Rhonda looked around the stone room.

It was hard to describe things at first since her memories were from a faraway place. Her knowledge of certain things was a jumble. But the harder she looked, the more she could identify things based on some quasi understanding from inside of her.

To her belief, she was in an office space. But big. Bigger than what her size would suggest was appropriate. This did not bother her compared to how everything was torn down and left in shambles under a thick film of dust.

A giant desk was split in half, with rotten pieces scattered across a scarred stone floor. Hundreds of giant moldy books, the ink faded from their pages, laid in mounds at the bottom of smashed shelves on her right and left. About ten feet above Rhonda’s head, beyond the ruins in front of her, what remained of the windows were faded shards of glass.

Rhonda saw out there a gray-blue sky lit by the sun.

Without that light, Rhonda figured she wouldn’t be able to look around like the System wanted. It was kind of spooky, and it made her wonder what had happened here. Why was she brought here? 

She soon pushed away those thoughts. They were a waste of energy.

Since she achieved all that the System hinted at, she waited to be given something. She believed that was how working⁠… ugh… should work.

If you did something, you should get something.

Nothing happened. Her stomach grumbled, pinching her from inside.

Something was wrong. Hadn’t she done enough? No? Rhonda hated this hungry feeling. She was starting to hate having to do more to solve it.

“Ugh,” Rhonda said before startling.

That was her voice, she realized. It was a deep, throaty groan with a slight hint of femininity. She was uncertain why the femininity mattered, but she was glad she sounded alright to her own ears. She sounded like herself, but… powerful.

“Food!” she said, letting her voice trumpet out of her. Yes, indeed, it was powerful—a boisterous bellow belonging to a big young woman.

It even got a reaction from behind her—something repeated food.

Rhonda turned around and saw a gaping doorway. Whatever had used it was twice her height. Maybe more. She was amazed at the sight of the warped and pitted frame and the darkness beyond⁠—ohhh, the blackness. It was not the void, but it made her miss the nothingness fiercely.

She gave the shadows a long and blissful gander before she moved forward.

Her first real steps sounded like mighty thuds. She liked the sound of her footsteps. The stone was cool beneath the soles of her feet, which she also liked. Her movements weren’t hard, although she felt like there was some labor involved. Her inner thighs rubbed together some, which was only a tad annoying. It got less so when she fell into walking with a slight sway to her hips.

It felt natural, and she liked that as well.

She liked herself!

Rhonda grinned⁠—oh? The curling of the corner of her lips was an amusing expression. It was nice on her. Despite the strangeness of her situation, she was starting to like having a body. If only the hunger weren’t a thing, the only reason for her to explore. 

The hallway she entered was dark save for the faint rays of light that beamed through holes in the ceiling. The rafters were made of wood and straw. They were aged; parts of it were already starting to crumble down. Within those rays that shined through the weaknesses in the ceiling, motes of dust spiraled and glinted like dancing flakes of gold.

Rhonda stopped, her eyes opening wide. “Ohhhh.” The motes of dust were pretty. They amused her a little more than how her body bounced and jiggled at certain parts when she walked, especially at the front and the back. When she walked under the lights, she paused a little to reexamine the novelty of her naked frame.

Naked? Hm.

I should be wearing a… Rhonda halted. For a moment, she had an idea of something important. Then it slipped away from her. She thought about it some more, harder and harder until she found it: cloth, pelts, linen wraps, chain mail.

She nodded. That felt right with her. She figured being so exposed wasn’t appropriate if there were others around. That made her wonder who these others were? And why should she care? These questions bugged her enough to acquire her attention.

Then her stomach kicked the inside of her belly and roared.

“Food!” she shouted.

Almost immediately, something shouted food back. It shouted again with an even weaker voice. It repeated itself until it faded away into the darkness of the hall.

Rhonda started to grin again when she felt an itch in the back of her head. She paused, wondering. Was that really someone yelling food back at her? There was a term for what was happening right now, she thought. 

Ehh, whatever. Rhonda chased after that echoey voice.

A weak, raspy moan sounded from Rhonda’s right.

She stopped. She faced the noise's source and found a hole at the bottom of a door that was still standing. The hole reached was a little above knee height and was too narrow for her to crawl through. But when she heard another moan beyond the hole, Rhonda got on all fours to get a closer look.

“Is there food here?” Rhonda said, drooling.

On the other side of the hole in the door was a figure with two arms and two legs, just like her. Unlike her, it was small, only able to reach up to her lower thigh.

Like a… toddler?

It had rotten gray skin drawn taught over its skeleton, and its face was missing flesh. The eyes were missing, too, replaced by glowing blue orbs that burned with a menacing gaze.

