⚔1: Outta the Ruins With Skelly

"Huh?" I uttered in confusion as I look around.

A thick fog enveloped my surrounding.

I rubbed my eyes and blinked a few times.

"What the hell?!"

My forehead is as wrinkly as it can be. All I can see is thick fog in the distance. The place looked like those abandoned villages in apocalyptic movies.

"Is this a dream?" I slapped my face as hard as I can.

"Ow! That hurts."

'What the fuck is going on? Did an alien invasion happened overnight? Is this a side effect of my medication?'

I slowly walked and looked around. The thick fog slowly revealed the ruins. From the looks of it, this place used to be full of fancy houses. It looked like a giant came and wrecked the whole place.

'What the hell happened here? Is it a post-apocalyptic setting? No way! I'm safe right?' I shivered to my thoughts.

"Shit!" I exclaimed in pain as I felt a sharp object penetrating my foot.

"You gotta be kidding me." I uttered in disbelief as I checked my injury.

I don't know which one I should be more worried about, the fact that a rusty dagger penetrated my foot or the fact that my foot is as small as a child's. I quickly checked my hand, I pursed my lip and and exhaled in disbelief.

'Why did I not noticed this small hands before?'

I removed my hoodie and checked my hair.

"Wow..." I said in awe as I looked at my wavy hair that reaches down to my waist. It's like the color of a lava.

'Now what? This is crazy.'

I'm completely fine. I just woke up in a creepy ass place with nobody in sight and somehow became a little girl around 5-6 years old wearing nothing but an underwear and a tattered oversized red robe with a hoodie. And luckily, I stepped into a rusty dagger. Now there's a great risk that I might suffer and die from tetanus. This is just great!

"Please Lord, let this be a dream. This is not funny." I prayed earnestly, clasping my little palm together.

"Damn it!" I shouted in frustration and defeat after a few minutes of praying, more like complaining, passed and the ruins and fog still greeted me the moment I opened my eyes.

Up until the moment I slept, I'm still Mayumi Liwayway Agape, an 18 year old girl with a mediocre life that is or should I say WAS spiced up with pneumonia and insomnia. My left foot hurts as fuck so this can't be a dream. Did pneumonia killed me on my sleep? Well then, I guess tetanus is gonna kill me this time.

"No, I need to calm down." I breathed deeply.

'Wait! Did I transmigrate, reincarnate, regress, shift or whatever?' I chuckled.

"No, that would be silly."

'But what if?'

"Then I would be doomed."

Those manhwa MCs usually transmigrated to a novel they've read before. I've never read any novel for about 5 years already aside from that one BL novel which I only skimmed through. But if this world is based on a manhwa I've read then I am even more doomed. I can hardly remember the title and plot of all the manhwas I've read so far let alone the names of the main characters.

'Oh, do I also have a... '

"Status screen!" I blurted, I can almost hear a crow passing by.

"Status Window!"

...

"I summon you System!"

...

Nobody's here here but for some reason I feel like I'd die from embarrassment. I guess I have a more important matter to be worried about like my...

"injured foot...?" Confusion once again washed over me as I stared at my once injured foot. For some reason the blood is still there but the wound disappeared.

'No way, I can heal myself?'

I took the rusty dagger and pointed it at my wrist. I winced as I gently slit my wrist. It's a dumb idea but I need to confirm. I stared at my wounded wrist. My mouth hanged open in awe, there was a faint glow as the wound slowly disappeared.

'Well, I guess I won't have to worry about hospital fees in this life. Now back to identity crisis. Who am I supposed to be? Please not a villainess or any major character.'

I need a mirror. I looked around for a mirror but suddenly stopped on track when I spotted a shiny object on the ground. I bent down to pick it up. It's a golden pendant with a red gem on its center. I tugged it but it looks like it was stuck on the ground so i pulled it harder.

"Aaaah!" I shrieked as a skeleton suddenly popped-up from the ground. It was wearing the necklace.

'What the hell?! So is this a horror genre?'

"I'm really sorry Madame or Mister skeleton but I need your necklace. It looks like it could sell well. From the looks of it you weren't able to bring it to the afterlife so i guess it's mine now. Don't worry i'll give you a proper burial and a tombstone once i get out of this place." I rambled as I removed the necklace from the skeleton.

"Now let's find a mirror first uh... I'm not sure whether you're boy or a girl so i'll just call you Skelly."

I dragged Skelly along with me as I continue to look for a mirror. Skelly is kinda heavy so I had to stop occasionally.

The more I see of this place, the more my fear dissipate. For some reason, it was replaced with melancholy and a sense of resentment.

"Skelly, look!" I exclaimed as I saw a big and dirty mirror a few meters away.

It was broken but it's large enough to fit my whole body in. I wiped it with my robe and stared at my own reflection.

"Wow, holy cow..." I uttered in awe.

'I look so pretty and adorable.' Self-esteem level, max!

