Introduction:

Hello everyone! This is a story whose plot I came up with rather quickly, but I think it could be a rather good one. I've written fanfic before and I'm actually writing this story as a means of practicing my writing. Though that doesn't mean that this will be a slipshod work as I intend to put in my best effort.

Anyway, I think I've rambled on a bit too much already. So, I hope you guys enjoy Yuri's tale and her adventures in Royal Road.

Chapter 1 – A New World

Yuri's eyes shot open, gasping for air as if she had been about to drown in an ocean. It took some time, but she eventually managed to get her breathing back under control, though her heart was still wildly hammering away in her chest.

Where...am I...? Her thoughts felt sluggish as she looked at her surroundings properly for the first time. It was dark. But Yuri's eyes quickly adjusted to the darkness thanks to some light that was filtering in from...somewhere. She was in a cavern of some kind and after a slight shiver, she realized she was also naked. Any shame she would have had was soon forgotten as her vision improved. Her eyes widened and a small gasp left her mouth, “Oh God...” All around her was an uncountable number of unmoving bodies. Piles of corpses were stacked together in obscene piles that stretched out into the darkness beyond.

Her horror turned into sheer terror when she realized what she was sitting on; fingers were now acutely aware of the sensation of cold rigid flesh. Yuri's breathing became more rapid as she met the lifeless gaze of a small child. She screamed, jumping up from the body, only to redouble her cries as she bumped into one of the piles of bodies.

Her pleas for help echoed across the cave as she ran blindly through the darkness, “What is this?! What is this?! Mama! Papa! Where are you!” yelled Yuri. How did I get here? What is this place! Her panicked thoughts came to a halt as she tripped on something, falling heavily to the one part of the glistening rocky floor that wasn't covered in bodies. Yuri fell heavily to the ground as pain shot through her leg, confirming that she wasn't just hallucinating this horrible place. Or so she thought.

You have been afflicted with the Undead ability: Paralysing Touch. You will be unable to move for 60 seconds. Temporary immunity to further Paralysing Touches will be granted for 2 minutes after the initial negative status has faded.

What could only be described as a dialog box that Yuri would see on her laptop popped up in front of her eyes. She could still breathe thankfully, but true to the message box's words, she was unable to even lift a finger. One word stood out in the inexplicable message though. Undead? Her unspoken question was soon answered when she felt something around her ankle tighten. Her breathing quickened in pace, fear poisoning every breath as she was dragged across the damp floor. The fact that she couldn't see what the hell was dragging her made the image she created in her mind all the more vivid.

Yuri struggled in vain to escape the grip of her captor, to move something, to do anything. She became aware of a rasping breathing and a fetid stench that entered her nostrils. The paralysis prevented her from gagging, which made the smell all the more awful. How long has it been since that message popped up? 30? 25? At least 20 seconds must have passed already! As if answering her thoughts, another window popped up in front of her eyes with a numerical value in the corner decreasing at a regular pace.

Time until negative status is removed: 40 seconds

Time until negative status is removed: 39 seconds

Time until negative status is removed: 38 seconds

“Kekekeke” a raspy laughter pierced through the air, the cold grip around her ankles slowly slid up her leg. Revulsion swept through Yuri's entire body as she stared at the dialog box, willing the countdown to go faster. At one second kick your leg out. At one second kick your leg out. At one second kick your leg out! She repeated this line over and over in her head so that it became a mantra. The timer read that there were 20 seconds left, her eyes sweeping the cave, trying to look for anything that could help her.

The most immediate thing that she noticed was the light that was filling up the cavern. She couldn't turn her head, but at the corner of her eye, the light seemed brighter. Hopefully it meant a way out of this hell.

“Such soft and smooth skin. Nothing like my own.” rasped the voice. Male but somehow distorted, as if the owner was suffering from a cold. Yuri had stopped moving as her assailant stopped pulling on her leg, though the hand remained, stroking her calves tenderly.

