Viermin – a parasitic monster with a humanoid body and a height of about four feet.

They have three sets of arms, two smaller sets on their torso, and one larger set with crab-like pincers that are used as their primary arms. Their exact appearance is similar to a shellfish, due to their pincers and thick exoskeleton. However, it isn’t their appearance that makes them so frightening – it’s their means of reproduction.

Viermin have no reproductive organs. Instead, they infect a host, typically humans, and mutate them in a Viermin; that’s why they are classified as a parasite monster instead of an insect or humanoid. The mutation process takes place over a few days, during which the Viermins needs to continue infecting the target. Once the infection gets inside the host, reversal is impossible, all that awaits is either mutation or death.

Despite all this, they aren’t considered dangerous. Individually they are weak, only a bit stronger than goblins, so they prefer to fight in groups and launch sneak attacks on unsuspecting humans. The only time they would be considered a threat is if their group numbers were large enough, but that’s unlikely given the low success rate of the mutation process and lack of weak, unsuspecting targets wandering the forests.

However, in this case, it’s a bit different due to the arrival of new Earthlings. While a veteran wouldn’t be caught off guard, the same isn’t true for a beginner, which makes them perfect targets.

After Liam finished assessing all the information that he had gathered on Viermins, he decided to proceed with the mission, and head into the forest the next morning…

Rustle, rustle. Liam pushed aside the branches as he passed through the bushes. Stopping, he wiped the sweat from his forehead and pulled out his map.

‘How much further is it?’

It was mid-morning, and it had already been over an hour since he started searching for the cave. At this point, he didn’t know if he was lost or misjudged the distance.

‘This thing’s useless! What kind of map doesn’t have a scale?’

Liam shoved the map back into his pocket. All it had been good for was having the guard outside Kelm point him in the general direction of the cave, yet he kept looking at it, hoping something would change.

‘I guess it’s what I deserve for buying something from the Association…’

When he asked the Association where the cave was, instead of answering, they sold him the map with the cave marked on it. He should have had the foresight to know it would be useless in a forest, how could it identify the difference between one tree or another... it couldn’t.

Cursing, Liam pulled out his knife and quickly carved an ‘X’ on the trunk of a tree. Throughout his travel, he had been marking the path so that he wouldn’t get lost on his way back. When he finished, he sheathed the blade and continued forward.

The journey had been uneventful so far. Liam had seen a few monsters, but they all ran away when they saw him. For that alone, he was thankful. If the cave were further in the forest, there would be stronger, more aggressive monsters, in which case, he wouldn’t have been able to accept the mission.

After another half hour passed, Liam finally reached the cave.

It was buried in the side of a small hill and led down into the ground. The entrance was only about two feet wide, making it smaller than the average doorway.

‘Is this the cave?’

Between the narrow entrance and plants covering it, it didn’t look like any cave that he envisioned; instead, it looked closer to a crack in big rock or large hole.

‘Maybe I should keep looking. They said the cave was small, but this is tiny…’

Liam thought about it for a minute before deciding to wait; there was no rush. He picked a location set off a bit and crouched down in the bushes, observing the cave from afar. He didn’t want to get close, yet.

‘Something definitely, is or was living here.’

The area around the cave entrance was a clearing with no plants or grass growing. It appeared that various monsters and animals had trampled it.

Liam decided to wait for a bit before doing anything, hoping he might catch sight of whatever was living inside. Soon two hours passed and…

Nothing had changed, and Liam couldn’t wait in the bushes all day when he didn’t even know if this was the right place.

Pushing himself up, Liam cautiously moved into the clearing and began inspecting the area. There were various tracks leading into the cave. Viermin had three long claws and one short claw at the heel, similar to a chicken’s foot. It was distinct enough that even Liam could identify it without ever having seen it before, but…

‘Damnit, I can’t tell if these are Viermin or something else…’

The sheer number of tracks, all mixed, made it impossible to distinguish any one pair from another, everything blended into one muddled mess. Liam thought about his next move carefully. He had a few options available.

‘Either I give up and head back to town, go inside, or wait longer.’

Giving up was the safest choice of the three, but it was also the worst. Failing to complete a mission results in a fine of up to half the mission reward; it was how the Association prevented Earthlings from hoarding missions and quitting when things got tough. Liam had less than a nickel to his name. The fine would put him in debt with the Association, and after hearing Keith’s story, that was the last thing he wanted.

