Arc 1: A whole new world

Warning: cursing/profanity.

“Haa.. Haa.. No! This can’t be! ...huh?” After panting for a couple of seconds Ash blinked hard. “Oh, a nightmare. Here I thought I was back in the past...” At 15, she did get a taste of this so called independence. Let’s just say the taste was bitter. The nightmare didn’t surprise her much, for the feeling of being lost and alone? Yes, that’s what she was feeling right now.

Because 19 year old Ash attempted another ‘escapade’. This time not for the sake of independence, but with the will to live. She was done being a doll years ago. Even done pretending to be the emotionless fool her parents obsessed over.

The golden cage she used to live in wasn’t even gold anymore as her father’s business had suddenly gone bankrupt and she was being arranged to marry a middle aged man. The guy had zero sense in fashion, zero looks, humor, aura of authority, presence or sense of romance. All he had was a big fat belly, constipated face, sleazy gaze and riches; lots and lots of riches.

Call her childish, sexist, racist, lookist or whatever, Ash couldn‘t bring herself to even imagine kissing someone who wasn’t pleasing to the eyes. He didn’t need to be world shatteringly handsome, heck, he didn’t even need to be a he- “But at least have as much creditable look so I don’t feel like barfing every time I see him! Mon deiu. Why can’t real guys look as attractive as 2d characters?”

What happened when she escaped at 15? Why was she back and trapped for 4 more years? That’s a discussion for another day. All that matters is that she decided to get over her trauma and face the world once again. If the world was really the same; cruel and painful both inside and outside of her cage, Ash wanted to fight her way from it.

“Hmm... Is 'this' the so called haunted site of the city? It looks so... normal.” So after running on foot for half a day inside the main factory of the ceramics mine of their city, she found her desired hideout. Rumor had it that the whole mine used to be a forest. After the factory was built, the forest was reduced to only one third, deep in which situated a hut. Whoever went there never returned.

It was the best place for a fugitive like to hide. She was aware of the rumor but never heard of a real person going there and disappearing. Until the search party dispatched after her moves further forward she needed to stay close, in hiding. So here she was, exhausted out of her wits, snacking on dry dates and preparing to rest for the night hugging her bag of precious belongings. Dear god, do bless me with an adventurous life and a lover like 'him'...

Problem arose when she opened her eyes the next morning, ready to turn life towards an unknown destination, as she found herself in the middle of nowhere. Failed to locate the factory she tried making way back, just to find out the hut that she was sleeping in mere minutes ago was nowhere to be found. “Am I officially lost? Is this the curse of the Haunted Hut?” Standing dazed for a moment too long, she receded to yelling, “You goddamn hut! At least tell me where I am before vanishing into thin air! What am I- whoa!!”

All of a sudden the ground started to shake violently, as if an earthquake was moving her way. Ash clammed her own mouth shut from screaming, as the fact finally dawned on her that standing in the middle of a lifeless looking forest doesn’t necessarily demolish the possibility of anyone or anything hiding anywhere to ambush her. “How is the earthquake moving around? ...F**k. Did I get isekai-ed into a magical word or something? Is this the power of earth attribute magic? Or did the earthquake itself grow feet?” Pardon her for being a fantasy fan, but surely, could it be a giant beast, or worse, a monster? She felt a need to run and hide. Climb a tree, dig a hole, jump in a pond, anything..

Ash looked around. There were a thousand climbable trees, even a wide river steps away. However, how would a girl, who barely left her house in 19 years, know climbing or swimming? Feeling the tremors get clearer, she panicked. Hurriedly rummaging through her bag, what she came across was just a bendable plastic coffee straw.

I’ve seen cartoon ninjas breathing through bamboo underwater. Should I... but this river is a bit... Not a bit, the river was way too deep and clear for her to hide. Upon trying she’d either drown or suffocate to death. Also, she had to admit what she held was plastic, not an actual bamboo, nor did she have enough time to find one, let alone cut it and make it usable. Because the moment she turned towards the direction of ever so increasing earthquake, her eyes nearly sprang out of their sockets. “Elephants? But elephants don’t have hair! What in the- Is that a MAMMOTH!!”

More panicked than surprised Ash sprinted towards a tree on her right. Frustratingly enough, luck had her swallowed by the ground halfway to her abdomen. “This place has quicksand too? Great! Now what? I’m dead either way. Was getting mashed like a potato the better way to die?” Despair started to cloud her mind as she squeezed her bag in one hand, the straw in other. Was this the end of her so called adventure and failure of a life? Is this how all the entrants of the Haunted Hut ended up dead? “Even if my potato life was a potato salad without mayo I refuse to die mashed!” she refused to be controlled by the hands of such cruel fate. “If I can’t have mayo, I’ll use soya sauce!” Staring at the approaching mammals the shaking of her pupils halted. She hardened her heart with one deep breath before starting to squirm like a madman. “There has to be another world waiting at the the end of this quicksand to welcome me. What if it’s like levels of ascending dungeons? I can’t lose hope!”

