To Survive!

Arthur looked back in sheer horror.

"Hehe, I just need a little bit more. I can feel it!" The madman in black cackled.

He used magic Arthur had no idea of, to reveal a corpse.

And along with the revelation he... somehow made it stand.

In Arthur's fearful view, he saw the creature that was awaken from a slumber it should have not.

It was Grugg.

"Grraaargh," the elderly goblin reeked as his flesh rapidly rotted. His orifices bleeding as his blood turned black.

A certain light shone in his eyes. It shone a void-like glow that only emanated right after the death of a star. The aftermath of matter being erased as it changed.

The aftermath of a soul being erased...

And when a red flame entered the newly undead creature's socket, the man in black nodded, satisfied with his creation.

He couldn't help but have a smile in all of this.

"Alright, round up all of the goblins and kill them one by on- urgh!" He cut off mid-sentence as he vomited near a corner.

It seemed the semblence of health the man had reached, rapidly decayed out of his body as he spat blood with his vile filth.

"Did that bastard curse me!?" He shouted indignantly and hateful. His eyes burning with a black light as he gritted his teeth.

Taking his chance, Arthur limped to escape the man as his retching sounds returned, recognising there was no better time than the present.

But while this was happening, his face was frozen in disgust as he saw the goblin who was there on his birth reborn as an undead creature.

'That... I... What...?" His thoughts slurred as if he was drunk and concussed at the same time. His mind worse than the days he had a 1 in the [Intelligence] stat.

He panicked, not knowing what he was doing except trying to find the end of the cave. Reaching for the place all of the beast corpses were hidden. It stinked there, but it was the best place he could hide from this circumstances.

'The mage is disoriented, with a concussion and a head wound. He seems mildly delirious, and... fuck! I can't think of anything more. Can I make it? Can I survive?' he groaned with each step he took on his twisted ankle.

He swore as he took one pained step after another. His flesh begging his weak body to stop, but his soul urging him to keep going.

'It's just one thing after another. First I get run over by a truck, then I get turned into a goblin, and now I have to run for my life from an insane necromancer!?' Arthur spat in his crawl.

"Just what did I do that was so bad in my past life!?" He shouted as he finally made it down a small cavern he could barely fit through.

With expletives spilling from his mouth the little goblin made his way down. But the necromancer paused his retching as he heard something of interest.

"That wasn't the goblin language..." he scrunched up his nose, not from disgust, but from intrigue.

'A bizarre little specimen, huh? I should find it and keep the little bugger,' He contemplated, before coughing out more blood.

Cough! Cough!

He looked at his level indicator and saw the amount of experience he still needed.

"I still... need 0.9%..." He said between coughs as he spat out the blood between his lips.

He looked at the small cavern which he saw Arthur go down into and made a note to send one of his thralls.

'I should send in some Dead Hounds, and also...' He frowned as he smelled the air.

'Is it just me, or do I smell something burning?'

—————————————————

While Drane was contemplating and trying to level up, Arthur was doing the exact opposite as he ran and tried to hide.

"Damn this world! Damn this new life! Damn this-" Arthur continued on and on as he swore at everything in existence that brought him to this point. Except for his parents… He loved his parents.

'This isn't the time to think about that!' He sundered, as he scurried along a narrow path, trying to make it deeper into his cave.

Though, as he went deeper, he found that the surface of his new home became more and more rough and uneven. He tripped over a lot of rocks and unexpected ditches as he scurried along his ungodly path.

[-1 HP!]

[6 HP remaining!]

'Ffs…' Arthur thought as he remembered his old life.

The last time he felt this frustrated was when he played his (favourite?) moba back home and died when he got ganked by a different lane. He remembered he used to run it down mid each afterwards purely from the frustration and anger from such an inconvenience.

But, now that he looked back on it, that was a fun time for him. Though immature, he at least knew he would be safe behind his desk in his warm and cozy bedroom. In his home.

'Fuck! I wouldn't mind going back to that shit game if I can survive this!' He thought with a smidgen of nostalgia pounding from his small heart.

He wanted to go back home!

He didn't want to start a new life in this world!

His old world was better…

"Just… let me go home…" his steps slowed down as he soon reached his salvation.

And it smelled rotten!

"Fuck, this place is disgusting…" Arthur scrunched up his pointed nose as he got his bearings together. He smelled the rot and mold from the creatures the goblins had slain and 'stored'. And was absolutely disgusted.

"Fucking goblins," he said as he saw the incredibly unhygenic scene in front of him.

'I can't imagine the goblins were ever able to make food that didn't smell like shit,' he chuckled as he tried to find the wolf he had helped slaughter and add to this macabre gallery.

'Ballsacks on this one, ballsacks on that one, ballsacks on- aha! That one doesn't have it!' He exclaimed as he found the beast he had personally taken the ballsacks out of.

Somewhat excited, he jumped into the belly of the wolf as he opened the slit and snuggly hid inside.

'This already has some rot setting in,' he took a few sniffs, 'at least it doesn't smell as bad as the rest...'

Bang! 

"Ruff Ruff! Grr..." A canine like growl was heard from outside his flesh tent, causing a slight jump to his heart as he started swearing from inside.

'Is that a fuckin dog!? Fuck you, you little-' he hammered in on it as it stood at the entrance and sniffed the air.

Even though it seemed to be searching for something, Arthur tried to assure himself that he wouldn't be caught. He was afterall stuck inbetween rotting corpses, so its sense of smell should have been massively neutered. Especially in this environment. 

He felt save behind his cover. But that was until he smelt a smell more hideous than the last as it slowly invaded his little pocket of survival.

A soft growl was heard beside him. His ears painfully picking up every detailed reverberation of its lungs.

In panic, Arthur quickly placed his hand over his mouth, slowing his breathing as he tried to act as dead as the corpse he was inhabiting.

Unfortunately, his heart pounded despite his inner plead for salvation.

"Grrr..."

The canine creature was too close for Arthur to think. There was no way it was here by luck!

'I'm going to die...' A tear rolled down the little goblin's face as he awaited for his judgement by the gods.

And so... in tense anticipation he waited.

And waited.

And waited...

And soon, his pleas were answered...

"Aaaah! Please no!" Suddenly, Arthur heard a screech of pain as another goblin was dragged out from their rotting flesh hole. Surprised that another goblin had the same idea.

Gulped!

Someone other than him had taken the fall. Arthur smiled ear to ear in a horrific manner. Part from relief, part from vengeance. His heart shattering in two with each second he breathed in his rotting mutt.

He was glad he wasn't the one to die today. But he wasn't glad for how he had survived this encounter.

'I don't want to be here. I don't want to be here. I don't want to be here...' his mind churned as the safe reality he had lived in for so long was rapidly decaying around him.

Decaying faster than the creature he was currently sitting inside of...

But that wasn't going to be end for today.

Rooooaaar!

His insides rattled as he heard a deep roar that shook the cave and his mind. A roar that was no way possible for any creature to emulate.

A roar that didn't feel real.