Reality Smuggler – Ryan’s Alternate Future(R-18)

1937, Alaska...

Twenty explorers entered a dark and cryptic hall made from a stone-like material, ancient words, and reliefs scribed on the walls, floor, and ceiling. Their only light sources in this cold and dark tomb were the oil lamps they carried and equipped with backpacks, ropes, and pistols. Their goal was to recover an Amulet enshrined within.

Their nerves were taught, and they paid attention to every step, for they knew in advance that traps were within. They took this job for $10,000 each, enough to set them up for a long time if managed well, knowing how risky this job was. Their eyes were set on the prize, for they would get another $10,000 if they retrieved the Amulet.

The funder of this operation was an unknown British noble or Lord, Denis Manners, who had specific standards from these explorers.

First, everyone had to have a primary school education level and decent English skills. This was to ensure everyone had some common knowledge and not complete boors. The tomb was dangerous, and being some foolhardy barbarian wouldn't do anyone good. As for the English, of course, it was so that the team could have a common language.

Second, everyone had to be healthy, young, and quick enough. None of the explorers had any debilitating handicaps. The reasoning behind this was a no-brainer.

Third, everyone had less than noble origins, gang associates, and acceptable gun skills. Also, only one person from any organization was selected, creating a mish-mash team. It was to prevent cliques from forming and have more influence over everyone.

Among these twenty men were people from the Italian Black Hand, the Sicilian Purple Gang, the Kosher Nostra, Chicago Outfit, and more. Each is from a different background.

Among them was a short, thin, yet muscular young man with a large nose, big ears, short brown hair, and striking emerald eyes.

His name is Joshua White, an 18-year-old Jewish refugee escaping the Nazis who came under the wing of the Kosher Nostra at 16, working as a dockworker.

While working there, he got physically trained, indirectly taught English, and showed the ropes of the crime world. Due to having a prior 9th-grade education and showing cleverness, resilience, short stature, average looks, and adaptability above his peers, Ovadia Goldberg, a higher-up in the Kosher Nostra, took notice of him, making him a seeded candidate to become a foot soldier. And, specifically, a hitman.

Being designated to become a hitman, Joshua was also taught hand-to-hand combat, how to handle a knife, stealth, and how to aim, shoot, maintain, disassemble, and reassemble a gun.

Despite never being explicitly told, Joshua always suspected he was being groomed but was okay with it. In these trying times, joining the mob wasn't a bad thing. This is especially true considering he is a Jew and thus discriminated against by the anti-semitic Americans. He would have preferred working somewhere else but was barred from most places or offered below-minimum wages. Only the Kosher Nostra opened their welcoming arms. And thus, Joshua was reasonably loyal but not foolishly so... A quality for a non-disposable hitman, exactly what Ovadia wants.

Yet, before Ovadia sent him on his initiation hit, he got an offer he couldn't refuse - $1,000 upfront for sending one of their best associates for a dangerous tomb raid and an additional $10,000 upon completion or death of the associate. And so, he made impromptu changes, giving Joshua this opportunity. If Joshua lives, Joshua earns $10,000, and they get a high-quality foot soldier, which is a good investment. If Joshua dies, they get $10,000 as compensation, ensuring the customers don't intentionally kill Joshua for the money.

And, as Ovadia expected, Joshua agreed, desperate for the money.

So there he was, surrounded by less-than-reputable and armed men, searching for an ancient and allegedly cursed treasure, and illegally so.

 

Tap* Tap* Tap*

 

The footsteps of the twenty men echoed through the poorly lit yet surprisingly expansive halls, gradually descending into the unknown maws of what lies beneath in a spiral fashion as if walking down an ever-expanding tower.

"By the Lord, how deep is this thing? We've been walking in spirals for half an hour now!" - One of the men grumbled as he checked his handwatch.

"Over a thousand feet, that's for sure. It is a megastructure." - Joshua replied while scanning the pictures on the walls, trying to make sense of the story they bring.

"They worship a sun god... And the Amulet seems to be a holy relic in his worship. It says there are traps and tomb guards to protect the Amulet. But it shows someone challenging those guards and traps, eventually wearing that Amulet, and becoming an object of worship. Do they think the wearer becomes an incarnation of that god or something?" - Josua deduced.

