Chapter 1: A Mask For The Hero

On the other side of the world, Earth was hit by an extinction-level asteroid, and I was shaken off my feet. I was thirty, and life had been rough, never really becoming or accomplishing anything. This was just icing on the cake, and I was blasted into oblivion as Earth imploded.

I suddenly was being reformed in the center of a stone room with a group of hooded people around me, but something felt different. I ignored that I was naked as I put a hand up to my mouth, running my fingers along my new strange teeth.

"Hero… what is your name? What is also wrong with your face?" A man's voice asked, and I looked up to see someone I might consider a king, but this was all so strange. How did I just get here? What year was this?

Name…?

"I really don't know," I said slowly as I ran a finger along one of my teeth but then pulled it back as my finger was cut.

"What kind of Hero looks so menacing? This will be a tough sale with the people, but you are just here to kill the five great monster kings, and if you can do that, I am sure people will… put up with you," The man said, and then walked away as I looked down at my finger that was no longer bleeding.

Whoever this person was, they seemed like a bit of a bastard, and I didn't know if I could trust them. But then again, I didn't really think I had a choice in the matter. I was used to getting the short end of the stick and was a pretty optimistic person, but this was outside of my range of understanding.

"Come with me, Jaws," one of the mages said, waving for me to follow, and I was led to a room where I was dressed in nice clothing.

The entire time this happened, I tried to remember my name. I recalled being on Earth, but my name eluded me. It was as if it had been wiped from my mind.

The group of people that called themselves the Order of Magi explained that I was brought here for a purpose. In this world, five monster kings terrorized the land and needed someone to kill them. They told me that I was chosen because of my great strength and because I didn't have anything tying me down in life.

I asked about my family, but they told me they didn't know anything about them. As far as they were concerned, I was an orphan with no past. But I refused to believe that. There had to be something more to my story than what they told me.

The Order also told me that this world didn't have a name, but the people just called it The World. And apparently, in this world, everyone hated monsters with a passion, but they still used some of them for work, animals, and other things. Everyone here also went by their given name rather than surnames, like where I was from on Earth.

The Order told me they would provide me with everything I needed to know about the world and how to kill the monster kings. They also gave me a world map and told me to head east toward the kingdom of Ferus. They said that was where my journey would begin.

So with that, I set out, well, it felt more like I was kicked out. The whole thing felt rushed, and I was introduced to no one as I was escorted out of the city wearing a robe to cover my face. Once I was escorted to the final of four gates of this massive walled city of Kalur, I was left with my horse, some rations, and about five gold pieces. I guess the Heroes have to make a name for themselves, but this whole thing was overly suspicious.

I tried to turn back and talk with the gate guards, but neither of the two would talk to me, and they barred me from re-entering the city.

Did I just get kicked out of the city after they summoned me?

No, they must just want me to prove myself.

This world was much newer than where I came from, and it seemed that wagon and horseback were the primary modes of transportation. I wasn't a genius, but I was sure I could use some otherworldly skills to help improve this world, but that wasn't my job. My job was pretty loosely termed; kill the monster kings. That sounds like a pretty tall job considering I had no clue how I was going to do any of that.

"What am I even doing in this world?" I asked myself as I dug my heels into the side of the horse to get it moving, looking down at my hands again. I still haven't even looked at my reflection, but I knew there was something wrong with my mouth. My teeth were metal and sharp, and when I bit down, it was like a trap closing, and it felt like it stretched my face a bit.

I rode for an hour, and strangely enough, I didn't see a single person on the road, but after about another thirty minutes, I reached a small river near a forest. There was a bridge, but I wanted to stop and fill my waterskin, which was only half full when I was given it.

I stopped my horse near the river and hopped off. I made sure to tie him to a tree as I knelt down by the river to fill my waterskin using my hand. As I was about to stand up, a fish leaped out of the water towards me, biting at my face.

I bit back and cut the fish in half with my jaws.

Every part of my mind was screaming for me to spit the fish out of my mouth as I felt it oozing and still twitching in my mouth. Then I started to chew and swallow until my mouth was empty. I wanted to puke, but my stomach seemed to be made out of rocks because the mostly chewed raw fish went down pretty good. I washed my mouth out with water and then looked down at my reflection and flinched back.

My mouth was a bear trap, for lack of a better way to describe it, and it made me look like I was some kind of monster. No wonder they had rushed me out of the city.

"What do we have here?" A deep voice asked, and my horse screamed and then thudded to the ground.

I whirled around to find what I could only describe being a massive 8-foot-tall troll that had a face even uglier than mine.

"What the hell happened to your face? Did some sick bastard do that to your face?" The Troll asked and then took a bit out of my now dead horse's neck.

