The animals sensed it before it happened.
Birds scattered from the forest canopy while rodents ran across the oakwood roots. The ground shook violently before the earth ripped open until a giant hole began to form. It grew until it swallowed dozens of the surrounding trees into its maw.
Crimson light emanated from its depths where sediment and rock was grinded into sand, bubbling like a soup in a pot before it finally erupted out of the ground as a geyser. Rock and debris were launched through the air as the land that had been consumed began to rise up from the depths.
Once the quakes ceased and the dust settled the silhouette of a structure stood where there was once nothing.
[A dungeon has appeared!]
[Beginning summoning process for dungeon lord...]
[...Candidate found!]
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{User:???}
The first thing I was aware of was that I had died. I don't remember how, or when. All I knew was that I was dead and had awoken here as a sentient ball of light drifting through an endless dark void, a limbo of sorts. At least that's what I called it based on my assumptions of the afterlife.
There were thousands of other balls just like me, souls in perceivable form all heading the same direction. We were featureless, yet we were distinguished by our colors. Some emanated radiant glows that caused the others to flock to their brilliance; meanwhile, others exuded a dim yet calming light that allowed one to not go blind after looking in direction for too long. There was so much variation I couldn't spot any two souls that resembled each other in shade or brightness.
'Me? Well, I didn't seem to have much light coming from me at all, which would have been fine since there were plenty of others that had the same effect, that is if it weren't for the fact that I blended in with the pitch black of the void itself.
My presence caused the other souls' lights to dim if they came within my proximity. Even though we all didn't have faces or distinguishing features we could tell when we were looking directly at each other. I can't explain how, it was just the sense of someone's gaze was on you. This was how I could tell the others gave me a glance before hurrying away from me once they realized I was there, as if I had suddenly became visible to them once I had dimmed their light enough to perceive me. otherwise, I was invisible.
Seeing this made me worry if this meant my soul was rotten in some way, because no matter how hard I looked, I couldn't find any others similar to me, or perhaps there was, I just couldn't see them.
'Was there a meaning to my color? There had to be, this was the afterlife. There was meaning in everything, at least I would assume so.'
From what I remember, I wasn't much of a spiritual person in my previous life, but when I was faced with the terrifying thought that I was heading towards the next location where I would be inevitably judged. Then I suddenly wished I brushed up on some theology instead of biology when I was younger.
'At least then I would have an idea of what to do in this situation because we have been going in a straight line for what felt like an eternity. Something had to happen eventually, right?'
And sure enough, something did happen. It came out of nowhere and it was hardly what I was expecting. Giant hands began piercing through the invisible stream that had been safely carrying us across the void before they scooping up souls. Their invasion threw the flow of souls into disarray, bouncing everyone around like rubber balls in sewer tube.
Admittedly I was frightened, but something about the hands stood out to me and I couldn't help getting swept up in thinking about it. Another case where my curiosity took over, expelling all my fear. The hands were all different, a fact that fascinating because of what it entailed. Some looked to be monstrous in nature, clawed and sharp. Others looked more humanoid, gentle and soft. These hands either grabbed a little at a time, or tried to hold huge handfuls before disappearing through the current that carried the souls.
We were like fish swimming up a stream, oblivious to what the fishermen looked like beyond the veil as they ensnared us. I drew many possible conclusions as to why this was the case, but most of them were summed up with a singular thought.
'Were these the hands of gods?'
My pondering was interrupted when one such hand grabbed hold of me. It looked to be feminine. It had red polished nails that ended in comedically oversized claws with tips so fine that you could mistake them for needles if they didn't have fingers attached. The hand's skin was gray and ashy, its size was small, delicate, demure, but it demanded fear from the way it grasped us.
Apparently it was too greedy as well, since it had grabbed such a large handful of us, that many were starting to slip from between her fingers.
Luckily, those souls were still saved by other smaller hands of the same appearance, disappearing through blue-tinted portals similar to the one the larger hand came through. Even though the hand of this god frightened me slightly, at least it didn't abandoning the ones that fell away.
I thought that at first until I watched as all the other souls were being snatched up, but not me.
'Did they not see me, or did they intentionally avoid me?'
I had no idea what was true, it didn't matter. I was lost, abandoned. Further and further I drifted away where I was able to see everything from a distance. The hands, the void, the stream of souls that seemingly stretched in both directions infinitely. It twisted and curved as if it was emulating an actual river until it disappeared beyond my vision. Slowly, excruciatingly, I drifted until even the that faded from my view.