Failure had always been a risk going into this, but the reward was worth it, especially since he was already in debt for ninety-five nickel. Unless he had no other choice, giving up wasn't an option.

Between the remaining two options, waiting was the safer choice, but also the least likely to pay off. Liam had already waited for two hours and saw nothing; he wasn’t confident waiting a few hours more would make a difference. Ideally, that meant nothing was here. However…

Prepare for the worst, hope for the best.

In this case, the worst thing, aside from being captured, would be making a false report to the Association, which would be found out one way or another. While he didn’t know the consequences, they were bound to be severe.

While there were three options, there really was only one choice – entering the cave.

‘Okay, if there are any inside, there shouldn’t be many. Otherwise, I would’ve seen them by now. The tracks are probably from the same ones. At the very least, I’m pretty sure there isn’t a horde of them inside.’

After deliberating for a few minutes, Liam reaffirmed his decision and approached the cave entrance. Picking up a rock, he tossed it inside; the sound echoed throughout the cave. He waited for a moment before trying it a few more times until he was satisfied.

As he squeezed his way through the narrow entrance, the coarse rock walls scraped against his elbows. After a few feet, the passaged opened up enough that, if he wanted, he could spread out his arms side-to-side. The ceiling was low, leaving less than a foot above Liam’s head.

Liam unsheathed his knife and proceeded down the tunnel.

Not only did it get darker, the deeper he went, the air became sticky and humid as well. There was also a tinge of a pungent odor in the air. The further he went, the stronger it got.

His eyes slowly adjusted to the lack of light, and he was able to make out more of the surroundings. There wasn’t much to see, aside from rocks and stone walls.

‘I should’ve brought a torch or something.’

Not that he had anything to make one with, lighters and matches, were luxuries that didn’t exist in Orbis. If he wanted, he could go outside and rub to sticks together, but after coming this far, that seemed like a waste of time.

‘When I get back to town, I’ll buy a piece of flintstone… there’s a few other things I should get too.’

Liam’s mind wandered, considering all the things he needed. There was plenty of survival equipment he realized he had neglected at this point, backpack, rope, bandages, compass, etc., etc. Some of the items might not exist in Orbis, but there would be alternatives, magic appeared to be more prevalent than science here. However, that could all wait till later, Liam returned his focus to the task at hand.

The tunnel came to an end, connecting to a small cavern. It was the size of a two-bedroom apartment, about 1,000 square feet, and a dead end.

“Uuegh…”

Liam covered his nose and mouth due to the strong, unpleasant odor. He held back the strong desire to vomit.

The source was easy to spot. The cavern was empty, aside from a deformed pile of organic mass in the back, taking a closer look, Liam could see both human and insect-like limbs sticking out.

‘That confirms it, Viermin are here.’

Liam quickly determined that these were the corpses of failed Viermin mutations, roughly ten of them.

‘I’ll take a sample back. I wouldn’t put it past those fucking scumbags to withhold my reward for lack of evidence.’

Using his knife, he cut off one of the mutated limbs, causing a mucousy substance to pour out onto his hands.

“Uulck.”

He gagged as he wiped his hands off on his pants, but suddenly he froze…

– NOOOO!!

A chill shot down his spine, hearing the scream echoing down the tunnel.

– Kreeeeee…! Quiet human!

This time it was a raspy voice that spoke in broken English.

– Help! Help me! I don’t want to-!

WHACK! With that, the screaming stopped. It was silent, except for the sound of footsteps, slowly getting closer.

‘Shit! Just my fucking luck!’

The Viermins must have returned, bringing along new victims, and Liam was in the worst position possible. Not only was he trapped inside, rendering his bow infective and escape impossible, he knew nothing about their numbers, but presumed there was more than one, given the number of corpses. Fighting wasn’t an option – he had to hide.

Liam climbed into the mound of decomposing flesh, the rotting scent seeping into his skin and fluids staining his armor. He pulled the corpses over himself until he was fully covered, leaving only a small enough gap for one eye to see out. Holding his breath, he waited.

Tak…tak…tak…

Liam’s hearted pounded as he heard the sound of the Viermins’ claws, entering the cavern.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

Peeking through the gap, he could make out three short-statured figures as they approached, dragging two unconscious humans behind.

‘Please…please…’

The humans were tossed against the wall, mere feet away from Liam. Thud! Hitting it, they collapsed to the ground. Their arms and legs were bent in different directions, even if they were conscious, escape was impossible.

