"Man, this protagonist has way too much plot armor, what is this deus ex machina situation? I should go back to reading peak fiction after this brainrot novel…"
Benjamin Rover yawned and checked the time on his phone.
"Shit, 3 AM? I should really sleep. I don't need to be sleep-deprived when job searching tomorrow."
Ben set an alarm for 8 AM, turned his bedside lamp off, and drifted off to sleep.
…
[You've successfully transmigrated to Articus]
An ethereal voice rang out in Ben's head.
'Hmm? I can't breathe!'
Ben opened his eyes, and immediately shut them afterwards as water rushed towards him. Goosebumps formed on his skin as adrenaline ran through his body.
'This isn't a lucid dream, is it? Wait, I'd be aware I'm in a dream if I were lucid dreaming. Fuck! Up! Up! Up!"
Ben desperately swam up, kicking his legs and pulling his arms in a breaststroke motion. Simultaneously, he opened his eyes a little to try to adjust to the water. There wasn't much air in his lungs, but he still breathed out a little to see where the bubbles went so he could follow them.
'Except it's way too murky to see anything! And what the fuck is this situation, did I accidentally provoke a psychopath or something?"
The only thing that Ben could do was continue kicking and hope he was buoyant enough to rise to the surface of wherever the hell he was. His eyes continued to adjust to the water, and as he squinted, he saw a sliver of light.
'The surface!' Ben swam even more desperately, which probably just made him waste more energy. Ben didn't have the luxury to think about his energy though, as his instinct to breathe completely took over his mind.
Just as he was a few meters from the surface, darkness enveloped him.
"Oh, what the fuck now? What is my life dude!" Ben cursed his heart out like he was against a sailor in a profanity competition, which allowed him to calm down. Somewhat.
"Okay, so I was sleeping, and then I was drowning, and now I'm stuck in this dark place. Alright, this is just a VERY realistic dream, right?" Ben slapped himself on the cheek.
"Ah fuck that hurt! Virtual reality simulation? No, I'm not in a sci-fi world. Unless I got transmigrated? Holy fuck, did I get transmigrated? I did hear something about getting transmigrated to Articus after all."
Ben had a wild imagination, but even this was too much for him. There was a little bit of excitement, but mostly anxiety and despair.
"But what fucked up transmigration is this? I'm really not cut out for this. It's like putting a domestic animal in the wild. And oh, if I'm a webnovel protagonist, should I curse less? That's a metaphysical thought…also, why is it so humid here?"
He decided to start exploring his surroundings. Ben could worry about his transmigration all he wanted, but he needed to be alive to do so!
'I should stop whispering to myself like an idiot. What if someone discovers me? This ground seems kind of wet and sticky…that's what she said. Haha. Oh, a wall?'
Ben bumped into a wall, but luckily, he was holding his arms in front of him, so only his hands felt the impact. Even though he looked a bit silly, nobody was here to see him, right?
The walls felt warm and soft, as well as a bit wet. That sounds like another sex joke, which made Ben realize—
'Am I inside a living creature? Ah fucking hell, what kind of shitstorm is this?" Ben very soon forgot about the idea of cursing less. After feeling up the wall again, he realized that the wall had a pulse.
'Great, yep, this is what happens when you, uh, read too many webnovels. Or whatever the hell I did to get to here. And I'm lost. I guess I'll just choose a direction and walk? I probably have plot armor anyways…unless I'm in a novel with multiple transmigrators, and I'm just an unlucky side character? If this world is a novel, then it's important to know the author's nationality as well."
Random thoughts began to fill Ben's head as he continued walking. Perhaps this was his way of coping with the situation, as he hasn't fully accepted his reality yet.
'It's getting hotter and hotter. Maybe I should take my shirt off? Wait, what am I wearing?"
Only now did Ben realize that this wasn't his original body. Although it was quite dark, he could barely make out that he was wearing a rough, blue uniform. There was a rectangular metal identification tag on the left side of his chest, with the number "28" on it. It was sort of like a janitor's uniform.
'Yeah, if it were my original body, I probably would've drowned. So this world uses the same numerical system. I also seem to be shorter. Maybe I'm younger as well? I wasn't that old to begin with, so it's hard to tell. Actually, am I even human?"
Ben started touching himself to make sure that he had all the body parts of a human.
'Yeah, I'm probably a male human. I also didn't get any memories of the body I've transmigrated to. Right, transmigration. Maybe I have some cheat skills or system. System?'
"..."
"System! Interface! Skill! Ability!"
"..."
'Maybe it's because I'm speaking English and not this world's native language?' Ben knew that the more likely possibility was that he simply didn't get anything special, but he really did hope for something that could make his life easier!