All around me, I saw the same inky black darkness. Everything felt muffled, including my own thoughts. It was cold compared to the stream, suffocating despite not having to breathe, and oh so lonely.
It was maddening.
...
...
...
Time passed, a lot of it. I don't know how much time, nor do I know how far I drifted, but I could tell time was passing due to one simple fact. Something was happening to me. It wasn't noticeable at first, but over time I gradually began losing memories of my previous life.
It was fine that I didn't know how I died. That didn't matter to me anymore, that was a worldly problem, a world I was no longer a part of. What did matter was that I was forgetting major events of my life. Places, names, faces. I had a family, friends. Now, all I had were memories of people who were nothing but strangers to me. They spoke words I no longer recognized, and called me by a name that felt as odd as the very language they spoke.
All I had left were memories I couldn't understand, yet I still understood how they made me feel.
'The void was taking everything from me, until I faded into it, became part of it. Was this what this place was? A graveyard of passing souls lost in the abyss?'
I felt faint, lethargic, weak. The more I forgot the weaker my already dim light faded. I naturally assumed that I would fade once I had nothing left.
I had no other choice, no other options, so even if it was inevitable, I decided to resist just so that I could exist for just a little longer. I had a feeling I had always been like this based on the memories I retained. Perhaps that stubborn pride was the reason for my death, I could only wonder.
...
...
...
[Reincarnate?]
'What?'
[Yes] [No]
Words appeared before me in white font and blocky letters that reminded me of the text on a computer screen. Real retro.
'Was I hallucinating? Is that even possible for a soul?'
Naturally, I wanted to select "Yes". This was a lifeline I wasn't going to let go of. My choice was was signified when the red outline previously surrounding "No" switched over.
[Yes] [No]
The words disappeared and were replaced by-
[Candidate found.]
[Summoning Soul...]
[Good Luck.]
Those words were the last thing I saw before consciousness failed me.
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{User: Unnamed Monster}
The first thing I heard was the sound of a drum. An annoyingly rhythmic sound that had such a steady and precise timing it felt like I was listening to an alarm clock coming in beats of 1,2...1,2...1,2.
*Ba-dum.*
Then it felt as if someone had punched me in my gut.
I opened my eyes and sprung up as I took a deep gasp of air so I immediately began coughing.
My vision was blurry, and my breathing was so painful it felt like I was dying when in reality I had just taken my first breathe of life.
*Ba-dum.*
'Was I...reincarnated? I had to have been, if I was feeling this much pain.'
Once I was able to get a handle on myself I was able to focus on my surroundings. Though my vision was impaired I could still feel the tings around me. Such as the smooth stone floor beneath me, I stroked my hands against it to feel the rough texture of small rocks poke against my skin.
*Ba-dum.*
After that my mind went to how the atmosphere felt so disgustingly humid, I honestly believed I had woken up in a greenhouse. The air I took my first breath from was so dank and earthy that it reminded me of freshly toiled farmland, minus the manure.
'Where am I?'
*Ba-dum.*
Slowly, the details around me started to come into focus. The fuzzy wall of browns and grays I saw were the walls of a cave that contained man made structures such as decorated pillars carved from stone and the bright light of torches attached to sconces attached to them. Looking around a bit more I saw jagged stalagmites protruding from the ground matched by the inverted stalactites that dripped with the water that leaked from the cracks in the cave ceiling.
I felt the gentle splash of one such drop of water as it hit the back of my hand while I propped myself up against the floor. Startled by the sensation I naturally turned my head towards it only to discover the appearance of my new hands.
*Ba-dum.*
Though my vision was still a bit blurry, I could easily tell my hand, no not just my hand, but my entire arm was pitch black, as if they were scorched by flame. I brought my hands out in front of me to inspect them further to find my other limb matched the other. My gaze slowly went down where I saw that the rest of my body was the same.
Overall, I at least resembled a typical humanoid; two legs, two arms, hands with five fingers and opposable thumbs, the works. It was what I was most familiar with after all, so this was fine. My only problem however, came back to whatever my skin was made of, if you could even call it that. Looking at it one probably couldn't tell the difference if they were looking through a telescope into the night sky or at someone's body.
*Ba-dum.*
My chest still rose and fall as I breathed, I had eyelids that still blinked though it was only occasionally. I could even feel a heartbeat pumping fluids throughout the inside of my body.
*Ba-dum.*
Speaking of, I could still hear that damned drumming sound. Ever since I woke up I heard it constantly going. I stood up and turned around only to find that the source didn't belong to a drum at all, it was the sight of something that made me shudder.