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[You have died.]
[Do You Want to Restart?]
["Yes" or "No"]
"What?!!" I shouted looking at the screen floating before me but to my horror, no words came out of my mouth.
"Calm down, Max, calm down." I reminded myself, taking deep breaths and thinking of how I got here.
I remember waking up late and rushing to work. I remember stopping at the crosswalk opposite to my office building due to the traffic light but since no cars were coming I tried to cross the road.
"Shit! Did I get run over by some car? But the roads were empty!!!"
I wanted to curse myself but I couldn't as the screen floating before me blinked again, showing a new message.
[You Have Thirty Seconds To Choose Or You Will Be Erased]
With that message a timer appeared on the screen.
Not wanting to find out what happens after choosing "No" I quickly selected "Yes".
Immediately the screen changed once more. It expanded, showing thousands and thousands of tarot cards. Maybe more.
[Please Choose One Random Gift For The New Game+]
A massage appear in a seperate screen. Seeing the countdown still ticking I quickly choose a random card. The card flipped and expanded showing an image of a very familiar man in even familiar spandex.
The card had small descriptions below the image but before I could read it, the countdown went down and my vision blurred as a feeling of vertigo hit me.
And by the time it returned, I found myself in a damp cavern with zero to no visibility due to the lack of a light source.
"Where the fuck am I?" I cursed out loud which was a bad move as the moment my voice travelled through the dark cave, I felt something move behind me.
I quickly turned and reflexively raised my arms as a giant rat lunged at me and bit me with its huge ass teeth… fang?
"Aghh!" A painful groan escaped my mouth.
I felt the rat's teeth sinking into my arm but surprisingly they came to a halt.
Peaking a look from my squeezed eyes, I came to a view of the red-eyed rat dangling from my arms.
It tried to squeeze its mouth to rip my arm off, but to both its and my confusion it couldn't. Looking over closely I saw his teeth weren't able to puncture the black skin tight leather I was donning. And even though I could feel the pain from my skin and muscles below, the rat's bite wasn't strong enough to completely crush my arms as my bones were sturdier.
"Aghh!" With another painful groan, I pry my arms open causing the rat to fall on the ground.
Pulling my inner Ronaldo I kicked the rat as hard as I could and to my surprise, the force behind my kick sent the twenty-some-kilo rat fly.
The rat collided with a rather sharper edge of the wall and stabbed himself to death.
"Woah!" An awed exclamation left my lips looking at my tight leather-clad muscular legs.
My admiration didn't last long as the cave suddenly lit up with my sensitive ears catching the sound of approaching footsteps.
Turning around I saw a group of five, two men and three women approaching with fantasy-like armour and equipment.
"Woah! A human so deep inside the dungeon!" One of the men spoke. He was short and by short I mean Peter Dinklage-level short and was built like the Rock. He was carrying an axe in his arm almost as big as himself and a shield of similar size on his other.
"He's not a human." Replied one of the women wearing a big witch like hat while carrying a staff which was lit in blue light. Her words caused the group to raise their weapon in caution.
"Woah! Woah! Calm down." I quickly raised my arm in surrender but the group didn't drop their weapon
"What do you mean Evelyne?" Questioned the blonde Bishounen carrying a long sword. His almond, blue eyes locked on to me with caution.
The one named Evelyne replied as her eyes lit in blue sheen.
"His skin, muscle, and probably even his bones are a few times denser than humans, his face and whatever skin revealed shows no imperfections that humans or any living beings have for that matter."
"So you mean he's a vampire?" The blonde Bishounen asked.
"No!" Replied another member. A woman with long ears and a bow in her arm. "I can hear his heart beating."
"Yes." Evelyn backed her up.
While they were discussing I was having my own thoughts on the matter. Hearing the description of the woman named Evelyne, I thought of the image of Henry Cavil on the tarot I chose. The iconic suite he was donning made it easier to guess.
'Don't tell me I'm reincarnated as Superman in…' My thoughts paused as I looked at the most generic adventure party setup. 'In a fantasy world.'
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~Scene Break~
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The Golden Lightning party separated from Max and discussed in a hushed tone unknown of Max's new senses picking on their conversation.
"By his description of how he got here, I say he's an otherworlder like you, Captain?" The buff dwarf said making the blonde bishounen nod.
"Yes, I think so too, even if his process of reaching here is different than mine but so are all the other otherworlders who got transmigrated to this world."
"But Malenia's rotted tits the lad is one unlucky fella to transmigrate to this place." The dwarf commented with a laugh making the three women cringe at his crass words.
"Mind your words before the ladies, Rathgull." The blonde bishounen reminded sternly. "And yes, he's unlucky to transmigrate so deep inside a dungeon. He has next to zero chances of climbing the dungeon and exiting safely."
"That is if we don't help." Spoke the last member, a woman wearing a nun's outfit.
"We can't sweet Misha." The blonde bishounen declined before explaining to the disappointed-faced woman. "We ourselves found the path to the boss floor by luck. You know the path's location changes every minute so if we escort him outside the dungeon we ourseves might never find the path ever again, losing an opportunity we will regret dearly all our lives."
"Captain Wilas is right." The long-eared woman nodded.
"Yes, and I say we should just kill him and save him the misery of getting eaten alive or worse becoming an undead" Evelyne added causing Max to flinch.
The group turned to him as Rathgull bellowed.
"Bahaha!!! It seems the lad can hear us."
"Yes, it seems he has enhanced senses alongside the strong body." Evelyne agreed as she tapped her staff on the ground making a soundproof barrier.
"You should've done it earlier. Now it will only make him more uneasy." The long-eared woman said with raised eyebrows.
"Elena is right. Disperse the barrier." Wilas said which made Evelyne comply but not before shooting a heated gaze at Elena.
While Evelyne dispersed the barrier, others looked each other and communicating with their eyes unseen by Evelyn.
As if coming to a conclusion Captain Wilas spoke.
"I think we should take him with us to the boss room. Considering his strong body and senses he might have been granted a rather strong skill by Akashic Records upon entering this world. And I'm sure once he grows up, he will be a strong Adventurer increasing the power of the Empire" He said.
"Yes, we should take him with us and use the dungeon core to teleport him outside after killing the boss." Rathgull agreed.
"I agree. No matter how weak the monsters outside the boss room are, he'll be overwhelmed." Elena nodded.
"Yes yes, I also agree. We shouldn't leave him here to die." Misha also supported.
Evelyne looked at her teammates and became speechless at their sudden change of decision but regardless agreed though with slight reluctance.
Once the party decided, they approached Max who also looked much calmer and more composed than before.
The few peaceful minutes he got were enough for him to mull over his situation and come to a conclusion. He would have been ashamed of his otaku status if he hadn't.
"So you heard all we said?" Wilas asked with a charming smile to which Max nodded.
"Good! Then you should know our names" he asked making Max nod once more.
"Nice! Since you already know our names why don't you tell us yours?" Wilas questioned making Max thoughtful for a moment.
After some seconds of pause, Max finally spoke.
"Kal-El," he answered with a determined voice and conviction.
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