Small face, plump lips, a small pointed nose and a siren eyes with a different colored pupils. Purple on the left and skyblue on the right. But above all, my hair really fascinates me the most. It reminds me of a lava but it's kinda sticky. I wonder how long since this body had a bath. It's probably very long given how stinky I am. My fair skin still stands out though.

Anyways, my appearance didn't ring a bell. I guess it's for the better. This just means that I'm free from the plot and can act however I want. Well, that is if I am truly in another world and not in hell. I've been wondering for about 10 minutes now and I still can't see any source of light, only thick fogs and an endless ruins.

I turned to the skeleton and grabbed it by the arm. "Let's go Skelly! Let's search for the exit of this hell!"

It's been around 15 minutes now and i still can't see any source of light. This place appears to be cursed, the ground looks like it was burnt and the buildings were destroyed.

The surrounding is so quiet that all you can hear is the sound of Skelly being dragged around, my panting and my stomach growling. I'm so tired and hungry. It would be convenient to leave Skelly behind but it'd make me feel bad since I made a promise.

'This place isn't hell right?'

I feel like I've just been circling around. My stomach is killing me. I'm so hungry that I feel like I can eat anything that moves.

My eyes lit up when I spotted a round fruit that appears to be a watermelon in the distance. It really is a watermelon! I lifted the watermelon and smashed it on the ground. I stomped it with my foot for a final blow and when I cracked it open I can't help but gag.

The inside was filled with slimy and nasty looking worms. I know I said earlier that I could eat anything that moves but I can't possibly eat these disgusting worms. I guess my scoleciphobia is also gonna haunt me in this lifetime. I continued to walk and drag Skelly along with my disappointment.

'It seems hopeless but I can only continue to move forward.'

And finally after about another 5 minutes, I can finally see the sunlight and in the distance there is a valley. I'm in a steep mountain enveloped by fog.

'Thank goodness this really ain't hell. But I guess it's only downhill from here.'

"You ready Skelly?" I asked Skelly as I rode on their back and slid down.

"Forgive me Skelly but my energy is nearly drained."

I alternately slid using Skelly and walked dragging Skelly as I venture down the mountain. When I reached the bottom, I immediately picked and ate the wild berries. It wasn't a lot but it was enough to put an end to my hunger.

'Let just hope it ain't poisonous.'

I got some bruises from sliding down which are starting to heal already, Skelly on the other hand had their head detached from their body.

To ease my guilt, I looked for a proper place to bury Skelly.

I chose to bury Skelly beside a big tree. But since I'm not quite capable of digging a grave, I only gathered stones and soil then covered Skelly with it.

I placed some wild flowers above Skelly's grave. I can't find any suitable material for a tombstone so I just wrote 'My Friend Skelly' on the soil.

"Thank you for the necklace and for accompanying me Skelly. I'm sorry for detaching your head and for using you like a snowboard."

I then head to the river to take a bath and clean my clothes in the process. I'd rather wear wet clothes than walk around smelling like a corpse. It's already sunset when I finished my bath. I decided to stay the night in the tree beside Skelly's grave.

Climbing the tree feels oddly natural and easy considering my little body. I wonder if the original owner of this body used to climb a lot.

'What even happened to her? Did she die? I mean, I basically smelled like corpse earlier. The whole mountain smells like death actually.'

I yawned and secured myself with the vine I collected, hoping I won't fall when I'm asleep. After securing myself, I closed my eyes and slowly drifted to sleep.

.𖥔 ݁ ˖

'Huh? Why is it so dark? Did I go blind?'

I panicked when I opened my eyes to an unfamiliar darkness.

"Hello?" Why is my voice not coming out? Did I became mute too?

"Azariel, look, she's glowing beautifully today." A woman's voice said lovingly.

"What are you talking about? Can you see me?" My voice still won't come out.

"Looks like you're also excited for today." A man's voice replied happily.

What the hell is going on? I can't even feel my body. But their voices are oddly calming. It's as if they're talking to me.

"What do you think about this nest. It's pretty right, Helshyre?" The woman asked.

What? Who?

Wait, what's that noise? It sounds like a dog eating a bone.

Wait... What???

I immediately opened my eyes and was relieved when I can finally see again. It's still night. I can still hear the weird noise and I realized it was coming from below. I nervously and carefully looked below.

I gasped and immediately covered my mouth when I saw Skelly being chewed to pieces by a monster-looking animal. It's body is like a wolf but it's twice the size of it. It has red eyes and not to mention it looks terrifying as hell. It looks uglier than a hyena.

'Hold it in...Hold it in...' I repeatedly chanted in my head as I felt like farting.

'Please give me a break.'

I guess this is what I get for wearing wet clothes and letting it dry on my body. I observed the hideous monster below as it continue gnawing on the poor Skelly, praying I won't end up on their place.

'Crap!' I mentally slapped myself as my fart exploded loudly.

'Fuck! It smells like shit too.'

"Damn it!"

I swiftly untied the vines as soon as the hideous monster spotted me.

'What did I even do in my past life to deserve this?'