Jin-woo let out a long deep breath. He touched his face, wiping some of the goop mixed with his blood. He could see the tips of his fingers burn and melt from the residue. The odor would have crippled him had his mind not locked everything out. The pain was gone. The shock and sheer terror of his face burning by acid had faded. But it was still dripping off his face.
He gulped. Something bubbled in his chest, it urgently pleaded to be released. But he held it back for now, his mind attempting to make sense of what was going on. What had Demina done? It was difficult to put complex thoughts together. He knew the hints were there and with a clear mind, he would have figured it out within a few moments, but for some reason it felt impossible at the moment. Everything was just foggy and distant; just at the tip of his tongue.
The last healthy Giant Rat launched itself at him. It lunged with maw, filled with teeth, and opened to snap around his face. He caught it in the air, forearm in its mouth. The thing snapped, clawed, and chewed on his arm. The sound of its teeth grating against his bones seemed to echo in his mind as it tore flesh. The sound was similar to what he would if he closed his ears and tried to speak. The blood dripped and mixed with the residue of the acidic poison around his frame.
[CHEMICAL BURN DETECTED]
[AFFECTED AREA: FACIAL TISSUE]
[LARGE LACERATION DETECTED]
[AFFECTED AREA: LEFT FOREARM]
[...]
His vision began to blur and darken. The remaining rats moved to surround him in slow motion. Even the poison rat had gained more courage and crept even closer than before. Whether it was the toxins or what Demina had accomplished, but he couldn’t feel his body at all. He was controlling a game character, it felt like, just as distant as his thoughts.
The only thing that was a constant presence was the flame that threatened to break free from his chest. It had grown from an insistent and urgent plea, to a force too great for him to contain the longer he denied it.
Each breath drew more of the poisonous creature's sickly-sweet stench into his lungs. It smelled like death. He would have been nauseous had he had the ability to feel disgust or any form of it. But only cold calculations ran through his mind. With a heavy kick, he launched the rat attached to his arm away. The battle had just started, and he intended to finish it.
The system continued its relentless analysis:
[PHYSICAL STATUS DETERIORATING]
[MULTIPLE SYSTEM WARNINGS ACTIVE]
[COMBAT EFFECTIVENESS: REDUCED BY 61%]
[RECOMMENDATION: IMMEDIATE TACTICAL WITHDRAWAL]
"Withdrawal,” He tasted the word. The flame that had risen to his throat seemed to resent the thought of any type of retreat. There was only one path forward, and it was the immediate and utter destruction of anything before him. There was no other recourse. Death to him or death to his enemies. One or the other had to occur and soon.
Jin-woo groaned as he allowed the flames to be released. Unsure of what was about to happen to him. But he trusted Demina.
He shook as something filled his blood vessels and made him feel like he was about to burst in a gory mess. Eyes bulging, skull too small for his brain, heart beat so loud he feared it would destroy his ear drums. And a hundred other sensations he chose to ignore, a bad habit he had developed. Instead, he allowed it full freedom.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.
“Aah!” He roared like some maniac. Rage flooded his mind.
The rats took a step back. Confusion hit their sensors at the new stimulus.
“Aah!” Hate dripped from his being.
[NEW ABILITY MANIFESTED:]
[CRIMSON MADNESS (E+)]
[WARNING: Override protocols detected in core systems]
“Aah!” All he could see was red.
And then, it all became a single blur. Things happened, rats shrieked, Jin-woo continued to bellow like some mad creature. Lots of blood and snapping jaws.
Then darkness was all that remained.
Peaceful bliss.
----------------------------------------
[COMBAT CONCLUDED]
[EXPERIENCE GAINED: 65 XP]
[9 Giant Rats (5 XP each) + 2 Poison Rat (10 XP)]
[PROGRESS TO NEXT LEVEL: MINIMAL]
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: CRIMSON MADNESS (E+)]
"Sixty-five experience points?" Jin-woo stared at the notification. He had expanded it from the small feed to cover most of his vision and just reread it for what felt like ages.
Another day, another moment he had nearly died for literally a pittance of experience points and more importantly survival. This wasn’t mentioning the part where he had his face melted off in the most agonizing way possible. If he ever got out of here, there was no chance in hell that he would be found back in a dungeon. Maybe live his life in some farming village with a beautiful wife and a bunch of kids. Or maybe become a rich merchant and have four wives and a bunch of concubines instead and enough children to start three whole football teams.
Anything at all other than be found in another dungeon.
He reached out and touched his face. He could feel the skin had mostly healed, but there was going to be scarring. Even with the enhanced body and increased vitality, escaping a bottle worth of acidic venom directly to the face without a mark was impossible. He just hoped it wasn’t bad enough to prevent his chances of getting his dream of wife, or wives, and kids.
Laughter escaped him. Hysterical laughter at the state he was in. Getting up helped none as he fell back into the gore and blood of a bunch of enemies he had apparently ripped into bits and pieces. His stomach hurt, forcing him to curl into himself. Lungs and sides burned as he took massive gulps of air.
“Sixty-five experience points was all I got for burning my face off.” He surveyed the treeline. “I don’t suppose there's a ‘skip tutorial’ option for this dungeon?” He waited for a second hoping for a response. The eerie forest around him did not respond. “I guessed not.”
There was no other option other than to move forward. He cursed the dungeon, all the rats that kept attacking him like rabid creatures, and whoever this rat king was. He had bled and suffered too much already, and he refused to allow this go unpunished. Why he was so adamant to return the misery and pain he had experienced, he wasn’t so sure. But he would be damned if he didn’t do it.
Ten fold. No! A hundred fold!
He got up and allowed the rain to wet all the dirt, grime, blood, and other things he didn’t even want to think about. Cleaning himself was the next step, and it was a task he would need to spend a great deal of time on if he was right about how filthy he was at the moment. It was as if he had bathed himself in the blood of his enemies. Considering the ominous name of the new skill he had received, that may have been what had happened. Jin-woo didn't even want to imagine what had happened.
[NEW SKILL ACQUIRED: CRIMSON MADNESS (D-)]
[Activates when pain and damage thresholds reach negative status.]
[Activates when mental break thresholds reach negative status.]
[Activates when external system interference is detected.]
[Activates when mind is attacked and left undefended. Encases mind in Crimson Matrix for Protection.]
[Activates when soul is attacked and left undefended. Encases soul in Crimson Matrix for Protection.]
[Activates…]
It left vague statements on what would activate his new skill. Each line worse than the other, hinting at horrific monsters that could destroy his mind and far more savage things. But, this was good. As long as he was here by himself, he wouldn’t need to worry about harming those that were his allies and friends. A last chance for survival in case everything went wrong again in this damned place.
Jin-woo headed back towards the safe room after a long and difficult time cleaning himself. He drank his full of raining water, doing his best not to think of any bacteria or parasites that may exist in the air. Collected his weapons, of which his seven foot spear had been bent in at least four different spots, but oddly had no acidic damage on it.
Then he fell back asleep where he had been the night before. Exhaustion still rested deep in his muscles and bones making it very easy for his eyes to shut down. Hoping his rest wouldn’t respawn the poison rats.