Hope in Despair 1 (Patreon)

Hope in Despair - or ‘’ (Fear & Hunger SI)

You wake up in front of the Dungeons of Fear and Hunger.

That’s an… ominous way to introduce myself to this surreal scenario. Here I am, waking up on muddy ground and wearing the clothes I had when I was walking around town yesterday. The air was cold, chilling to the bone as mist surrounded most of the premises by the Dungeons’ entrance.

The sight was ominous, but it wasn’t the only thing that I noticed as I ‘shook myself’ awake. A distant noise from wolves or dogs howling had me tense, but I managed to muster a word.

“Stats.”

A menu opened instinctively but… I was instantly growling at a very troublesome element. I had a degree of ‘RPG’ stats to see, but no levels and no experience. I had some peculiar ‘stats’ if I have to be honest.

John
Mind: 100/100
Hunger: 50/100
Attack → 30
Defense → 28
M.Attack → 10
M.Defense → 22
Agility → 15
Luck → 36

Shaking my head and dispelling the window, I started to look around for anything worthwhile before ‘entering’ the Dungeons. As much as I could feel something was wrong with this place, I could tell that immediate death waited for me if I tried to go into the mist.

The growing howling from the silvery air further confirmed that I didn’t have much of a choice. Before entering, I swiftly checked the unused crates and wooden barrels. I found some cheese that didn’t smell too bad, two unused torches, and a small broken sword. As I considered looking for a better weapon, my hopeless browsing was brought to an end when I heard the mutts had noticed me. I heard their steps, I heard their fast pace and I just darted into the entrance, welcoming the shadows and… they welcomed me back.

As you enter the Dungeons, you feel your body assaulted by an unnatural hunger and internal upset.

I felt a knot by my belly, as if something within it was consuming at my already drained Hunger bar.

Hunger: 48/100

As if asked, a small counter appeared in front of my eyes, just briefly as I felt dread squeeze at my chest. In the middle of that scary chase as the dogs pursued me within the dungeons, I fished out the Cheese and started to eat it.

I was roughly half-way through it when I saw something glow in the dark. Something metallic, rusty, and rushing dangerously towards me. The monstrous pile of flesh that appeared like a gray-skinned ogre tried to hit me with a meat cleaver, stumbling as I slid down just in time to dodge the attacks and… put him between me and the rabid dogs.

Seeing a bigger and juicier prey in sight, the mutts diverted from me and attacked the panicking Guard. The monster growled and roared angrily, punching and trying to push the three dogs away from it but… failing miserably to do so.

It was a grotesque sight, but the adrenaline of being almost killed by a fucking gray orc didn’t ‘allow’ me to linger with my gaze any further. Instead, I spotted something that the obese monster had dropped- a small key.

I snatched it away from the floor, resuming my wild rush away from both threats. I didn’t stop for anything, taking turns left and right before… I heard nothing. My legs were burning from running for so long and-

Mind: 94/100
Hunger: 61/100

“Mind is… not Mana Points? It’s… Sanity?”

This was getting far more complicated than I needed. Usually such a system was meant to help, but it felt like it was just giving me the spare minimum to assist me in this dreadful experience.

I looked around as I caught up with my strained lungs, noticing a few boxes and retrieving what looked to be a dagger. A purplish liquid dropped briefly from its edge- poison?

Poison Dart x 1 acquired.

Not much but… maybe stuff like poison and other Status Effects may come clutch in this ‘game’. I still wasn’t familiar with this world despite the fact something about its vibe being eerily similar to something I had already tried.

I looked around some more, but was soon forced to use on the nearby lit torches to have one of the two in my possessions producing some light as I ventured into the darker areas of this ground level. I felt the oppressive air growing quite intense for a while but… then, I heard a strange noise coming from a nearby door. It was someone crying.

It could have been a trap, but considering it’s a ‘Dungeon’, there had to be prisoners. And since the ‘game’ called these ogres ‘Guards’, then it means there could be survivors from those that had been held within this obscure building.

I slowly opened the door, gaze aimed at the lone cage on the side… and the distracted guard on the other side. As monstrous as his possibly dead colleague, I could properly see the towering monster’s front and-

Jesus Christ, is that his dick?!

Something like a throbbing tendril extended down from his ‘skirt’, reaching down to the ground and getting dragged as he moved around. It was clearly a penis from the phallic appearance of it and-

What the fuck is going on?!!

Shaking my head, I knew that now this may be an hentai situation. Or even worse. I just didn’t need that in my current circumstance. The more I delved into this place to find a means to survive, the more I feel like I am running into the worst ending possible.

I retrieved the dagger I found, it was short enough that it could be hurled at a big opponent but the monster was too far and it was too dark even with the torch. If I wanted to have a chance at winning this confrontation, I had to get it to be close to me. So, I approached, and my torch’s light was enough to send the bastard on a wild sprint towards me. My left leg was arching back, ready to allow me a quick turn around so I could escape if I failed to get this shot right.

Good news is that I got a clear view of the monster. Bad news is that… the thing was massive and quite fast. I managed to get the shot done right, the dagger stabbing into its neck and-

50!

That’s not enough to bring that thing… down?

I was thinking this fast, but not fast enough to see the ogre just trip on something and, in a moment of seizing up in pain, perish before my own eyes. The sight was shocking considering that the monster died with just 50 damage.

It didn’t feel right. Maybe the poison was a quick-action thing? Maybe. It didn’t feel right anyway…

Sighing to myself, I walked up to the corpse, seeing how the monster was truly dead and… that his cleaver was there for me to pick. It was a bit heavy, but I could technically pull it around with both hands as a heavy weapon. Carrying the weapon to the cage with my free hand, I was surprised to find that there was indeed someone there.

She stood up nervously, wearing just a brown tunic with a soft-looking rope tying her hands together. Innocent gray-blue eyes greeted me as the silent child appeared frightened but, overall, relieved to see a human face.

“Hello.”

She didn’t reply.

“Are you injured?” I asked, and the red-haired child shook her head. “Glad to hear that.”

I turned to the cage’s lock, blinking at the shape of the needed key to open it and… realizing it was similar to the small key I got from the guard. Crouching a bit, I dropped the cleaver for a moment, retrieving the small key and trying it on the lock.

A loud click signaled it was now unlocked, allowing me to pull the door to the side and… the girl walked out of it. She offered a tiny thankful smile, and I slowly accepted that this little one was mute and thus unable to tell me what is going on here. At least she could understand English and-

“Halt!”

A sword poked right behind my back. I had been distracted to notice that someone had entered from the very door I came from, better equipped than I was. It was clearly a woman from her frame, good-looking armor and feminine features on her face. Short-haired through a rather shabby haircut, the light-brown-haired girl appeared slightly nervous as she held her sword right against me as I turned to greet her.

“G-Good. Now, you will tell me where Le’Garde is being held,” She nervously ordered and… I replied accordingly.

“Who?”

—---------d-d-d-d—------

AN

And thus John embarks in the world of Fear & Hunger. Screwing with some Gods’ plans.