The sun high up in the sky shrouded the entire desert with its pressuring heatwave.

Jeemin and Claire panted heavily. Breathing through their mouth, their lips went dry as they inhaled the hot air pervading the surrounding torrid environment.

"Where's Seiji?" Jeemin asked as he gasped for air and his eyebrows furrowed.

Jin Hyoon averted her eyes from him and said hurriedly, "We only have 1 minute left, we need to get on the next stage first, I'll explain everything later."

Jeemin nodded as he took a glance at the task window when he saw the creepy distorted haunted mansion in front, separated from them by a hazy wall.

[Three Terrains Survival]

Information: None

Task: Survive and pass each terrain.

Time limit: 6 hours every terrain.

Failure: Death

Rewards: Universal Points +1.

First Constraint: Test of Mark

Second Constraint: Intense Thirst and Increased Depletion of Water from the Body - Cancelled for Surviving the Night of Devourer.

Third Constraint: ?

--

After seeing the task window, he didn't dare to imagine how difficult it would be to cross the desert with the constraint.

But his heart was in the state of unease as he followed behind Hyoon and the rest.

Apart from Seiji being nowhere to be seen, he also have some questions for Claire.

A nearly transparent ripple spread throughout out the hazy wall as they entered consecutively.

Immediately, an oppressive feeling shrouded his heart as soon as he stepped on the other side.

The feeling gradually spread throughout his body, with the biting chilly air, in contrast from the scorching desert, he felt suddenly refresh but depressed.

The sense of unease in his heart tugged at him as it grew gradually, making him feel gravely anxious.

What greeted him was a gray sky with an oppressive atmosphere. A dilapidated gate and an old mansion with vines growing on its walls. The pavement leading towards the mansion was surrounded by trees without leaves on its branches.

[Third Constraints: None]

[Rest Time: 1 hour]

When he checked the constraints and saw what was written on it, he heaved a sigh of relief.

After the rest of the party acclimated from the new environment, Jeemin immediately asked again.

"Tell me what happened," his eyes gazed at Jin Hyoon as he sensed an ominous foreboding.

"He didn't make it, there was no cure."

"We threw him to slow down the disgusting creatures pursuing us."

"I'm sorry, what?" Jeemin asked uncharacteristically as Dmitri and Hyoon replied simultaneously.

Hidden underneath his black face mask was a dumbfounded expression.

Hyoon glared at Dmitri before speaking again, "He didn't make it because we had no antidote."

"We threw him," Dmitri spoke coldly. 

After they simultaneously spoke again, he finally got the gist of what happened.

"So... you threw him to slow down the creatures pursuing you because it was unlikely he'll survive from the poison," he clarified and added, "Technically, he wasn't dead yet when you threw him, am I right?"

He creased his eyebrows as anger started to erupt from his heart.

Then for what purpose did I stayed behind for?

Li Jing lowered her head behind Hyoon and anxiously twiddled with her fingers.

"T-the p-poison.. already spread through... throughout his body, I'm sorry it's my fault, I'm the one w-who said we need an antidote to save him," she said as she stammered.

Jin Hyoon frowned when she heard Li Jing's words.

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Her brown eyes darted towards Jeemin and spoke, "We would die instead if we didn't threw him away, considering he was already a lost cause. And where are we supposed to find an antidote in the first place?"

She then turned her head and looked at Li Jing and said, "It's not your fault, it's not my fault, and it's not Dmitri's fault either. Don't blame yourself." 

"... Although I'm still thankful that you took an arrow for me, I couldn't help but think whose fault it really was that Seiji died..." Her voice trailed off as she shoot a look at Jeemin then turned away.

Jeemin clenched his fist as he had no idea what to say.

"It's my fault, I left them. I didn't know this would happen. In fact when I went back to save you, the creatures pursuing us were not considered a lot," Claire spoke behind Jeemin with a trembling voice.

"The numbers grew as soon as you left." Dmitri said flatly as he asked, "And when did you get a sword? If you left that instead of that useless gauntlet, maybe we could have dragged Seiji's body until here."

Jeemin was in no condition to even think about why Claire has a broadsword as he thought back about what she said.

So she went back for me?

If she did went back for her greatsword, he wouldn't feel as guiltier as he felt now.

"I-I picked it up accidentally somewhere on the sand," Claire explained while stuttering.

Jeemin didn't mind her explanation as he said, "Thank you for going back. Don't worry, don't blame yourself. It's my fault Seiji died anyways, Hyoon's right."

With that, he turned away and walked towards the bare trees beside the pavement as he spoke, "Have a rest for awhile, we still have an hour left for resting."

*

In the middle of the bare forest, with the gray sky and thin clouds above, accompanied by the occasional unpleasant squawking of black vultures, a man with a missing arm slammed his fist on a bare tree.

After banging his head on the tree several times, not contented on using his own fist, he took out a knife from his pouch and aimed its tip to his neck.

I feel disgusted that I feel bad at them being disappointed at me more than Seiji's death.

He closed his eyes with force as his forehead formed a deep fold. But there were no tears coming from his eyes even though he wanted them to fall.

'Haaa.'

He inhaled a mouthful of air as he exhaled and looked up. The knife flew away from his hand as he gritted his teeth and angrily threw it away.

What's wrong with me? I'm even thinking Claire likes me for Pete's sake, I mean, right now?

What else is the reason she went back, took a risk, and tried to save me, if not she likes me?

Let's not get ahead of ourselves shall we. He shook his head vigorously as he thought, "My years of seclusion must be influencing my mind."

What I need to be thinking about now is finishing the adaptation zone as fast as I can, explore this world, and start cultivating.

He calmed his heavy heart down and consoled himself as he muttered, "Since we're at this point..."