The other gangsters also looked at the reliefs, but most only briefly scanned them for traps or possible hidden doors rather than understanding the story behind the tomb. Of course, a few who paid attention, but like Joshua, they kept to themselves.

Little did they know that reading those reliefs would save their lives... or stay alive longer than the rest.

Another ten minutes later, finally, they reached a massive hall with five separate paths, earning the exclamations of the gangsters.

"Whoa..."

"The hell is this..."

"Holy shit..."

"Well, fuck me..."

However, while most explorers looked around, Joshua and four others were more interested in the reliefs.

"That way leads to the living quarters of the guards... That way is a trap... That way is the food storage... Oh, and the middle one leads deeper inside. But what is that picture? Why are they groveling to that guard? Is he an important figure? But why are the ones standing or running getting killed? Did they do something wrong? No... some of them are holding swords while groveling and getting killed, while those that don't get spared. Why is it depicted here?" - Joshua frowned.

The other four also reached the same conclusion. The reliefs were not hard to understand if you read carefully and understood the context.

However, their thoughts were cut short when...

 

Thud* Thud* Thud*

 

Heavy footsteps resoundingly echoed through the stone halls, reaching the ears of all the explorers.

"What is that?!" - One of the gangsters shouted.

 

Thud* Thud* Thud*

 

The footsteps kept getting closer. The air gradually grew colder, as if the warmth was getting sucked from the room.

"It's coming from the middle road!" - Another exclaimed, even pulling his gun.

 

Thud* Thud* Thud*

 

The other gangsters, scared and anxious, also pulled their pistols, aiming at the middle road.

Joshua was tempted to do the same, but something told him that doing so would earn him an early grave.

"I need to observe..." - Joshua and four others thought to themselves, deciding not to pull out their pistols.

As the twenty nervous adventurers readied themselves, a living nightmare emerged from the darkness.

It was a 3m tall, slender figure covered in tattered black robes. Its fingers were long and with sharp fingernails. Its skin ash-colored skin stuck to its bony figure. Its hood hid its true face in unnatural darkness, revealing a pair of blackened eyes with red, hungry irises and a black hole for its toothless, bottomless mouth.

The twenty men were terrified of this monster. The fifteen gangsters that pulled their guns shakily aimed at it.

"W-What the fuck is this monster..."

"Demon..."

"By the holy mother and holy son..."

"G-God protects me... God protects me..."

"I-I wasn't paid enough for this..."

However, despite that, the monster didn't move yet, perhaps enjoying the fear of the men. Its hungry, ancient eyes scanned them as if looking at cattle to the slaughter.

Joshua looked in fear at the monster and then at the relief again, an insane idea in his mind.

"Do I need to grovel so it won't attack me?" - Joshua thought.

He then looked at the other men.

"Do I tell them? Would they believe me? What if I am wrong?" - Joshua hesitated.

However, he didn't have long to think...

 

Bang* Thump*

 

Joshua widened his eyes as he looked at one of the shaking men, smoke coming from his pistol barrel.

Looking at the monster, he saw a small hole in its chest, black blood oozing out.

The monster glanced down, looking at its wound and then at the man who shot at it, anger filling its eyes.

"₣ุⱤ ₮ⱧɆ ₮ⱤɄɆ ₴Ʉ₦! (FOR THE TRUE SUN!)" - It bellowed an ear-piercing roar.

The meaning behind the alien words was somehow conveyed to them men, but it caused nausea in them as if they were never meant for human minds to process, creating a moment where the men tried to collect their thoughts.

That small laps proved fatal.

Moving like a blur, the monster arrived before its assailant.

 

RIP* PSS*

 

With a single swing of its bony arm, its sharp fingernails decapitated the man, his head flying to one of the walls as his body wobbled, blood gushing from his severed neck as he collapsed. His head still had a terrified and painful look.

The rest of the men looked at it in terror, fear taking hold of their rationality. Their minds switched to Fight, Flight, Freeze mode.

"KILL IT!" - One of the men shouted in fear and anger as he started firing his pistol.

In response, most of the men did the same and opened fire.

"Kill it!"

"Die, you monster!!!"

Bang* Bang* Bang* Bang* Bang*

The men desperately shouted as they fired their trusty pistols, able to take down any unarmored man and most wild animals.

And two other men sneakily tried to run away.

However, five men didn't do any of that. Instead...

