The last thing Benjamin felt was the lukewarm rim of a coffee mug against his lower lip.
Then came the pressure. It wasn't a sharp pain, but a heavy, rhythmic thumping behind his sternum that drowned out the hum of the office ventilation. His vision blurred, turning the glowing spreadsheets into meaningless white smears. He tried to reach for his phone, but his fingers felt like lead.
'Not now. The Q3 audit is on Tuesday.'
Darkness swallowed the office.
Then, the smell hit him. It wasn't the sterile scent of floor wax and ozone. It was the stench of wet earth, rotting meat, and something acidic.
Benjamin opened his eyes. Or rather, he opened eyes that weren't his. The world was rendered in shades of grey and sickly heat-maps. He was lying on a bed of something soft and damp. He tried to sit up, but a weight pressed down on his chest.
He looked down. His skin was a dull, bruised green. His arms were spindly, ending in four-fingered hands with jagged, yellowed claws.
'Hallucination. Lack of oxygen to the brain. Cerebral hypoxia.'
A flickering, translucent blue light ignited in the center of his vision. It didn't look like a game menu. It looked like a broken monitor, static dancing at the edges of the text.
[Biological Vessel: Feral Goblin (Lunt-Class)]
[Status: Severe Malnourishment / Hypothermia]
[Notice: Higher Brain Functions Restored via Soul Integration]
A high-pitched, guttural screech tore through the air. Something heavy kicked Benjamin in the ribs, rolling him off the pile of leathery bodies. He hit the cold, muddy floor of the cave with a wet thud.
He gasped, but the sound that came out was a pathetic, wet croak.
He looked up. A goblin nearly twice his size stood over him. It was hideous, with a protruding lower jaw and eyes that glowed with a dull, predatory hunger. The larger creature reached down, its thick fingers wrapping around Benjamin's throat. It wasn't an act of malice. It was the casual movement of a predator selecting the weakest piece of fruit from a tree.
[Threat Level: Fatal]
[Time to Asphyxiation: 14 Seconds]
Benjamin's vision began to tunnel. His new, small lungs burned. He didn't think about his old life or the unfairness of the world. He thought about the jagged piece of flint he had felt under his palm when he fell.
He scrambled, his green fingers clawing at the muck. He found it. The stone was cold and sharp.
As the larger goblin lifted him off the ground, its grip tightening, Benjamin didn't scream. He swung.
He drove the flint into the soft, unprotected pulse point beneath the creature's jaw. He didn't stop at one strike. He stabbed again and again, his small frame shaking with a frantic, desperate energy.
The weight suddenly vanished. The larger goblin fell back, clutching its throat, making a sound like a clogged drain. It kicked twice, then went still.
Benjamin collapsed onto his hands and knees, shivering. His green skin was slick with black blood.
[Unit Terminated]
[Essence Harvested: +1]
[Level 1 -> 2]
He stared at the dead thing in front of him. He looked at his own trembling, clawed hands.
'This is real. I'm a vermin in a hole. And if I don't move, I'm next.'