'Also, I'm starting to hear this thing's heartbeat. It's pretty fast…also kind of erratic? Is it facing danger outside?' Ben wasn't sure if he'd rather stay in here or face whatever was threatening the creature he was inside of.
As Ben kept walking, the heartbeat kept getting louder.
Da dum. Da dum.
'Oh, I see a light in the distance! Again…' Ben walked towards the light, which was golden with a reddish tint. The closer he got, the more pronounced the red was. At the same time, the heartbeat was becoming even more erratic.
'Wait no, it's more like there're two rhythms? Does this thing have two hearts? That light source is probably a heart then. Maybe I can kill it if I destroy the heart?' Ben wanted to get out as soon as possible, as he felt like he was melting. Literally.
'Hold on, did I teleport in here, or did this creature eat me while I was swimming up? If it was the former, was it the same person who transmigrated me? And if it was the latter, how in nature's love did I get to the heart? Well, it is a different world, maybe it's not even a heart…' Ben reminded himself that he couldn't necessarily apply Earth's logic here.
Ben started to speed walk, with the heartbeat now ringing in his ears. Tremors spread from the heart, and Ben had to cover his ears to prevent himself from going deaf.
BA DUM. BA DUM.
Ben felt his own heart synchronize with the giant heart in front of him. Now that he was close to it, he realized it was around 5 times his size.
'Yeah, and I don't really have anything sharp on me. Maybe I can target the blood vessels connected to the heart instead?'
Ben resolved himself, brought his hands from his ears to the tag on his uniform, ripped it off, and used the corners of the tag to rip through the blood vessels.
"Agh! Ugh! Fuck that's disgusting!" Luckily, the tag was sharp enough to cut the vessels, although copious amounts of golden-red blood spilled over him. Additionally, Ben felt like his ears were bleeding. Speed was the key here!
Ben's senses were overwhelmed by the tremors of the ground, the beat of the heart, and the blood on his body, but he kept cutting and slashing. He had to.
Cut. Slice. Step. Rip it. Rip it all!
Ben let out a primal scream, quite literally seeing red. The blood entered his mouth, some of which he accidentally swallowed, but he spat most of it back out.
"Kill!"
After what felt like countless hours, the heart finally stopped.
"Ha…ha…haaaa…ah fuck." Ben was completely spent. His head was muddled, he couldn't hear, and he could barely see anything. His arms and legs were trembling, and he felt like he was going to collapse and black out, but he couldn't, he mustn't! It would be really stupid to die right at the finish line.
'It's getting colder now. Can this thing survive on one heart? I sure hope the fuck not, I'm not doing that again.'
'This tag has also cut my hand. Damn, this is a strong tag. I know it's metal, but there's barely any damage done to it! Then again, if the blood were corrosive or something, I would be dead by now.'
Since Ben felt like he wasn't melting anymore, he decided to sit down and take a rest. The golden red blood was slowly being replaced by red blood, making it darker and darker.
'If you count my past life, this is the third time I've almost died. Well, beast, let's see who lasts longer. You or me.' Ben was willing to stake it and wait it out with the creature. If he gets lucky, the creature would die of blood loss due to a missing heart, and he can escape. Although, seeing how the blood is being replaced, this might not be possible. Hell, the blood even stopped flowing out the broken vessels!
'I'll just break more vessels then. After I rest some more.' But then, Ben fell into a dilemma. Should he take a nap and risk the danger for more rest? Or should he force himself to stay awake in such a perilous situation?
'Seeing as the temperature isn't going up, I shouldn't be burned alive anymore. The blood is also still circulating here, so it shouldn't become freezing either. Overall, I probably wouldn't die anytime soon…but I'd be an idiot if I slept now!
Ben still didn't know much about his own body. Compared to his body on Earth, did it require more or less sleep? What about food or water? Even after being near death for so long, he barely had any cravings for nutrients. Also, why risk it when he doesn't have to?
'Although my head hurts, I can keep myself awake. I probably have too much adrenaline to fall asleep anyway, haha. I'll just lean against the wall and rest."
…
After what Ben estimated to be two hours of resting, he stood up again and searched for blood vessels to slash.
"'Ow, leg cramp, ah damn it! This body isn't invincible after all. My voice is also kind of hoarse. The heart is still there, barely being held up by the remaining blood vessels. Heh, the only good heart is a dead heart."
Ben waited for the cramp to dissipate, then continued towards the blood vessels again.
"Ow, my ears hurt, damn! I think it only bled a little before. Why is it acting up now?" Ben quietly cursed to himself, but he kept walking.
"Ouch! Ah! Wait, what the fuck?" As Ben kept moving, he kept getting cramps in random parts of his body, and his head started throbbing.
'Is this the ability of the creature I'm in? Maybe I've stayed for too long? Or the fatigue is just catching up to me? Whatever the case, I need to get the hell out of here!