"...it's time to do that. We'll separate ways anyways, I can't have people under me making me feel bad about myself."

He slowly lifted his head up as he looked at the black vultures flying at the grey sky waiting for another corpse to fill their bellies.

"... How I wish my brain is the same as them, with only one goal in mind impossible to distract with thoughts, contradictory complex emotions, and incapable of wallowing in despair."

Under the bleak atmosphere, with the gray sky and bare trees, he lowered his head and walked towards the direction of where the knife flew.

Surrounded by the relatively not-so-tall bare trees, his eyes reflected the soil that seemed to have suffered from drought for several years.

The hard and uneven texture of the ground underneath his feet, the absence of verdant field and stray weeds, made the environment even more gloomy.

The knife on the ground rested, waiting for its owner that abandoned it to pick it up again.

As he was about to bend down and stretch his hand, a cold sharp object pressed on his neck.

"Don't move or I'll slice your head off, you damn prick made me nearly lose my—"

Jeemin jolted his head back and felt some teeth hitting the back of his head.

He immediately used his hand to pull away the foreign arm holding the knife and escape.

Jeemin kicked his resting knife on the ground as he ran forward, then after gaining some distance away from the man who threatened him, he picked up the knife.

"You bastard!"

When he took a glance behind him, he immediately knew who it was.

Dae Kyung-Sam! His red hoodie was tattered as he pursued him from behind.

"You shouldn't have spoken to me nor brought your head closer to the back of my head," Jeemin coldly said as he ran away from him.

Shoot! I'm going in the wrong direction. He inwardly cursed as he hid his anxiousness about not being able to know how to use a knife as a weapon.

He discovered that it was easier to swing the massive greatsword around - as he can do it mindlessly - than using a short blade.

With a short blade, you'd have to think of ways to hit your opponent while avoiding them hitting you at a close distance. Any minute movements would matter as a small mistake could easily lead to a disaster. In fact, this is even more obvious when you're using a normal sword against an opponent using the same weapon.

But with a massive greatsword, the only thing you should be mindful is; the speed at which you would have to swing back after completing a swinging motion.

He clenched his teeth resisting to shout for help as it will destroy the image he built up.

The sounds of their hurried footsteps broke the stillness and silence of the bleak surroundings.

"You damn coward, get back here!"

"I'm not a coward," Jeemin coldly replied.

"Then why are you running away from me?!"

"..."

He kept running forward as his heart pounded heavily from fear. He have no idea what would happen if he continuously ran away from the direction from where the rest of the party is resting.

It would be a different story if there's already an erected thick wall blocking the way preventing them to go around the mansion, but unfortunately, there was neither a wall nor a warning.

Several minutes has passed as he kept running, enduring several insults thrown at him. He even had the urge to activate the Origin on his palm and threw the knife at Dae Kyung-Sam behind him.

But he didn't have the chance as stopping would give Dae Kyung-Sam the chance to close in on him, considering he it would take a second for him to aim as he spun around.

I need to make a U-turn, I'm getting far away from the rest of the party.

As he was about to take a U-turn, a clear outline of a figure suddenly emerged some meters away from him.

The figure was wearing an office uniform with its neck tie flailing around as it ran towards him.

When Jeemin narrowed his eyes, he saw who the figure was.

Sasaki Seiji!

But how?

Jeemin sped up towards Seiji. After getting a clearer view of Seiji's body, he immediately noticed that something was wrong.

Seiji's eyes were green while his skin were yellow, and his voice was raspy as he growled at him.

When Seiji's eye met Jeemin, he stopped and made a confused expression.

Seiji held his head and scratched it. Jeemin, who was about to change his direction was stunned when Seiji ignored him and ran towards Dae Kyung-Sam.

"What the hell is this?!"

Dae Kyung-Sam shouted as he was tackled by Seiji. The knife cut through Seiji's clothes but didn't pierced his skin.

Jeemin immediately made a decision and continued running forward, completely forgetting that he was supposed to make a U-turn to return from where the party was resting.

But he didn't forget about throwing his knife towards Seiji's side, if it is useless in his hand, it was better to give it to Seiji. At least he could make some excuses why he left him, he thought.

His lungs felt cold and his speed slowed down as he continued running after several minutes more.

He frowned as he gasped for air.

"Have I already made a U-turn?" He asked himself in doubt.

Don't tell me...

When he was about to realize he was running in the wrong direction all this time...

The ground suddenly felt different underneath his feet.

It was the same pavement from before he entered the bare forest.

When he saw Claire and the rest of the party in front of him, he immediately realized something.

He glanced back and muttered in realization, "If you keep running leftwards, you'll eventually be sent back from where you came from."

He darted towards Claire and said, "The greatsword, let me borrow it. I was attacked by Dae Kyung-Sam."

Jeemin deliberately avoided mentioning that Seiji was alive, considering the state he was in.

But when he went back to their location with the rest of the party in tow, Dae Kyung-Sam and Seiji was nowhere to be found.

He even made an uncharacteristically dumbfounded expression, wondering if he had already lost it because of banging his head repeatedly on a bare tree.

Did I just hallucinate?

He felt chill in his heart at the thought that he had finally gone insane.

The knife that he threw away was still on the ground as he looked at it dazedly. After laying the greatsword down and putting the knife back on his pouch he said, "Claire, I'll hold on to your weapon for awhile."

He stood back while dragging the greatsword, its end making a scraping sound on the uneven ground, as he went towards the gate of the mansion.

The signboard on the side was finally readable.

[Welcome to the Mansion of Traps - Test of Intuition and Mind]

His lips curled up when he read the word 'Traps' as an idea immediately popped up on his mind.