[1-200] THE EVOLUTION OF A GOBLIN TO THE PEAK

Chapter 1 - I've become a goblin

The stars glistened in the night sky as a young man finds himself deep in the final moments of his favorite virtual reality game, Battle Worlds Online. The game had taken the entertainment world by storm, quickly rising to the highest played game worldwide.

The view-screen flashed with yet another mission successful notification; a common sight for the young man. His notoriety as Battle Worlds Online's Rank 1 player was a well-hidden part of his private life. His secret known by only a few close friends. They urged him to reveal himself to the world and join a game club, but he flatly rejected them all. The true joy of this game was not found in the fame or the wealth, but in the escape to a world where anyone can be whatever and whoever they want to be.

His name was Souta Ieshi but those who inhabit this world knew him as Blood.

Oblivious to the danger that was soon to approach him, Souta prepared to log out and stretch his legs, as the capsule he had been confined to for several hours now was starting to take its toll. As he reaches for the logout option, his screen filled with "error" symbols in large bold red text. Desperation and fear filled Souta's heart as he attempted to force the logout, however it was already too late. The capsule that Souta resided in experienced an unprecedented surge of power, shooting electricity through his body. A blinding white light illuminated the room as the capsule exploded.

With a boom that shook his apartment complex, Souta was dead.

To cover up the failure of the machine, the media was silenced, not allowing a whisper of the events that had caused the death to come to light. Soon, Souta and the incident would be forgotten and become a nameless statistic, an integer.

"Argh!"

A moment passed as the throbbing pulse within the creature's head started to subside. He felt as if his entire body was on fire and his head had been struck with a metal bat.

"Damn! It hurts!" He placed his hands in the hard, brown dirt and slowly pushed himself into a seated position.

"Huh? Where is this? What the hell happened?" As his eyes began to clear, he found himself focusing on the environment around him. Wooden torches cast shadows on the high stone walls. The room itself was poorly lit, but he could still see enough to determine that he wasn't anywhere familiar. The damp air felt heavy in his lungs, thickened by the scent of wet earth and dust and his mouth was filled with the taste of iron.

"Dungeon?" He couldn't remember where he had gotten the word but as foreign as it sounded to him, it felt that it was the most appropriate word to describe his surroundings.

He gathered his strength and stood up, noticing that the torches that lit the room were still a foot or two above his line of sight.

A grimace spread across his face as his eyes drifted to the floor where he could see a pair of dark-green covered feet; each one matched with five grotesque toenails covered with filth and dirt.

"Huh? What am I?!" His confusion grew as he lifted each foot, staring at his soles, calloused from walking without any footwear. He turned his attention to the rest of his body, noting that his entire body was covered in the dark-green skin. It clung desperately to his bones, as his gaunt figure which has obviously suffered from extreme malnourishment didn't have much muscle on it. He rubbed his hand along his chest, feeling the rib bones pressing against the flesh as if it were trying to escape his body. His hand continued up to his head, pressing against his scalp as the last of the headache subsided. Not only was he green, skinny, and weak, but he was also bald! This was not his day.

A light blue screen appeared before the creature, mildly startling it. He glanced over the information on the interface.

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