I just stared in shock as one of the ugliest creatures I had ever seen chewed on my dead horse while blood dripped down its face. This thing was a troll, and I had only heard stories of them back on Earth. They were said to be savage, brutish creatures that would eat anything they could get their hands on.

And here I was, face to face with one.

"I asked you a question," the Troll said as it walked over to me, still chewing on my horse's neck. "Did some sick bastard do that to your face?"

"No, I was summoned like this," I said calmly, letting my adrenaline pump me up. Something about this felt right, and I was going to make this ugly bastard pay for killing my wheels!

"Summoned?" The Troll asked, puzzlement clear on his face. "Who the hell would summon something like you?"

"The Order of Magi," I said, and the Troll's eyes narrowed.

"You're one of those pissant little mages?" The Troll asked, and I could see the anger in his eyes. "I'm going to enjoy this."

The creature reached for my head, but I snapped forward, taking two of the Trolls fingers, making it kick me across the water to the other side, but I barely felt it as I thudded onto the ground, chewing up and swallowing the disgusting fingers that leaked putrid green blood. The moment I swallowed it, something different happened, and I felt my muscles buff and fill out some.

[Biting System] Activate!

[Troll Buff 1/100: Increased resistance to damage, increased physical damage]

I looked down at my arms as they became more muscular, and my body filled out some. I was still skinny, but I looked more like a bodybuilder now than a scrawny little nerd. 

"What the hell did you do?" The Troll asked as it rubbed its fingers that were now just stumps.

"I ate your fingers," I said with a smirk as I cracked my knuckles. "It looks like this is my lucky day."

"You're going to pay for that," the Troll said, anger clear in its voice, and it hurtled its body to jump over the river and swing its other fist at me.

"I don't think so," I said as I rolled out of the way but then bit the hand right off at the wrist.

The Troll screamed as it clutched its now bleeding stump and then glared at me. "You're going to regret that."

I just smiled and then ran forward, slamming my shoulder into the Troll's stomach, and then opened my jaws wide as I bit down on the creature's neck. I shook my head from side to side, feeling its warm blood flow into my mouth before finally tearing its throat out. The moment I did that, something else happened.

[Troll Buff 2/100: Increased regeneration rate]

The Troll's body dissolved into green light, and I felt myself becoming stronger. This was definitely a lucky day for me. Not only had I just killed my first monster, but I had also gotten my first two buffs! They would totally have to take me back now!

But then I looked down at my body, which was covered in stinking green blood. Was I really out here proving myself? To who? All humans hid in walls from what I could see, but did that mean that it was going to be like this everywhere I went?

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I sighed, got washed back up, grabbed my back from the horse, and I started to walk toward the nearest town that was called Soren. I guess I would just have to take this one day at a time and hope for the best.

I pulled my cloak up to my face as I entered the town, but the place looked all locked up. This was clearly a town on the map, but each building loke like it was prepared for war. Living around monsters must be hard for people like this, but I didn't understand why they didn't just go into the city. Not like there was anyone around to ask anyways, or I thought there wouldn't be, but when I knocked on the fourth door that looked like it might sell things, the place opened.

"Get inside!" An old man hissed, and I did as I was told but stayed on guard, keeping my robe up at my face. I had found a tooth and a gem plus two gold coins on the Troll, and I was hoping I could sell them like in RPGs.

"Thanks for inviting me in. I am looking to sell a Troll tooth and a gem. I was also hoping I could buy a mask for my mouth," I explained as the man closed the door and locked it but then whirled on me.

"So you are the poor sucker that was summoned by those useless wizards? But you killed a Troll? why did they kick you out of the capital?" The old man asked, but I narrowed my eyes at him.

"How do you already know all this? I just got here," I asked, and the man chuckled.

"Everyone knows about you, Jaws," The man said and then finally looked at my face. "But damn, if your face isn't worse than the stories."

"So, what do you have for sale?" I asked, changing the subject as I looked around the dusty old shop. It was clear that this man didn't get a lot of customers.

"I don't have much, but I can give 5 Gold for that Tooth and 7 for the Gem," The man said, and I nodded before setting them down on the counter. "As far as a mask goes, let me see if I got anything in the back."

The man walked into a back room and then came out with a black leather mask that had eye holes cut into it. "This is all I got right now, but it would only be 14 gold."

I thought about it before nodding. "That's fair," I said before setting down one gold coin and picking up the mask. As soon as it was on my face, something felt off as the mask started to tighten.

"What the hell?" I asked as I tried to take it off, but it was like it was glued on.

"Hmmm, that's strange," The old man said as he looked at me before walking back into his room. "I'll be right back."

I stood there for a bit before finally sitting down in a chair near the counter and then just waiting. My stomach growled, but I had no clue when the old man would be back or if he would even have food here to buy.