Time until negative status is removed: 12 seconds

“Could I be just as beautiful?...” the fingers of the man tightened on her leg.

Time until negative status is removed: 7 seconds

His fingers dug in her skin and drew blood, the sensation of blood trickling down the back of her legs could be distinctly felt. “...If I took your skin for myself?” his voice ending in a feral growl. Yuri's heart pounded as adrenaline coursed through her system, eyes glued to the dialog box's timer.

Time until negative status is removed: 1 second

“AHHHHHH!” screamed Yuri, her leg extending out in one fluid motion with all the strength of her lower body. Her foot met resistance and she was satisfied to hear a startled yelp from her attacker, freeing her leg from his hand. Of course Yuri did not want to stop with just one kick, no; one kick would not be nearly enough to vent her rage. But survival was her priority right now, even though the small part of her mind that wasn't focused on that, told her she was in some kind of virtual reality and she shouldn't be in any real harm. Yuri had never played any virtual reality games before though, and the quality of this one, if it was a game that is, was indistinguishable from reality.

Yuri shot to her legs, wincing a little bit from the wound the man caused her. But she couldn't resist getting one last kick at her assailant. She turned and her eyes met half a man; he was trapped in one of the piles of bodies and had the appearance of the classical zombie in those movies that Papa loved. Glassy eyes, necrotic skin, rotted limbs; part of his skull was even missing, revealing the grey worm-infested brain matter underneath. No matter how much she wanted to, kicking this thing would definitely not be a good idea!

The zombie growled at her, the frustration was evident in its voice, “No! You're mine! MINE!”

...One more kick couldn't hurt. Yuri delivered a kick that would've made her old football captain proud to the side of the zombie's face. As expected, it hurt considering she wasn't wearing shoes, but the pained cry from the monster brought a fierce grin on her face.

Temporary immunity from Paralysing Touch has prevented the acquisition of negative status. Buff will fade in 1 minute and 23 seconds.

Another dialog box popped out the second her foot made contact with the zombie. Ashamedly, Yuri had forgotten all about the temporary immunity and kicked the monster without thinking. Stupid! Abruptly she turned on her heels and started running off towards the light she had seen, when she heard a pained groan from behind her.

“...Ohhhh, you won't get out of here alive!” claimed the zombie as it let out a blood-curdling roar that filled the cavern with unearthly echoes. Yuri's stopped suddenly, shocked by the sudden shout, and then screaming as another hand popped out from a pile next to her. A woman with a partially melted face hissed at her with a bony hand clutching her arm, the sharp fragments of broken bone painfully dug into her unprotected skin.

Temporary immunity from Paralysing Touch has prevented the acquisition of negative status. Buff will fade in 1 minute and 5 seconds.

“Let go!” cried Yuri, throwing a punch towards her exposed elbow joint and breaking the woman's grip. Yuri broke out into a shambling run the second she was free, terror gripping her as the piles of bodies came alive, ghastly moans emanating from all around her; all attention focused on her. Like a cheesy horror attraction, hands stretched out from the fleshy walls that surrounded her, blindly groping the air. Yuri bobbed and weaved between the rotting appendages, crying out every time one of them got a lucky shot.

Don't run towards the light. That was the line she had always heard in hospital dramas, the fretting mother urging her child not to go towards the light. It was such a weird thing to think of that she started laughing, tears rolling down her face, as she ran for what she hoped would be the exit. Anywhere is better than here!

The small part of her that wasn't terror-stricken noticed that the corpse-piles were steadily decreasing in number the closer she got to the light. Somehow she managed to increase her break-neck pace even further when she saw how close she was to the finish line. Yuri wasn't sure what made her do it, but some kind of animal instinct told her to stop, despite the speed she was travelling with. Somehow Yuri managed to skid to a stop just in time to see a very sharp looking sword swept heavily through the air where she had just been. If I hadn't moved, I would've been... Yuri swallowed heavily to prevent herself from retching at the grim thought.

