of 'justice' and having her clean the mess he somewhat created. 'Ugh, I can already sense a shadow of foreboding. Someone, please tell me I'm not acting the main character role. I just want to eat, okay?'
So, what are you doing stuck with me?
Alice picked up her hammer and looked up.
The dungeon's interior looked old and dark when she first walked in. A dark tower with a lot of pillars and bones of monsters that were far weaker than compared to others served as food.
'Guess they had their own feast before I got here.' was her thought when she set her eyes on the bones.
She had finally gotten to the fiftieth floor and it was once again looking like a dark tower and the above floors did not consist of different climatic environments either.
With this, she had hope of finishing the job and leaving sometime soon.
She looked up. It was a really long way up. Bet she would just jump all the way to the last floor. That would quicken things up a bit, right?
There were over fifty more floors to go but she knew she could handle it.
'Let's not rush things.' she told herself and nodded in satisfaction. 'It wants me to get strong so it can tell me its secret. As long as I don't get tired, I feel like I can go on for months.' she thought, and then like before, she got a deja vu.
She saw herself standing with her hammer and saying those exact words,
'As long as I don't get tired, I can go on for months.'
She touched her head.
What was that? Was there something missing in her memory?
She felt it before. Just after coming across that red gate, she had gaps in her memories. It was just from the moment she left the hospital to when she got back to Big Stach's den but after spending so long in her cell, she gave it a lot of thought.
There were dashes in her memory and it started when she stumbled on the red gate.
It might've looked like she went straight to hide but that wasn't the case, was it? Something happened before she saw the red wolf and hid.
But what was it? She squinted her eyes, wondering if she could squeeze the memory right out but she just couldn't get it.
*Are you okay?* The voice asked.
Ah, yes. She also started hearing the voice then too.
What was it? What the hell was it?
It controlled her body and the next moment she knew, she was doing what she would never do. It was giving her commands like it was entitled or like it was its role to give her commands, all the while keeping secrets from her.
It was her body, wasn't it?
What the hell was that voice?
Alice wanted to ask but it seemed like they would have to finish up in this dungeon first before she would get answers. It would not answer her, just like before.
"I just need to get more powerful, right?" She muttered. "Then, will you tell me what you are and why bits of my memories are missing?" She asked.
*...*
The voice couldn't answer. Or rather, it didn't want to answer and she clicked her tongue in annoyance.
"Shit, just tell me you'll give me an answer. That's the only motivation I can get right now to keep at this, dammit!' she got angry, and that anger steamed up from confusion and fear. "I want to know what you are and how you can control my body at will! And also, why are you in my head, trying to make me a hero? I'm no hero in the first place. So what are you doing stuck with me?"
*...*
The voice once again didn't answer.
"What? Your battery died already? Or you just don't want to speak to me." She said, clenching the handle of the hammer. "You don't want to tell me anything, not until I'm strong enough, right?"
She set her foot, ready to jump up to the first floor, high above them.
*Alice, what are you doing?* The voice asked,
"Can't you tell? I'm going to head right up to the boss's room. If I defeat the big bad boss of this dungeon, I'll be powerful enough to get you to talk, right?" She asked.
*That is dangerous. You will not come out unscathed if you fight the boss now with your current strength.*
"I won't come out unscathed? Then, that means I'll win, just with a few bruises, right?" She asked with a provoking smile. "Maybe I'll lose an arm and a leg. But I'll still win so that's that."
*Alice, don't be reckless*
"My apologies, your highness. But you have pushed me to the edge and this is my last resort." She said and bent down, ready to leap up when a voice thundered and echoed throughout the entire tower.
"$#)#$$#?"
The voice sent shivers down Alice's spine and she gritted her teeth, feeling pressure directed at her. It was killing intent and from a being far greater than any she had ever come across in the dungeon tower.
"H-hey, that thing... That thing's the boss?" She asked. "What did it say? I couldn't understand."
*I'll activate a translator for you* it said and once again, the boss spoke, its voice thundering loudly.
"A tiny little human dares to challenge me, an executioner of the crooked beings." It echoed and then thundered laughter followed.
It was mocking Alice and whatever power she possessed.
"I will make sure to strip you of that pride and feed you to my children. And then I shall devour your soul."
That boss meant business.