"Don't shoot it! Kowtow!" - One of the men shouted and prostrated on the ground.

"Don't hold your weapon, or it will kill you!" - Another did the same.

"Don't run away, or you will die!" - Joshua yelled and kowtowed.

The other two men who read the reliefs and hesitated on what to do listened to Joshua and the other two and also kowtowed.

And their prompt decision proved to save their lives...

 

Rip* Slash* PSS* SHLACK* Crack* Bam* 

 

As if immune to bullets and pain, the monster killed all the men that attacked it in a flurry of claw slashes, arm swipes, kicks, slaps, and stomps. And when it finished dealing with the attackers, it turned its gaze to the shaking and groveling men, ignored them, and rushed to where the two feeling men went.

Not long after...

"AHHH!!!"

Their screams echoed through the stone halls.

And then silence.

"I-Is it gone?" - One of the surviving men shakily asked.

"Shut up if you want to live!" - Another hissed.

The one who asked that question went silent.

 

Thud* Thud* Thud*

 

The footsteps returned, coming closer and closer.

Everyone, including Joshua, started shaking, urine threatening to leak in their pants.

"A-Are we going to die?" - The first man cowardly asked.

"We will if you don't shut up!" - The second man angrily hissed.

"..." - Joshua and the other two remained silent and unmoving, waiting for the tomb guardian, the monster.

Finally, the monster arrived next to them.

The monster scanned the remaining five survivors before its eyes locked on the dead bodies in hunger, picking a nearby corpse up.

Under the horror-filled eyes of the five, they saw the monster directly suck the flesh and blood into its abyss-like hole for a mouth, leaving nothing but a skeleton wearing clothes.

 

Tick* Tick* Tick* Tick*

 

As it finished its meal, the wounds it sustained ejected the bullets out, closing at a visible speed.

"Jesus help me, Jesus help me, Jesus help me..." - The first man chanted, praying for a savior.

But that very chant sealed his fate.

 

STOMP* Splat*

 

The monster directly stomped the head of the first man into a pulp, causing the remaining four survivors to shake in fear.

"₣ุุⱠ! ɎุɄ ₴Ⱨ₳ⱠⱠ ₦ุ₮ ĐłⱤ₮Ɏ ₮Ⱨł₴ ₴ⱧⱤł₦Ɇ ₩ł₮Ⱨ ɎุɄⱤ ₣₳Ⱡ₴Ɇ ₲ุĐ!(Fool! You shall not dirty this shrine with your false god!)." - The monster angrily bellowed in its headache-inducing alien yet magically understandable language.

That was how Joshua and the others learned two things.

One: This place was not a tomb but a shrine.

Two: Don't pray to another god out loud here, or you will get curve-stomped.

After venting its anger, under the fearful eyes of the survivors, the tomb guard continued devouring the corpses. Only when it was done did it turn to the kowtowing men.

"Greetings, challengers." - The monster spoke in fluent English, its voice pleasant.

That terrified the four men even more! 

"The monster learned our language!" - They thought.

Ignoring their inner turmoil, the monster looked at them and spoke.

"I chose to speak in your mortal language, English. If you don't understand English, say it now, I allow it." - The monster said.

However, no one spoke. They all understood English well.

Seeing they didn't speak, the monster nodded and introduced itself.

"I am J'glorth, a priest of the True Sun, my god and master, whose true name I shall not mention to your unworthy ears. I am the last barely sane guardian of this tomb, as all my other comrades succumbed to a dreadful and ancient curse, corrupted into insanity and endless hunger." - It claimed.

Though how much they believed his words, the four didn't know.

Not caring about their thoughts, J'glorth continued.

"By kowtowing here, you have proven your humility, observational skills, and judgment. Give praise to the True Sun, and you may safely stand again." - J'glorth said.

As soon as he said that, Joshua spoke first.

"Praise the True Sun! Bless the True Sun!" - He spoke loudly.

The monster nodded and then looked at the other three.

Immediately, the others almost shouted.

"Praise the True Sun! Bless the True Sun!" - They shouted.

"Good. You may rise." - J'glorth spoke.

The four hesitated before deciding to stand up.

"Hm. I won't ask for your names. I will only give you two options. Return from where you came from, or face the challenge and get the Amulet, a relic of untold power, able to turn its wearer into a god and beyond." - J'glorth pointed at the middle road.