The three figures approached, and Liam could better take in their appearance. They were hideous. The descriptions he had heard failed to depict how ugly. Rather than putting it into words, it would be better to say they looked like a mixture of various insects with a humanoid figure and let your imagination do the rest.

Using the smaller, nimbler sets of arms attached to their torsos, the Viermins began tearing off the human's armor, stripping them bare. Once they finished, one of the Viermins, which had stayed near the back, came forward. Its appearance was slightly different than the others as it stood a head taller and had an extra set of arms and six tendrils wiggling on its face. But Liam wasn’t paying attention to that; his eyes were fixed on the long tubular tongue extending from its mouth, injecting something into the humans that made them convulse; this process continued for a long time, the humans moaning and twitching the entire time.

How much time passed? Liam didn’t know, but when they finally left, a wave of relief hit him hard. As his muscles relaxed, his entire body felt sluggish, that or the bodily fluids that covered him from head to toe were messing with his senses.

Liam stayed still and waited for a few minutes longer before moving. When he stood up, he headed for the exit, moving as quickly and quietly as possible. The thought of helping the captives didn’t even cross his mind, nor was it guaranteed they could be saved at this point.

Reaching the exit, the bright rays of the mid-afternoon sun blinded him. Squinting, he looked around for the path he had marked, and upon spotting it, sprinted into the forest.

Thump! Thump! Thump!

His heart was racing as he shoved aside the branches and jumped over roots, heading to Kelm as fast as possible; he wouldn’t feel safe until he was back inside the town walls.

‘Fuck! What was I thinking?! I barely made it out. If the smell of the corpses hadn’t been enough to mask my scent, I’d be dead… no, worse, I’d be turning into one of them… I shouldn’t have taken this mission…’

Looking back, he considered his actions as reckless. What made him think he was ready for this mission? Not even a month had passed since he arrived in Orbis, yet he decided to skip the beginning missions and jump right into the real ones. Was he stupid?

‘No, that’s not it. I wasn’t reckless or stupid… I did everything I could to prepare and took reasonable precautions. It just wasn’t enough.’

Before accepting the mission, he had gathered information from numerous Earthlings and even the Association receptionist. On which, he concluded that while it might be difficult, the risk was worth it; that feeling hadn’t changed.

As for entering the cave, how could he have predicted that the Viermins would’ve shown up at the same time? Unless he had the Godly power of foresight, it wasn’t possible. Next time, he needed to prepare more, knowing about a monster’s habitat, hunting patterns, sleeping habits, etc., would help in making critical decisions. It might even prevent him from making a mistake that could cost him his life.

‘… There’s so much more I could’ve done.’

Hindsight is always 20/20. The ideas that had eluded him before were only becoming clear after the fact. He could have set up traps in the tunnel or placed strings with bells outside, something to alert him of the Viermins’ approach.

‘I just don’t know enough about this world yet.’

Orbis was a strange world. While similar to Earth, at the same time, it was entirely different. People and infrastructure were the only aspects similar enough that his past experiences were of any real use. Monsters, weapons, combat, and survival were things he knew nothing about outside of his basic instincts, and they were all proving to be the foundation of surviving in this world.

‘Looks like I’m starting over again...’

When his life had been inverted after his father’s death, he managed to turn it around. Having done it once, he could do it again.

‘… I guess it isn’t any different than before in that regard…’

Back then he had to start over from square one, and this time it was no different. Almost everything he had learned over the past twenty-three years was proving useless in Orbis. In a world where the strong survive and the weak perish, logic and decision making can only get you so far; you need strength to back them up.

‘I need to change something, but… I just don’t know what yet…’

Last time he had formed his list of guidelines. This time, only time would tell. For now, what he needed was experience. It would take time, many more failures, and brushes with death before his intuition was honed.

With his confidence renewed, Liam’s pace slowed as he neared the gates of Kelm; the guard pinched his nose and shot Liam a look of disgust as he passed. There were two things he still needed to do today. First, was reporting his findings to the Association and collecting his reward. Next was taking a bath and getting himself and his equipment clean…

‘Maybe, I should switch the order of those two things…’

Judging by the expression of people passing by, he must smell truly, and utterly disgusting as a few had even dry heaved. After being stuck under the corpses for so long, he had grown accustom to the smell. Changing his direction, he headed to the inn to scrub down every inch of his body.