A deep, ragged breath escaped his lips—but it was immediately cut off by a sharp jolt of pain. His torso—run through by a jagged ore shard—felt like it was being ripped apart from the inside. Blood poured down in a slow but steady stream, painting the once-glistening ore beneath him a deep, ominous crimson.
He coughed, his body convulsing at the motion, and a thick splatter of blood hit the ore below. His limbs felt distant, his hands numb, his legs trembling without his command.
His mind was sluggish, yet some detached part of him registered the familiar sensation.
A cold chime echoed in his skull.
[Pain Resistance has increased to Level 8]
It barely registered.
Pain dominated his senses, drowning out everything else. But despite the sheer agony, he didn't scream. He didn't thrash.
He just… breathed.
His vision flickered between clarity and darkness, but his mind remained eerily calm. The system blared warnings in his face, desperate for a response.
[ALERT: CRITICAL CONDITION DETECTED]
[WARNING: HP Falling at an Alarming Rate]
[Emergency Action Required!!]
A sense of urgency. A demand for action. But instead of panic, instead of despair, he found himself thinking. Cold. Rational. Methodical.
Why was he so calm? In the face of death?
The question floated in his mind, detached, almost curious. A few hours ago, he had been paralyzed by fear, overwhelmed by the mere presence of the abyssal serpent. He had nearly died from terror alone. Yet now, with his body impaled and blood pouring out of him, he felt… clear.
"Maybe this is what dying does to people."
The thought flickered and faded. There was no time to entertain it. Not when death was creeping closer with every drop of blood spilling from his wounds.
His HP bar was plummeting. His body trembled, strength draining by the second. He was pinned midair, hanging like a skewered beast, his back to the ceiling and his torso run through by the shard of ore.
If he pulled himself off—if he so much as twitched the wrong way—he'd bleed out instantly.
He needed to be careful. He needed a plan.
There were only two options.
1. Pull the ore shard out – A guaranteed death sentence. The wound would open completely, his body would go into shock, and he'd bleed out in seconds.
2. Use the shard itself – A slim, almost nonexistent chance at survival.
His decision was immediate.
"The second option. There is a 99% chance this will kill me anyway. But that 1%..."
His lips curled, just slightly, in something resembling a smirk. He would bet everything on that 1%.
His fingers twitched. His breath hitched. He clenched his jaw and forced his trembling body to move.
The first motion was like setting himself on fire. The agony surged through him, raw and searing, but he didn't stop. He didn't hesitate.
The system reacted immediately.
[Pain Resistance reached Level 9]
His back arched slightly, shifting the angle of his wound. Blood poured out faster, the scent of iron thick in the air. His head spun, dizziness clawing at his mind. His HP dropped.
[HP - 378/985]
[HP - 280/985]
[HP - 162/985]
"Keep going."
His body shouldn't have been able to endure this. His instincts should have been screaming at him to stop, to cry, to beg for relief. But instead, he only focused.
Nothing else mattered.
He arched further. The pain grew unbearable. His vision swam. But then—
His foot touched something.
A piece of ore. A ledge. A foothold. A single, final lifeline.
"Now!"
His muscles screamed in protest, but he pushed off with everything he had.
[DASH!]
A sharp burst of momentum—his body ripped free from the shard. His HP bar nosedived, but he didn't allow himself to focus on it. He was airborne, plummeting toward the ground below.
His vision swayed. The world spun.
[HP - 40/985]
[HP - 25/985]
"If I hit the ground at this speed, I'll die instantly."
His body was unresponsive, his mind teetering on the edge of consciousness.
But in that final second, he forced himself to move—
[AIR KICK!]
A weak burst of energy. Just enough to slow his descent. Just enough to keep him from shattering on impact.
His body hit the ground.
A light thud.
The sound felt… small. Unimpressive.
Yet, it was the difference between life and death.
His vision blurred. His breath was ragged.
His HP bar flickered—
[HP - 00/985]
The world dimmed.
A suffocating silence followed.
Then, in the distant void of unconsciousness, a final notification echoed.
[Unique Trait: Unyielding Will has been unlocked]
[Revival Mechanism Engaged…]