Sid walked out of the cave room, his clothes heavy and stiff, smeared with goblin blood that was already starting to dry. Exhaustion gnawed at his muscles, but the lingering adrenaline kept him going.
Soon, he was back at the place where the goblins had been indulging in their orgy. The air here felt thick, laden with a stale, sweet-and-sour odor that made his nose wrinkle. Their bodies lay still, twisted in unnatural, naked poses amidst puddles of blood and other fouler fluids.
As Sid passed them by, he couldn't help but get curious about the female goblins. He thought about it for a good while, and decided it wouldn't hurt to take a peek at the females. He walked to a pair– a male sprawled over the female, both dead. He nudged the male off the female with his boot.
His gaze swept over the dead goblin. It's face was undeniably familiar to its male counterparts, except it had a touch of feminine look. It's nose was also shorter.
Sid's eyes drifted lower, lingering on the dead goblin's body. It had a petite body, but not in any appealing way. It's frame was spindly, the greenish-grey skin rough. It's chest swelled slightly, barely more than flat, and the waist, lacking any curve, was nothing to look at either. The limbs were thin, ending in clawed hands and feet.
'Meh.. these bitches have literally nothing to look at. Tch. Wish I hadn't taken a look.' A wave of disappointment, mixed with a faint disgust, washed over Sid as he averted his gaze and continued his search for the remaining goblins. The curiosity that had drawn him to the dead bodies had been utterly wasted.
As Sid walked in the opposite direction from the room he had just come from, he heard a faint rustle of rocks.
He squinted his eyes trying to get a better look, but the faint lights of the cave didn't help.
Knowing only two goblins remained, Sid was very confident at handling them both. He gripped his sword tighter, a new zeal in his steps as he sprinted in the direction of the noise.
As he approached the source of the noise, a sudden ball of light appeared in his line of sight. It looked very much like a ball of fire, but that was all he could register. It came for him swiftly and before he could even run or even step aside, it hit him straight at the face.
"ARHHHHH!!"
Sid instantly fell on the floor writing in pain as the fire burned his face. The smell of burnt hair and flesh filled his nostrils. He clawed at his skin, trying to put out the raging flame, but it did nothing. His pain only increased as he felt another wave of heat slamming into his face.
He tried getting up, but ended up falling back as his head spun with dizziness. He gasped for air, but the intense heat and acrid smoke reached his wind pipe, choking him.
'What..what happened?!! Damn it..'
Sid tried to focus but the burning pain didn't let him.
"Aaarhhhh..fuck..."
Soon, the pain grew unbearable, his voice hoarse from the screaming. He slowly felt his consciousness fading, slipping away, just like the last time.
Noo!!..not again..I.I.....
....
Sid sat up with a jolt, like someone waking up from a bad dream. His hands involuntarily travelled up, patting his face, where he discovered a patch of cloth wrapped around his head.
"Haa.. fucking fire...it killed me?..no?" he muttered in confusion as his eyes darted all around him, trying to make sense of his surroundings.
He was in a hospital, the sterile, medical smell and rows of beds, along with the specific design of the room, instantly confirmed it.
Sid then glanced at his left hand, which had a thin needle pricking his skin, connected to an IV drip steadily filling him with some transparent fluid. He carefully flexed his fingers, then his toes and ran a quick mental check of all his limbs and joints. After confirming that everything about his body felt alright, Sid finally breathed a deep sigh of relief.
"It wasn't all a dream, right? No way that could be just a dream!...it was way too real." He whispered, his voice fixed with bewilderment and curiosity. Sid then held out his right hand, clenching it as if gripping something, then waved it through the air.
'I even remember the sword technique... or skill, whatever.' he glanced at his palm, 'if i had a sword right now, i bet i could wield it as good as I did in that cave.'
''i need to get home first, but where am i? am i even in the same world?? Ahhh... fuck, why is this shit so confusing.'' Sid muttered. He carefully took out the needle from his hand and slowly got up from his bed. He took a step forward, but immediately clutched the edges of the bed as his head felt light, his entire body encompassed by a sudden wave of weakness. Thankfully, the dizziness went away as soon as it came.
"How long was I on the bed?!' he wondered. He quickly spotted a nurse tending to a women on a nearby bed. He approached her, moving his legs as fast as he can.
The nurse's brows raised slightly as she noticed Sid walking towards her from the corner of her eyes. She turned to him, holding a notepad. Her eyes quickly traced the direction sid was coming from, landing on the bed he had just left. She noted the number on her pad.
"You're already awake!?" The nurse said softly, her voice tinged with a hint of astonishment.
"Yeah..I, uh, just woke up." Sid answered awkwardly. His eyes lingered on the nurse. She was wearing a light pink nurse uniform that reached just below her knees. And she looked good too. For Sid, it was like finally breathing fresh air after he saw the goblin horror of a female.
The nurse tucked the notepad into her pocket and gave him a light smile. "It's good that you woke up. Now, please follow me, we still need to run some checks to make sure everything's alright. Sometimes internal injuries aren't immediately apparent, even if you feel fine."
Saying this, the nurse turned and started walking. Sid quietly followed behind her, his mind still reeling from the shock. He couldn't tell if he was really transmigrated to another world or whether it was just a vivid dream. Heck, he was no longer even sure if the memory of the dungeon break was real or not.
'From what I remember, that orc killed me, then I woke up in the other world, and I died there again. And now here I am.' Sid thought, unable to wrap his head around how he seemed to be coming back whenever he died.
'Hold on a second... what if, just what if, I transmigrate every time I die? Yeah...that doesn't seem soo impossible.' a wave of disbelief hit Sid, accompanied by goosebumps. As impossible as it felt, Sid accepted the possibility with glee.
Sid was still behind the nurse, but his mind wasn't. It wandered off to all the possibilities that this new power could bring. 'I'm basically an immortal, one who never truly dies.' just the thought of it made him extremely giddy.
'Just imagine, I could live on forever and however I want, and even if I die I would just go to another world.'
"Haha..'"
With kind of thoughts Sid was having, he couldn't help but chuckle. The nurse he was following behind glanced at him over her shoulders, her eyes skeptical as she wondered if the guy was mentally ill.