Down to a meager 3 HP and 7 EP, a sense of dread washed over me.

It felt as though I was standing at the edge of a cliff, the icy fingers of fear creeping up my spine.

Death, the eternal unknown, was inching closer with each passing second.

Was it really going to end this way? After everything, after all the grueling trials I had braved?

My voice shook, barely a whisper as I asked the screen to detail my dwindling HP.

The system displayed a short list with an ominous recurring entry: "INFECTED WOUNDS -1 HP!"

A surge of disbelief and fear rushed through me.

"When did my wounds get infected?" I queried, but I knew the answer.

Ignoring my injuries in my haste to level up was now coming back to haunt me.

My negligence was literally eating me alive.

The screen flashed a message, a countdown to my imminent demise.

"8 MINUTES UNTIL 0 HP! GOOD LUCK!"

Eight minutes. It was both a lifetime and an instant.

But as I moved, my world started to blur at the edges.

My body crumbled, and I hit the ground hard.

I was running on borrowed time, and my physical condition was plummeting faster than I had anticipated.

Eight minutes had become a torture of agonizing seconds.

Despite my best efforts, my right arm gave in, unable to support my weight.

My world darkened further. I was on the precipice of my goal, yet it was slipping away.

I replayed my day, my missteps, the idle moments I had spent daydreaming when I should have been scavenging items to sell.

Regret filled me, a bitter taste at the back of my throat.

Struggling, I tried to crawl, a futile attempt to defy my fate.

I found myself hoping, despite the odds, that the player who had tried to sell me would miraculously appear to save me.

But even in my desperate state, I recognized the absurdity of this thought.

There was no way I could trade my freedom for survival.

Where this newfound determination came from, I didn't know.

But it was my final stand. "Think, think, think, think," I muttered, gritting my teeth against the pain.

Desperately, I searched the ground with trembling hands, hoping to find something—anything—worth selling.

Maybe some overlooked antidote berries.

All I encountered were cold stones and dirt.

A desperate idea then flickered in the recesses of my fading consciousness.

"My clothes!" I thought.

Surely, they held some value.

With what little strength I had left, I tried to tear off my jacket, but the fabric held strong.

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I abandoned the idea of removing my pants—it was too complicated, too time-consuming.

Instead, I settled on my shoe.

Using my left foot, I managed to slip out of the right shoe.

Nudging it towards my hands, I quickly placed it in the selling square.

"VALUELESS ITEM! 0 XP 0 PP!"

My vision was failing, but I recognized the stark zeros glaring at me from the screen. It was a crushing blow, my last-ditch effort resulting in nothing.

Consciousness was ebbing away, and my body was giving in.

Yet amidst the haze of pain and impending death, I felt a faint sting in my left arm—the arrow.

That was it. My last chance.

I squinted through my rapidly dimming vision, a sepia-toned haze now obscuring the world.

With the remnants of my strength, I gripped the arrow embedded in my arm and pulled.

The pain was fierce, causing tears to well up in my eyes, but it was my only option.

Over and over again, I pulled until I could see the blood-stained wood protruding from my flesh.

The pain was agonizing, yet it brought a momentary clarity to my mind.

"I can do this," I thought.

Taking a deep breath, I yanked the arrowhead out in one swift, brutal motion.

The sight of blood spurting onto the ground was quickly replaced by a wave of darkness as pain subsided and consciousness dwindled.

My eyelids were heavy, and I knew I was seconds away from slipping into eternal darkness.

With the selling interface still open, I managed to throw the bloodied arrow into the square just as my vision blacked out.

The text was fuzzy, but I clung onto the hope that it would save me.

"SUPERIOR QUALITY ARROW! 40 XP 10 PP!"

"CONGRATULATIONS! YOU LEVEL UP!"

The screen's bright flash brought me back from the brink.

Suddenly, I felt a wave of relief washing over me as pain receded, and my body felt renewed.

I touched the arrow wound on my left arm, finding only smooth skin.

Not even a scar remained.

I glanced at the screen, taken aback by the value of the arrow.

I realized just how formidable my captor had been.

His arrows were of exceptional quality, but unfortunately his death hadn't brought me any XP.

Nonetheless, I had just escaped the jaws of death.

I had truly believed it was the end.

Rising to my feet, I noticed the absence of my shoe.

Clothes, it seemed, did not regenerate with leveling up.

Checking my profile, I found that I now had 3 new talent points.

My life points were at 57, and endurance points at 72.

My XP bar now required a daunting 300 XP to reach level 10.

And my debt bar was no longer full, at 150/170.

That bar was frustrating. The lack of detail made me hesitant to allocate PP to it, but I had taken too many unnecessary risks until now.

"When is the next debt payment due?" I asked the screen.

"NEXT PAYMENT DUE IN 26 DAYS!" appeared.

I still had time, so I decided to keep my 10 PP in reserve for now. I had healed, and my goal remained to reach level 10.

When the screen displayed available quests, a new one caught my eye: "BUY A WEAPON: 40 XP 15 PP!" This seemed like a straightforward task.

The screen remained silent when I asked for purchase instructions, but that didn't bother me.

As I checked the time—5 PM—I realized that I needed to find shelter before nightfall.

The wilderness was dangerous after dark.

Determined to make wiser choices, I began scanning my map for a safe area.

I considered returning to my starting point—a small clearing—but it was too far.

Another option was the place where I had been held captive.

There might be leftover items that could come in handy.

However, I decided against it, not wanting to risk another encounter with the creature.

With a sense of pride in my cautious decision, I set off.

.

An hour of aimless wandering brought a feeling of déjà vu.

As the shadows grew longer, the worry of not finding shelter started gnawing at me.

I quickened my pace, my eyes darting around.

Silhouettes seemed to be appearing and disappearing among the distant trees, and I picked up my pace until I was running.

My unallocated talent points weighed heavy on my mind. I was thinking of spending them on my speed to escape the looming danger.

As the sounds of rustling leaves and snapping branches echoed in my ears, I left the forest and turned onto the road.

But before I could gain momentum, I collided with something.

Stumbling back, I found myself staring at a young man clad in a green raincoat.

He glanced at me, then to the ground and back at me.

He broke the silence in a calm and reassuring voice, "Ah... It's suicide to be out here alone at this hour. Follow me."