She thought of closing her eyes but couldn’t bring herself to. Her gaze was fixed on the mammoths watching them grow bigger as they approached. She could even differ between the shapes of their trunks as they had gotten bigger... “Wait. Why bigger? Shouldn’t they get higher as I sink?” She looked down at her waist and started laughing. The mud was barely grazing her ribcage. “Hey, this isn’t quicksand. It’s a fu**ing normal mud pit.”

The mud pit was surrounded by trees from all sides except the side she came from. If the mammoths weren’t intended to knock down any obstacle standing their way she’d be able to survive hiding here. The pit was a bit smelly which might even help in hiding her scent. Just perfect. Holding the straw in her mouth, Ash laid down as flatly as possible. Eyes shut, breaths calm, she tried to feel their movements. Although she wasn’t a trained expert, as a person who snuck around a lot, she had built an ability to hide her presence and sense movements through body scent and sound of footsteps.

If those mammoths really come crushing the trees I can just grab them by leg hair and travel with them. What are those overgrown hair made for if one can’t grab onto some for dear life. As for my belongings… she sneaked a peek at her bagpack hanging on one on of the tree branches surrounding the pit; I’ll have to part with them. My life matters the most. After surviving the mammoths she’ll set on her own path, hoping to chance upon her belongings some other day.

Ash halted feeling a presence closing on her. I am being foolish, but do I have any other choice? ok- here goes nothi... However, frustration rose to another new level when an awful stench filled up the whole atmosphere like it did on the days the sewer cleaner car visited her society. Great, now I got PISSED on! What else could she do but sigh and endure. She did want to hide her scent using mud, but not like... on second thought, could this be actually better?

Joy splashed down her whole existence when the earthquake finally ceased in somewhere around half an hour. She peeked at the butts of the departing mammoths once before springing upwards in victory. “Omg! I just survived the foot of death! SOY SAUCE WORKS!”

However, that joy soon turned into fury, gratefulness into repulse as the awful stench coming from her own body reached her nose. “You di**head mammal! Does this pretty little puddle look like a dumpster to you? Do I exclude such crappy aura that you had an urge to bless me with your divine stench? Die, you freaky hair elephant wannabe! Imma return the favor on your grave, then shall you rest in piss!

Feeling a little bit calm after letting it out, she took a moment to check out the location. Like any other forest this one was also lush green, except there were only two types of trees. One had huge soft leaves; foldable and actually large enough to fit her whole body in. The other had thorns, with green edges shining like imperial jades. The edges were so barely visible if not for coincidentally standing in the perfect angle and lighting, Ash would’ve definitely missed them. “This place is turning eerily quiet again. I should find a place to stay and something to eat before something weirder happens.” Not to guarantee, but her intuition claimed those thorns as poisonous.

Ash sighed as the clear stream of water came into her view. It was okay to leave the mud on her body as hiding her scent was necessary but her hair that reached her ankle was heavy enough as it is. By the river, she squatted down to drink some first, once again stunned by the identity of the trees surrounding the mud pit. ‘Mangoes’ sure are common in my homeland. But I just saw mammoths from the ice age passing by. By no means can this place be Bengal. When I exited the hut, did I cross some sort of dimension door? Is this an alternate universe? Or maybe I time travelled to the Ice age itself? Then again, she remembered those same trees being around the hut when it was in the mines. Are they some sort of link between earth and this place? If I try drowning in that pit would I return home?

The moment that thought passed her mind, her eyes started to glimmer like a thousand stars shooting in random directions. Her mouth curved in a wicked smirk, spilling the water in her mouth from either side as she whispered, mimicking the devil itself. “Return home? To hell with that! This new life is a gift for everything I’ve endured. Be it the Ice age or creation of earth, I’m not dying without putting up one as* of a fight!” Ash took her bag and ran along the river, raging with determination.

In around 20 minutes, she found an empty but habitable cave near a cliff. “Let’s rest here until I figure out how to live this life to the fullest.“

Afraid of possible accidents, she went to check on how high the cliff was. When she found it impossible to see the ground due to fog, she noted to herself never to come near here. One can never be too cautious. Flattening paralleled to the ground and peeking over, she could barely make out some branches. If under any circumstance I do fall, I need to hold onto them... or I could use some rope work. And she knew just the place to get some.

With a self-defense dagger and water bottle in tow, Ash headed back to the mango trees. The reason can be the poison thorns, but there was no wild beast in sight. She shook the branches causing an ample amount of ripe mangoes to fall. She cut down some bed size leaves and a few brown vines, like the ones seen on banyan trees, hanging from the large leafed trees. She carried and stashed everything to her cave except one vine that she wrapped around her waist as a caution from any sudden accident.

Ash thanked the strength training she put herself through the last 3 years for the ability to carry that huge of a stack. Whatever quest she faced while advancing towards her next destination, she had to be in best state by having ample training, nutrients and rest. Laid in a bed and blanket made of leaves, when she tried to sleep however, childhood memories haunted her as nightmares. On the contrary, daytime was fun, peaceful. Ash crafted pouches out of leaves to keep the thorns she had carefully cut out avoiding the green parts. She also crafted stone glints, pebble bullets and a sturdy sling. At night she laid in the dark cave drifting back to when she was 15; much gentler and naive, trying to escape from the protection of her cage. The day that changed the tides of her life, changed her.