A few minutes later, the man came out of his room with a book in hand and sat down across from me at the table. "This is very interesting," He said as he looked through the book. "It seems that this mask is cursed."

"Cursed?" I asked, and the man nodded.

"Yes, it's a very old mask that was used by a serial killer who enjoyed eating his victims. It seems that the mask somehow seeps into your skin and then starts to change you," The man said, and I felt my blood run cold. "But it looks like it hasn't taken over yet."

The old man then closed the book before getting up and walking back into his room again. He came back out with a small knife in hand before he walked over to me and cut off the bottom of my left ear.

I yelped in pain as blood flowed down my neck, but then the wound started to heal almost immediately.

"What did you do?" I asked as I put a hand to my ear that was now missing a chunk. What kind of shit was this? First, I get summoned here against my will, get my face mangled, told to kill five monsters kings with no idea how, get cursed by some fucking mask, and now this guy just cuts my ear off!

"I needed to test the theory," The old man said as if it was nothing, but I could see the excitement in his eyes. "It seems that you aren't immune to all damage, but your body is slowly changing into that of the serial killer.

"You have two choices, Jaws. You can either stay here and let me study you, or you can go out there and try to find a cure for this curse," The old man said, and I thought about it before standing up.

"I'll find a cure," I said before walking out of the shop with my hand over my ear. This was fucked up, and I had no clue what I was going to do now.

"Your loss," The old man said before slamming the door shut.

I was left outside in this desolate town with a mask stuck on my face that was slowly turning me into a serial killer. I had no idea how to find a cure for this, but I knew I had to try. Maybe the Order of Magi would have some answers for me, but first, I needed to get out of this town before the mask took over completely.

I started to walk down the road, not really sure where I was going, but I knew I needed to get as far away from this place as possible. I hadn't seen a lot of humans, so getting away from the main roads wouldn't hurt.

I walked for hours, and the only thing I really saw were animals. I mostly stayed away from them as I was afraid of what might happen if the mask took over completely, but as night started to fall, my stomach growled, and I knew I needed to eat.

I hadn't seen any game around, so that meant going into the forest to look for some berries or something.

As soon as I stepped off the road and into the forest, it was like everything had changed. The air felt heavier, and there seemed to be an eerie silence that surrounded me. It was like all of nature was holding its breath in fear. 

I continued to walk, but I was on high alert, looking for any signs of danger. The further I walked, the more I felt like I was being watched. And then I heard it. A twig snapping.

I turned around and looked, but there was nothing there. It must have been an animal or something, but even animals should be afraid of me now that this mask had taken over.

I turned back around and started walking again when suddenly something grabbed me from behind and yanked me into the bushes!

I tried to scream, but a hand was clamped over my mouth as I was dragged deeper into the forest. My mind raced with possibilities of who or what had me, but nothing could prepare me for what I saw when I was finally released.

There standing in front of me were two figures that looked like they were straight out of my nightmares. They were both taller than me, wearing black cloaks with hoods that covered their faces so I couldn't see them. But their eyes… their eyes burned bright red like coals in a furnace, and they just stared at me with an intensity that sent shivers down my spine.

I tried to run, but one of them grabbed me and slammed me against a tree before holding me there. I could feel the heat emanating from their body, and it felt like my skin was on fire.

"What are you?" I asked, but they just stared at me before the one that was holding me tightened its grip.

"You will come with us," It said in a voice that sounded like it was being filtered through a voice box. "You have something we need."

"And what would that be?" I asked, trying to stall for time as my mind raced. These things were obviously not human, but I had no idea what they were or how to fight them.

"The Mask," The other one said, and I felt my blood run cold. "You will give us the Mask!"

Something happened at that moment, and my personality suddenly shifted to something like a psychopath with no control as I started to smile broadly. "The Mask is mine," I said in a voice that sounded nothing like my own. "And you will never take it from me!"

I then reached up and grabbed the one that was holding me by the throat before slamming its head into the tree repeatedly. I could feel its warm blood flowing over my hand as it struggled to break free, but I was too strong.

Finally, its head cracks open like an egg, and greenish-black blood starts oozing out as its body goes limp in my hand. I drop it to the ground before turning my attention to the other one that is now backing away from me in fear.

"Please," It pleads, but I just grin wider as I start stalking toward it. "We don't want to hurt you."

"Too late for that," I say before leaping onto it and sinking my teeth into its neck. It screams as I tear chunks of flesh out of it, devouring everything like a wild animal. The taste of hot blood fills my mouth, and something inside me snaps as all reason disappears. The only thing that matters now is the kill…

[Stalker Buff 1/100: Increased hunting effectiveness]

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