The time given to survive this level almost came to an end. Even though these spiders meant no harm, I would still like to leave as soon as possible. My fear has subsided a lot, but it’s not completely gone yet. I don’t know why, but it’s still there. I guess it’s just in my nature. Phobia sure is hard to cure. Even though I can communicate with these spiders as if they are humans, I still fear them. I kind of hate myself for fearing them even though they are being nice to me.

“Your fear sure is intense. Even though you are trying to remain calm, I can feel that you are still afraid of us. There’s no need to feel guilty about it though. The fear you have of us is definitely not normal, it’s similar to a curse but not exactly a curse,” the elder tried to comfort me.

“Hmmm…”

“Since your time here is almost over, let me give you a parting gift. It’s not much, but after receiving a blessing from me, you will never fear us again. It’s up to you if you want it or not?”

I was a bit startled by the offer. Although there’s no practical use of his blessing it would be nice if I could no longer fear them. Therefore, I agreed to his offer.

He chanted some weird stuff again and BOOM! My anxiety and fear were gone.

No, it’s more like I feel happy right now. It’s as if they are my long-time friends. This feeling is hard to describe but I am happy for sure.

“Thank you Elder. Now my heart and mind feel at ease. It’s the first time I am feeling this happy in so many years. But are you allowed to do this? I am pretty sure Satan said that I would not be getting any powers during this trial. Will you not be in trouble?”

“There’s no need to worry about that. What you received is not really anything powerful and you have almost completed your time here without my blessing. What I have given you is just a parting gift nothing much. I am sure there will be no problems for doing this.”

Just as he said this the system prompt opened.

[Countdown starts: 10]

[9]

[8]

I thanked the elder and other spiders again by bowing my head. That was my way of showing respect to him and being thankful to everyone for not killing me instantly when I entered.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

[7]

[6]

[5]

[4]

Now that I had received his blessing, I was kind of feeling sad to leave them. However, my path was set, and there were many challenges awaiting me. With the elder’s blessing and a renewed sense of peace, I steeled myself for the trials to come.

[3]

[2]

[1]

In the blink of an eye, I had entered the next level. As soon as I entered, something pierced my arm and I started bleeding. As I looked around, I saw a barren land with swords all over the ground. It was raining swords. And when I looked above, another sword pierced my other arm. It was painful. I had experienced the same pain when I died from the spear. I looked at the system prompt for information.

[Level 5- Sword Rain

You must stay at this level for a year. You don’t have any sense of hunger, thirst etc. You only feel physical pain. You will not die here in any circumstances. Every second, thousands of swords are destroyed and recreated at the same time. You are free to dodge them if you can, you are also free to run anywhere you want.]

What the actual f#ck is this. My arms hurt a lot. I already feel like I am dying. And now I have to stay here for a year. This is an insane level of punishment for someone who doesn’t even have negative karma. All the happiness I was feeling when I left the 4th level had already turned into despair.

Since I have had some happy encounters, I almost forgot for a moment that this is HELL!

Well, since it said that I can dodge, let’s try to dodge the swords. I don’t even have to worry about stamina here, since I can only feel physical pain.

I looked up in the sky and as soon as a sword came towards me, I dodged it, or so I thought. This is practically impossible. The swords change their direction if I try to dodge them. It’s as if their target is fixed and they can’t miss it.

This one pierced my back. And the first sword which pierced my arm was destroyed, but the wound and the pain remained. My tears started coming out because the pain was unbearable.

This is too cruel. Were those 4 levels not enough to torture me? That now I am thrown in this ridiculous rain. But I still thought for a moment and decided to dodge them.

Maybe just maybe there’s a way to dodge them. I mean it’s written in the system that we can dodge them. Should I try running? Fast moving objects are hard to aim. I might be able to dodge some.

And so, I started running. Honestly, I don’t know which direction I am running in. Everything looks the same. There’s nothing here apart from some swords here and there and blood stains. I think there might be other people here as well.

“Ughhh!!!” I fell.

Another sword pierced me. This time it was my leg. I don’t think it is possible to dodge them. Maybe it’s just a bait. The Satan might have written that we can dodge to give us false hope. Yeah! I think this is definitely a bait.

But there’s no other choice for me. All I can do is try dodging or running. I tried to stand but another sword pierced my other leg and I fell again.

I was bleeding, crying, wailing… This is just too much for a person to handle. Just kill me. Throw me in the space for all I care.

Just get me out of here.

Please help me. Please……

*And another sword pierced Yeon. This time it was his back again. He tried to call for help but there was no one there to hear his cries.*