“Ptfff, bleh”

Waking up, I spat the dirt and dust that had gotten in mouth before trying to wipe it off with my sleeve. However, instead of feeling the sleeve from the shirt I had been wearing, I felt nothing but the familiar feeling of my hair and my own skin.

Now, being very much alert as a result of this incongruity, I looked around the pitch dark area as I wondered what had happened. Remembering the meeting with the goddess, I began feeling myself and noticed that I still had my original body, albeit without any of the clothes I had been luckily wearing in my meeting with her. 

Well, at least it looks like I got to keep my body. Could have been a lot worse if I reincarnated as a baby. I wonder if I really do have an immortal body. But I’ll pass on testing that out for the time being. It’ll be nice if there was a way to s

As soon as that thought passed through my mind, a box appeared showing:

Oh! A stat box! I wonder if I’ll have some sort of system to guide me. Although I doubt that kind goddess would have been interested in giving something as convenient. Yeah, I can’t feel or summon any system, let’s just be happy with this stat box. Let’s see, looks like I got quite a bit of vitality, although I’m not sure if that’s supposed to be impressive or just the norm. Wish I had someone I could ask about this or a guide to help me make sense of the numbers. The rest of the stats look quite lackluster to be honest. 1 mana! Really? It’s nice to know that magic seems to exist in this world, but I doubt I’ll be able to use any with such a pitiful mana stat. Seems things aren’t going to be easy for me here. Wait… -50 luck?! What the fuck is that supposed to mean? Hey, hey, this doesn’t mean that the world is going to plot against me to fuck me over, does it? Guess I should give up on having any luck with women in this life as well… At least It does look like I did receive the gift of immortality, so I guess I got that going for me. Not that I’m particularly interested in testing its efficacy out ever…

Taking a better look around, I remembered what the goddess had told me before she sent me down to this world. Seeing that I was in an underground location, I feared that this was already the start of my tribulations.

Since I got the gift of immortality, then it’s likely that the rest of her words were true. That means I’m now in a situation that’s meant to be a trial for me. I don’t even have a weapon to defend myself, or any armor or clothes to cover me, and I’m at the grand level of 5. Man, this is a shitty start to a game if I’ve ever been in one.

Looking around as I tried to gather any sort of information, I was able to notice that there was actually a bit of light in this dark place, and there were a few areas where light could be seen coming from. Taking a better look at one of them, I noticed that the sources of light seemed to be crystals that were growing from the ground, as well as the cave walls and even the roof.

As more time passed, my eyes began to gradually grow accustomed to the darkness, until I was finally able to see a simple outline of where I was. 

It appeared that I was inside a large cave-like room, with the exit to this large cave being around 200 meters from the center of the cave where I was currently standing at.

As I had been naked, my feet had been constantly feeling the rough texture of the ground. As a result, I knew that the cave seemed to be entirely composed of a rocky material which most definitely gained some complaints from my feet. If it were up to me, I’d have covered the floor of this cave with nice soft dirt or moss.

Since I had no plans of staying here until I either died of dehydration or something dangerous showed up, I began to make my way towards the exit, hoping that I would be able to sneak out of this place without encountering any issues. 

Not even ten seconds after those thoughts had passed through my mind, a loud stomping noise could be heard coming from the direction of the cave exit.

Well, guess that’s what I get for wishing for an easy time. I wonder if the goddess was waiting for me to wake up before bringing forth my first trial. If she did, then I guess I should thank her for not waking me up in this world to the sight of someone attacking me.

Crouching down on the ground, I tried to make myself as inconspicuous as possible as the source of the noise reached closer to the exit. I was too far away from any of the walls to risk making a run. Thus I hoped that the darkness would serve to hide me and this would be a situation where if I didn’t move, whatever was on the other side wouldn’t be able to see me and hopefully, lose interest in the cave and go back to wherever the hell it came from.

Not soon after, at the entrance of the cave appeared a massive two and a half meter Minotaur holding what appeared to be a large weapon in its left hand. Although I couldn’t make out his features, his two red glowing eyes that shone menacingly clearly stood out, as though he was a creature that came straight from hell.

