I am surrounded by darkness. I feel wet, my clothes sticking to my body like they are sewn to me. I rise up, realizing I was laying in a pool of water. "W-where am I?" I mumble, my head shooting around in panic. "Okay, relax. Relax. Everything will be okay if you calm down." I hold my head, millions of thoughts swimming through my mind. I wipe my eyes, finally adjusting to the darkness. The first thing I notice is a long staff lying near the water. I grab it, using it to rise back onto my feet. "Okay, well, which way do I go?" I have two options; right or left. I wait a moment, seeing if I can hear anything. Nope. The sound of rushing water has effectively numbed my hearing. With hesitancy, I choose the left path. Making my way down the dark tunnel, the water grows distant and I begin to hear something. Crackling. 'Is that fire?' My pace hastens some, till I'm practically stumbling to get to the end. When I arrive at my destination, I feel myself freeze. There is a fire, sure. An animal about the size of a mole, engulfed in flame. "Ahh...ahhh…" I cover my mouth, backing away silently. Once I'm far enough away, I fall to the ground. "Should...should I try right?" I look to the path opposite me, and find my answer. A wolf lays at the end, sleeping, it seems. A bolt of electricity snaps from it's skin. My body wraps itself in a layer of sweat. I grip the staff tight. "I- I have to get out of here. I have to." I look to the left tunnel. "Probably have a better chance against the mole. If I could carry some water with me, maybe I'd stand a chance." I sigh, curling into a ball. "Wait." My desperation is replaced by a hopeful grin. I turn to the water, lean down and suck some into my mouth. I almost hurl as a mix of water, gravel, and what was most certainly something else disgusting enters my mouth. I do my best to ignore it. I grip my new staff with both hands, stealthily making my way back down the tunnel. My stomach ties, my throat dries, and my eyes start watering, but I keep going.

I arrive at the end of the tunnel. I hesitate to attack, and in that time, I notice something. An area, blocked off by what looks like a stack of rocks. "Interest-" I jump when I hear a squeal. I look to the thing that is now rushing toward me. In panic, I spit out the water. It lands over the thing, making it scream in agony. The fire disappears, allowing me time to slam my staff down on it. The staff, to my amazement, bounces off it's skin. While I'm stuck in a horrified state, the thing picks itself up. It opens its mouth wider, and wider, until it's mouth has grown to almost the same size as me. I stumble back into the wall. I can't exactly count how many layers of teeth it has but I can say it is definitely more than ten. And said teeth are pristine, and look sharper than a finely made butcher's knife. It screeches, running at me. In a panic, I hold out my staff, aiming for the hole right in the middle of it's layers of teeth. The staff enters, to my surprise. The thing gags, and I feel the stick trying to leave its body. "Oh no you don't!" I slam my foot, protected by the sneakers I remember buying long ago, down on it's lip, and use all my might to ram the stick as far as it will go. I feel the stick vibrate from each organ it plunges through. The thing squeaks a little as the staff arrives at the other end, before it finally goes limp. The dead body weighs down my stick, and I drop it. That's not the only thing being weighed down. I feel my heart sink into my stomach. "I really killed it. I...killed it." A strange mix of shame, adrenaline, and ecstasy rush through me.

The yellow window appears suddenly. "Congratulations on killing your first monster!

Exp +10! Level up! You went from Level 0 to Level 1!"

I read the message in my head. I feel on my face for the glasses I always wore. Nope. Gone. 'This is real? No, it can't be! I've probably just gone insane. Yeah, I'm insane!' I laugh at myself for a moment. "That's wrong as shit, isn't it?" I fall to my knees. "I…" I stay in that position, slowly accepting my situation. "You're gonna die." I slam my fist into the hard stone. "No! Not yet. I can't die yet. We...still haven't done it yet." I paused, and then continued, "We haven't changed the world yet." The thought is enough to get me back on my feet. 'Until you've done that, you aren't allowed to die. So, the real question is how the hell do we get out of here?' I nod, looking at the area this monster had once inhabited. It was nothing interesting, save for the rocks. I walk over to them, touching them. Noticing a hole, I peak inside. A stairway leading downward, illuminated my torches. "It's the only way I can go." I lose myself in thought. "That wolf has electricity. If I threw water on him, maybe…" I grin. Yeah, okay. The first thing to do was skin this mole thing. I grip a part of it's lips, and slowly pull it into two. From there I slowly trace around the edge of it's lips. After that, I pull back, tearing the skin away from the meat of its body. The sight of its meat was enough to make my stomach rumble. "What use does it serve to let this go rotten?" I ask nobody in particular before biting into the monster meat. There was just enough meat on it's bones to keep me mostly satisfied. Once I finish eating, I split it's skin in two, and begin plucking the teeth out of its mouth. A few ended up cutting my fingers, but when I think about all I could do with them, I chuckle. The teeth were all placed in one of the skin packs, which I tied and put in my pants pocket. I grab the other skin pack, kick the corpse off my staff, and made my way to the water. I hold the free skin pack in the water, tied said pack under water, and made my way over to the wolf. It had managed to stay asleep during my encounter with the mole monster. I stayed as far as I could from it, poking it with my staff. The things eyes bolted open, and that's when I ran. I hop over the spot of water, drift by the corner, and stop in the same corner as the rocks. The wolf stops just in front of me, growling. Saliva drips from the corners of its mouth. "Come on, you managing mutt!" It pounces, and I roll under it. The wolf slams into the stone, falling to the ground. As it tries to collect itself, I run up to it, releasing the water. The things body sparks dangerously, slamming against the cave walls. The rocks fall away after a powerful zap and I practically jumped for the stairs. I turn to watch the area I'd just been in be engulfed in stone. I wipe my face, the stress leaving my body.

I turn to face the staircase. I grab one of the torches and make my way down.