"..." - The four men silently looked at each other.

One of the men hesitantly raised a hand.

"You may speak, Human." - J'glorth spoke.

"N-No offense, sir, but our employer... said that the Amulet is... cursed." - The man hesitated and said.

"Cursed? You were lied to. In this shrine, the Amulet is the only thing not cursed here, a symbol of purity." - J'glorth shook its head.

Another man hesitantly raised his hand.

"Speak." - J'glorth patiently said.

"Y-Yes... Can we truly leave?" - The explorer asked.

"That is correct. I won't force an unwilling challenger to stay. You may come again if you feel ready." - J'glorth nodded, pointing at the exit.

Joshua then raised his hand.

"Speak, mortal." - J'glorth said.

"Can we collect the equipment from our dead?" - Joshua asked, pointing at the skeletal remains.

"You may. Any more questions?" - J'glorth asked, its red eyes scanning the survivors.

The four shook their heads.

"Good. You may choose to advance or retreat now. Be warned that this challenge is dangerous to mortals like you and has traps that can harm your body and mind, and although weaker than I, my brothers and sisters lack the sanity to stop themselves from hurting you. Also, it is a long test, and you will need more supplies to survive, so prepare accordingly. You have been warned." - J'glorth said sternly.

The four men nodded like a pecking chicken.

"Hm. May the True Sun illuminate your path, lost ones." - J'glorth said.

And with that, J'glorth headed to the far left road, fading into the darkness, leaving the four survivors.

"... What now?" - One of the men asked.

"What else can we do? Want to go and challenge this insane place? Either we go up or die! Screw this job! They didn't mention fighting demons! This is beyond our pay!" - The second man, who chastised the cowardly man who got curve-stomped, angrily said.

"Agreed. We should go and officially resign from this farce." - Joshua added.

With the four of them agreeing, they picked up some of the remnants of the dead as proof of their death and walked up for over half an hour, dripping with sweat, until they reached the entrance.

"Finally... What would I give for a warm meal now..." - One of the survivors, who Joshua learned was Michael, said.

"That would be great. I should also hit a brothel and let out some steam... Victor, Joshua, wanna join?" - Another survivor named Ron invited.

"Screw women, I need booze. The strong stuff." - Victor spat.

"I'll pass, thanks. I... Hah... wanna go home." - Joshua sighed.

"I hear you, man." - Ron nodded in understanding.

After what they experienced, they can be considered friends and understand each other well.

However, soon, their happiness and expectations were cut short by cruel reality.

Outside, they were surrounded by over twenty men armed with automatic rifles aimed at them. In their lead, Denis Manners, their employer, looked at them authoritatively.

"Did you get my Amulet?" - Denis asked, not caring there were only four left.

The four men looked at each other and shook their heads. At this point, it would be foolish to complain to the snobbish man.

"No, Sir. We ran into a monster that killed 16 of us... We ran back after it let us go. It wasn't part of our contract to face monsters. We want out." - Ron said.

"I don't care. I hired you to get an Amulet, and you will do just that." - Denis ordered.

"You can't do this! If we die, our gang would..." - Michael shouted.

"Do what? Take revenge? Face it, young man. They don't give a diddly squat about you, especially since they get their money anyhow. Your life is mine." - Denis narrowed his eyes.

"Are you going to force us to face those demons with some pistols?! Are you not afraid we will rebel?!" - Victor yelled.

"Well, I have an army, and you don't... so no. I think not. You are non-threatening to me." - Denis shrugged.

"... Can you give us some more equipment and supplies, then? From what the guardian said, it will be a long expedition, not something we are equipped for." - Joshua asked.

"Finally, someone that can think on his feet. Yes, I can. Men! Prepare them three days' worth of supplies and bullets." - Denis yelled.

Shortly after, four large bags were thrown over.

"This ought to do it. Take these bags and be on your way. And bring that Amulet! If you can retrieve it, I will give everyone $10,000." - Denis promised.

"..." - The four remained silent and entered the tomb.

By now, they stopped believing the man.

"So this is how it feels, hah? To be between a rock and a hard place." - Ron muttered.

"... Yeah." - Michael bitterly nodded.

"What's done is done. We can't survive by trying to fight him, so we might as well take the damn test." - Victor said.

"Let's hope we survive until the end." - Joshua muttered.

And so, the four men descended into the darkness again.