As I looked into his eyes, I saw him stare back at me as I completely froze in response to his gaze. Fear seizing my entire being. I had been trying to remain cool and collected, waiting to see what walked through that entrance before taking action. However, what passed through there was beyond my expectations, and it was clear that I had been too optimistic. Looking into the eyes of this mythical beast from hell, I found myself unable to move my petrified body as I told the goddess in my head that this was a bit excessive for a welcoming into this new world. 

Regardless of what my previous intentions had been, I was completely locked frozen in place as I entered a staring contest with the Minotaur before me, although I wouldn’t call myself a willing participant in this competition. Not soon after, I finally blinked which caused the Minotaur to release a loud yell and begin charging towards me.

Thanks to the Minotaur’s charge, I was able to awake from my daze as I looked at the giant man bull rushing towards me.

Ah shit, guess that’s what you get when you lose a staring contest with a Minotaur. Man that dude moves way too damn fast for his size. I don’t know how I’m supposed to get through him to escape, but I sure as hell need to try something quick.

Standing up, I lamented my lack of bullfighting skills as I stood my ground and tried to come up with a plan as quickly as possible. Continuing to stare down the Minotaur despite my shaking legs and the cold sweat that was running down my back, I tried to come up with a quick solution to this rather hopeless situation. Not choosing to run away in fear that he would immediately kill me the second I turned my back to it.

Standing still as it began to approach me, I yelled at it, “COME ON YOU STUPID BULL!”. This action done less as a way to intimidate him, and more as a way to psych myself up as I waited for an opportunity to dodge the second he passed by me and make a desperate sprint towards the exit.

Just like a bull, the massive Minotaur closed the distance between us in no time as he began to raise his large weapon in preparation for my decapitation. At that moment, I felt time slow down as I saw then unstoppable cleaver slowly approaching me. I was amazed at the speed in which my brain was able to think during these last moments of mine, and I couldn’t do anything but wonder if my immortality would truly work or if this would be the end of me. Not a moment later, the cleaver passed clean through my body, from my shoulder down to my abdomen as I was cut cleanly in two. As soon as the cleaver passed through me, I felt the unique sensation that I was sure few have ever felt of having their body split in two as I saw the terrifying sight of having the top part of my body no longer connected to the bottom.

As I lay on the floor in a such a pitiful manner, I felt the fear that had strongly grip me slowly subside as darkness overtook me while the flame of my life faded… 

Or not. Three seconds after my death, my lower body turned into liquid and attached itself to my top half as I returned back to life. Immediately after, I felt a great fear overtake me as my body entered into a cold sweat. Seeing my immortality at work, I wasn’t sure whether to be thankful or not as I raised my head to look at the angry Minotaur before me. Although I had managed to overcome death, it didn’t make the encounter with the giant beast before me any less scary. In fact, I now had far more fear and respect for the beast before me who was able to so effortlessly end my life. Meanwhile, the Minotaur who was looking down at me still alive and kicking despite it just cutting me in two, reacted to my miraculous revival by lifting its leg and stomping my head at full strength. Not even giving me an opportunity to process what was about to happen.

This time I did not get an opportunity to experience the feeling of death as my consciousness had been immediately cut off. Now that my body once again fixed itself, I began crawling backwards desperately until I created a decedent, although honestly meaningless, distance between the two of us as I lifted up my arms and said in a trembling tone:

”Look pal, it doesn’t look like you’ll be able to kill me. So why not simply let me go.You don’t want to spend the rest of eternity with killing the same guy over and over now, do you?”

In response to my proposition, the Minotaur simply growled loudly in return as it raised its cleaver once more.

Ah shit, It doesn’t look like this big fella is interested in negotiating. Goddammit, If the goddess thinks that I’ll just let this dumb beast kill me over and over again for all of eternity then she’s made a big mistake. I can be a lot more stubborn that I look like, so don’t think I’ll go down without a fight. Come you dumb beast! I’ll take you-

With me getting cleaved in half once again serving as the starting signal, the long match between the Minotaur and me began. With me trying to avoid getting cleaved in half, while the Minotaur continued to try its hardest to send me back to the goddess…