Publishedat 25th of April 2016 02:33:48 PMChapter 1

It’s dark .

So dark that there isn’t any sense of light at all .

I began to feel uneasy as I smelled something rank . The smell of blood is so strong that it hurts my nose . I almost felt like throwing up .

I jumped up with wide eyes shocked by the nastiness .

[-tsu!!] (1)

A dark corridor comes into view .

Even though it shouldn’t, light vaguely seems to radiate from the stonework .

Surveying the area there was a small altar enshrined behind me . Looking carefully I can see that the altar is so weathered it’s on the verge of collapsing .

It is a small stone table that has the remains of two candles on it . It appears an animal hide has been placed as an offering, stuck there by an arrow .

[What’s this … …]

I muttered .

As I often speak to myself, the words spilled out naturally .

[I don’t understand … … Something feels wrong … …]

(TLN:Might be I don’t feel good not positive)

Repeating the words my heart rate changes greatly . It rises .

I literally don’t understand . I can’t understand this situation .

I went to sleep, didn’t I?

(TLN:not positive one this one it could be more like “I’m not asleep, am I?”)

However, there is no warm bed here, neither is there a noisy mechanical alarm clock nor any morning sunlight spilling through the curtains or light from a lamp’s light bulb .

Only a cold, unsanitary stone floor . A stench that hurts the nose and a few creepy stones that faintly emit light .

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I feel sick … …

I covered my mouth and waited for the nausea to pa.s.s .

I heard a roaring sound in the distance .

[-Uoaaa!!](2)

It was a senseless wailing .

It seemed like a sound a wounded beast filled with killing intent would make .

[– Wait, wait, wait . ]

I remarked unable to understand . Because I don’t know what’s happening, I don’t even know what I’m saying . (Maybe I don’t know what to say . )

In a panic, I begin to run in the direction opposite to which roar was heard .

I run through the stone corridor .

I turned several times, annoyingly the scenery doesn’t change no matter how far I run away .

Along the way I feel something strange and hear a squishing sound .

I feel something squish into the tread of my shoe, so I check the sole of my sneakers .

There is a fist sized insect in it’s death throes —

[U, Uaaa tsu!](3)

I cry out at the terrible sight .

It’s not that I am especially afraid of insects . But in a city surrounded by concrete I have never run into such large ones, so I retreated from such a viscerally disgusting insect .

The insect cries out . In the same way a dolphin cries out for help .

I feel a chill and look up . My gaze turns towards the next corner .

Something with the visage of a person sized insect peeks around the corner .

A size common sense says is impossible .

It’s body makes a ‘gichi gichi’ sound, as it’s angular insect-like limbs move . At first sight it’s near a stag beetle in appearance . However it’s abnormal size and shape push my sanity to the edge .

[–tsu!](1)

I can’t make another sound . If I do, the monster is likely to jump me, my only choice is to run the other way immediately .

I run and run and keep running .

Without thinking about where I am going I just keep moving .

I keep running until I run out of stamina and breath .

Then I come to my sense a little .

[-Uoaaa!!](2)

A beast’s angry roar .

It’s closer this time . I had foolishly returned to where I had escaped from .

I suddenly go pale, as my body stiffens .

However, being closer to the roar, I was able to pick up other sounds too .

It was the sound of people speaking .

[– tsu, — tsu!!](1)

As though walking towards an invisible light I headed towards the source of the voice .

My mind spun, another person, [People] I hoped .

The sound of the beast is also getting louder, but by approaching I become able to hear the person’s voice clearly

[Close in! Close in, it’ll work this time . ]

It’s the low voice of a mature man .

A man giving orders to people who are nearby .

The scene was like one from a fairy tale .

a person wearing leather armor, like those in museums, wielding a bow . A rustic person swinging an iron sword forcefully . A person firing fire from an untechnological wooden staff .

Such unrealistic people were fighting a roughly 2 meter tall wolf .

I didn’t have enough courage to join the battle .

So I stopped in the distance, but I couldn’t stop looking at the fight .

[This time we’ll make, we’ll succeed somehow! Persist!]

The man who seems to be in charge gives directions to the warrior with the large sword .

The warrior drew back his large sword, and tried to slash it down . But the large wolf expected it, and rammed into him with frightening speed . The warrior was blown away like a rubber ball .

Because it avoided the sword blow the wolf turned it’s attention to the female wielding the wooden can that produced fire . Noticing this the other man broke formation in order to defend her .

The wolf followed his movement .

The fight had drawn closer to me .

I became panicked . I was also terrified .

If I had remained calm, it’s possible that I could have moved .

But I could only just stand dumbfounded .

And, my eyes met those of the leader, who was wielding a short sword .

[N~tsu, you, who are you!?](4)

The man shouted at me looking terribly surprised .

[I, lost my way– , please help!]

I promptly requested a.s.sistance .

And I slowly stepped towards the man .

My speech was broken, but the meaning should have gotten through .

It should have, but the man’s response was terribly cold .

[Help, thats – . You stupid?]

[–Eh?]

It wasn’t exactly an acceptance or a refusal .

The contempt that said that such a request was outrageous was basically the answer .

The usual me would notice that was the case .

That these people can’t afford to . That their character doesn’t possess such kindness . It was impossible not to notice this because of the dangerous beast, or from their equipment and the weapons they held .

Presently, I wasn’t able to think that far .

[It’s a Labyrinth, in the ‘Lawless Area’ even . Prepare on the surface, brat . ]

(TLN:lit . unmanaged/unrestricted area, I may need to come back and fix this as the story goes on . )

The man continued with words that were even colder .

And the man coldheartedly cut my leg with a stroke of his short sword .

Many thanks to Indra for helping me with all of these onomatopoeias!

(1)tsu:SFX/Onomatopoeia . I think it’s like letting out a deep breath

(2)Uoaaa:SFX/Onomatopoeia . Seems to be a howl or roar of some kind

(3)Uwaa:SFX/Onomatopoeia . Small cry of shock or disgust I think

(4)N~tsu:SFX/Onomatopoeia . Not positive, a grunt followed by a ‘tsu’?

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