Belly of the Beast

I still had many questions to ask the system, but they could wait. I had to figure out what my situation was and how I could escape.

It was completely dark and very cramped. Though the damp walls were squishy and springy, they were too tough to move to any significant extent. I could hear a low pulsation, a heartbeat. Other than that, there was nothing sensorily worth mentioning.

I already knew my user-interface menus didn't emit any light since they were all inside my head. Though I could try asking it where I was.

"Where am I system?"

…

No answer. Not that I was expecting one.

What led me to where I was now? If I could remember this, it might help.

I could remember getting… shot… Then I escaped, right?

For whatever reason, there were holes in my memory. I remembered making it back to the group. I remembered them carrying Adam away. But, for whatever reason, I can't remember what happened next.

"Did I pass out?"

The essential question now was what could've happened between me passing out and getting to where I was now.

While I pondered the timeline of events, a textbox appeared, stealing away my attention.

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[Quest (Escape the Crop of the Roc) Initialized]

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Crop of the roc? Isn't a roc a giant eagle-type bird?

"Open crop of the roc."

Now that I knew exactly where I was and what I was in, I could start concocting a plan. Although first, I wanted to learn more about the quest itself.

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[Quest Name: Escape the Crop of the Roc]

[Requirements: Escape from the roc's crop before it swallows you]

[Reward: +1 attribute point/s]

[Penalty: Ability (Suicide Alternative)]

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"I can get attribute points from quests. That's cool, but what the hell is that ability Suicide Alternative?!"

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[Help: The (Suicide Alternative) ability is an ability gifted to players with more than a 99% chance of a slow and painful death. Its use is optional, but highly recommended.]

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Time was of the essence. If I didn't want a slow, painful death, I would have to quickly come up with something.

Reaching my hands forward, I felt around for any unseen bits and pieces that might prove useful. My fingers brushed over something familiar in form.

It was the face of a human or at least a humanoid creature. It was motionless and unreactive to my touch, signifying it was either dead, dying, or unconscious.

Tracing my fingers down its face, to its neck, and then chest, I realized it was wearing a buttoned-up shirt and had a male physique. Reaching further down, I noticed a sudden cutoff where its stomach should be.

"What the?!"

My finger sunk down into something sopping-wet and slimy. Ripping my hand out, I barfed up bile, realizing I had just run my hand through someone's entrails.

"Shit, I'm sorry. Rest in peace."

I didn't have any time to get depressed about it; I wasn't sure how much longer I had left.

Since one half of that man was down here, I was willing to bet that the other half was as well. If he had a knife or anything, it would better than nothing.

Rubbing my hands on the surface neath me I felt another face, and then another. Abruptly, the realization struck me that I was sitting atop a mound of bodies.

"Fuckin hell," I gagged.

Enduring the textures and sensations of dead people, I kept desperately searching in the dark.

Somewhere in deep amongst the bed of corpses, I felt something hard and sturdy. Then later realizing it was two things, I hastily grasped and navigated them out of the stinking tunnel of flesh.

Rubbing and tracing the edges with my finger, I surmised that the objects were metallic, had handles with an ergonomic rubbery grip and pointed ends.

I smiled in the darkness after concluding what I held in my hands were a pair of ice axes. It was the luckiest find for the situation I was in, but I wondered why anybody would be using them in early spring.

"Thank you, Lord!" I cheerfully praised, smacking my hands together in a gesture of prayer.

I crawled to my feet slowly and carefully as to not lose my footing on the slippery and unlevel mound of bodies. Then without a second thought, I slammed the ice axe into the flesh wall. As I did this, an immensely powerful squawk shook the entire wall.

Ignoring it, I kept clawing and climbing my way up, unabated by the constant vibrations and powerful shrieks. Nearing the top of the pouch encasing me, I entered a small tunnel, which I knew to be the beast's esophagus.

The roc's esophagus was a narrow fit for maybe four or so people. It kept squeezing in to push me back down, but I was able to keep my grip on the axes every time it did.

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[Quest (Escape the Crop of the Roc) Successful]

[Reward: +1 attribute point/s]

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"Oh yeah."

I had completely forgotten about the quest and the reward. The question now was how I was going to spend it.

"Spend it on senses, please."

I had a feeling senses were the most crucial attribute for the situation I was in.

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[Attribute Point/s Spent]

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I carried on climbing up from the esophagus with my improved senses. It was a very subtle difference, but It did feel like I subconsciously had an easier time understanding my surroundings through the mediums of feeling and hearing.

***

After what felt like hours of climbing the roc's esophagus, the squawking had grown shriller and louder. I knew I had to be nearing the top

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[Quest (Escape, Maim or Kill the Roc) Initialized]

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"Escape, maim, or kill?"