A deep breath.
The moment his consciousness returned, he felt lighter, as if the crushing weight that had been suffocating him since he arrived in this hellish dungeon had momentarily lifted. His body no longer screamed in agony, his mind was no longer clouded with fatigue and stress. For the first time since awakening in this cursed place, he felt... rested.
"How long was I asleep?"
He had no way of knowing. There was no sun, no sky, nothing to indicate the passage of time. His only measure was the state of his body and mind, which, for now, were in better condition than ever before.
Still seated against the rough stone wall, he clenched and unclenched his fists, stretching his stiff muscles. The pain from his wounds had dulled, though faint aches remained as a reminder of his struggles. His breathing was steady, his pulse calm. He wasn't fully healed, but compared to before, it felt like he had been reborn.
"Now let's check the status."
He pulled up his status window, expecting to check his condition. But instead of his usual stats, something new greeted him.
> [System Notification]
Update available
Estimated Time: 4 Hours
Would you like to update now?
[Yes] [No]
His brows furrowed.
"Update?"
Since arriving here, the system had been his only consistent guide. It gave him stats, skills, combat logs—it was the only thing keeping him from blindly stumbling into death. But now, it was asking for an update?
"What exactly is going to change?"
Would it give him more abilities? A new interface? Or was it hiding something from him all along?
"Update the system right now? Sorry but I can't risk it right now."
He selected [No], dismissing the prompt. The update could wait—he needed to assess his current state first.
His status window opened, and immediately, his eyes widened.
HP: 985 / 985 (Fully Restored!)
Stamina: 680 / 680 (Increased cap by 10!)
Strength: 90
Agility: 96
Perception: 61
Intellect: 97
Dexterity: 60
Vitality: 66
Endurance: 92
Soul Points: 200
Mana: —
Luck: 20
Pain Resistance: Lv 5
Poison Resistance: Lv 7
His stats had improved significantly.
The time he spent fighting, surviving, and pushing his limits had resulted in solid growth. Even his Poison Resistance had leveled up, which made sense—he had endured the venom of a high-ranked serpent and somehow lived.
"This is good. No, this is amazing."
For the first time, he actually felt stronger. Not just mentally, but physically.
But then—
"Grrrrr—"
His stomach let out a deep, low growl.
"Right... I still need to eat."
Despite his full HP and stamina, hunger was starting to creep in. His body needed fuel after all it had endured.
He immediately pulled up his inventory to check his food supply.
A single piece of stored meat remained.
"Good, at least I still have—"
[Warning: Food has expired.]
The moment he took it out, the stench hit him. The once-edible serpent meat was now a putrid, rotting mess, covered in a slimy layer of decay.
He immediately threw it away.
"Damn it."
His only food source was completely useless. He had no choice—he needed to leave this place.
"I can't hunt the serpents for food anymore. Not after what happened."
The bigger serpent had made its stance clear. It spared him once—but that was not an invitation to continue killing its kind. If he stepped out of line again, he knew exactly what would happen.
"I have to leave. But first... let's check my skills."
Opening the Skill Map, he analyzed his current abilities.
> [Skill Map]
• Stealth – Lv 7 (Cooldown: 22 seconds)
• Double Dash – Lv 3 (Cooldown: 16 seconds)
• Air Kick – Lv 3 (Cooldown: 28 seconds)
"They've improved."
His Stealth had reached Level 7 already and had not grown since then."Makes sense, I have not used it as much recently", mostly due to it being useless in tha face of dangers he had faced recently. [Dash] evolved into [Double Dash] and [Air Kick] had also grown, though it's cooldowns was still too high for constant use.
One skill in particular, [Air Kick], had saved his life last time, even if he had used in a completely different way than one would expect. But its 28-second cooldown was still a huge weakness.
"I need to level it up before I leave."
He wasted no time.
Using a combination of Air Kick and wall movement, he repeated the process—jump, kick, land, repeat. Each use burned stamina, but he pushed through.
[ Skill Level Up!
• Air Kick – Lv 4 (Cooldown: 24 seconds)]
"Finally."
His legs ached, but he was satisfied. The skill was now faster—just enough to make a difference in combat.
"Now… time to go."
He walked towards the exit of the cave, again standing above the the serpent but he didn't look at them, he was looking beyond the serpents. At the two opening that were still far from his reach.
One dark and cold, with an unfamiliar stench in the air.
The other dimly lit, as if something was glowing deeper inside.
Neither looked safe.
He stood there, contemplating his next move.
"But where do I go?...and how?"