It stood unmoving, blocking her only exit. Covered from head-to-toe in gleaming black armor that had the figure of a roaring dragon etched onto the chest-plate. A large sword was carelessly held in a very literal bony hand, ready to swing the second she moved near it. Gleaming red eyes that burned like fire were the only things lighting up the darkness underneath the helmet it wore. It seemed content to wait there as the shambling horde of undead picked their way out of the piles they were in and came for her.

Even though it was by itself, the powerful feeling that gushed out like waves from it made Yuri consider that she might have better luck fighting off the horde of zombies. Something like steam seemed to be gushing out of it's mouth, eyes gleaming with pure malice. The skeleton knight, for it was wearing something similar to a knight's armor, made Yuri's choice for her as it started to walk towards her. The knight's ambulation was nothing like the shambling gait it's lesser kin displayed, no; this was practically a confident strut. It's sword was lifted off the ground, ready to strike at the helpless, quivering girl.

No...No! I'm so close! If I can just get past this guy...The dialog box telling Yuri of the time of how long the “buff” would last only appeared when she was touched by an undead with the ability. It didn't always appear when she was running through the cave, meaning that not every undead carried the ability. But this monster would most likely have the same ability, if not a stronger one. She had kept an internal clock because of this which currently read her buff lasting for another 19 seconds.

Yuri's eyes quickly scanned her surroundings, looking for anything that might be a weapon. A golden locket shined through the dark interior of the cave, although it wouldn't be of much help to her. Spying an ivory object near her feet, Yuri quickly scooped it up; it was a yellowed human femur. Supposedly this was the strongest bone in the human body, as good of a weapon as any she guessed. The knight seemed to find this display amusing, for it gave the same laugh that zombie did.

“Kekekekeke.” chortled the knight, “Little bird, pretty bird. Do you think you can face the Knight of Sorrows with that? Kekekeke.”

“Yup.” instantly replied Yuri, letting loose a yell as she charged at the knight with the bone in her hand held high. The skeleton knight was shocked at this foolhardy charge and so it's action was slightly delayed. Yuri made another unexpected move by again coming to a dead-stop as the knight swung at empty air and the sword struck the ground with a clang. Using the momentum of her run, Yuri threw the femur so that it sailed end-over-end towards the knight's unprotected hand. Check.

6 more seconds were left on her clock and Yuri broke into a run as soon as the bone left her hand. Smack! The femur projectile hit the skeleton knight's hand and broke it's grip on its sword which fell clattering to the ground. Her bare feet slapped the ground as she ran towards the exit. In her peripheral vision she saw the skeleton abandoning the idea of picking up the sword and attacking her barehanded. With a blinding speed, its fist slammed into the side of Yuri's arm. She could feel the arm breaking and the pain that came with it, but the adrenaline in her system dulled the sensation.

Temporary immunity from Paralysing Touch has prevented the acquisition of negative status. Buff has been removed.

You have been dealt a critical hit! You are considered to be in a disadvantaged state and thus monsters will have a damage bonus applied when attacking you.

Another two boxes, both bearing bad news. But more importantly, the knight's blow had pushed her closer to the exit. Yuri could hear the rattling of it's armor, but she didn't dare turn around and look. She was so close, partially dragging her body with her one good arm off the floor and stumbling towards the exit. Her body had rapidly lost all of it's strength, that blow was more serious than she thought. 3 more steps. 2 more. Yuri stepped into the light and where she expected to meet the resistance of ground, her feet kissed nothing but air.

Her eyes watered from the bright light, but she could just make out that she had stepped out of the lip of a cave situated on a cliff wall. And far below her, was a raging river, roaring in all of it's natural fury. Yuri tried to regain her balance and just as she was about to succeed, something hit her back and propelled her over the edge.

Screaming, she fell into the rapids, briefly getting a glimpse of the femur that was thrown back at her, before she plunged into the icy depths.

[p=center][/p]