Eating Souls In Another World

Chapter 03

Drake doubted that the men in black were careless enough to not lock the cell after throwing him inside, which could only mean one thing; someone was trying to help him escape. 

Whoever it was, they came here, cut the ropes tying his arms, and left the cell open after leaving. But if that was really the case, why didn’t they wake him up? Drake wondered if it was because this was all the help they could offer him. 

A cave in an unknown location filled to the brim with cultists. Even if one of them still had a conscience, the danger they would be putting themselves in by helping a prisoner couldn't be underestimated.

Guess I’m on my own from this point... 

He had to move quickly before they came to check on him and discover what was going on. Drake didn’t have enough time to come up with a plan, and even if he did, he knew far too little to come up with anything useful. All he could do was move and hope for the best.

“Alright…”

Although he was still terrified to his core he took another deep breath and braced himself before slipping out. As he had concluded earlier, the cell was actually a hole in the wall, one of many lines up in two rows. With his cell being on the second row and thanks to the darkness surrounding him, Drake was unable to judge the distance to the ground and ended up falling.

Ignoring the pain, he quickly moved toward the wall to his right. His blood was pumping fast as his heartbeat rose. He heaved a sigh after a few seconds, relieved that no one had heard the noise he made. he kept his posture low and walked along the wall one slow step after the other trying his best to make out his surroundings in the dark.

For some reason, it felt like the darkness outside the cell was much stronger. The room had no source of light and because of that Drake was startled when he noticed the thing floating in the corner of his field of view. 

Two blue parallel lines with a small white dot between them. When he instinctively turned in their direction they moved as well staying in the corner of his field of view. 

He paused for a moment then slowly moved his eyes. As expected, the lines and the dot followed, staying in the same spot in the corner of his sight. 

No, rather than moving, it would be more accurate to say they were a part of his vision, almost as if they were pinned to that exact spot no matter where he was looking.

Strange…

He focused his eyes on the white dot. Three seconds later something suddenly popped up out of nowhere startling him into falling on his butt.

What the hell…!

It was a small blue square twenty centimeters across. Most of it was half transparent with blue lines forming a peculiar shape.

Is this… a map?

He immediately realized what those strange shapes were. It was a very simple map showing the path he had taken so far. The white dot most likely indicated his current location, and since the two blue lines connected at one end, it was safe to say the way he came from was a dead end.

Hesitantly, he reached out to touch the small square. The moment his fingertips touched it, however, it suddenly disappeared and the map returned to the corner of his field of view. 

This is almost like a video game… Is this what virtual reality looks like? Drake knit his brows. Am I in one of those games?

He had already crossed out the possibility of all of this being a dream, wondering whether he was trapped in a game or not was just a waste of time. Escaping was his top priority at the moment so he quickly gathered his thoughts.

Shit. If I had known this would happen I would’ve watched more of those anime things people keep talking about…

He remembered some of his classmates talking about shows where the protagonist ends up in a game world. He had no idea if any of that would have been useful in his current situation, but having a point of reference wouldn't have hurt.

Shaking the idle thoughts out of his head, Drake began moving once more while making sure to stay low and quiet. 

With each step he took the lines in the corner of his sight extend a little. After a while, each one diverged in a different direction followed by the appearance of a third line. Soon enough the tunnel split in two opposite directions just as indicated on the small map.

Shit... which one should I take…?

Left or right? How would he know which one is the right route? 

The odds were the same no matter which way he goes so he just picked the left route and resumed his slow advance. After a few steps, however, he once again came to a stop as he heard a voice coming from the end of the tunnel. Soon enough a faint orange glow came into sight and he quickly retreated to the corner he came from.

“Hey! Let. Me. GO! I said let me go!!!” 

As the voices approached, Drake began to make out what they were saying. 

“Do you think you’ll get away with this!? You better let me go or-"

“Or what?”

“Or you’ll feel my wrath!!!”

“Yeah yeah, just shut it and walk.”

Drake peeked from behind the corner and saw two figures walking in his direction. One was one of those black cloak cultists who had attacked him earlier. The other was just a kid, and from what he said and how he was being pushed by the cultist, it was safe to say he was another prisoner just like Drake.

This is bad! They’re definitely heading for the cells!

Quickly making up his mind, Drake turned around and quickly made his way back to the dead end he left behind. Those two were heading for the cells. If the black cloak noticed that something was off he would most likely lose his chance to escape. 

Why the hell is this happening to me!!?