Akira walked through the dimly lit neighborhood street with
a downcast look on his face
It had been a few minutes since he left the office, and so
far, everything had been exactly how it happened in his dream.
The people he passed on the sidewalk, the drunk man in the
entertainment district, the couple having a lovers’ quarrel that echoes through
the quiet neighborhood. Everything was the same. There was nothing that differed
from the scene in his memory.
“What the hell is going on?”
I feel as if I've been transformed into a fox.1
As he peered around the corner of the alley with these
thoughts in mind, Akira froze, brows furrowed from the predicament he was in.
“…What?”
At the edge of his vision, under the electric lights that were
illuminating the alleyway, there was a silhouette that shouldn’t exist.
“Why are you here…?”, Akira muttered to himself, frozen in
place.
He stared at the figure, hoping that had just mistaken it
for something else.
But no amount of staring could change what was in front of
him.
The shape in the alley was the same as he had seen in his
dream.
The horns sprouting from the top if it’s head, the
brownish-black fur covering it’s swollen muscles, the arms as thick as tree
trunks, and the battle axe as tall as Akira in its hands.
Everything was as he had seen it in his dream. No doubt
about it.
That thing, that creature, was a minotaur; a bull headed,
humanoid monster.
“Urgh…”
His voice began to rise as his body trembled. In a flash,
the pain, the suffering, the fear that he had experience in the dream came rushing
back into his body.
“No…”
Words leaked out of Akira’s mouth
“No!”
As slowly turned away from the alley, he looked back behind
him.
“I don’t want to die…”
He could barely finish his sentence.
Akira was struck from behind, sending him flying and causing
a searing pain in his body.
He let out a scream as he was blow away, bouncing off the
ground several times and slamming his body against the brick neighborhood wall.
“A---- gaaaaaahhhh!”
He felt himself burning up as blood rushed to the injured
parts of his body.
It felt as though he was going to combust as his brain was
filled with nothing but pain, causing him to release a bloodcurdling scream.
In the space of a few seconds, Akira repeatedly fainted and
woke up from the intense pain, and spat out a mouthful of blood, soaking the ground.
“I need… to get up…”
He opened his teary eyes and clenched his bloody jaw and poured
his strength into his trembling body, trying to get up.
Then he realized – he had no feet to stand on.
“Theres no… legs…:
My legs are gone!
Both of his legs had been ripped off by the minotaur.
Why?
Why is this happening to me?
Why am I in the same situation as I was in the dream?
Wasn’t I killed by that monster in the same dream?
“Urgh… Guhe!”
As he coughed, a splatter of blood came out of Akira’s
mouth.
His vision had become distorted, the pain and blood making
him start to lose consciousness.
That moment, a high pitched sound, similar to the ringing of
a bell, echoed around him.
------------------------------------------
This is the monster that defeated you in your last life.
A Quest will now begin
------------------------------------------
Class C Quest: Minotaur will now begin
The condition to complete the quest is to defeat the Minotaur.
------------------------------------------
Number of Minotaurs defeated: 0/1
------------------------------------------
A pale blue screen appeared in front of Akira’s eyes.
Reminiscent of an RPG window, it lightly flickered,
releasing a small amount of blue light to the surroundings.
“Huh?”
Akira’s voice leaked out.
He stared at the screen, trying to make out what was displayed
on it with his hazy, blurred vision.
What the hell is this?
I didn’t see this screen in my dream. No there’s more
than that. What the hell is even written on the screen?
What? “—Defeating the Minotaur”? It wants me to
kill it? I’ll never be able to do that.
I can understand what’s written on the panel, but really?
It’s a monster, an actual monster. How the hell am I supposed to beat that?
The distance between Akira and the Minotaur was more than 10
meters, but the distance shrunk in an instant.
The next thing he knew, Akira’s body was blown in pieces,
torn apart from the waist below in just one blow. He was still alive only
because he was lucky.
If he had taken a blow to the head… no even a blow to the
chest, he would have died instantly and turned into a helpless slab of meat.
There’s no way I can win against a monster that can kill
a person in a single blow.
“…”
Akira didn’t notice the appearance of a second screen as he helplessly
stared at the minotaur.
Suddenly, the minotaur which had been distracted by Akira’s
legs noticed him.
“Ah.”
When Akira realized the minotaur was looking at him, it was
too late.
He stared into the bright red maw of the minotaur
“Urgh… Shit…”
Akira’s consciousness faded out.
1Not sure what this means, but I think it has to
do with the fact that kitsune can create illusions in Japanese folklore.
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