It raised a sword and shuffled toward her as the System relayed a hastened message.

 

You’ve encountered your first enemy! You must defeat it and survive if you wish to be rewarded!

 

“Enemy?” Rhonda stood and backed away.

She felt strange sensations all of a sudden. Her heart was hammering in her chest. Sweat slicked her back. When she held up her hands, not sure what to do with them, she noticed they were shaking.

She was… a-a-afraid!

“Stop, I don’t want this,” Rhonda moaned. 

This was not what she thought would happen if she looked around like the System hinted. She wanted a reward, not an enemy!

But the enemy⁠—a Lvl 3 draugr based on the floating words above its head⁠⁠—shambled through the hole and charged her as she retreated. It picked up speed, entering a wild, jerky run, and easily closed the distance despite her way longer legs.

Then Rhonda’s back hit the wall.

She screamed.

The draugr swung its chipped, rusty sword. It struck her left thigh, right above the knee.

Ow!

Rhonda froze up. Fright trembled up every bone in her body. Hot water gathered in her eyes as the draugr took another swing at her thigh.

Ow!

The enemy staggered back, looking her up and down. It snarled, rasped, and waved its sword around. Its eyes glowed brighter and brighter, intensifying. Then it lunged forward and harried Rhonda’s thigh with maddened thrusts and savage chops.

Ow! Ow! Ow!

Why won’t it stop? I’m doing nothing, and it hurts me!

She was standing very still with her hands to her chest, allowing the draugr to do as it pleased. She hoped the attack⁠—the abuse⁠—would stop soon. She even tried to scream again, but her throat was constricted from her terror. It made it a struggle to breathe.

Meanwhile, the draugr kept attacking. Its face stretched into a long rictus grin.

It’s… it’s enjoying this!

Horrified, Rhonda sobbed. She wiped at her tears, but the fat droplets kept streaming. She noticed a few drops falling on the draugr. She panicked even more, afraid to disturb the enemy with her crying, so she reached down to catch her tears.

She smacked her fingers on the draugr.

The enemy slammed down into the floor.

“Huh?” Rhonda blinked away some of her tears.

She watched the draugr struggle to get back to its feet. Its skull was caved, the head lolling around on a broken neck. It rasped loudly at her and raised its sword again.

An idea lit up Rhonda’s mind.

What if she… fought back?

Despite her fear, she reasoned that if she wanted to stop the abuse, she had to stop the abuser. It was an insane idea to her, especially when she came from the serene nothingness. To fight required effort! But I can’t take this anymore. It’s better to put in the effort than to be abused!

Before the draugr swung again, Rhonda swung her hand around at its level. She did so with all her power. 

NO MORE ABUSE!

Her palm met its torso, the slap sweeping the entire draugr off its feet. It spiraled through the air between sunbeams, hit the floor, tumbled, and then ripped apart into skeletal pieces. Its sword clanked to a stop moments after.

Then there were only stillness and the sounds of Rhonda’s whimpers and heavy breathing.

 

Congratulations! It was difficult for you to return a proper blow, but you can’t live your life meekly anymore. You are a mighty creature now, one who can fight back. By defeating your first enemy, you’ve earned high experience! You’re now level 2! You’re now level 3! Hint 1: open up stats again and distribute your Unspent Attribute Points. Hint 2: think ‘quest’ and accept your first quest.

 

Groaning, Rhonda slid into a seat against the wall. She clutched at her bosom, just above her pounding heart. Her body was still shaking, the adrenaline running its course.

That fight… it had been a nightmarish experience. She almost wanted to give up and go back to resting. But her hunger wouldn’t allow her.

There’s no way I can walk now. The enemy hit my leg way too much.

Rhonda chanced a look at her thigh.

Ugh.

It was lumpy from the hits. A small portion of the skin was parted, trailing little beads of blood. It stung, too; the pain was a reminder of the draugr’s abuse.

But when she straightened her leg, then bent it, and repeated, she found that the limb was still in working order.

She stood up. She stayed up. She took a couple of steps, aggravating the wound enough for it to string some more. The pain was not enough for her to stop moving, though. It didn’t even slow her much.

“Huh… I’m hurt. But not too hurt.”

 

You’ve only taken 4% damage...

 

Rhonda sniffled. That 4% should be 0%. She wiped at her eyes again.

She wondered if she should continue to follow the System’s advice. It was… troublesome. But there was nothing else in the hallway that could help her. Or feed her.

“As long as I get to eat and rest,” Rhonda muttered, opening up the stats.