A slow inhale.
The scent of damp earth filled his lungs. The coolness of the ground pressed against his cheek, the faint scent of iron lingering in the air.
Shwet's eyes fluttered open. For a moment, he lay still, his body unmoving, his mind caught in the haze between sleep and wakefulness. His thoughts felt distant, disconnected. But then—
A memory surged forward. A jagged ore shard. A body impaled. The searing pain of torn flesh.
His eyes snapped wide. His breath hitched.
He was supposed to be dead.
Shwet pushed himself up onto his elbows, his breathing coming fast, but—there was no pain. No stiffness. Just a strange lightness in his limbs, as if the agony from before had been nothing more than a bad dream.
His hands flew to his torso, his fingers pressing against the spot where the ore had pierced him.
No wound. No gaping hole. Just smooth, unbroken skin beneath his tattered, bloodstained shirt. But then—his fingers brushed against something.
A scar.
A thin, faint line just below his diaphragm, as if something had once torn through him but had long since healed.
"Was it real?" he whispered to himself, his voice barely audible in the vast silence around him.
His gaze drifted down to his shirt. The fabric was torn—ripped wide where the ore shard had impaled him. Proof that it had happened. That he had been skewered. That he shouldn't be alive.
Shwet swallowed. His heartbeat pounded in his ears.
Then, another realization struck him.
His body.
His muscles, once lean but unremarkable, now felt… refined. Not overly large, but perfectly sculpted, as if his form had been polished into something stronger, something more.
"Was I always this muscular?" he muttered, running a hand over his abdomen. The lines of his abs were more defined, his arms felt sturdier, his body humming with a vitality he hadn't known before.
The shock was almost enough to distract him—almost. But then another memory surfaced.
Right before he lost consciousness…
Unyielding something…
His brows furrowed. He immediately pulled up his skill window. His eyes scanned the screen, searching. But—
Nothing.
No new skills. No changes. Just the same list as before.
"Then… was it not a skill?"
He quickly flipped to his stat page, and that's when the real shock hit.
[HP: 985/985]
[Stamina: 100%]
[SP: 200]
Everything had been fully restored. Not just his health—but everything. His body wasn't just healed; it was as if he had never been injured in the first place.
His fingers curled slightly. A slow exhale left his lips.
"This is crazy…"
Shwet lowered his arms and stared at his hands for a long moment. No trembling. No fatigue. No lingering pain.
Whatever had happened to him—whatever had brought him back—it had erased all traces of the battle he had fought.
He took a deep breath, then exhaled.
Relief flooded through him.
For the first time in a long while, he felt… safe.
He turned his gaze upward, finally looking beyond himself. The cavern stretched endlessly before him, its walls gleaming with an eerie, bioluminescent glow. The snakes were still there, moving in slow, rhythmic patterns, their massive bodies coiling and uncoiling in hypnotic waves.
And the Titan.
Unmoving. Looming.
But this time, it didn't matter.
This time, he had escaped death's grasp.
Shwet slowly got to his feet. He stretched—first his arms, then his legs—expecting at least a hint of soreness. But there was nothing.
Just smooth movement.
Just strength.
He clenched his fists, feeling the way his muscles responded effortlessly.
Then, he smiled.
It wasn't a grin of arrogance or triumph. It was something softer.
A simple, genuine smile.
"Thank you."
His voice was quiet, but he meant it.
He didn't know what the system truly was. He didn't understand its rules, its purpose, or why it had chosen to help him.
But it had.
And for that, he was grateful.
He took a slow step forward.
Then another.
His path was open. The cavern stretched before him, multiple escape routes now visible—opportunities that he hadn't seen before.
And this time, he wouldn't hesitate.
He walked toward one of them, his movements steady, his heart light.
As he neared the exit, he let out a small chuckle and muttered under his breath—
"I am never coming back here, you slithery mother fuckers…"
And with that, he stepped forward, leaving the darkness behind.