“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrgggghhh!”
“Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaarrrrrggggghhh!”
I can’t stop screaming. Shaking all over the place, my screams are resonating in the open vast area. My screams are echoing back to me from all those different archways and windows.
If there is anyone or anything present, they would know about my presence right away.
The black hissing flesh, including my bones, starts to melt. I watch my hands disappearing and liquefying in front of my eyes.
The pain is excruciating, and I toy with the thought of launching myself headfirst down through the windows I just climbed into.
Maybe my skull will crack, and I will get out of this.
Fuck the well, fuck the power.
This is the most excruciating pain I've ever experienced.
I can barely see as my eyes are all teary; I spit saliva, and snot is hanging from my nose.
That pain is far worse than the acid from the flatheads.
This is fucking flatheads' acid on steroids.
“Aaaaaaaaaaargh!” I keep screaming and mindlessly wandering the room, splattering melted flesh and a lot of blood all around the floor.
“You fucking dumbass!” Should’ve used a droplet of acid right away when you learned you’re alive here.
“Inventory!”
I barely say out loud while leaning over the wall.
The flesh has bubbled off without cauterizing the wounds, and all I can see are two stumps heavily squirting blood from them.
I hover one of the stumps over the bronze plate and tediously point right towards the acid bottle.
Kinda not caring anymore what I’m gonna pull out. If the hummer materializes right here and smashes me over the head—not caring about anything anymore.
*Fwoosh* followed by a *Thud*
*Glass shattering noise*
Apparently, I can push the item out of the inventory without using my fingers, just a slight push towards the icon with my body part, and it starts materializing.
The glass bottle containing flatheads' acid shatters over the dusty sandstone floor and soaks into it.
“Ah fuck!”
Screaming through the tears, I smash my bloody stump into the liquid and glass shards.
My body is so numb and exhausted from the pain that I start to feel convulsions in my calves and back.
If this won’t work, I’m going straight head-down to the stone slab.
*Hiss*
The flesh on the melted side of my stump starts to bubble, but I cannot even tell where the pain is coming from.
It hisses as it melts and turns black in an instant.
The blood is still flowing from the wounds melted by the acid from the so-called well of power.
Glass shards stick out of the flesh, and a bit of bone marrow sticks out from the melted bones—I keep shaking from the shock and disgust.
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The parts that got covered in flatheads' acid are slowly getting charred and crumbly.
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A few moments of torment later and
*Everything stops*
I sit in the pool of a mixture of blood, acid, melted hands, and glass shards.
Staring at the ornament-decorated wall in front of me, I see my blood-spurting stumps in my peripheral vision.
My heart is racing, yet my blood pressure is getting lower and lower.
It feels like not only the pain has stopped but also time itself.
“You made it, hothead! Now don’t waste it!” I whisper to myself.
Locating the flatheads' acid puddle, I dip my stumps into it, mixing the spurting blood with the acid.
It starts to hiss right away, and a terrible smell complements another smell that is already present: burnt flesh and melted, boiled flesh and blood.
Still in mild shock, I notice that I haven’t blinked in a while, as my first blink now feels dry and coarse.
It seems that one of my eyelids got flipped a bit, and I need to fix it, but I can’t.
“Dammit.” I can’t even rub my eyes with these charred pieces of flesh and sharp bones sticking out of them.
*Exhaling and inhaling* deeply, I comprehend what just happened and what I should even do next.
Shifting my sight towards the second object in the room besides the cursed sink, I look at my hammer, which calmly sits near the wall, and I wonder if I should even try to store it now or what.
Climbing higher up is out of the question anyway.
I sigh.
What are my options here?
There is only one way out, and that is death.
I can crack my skull with a dive or dip my head into that cursed fountain, but before I do, I should at least store my hammer.
Not that I lost and wasted a life without any gain. I’m not gonna risk losing my only weapon—and it’s even enchanted.
Without supporting my arms, I barely stand up, looking around.
A few steps, and I dare to approach that damn marble sink again.
“Who would have thought it’s so fucking deadly?” I shake my head while gazing at the still pool of crystal-clear, transparent liquid, indistinguishable from water.
Hiding my stumps behind my back, I walk through the room towards the archway.
The sky, which is visible only through the rectangle between the tall walls, feels not so calming anymore as I comprehend what shit I just went through again.
There is one archway in front of me, just a bit higher than the one I'm standing in.
I lean with my shoulder against the archway, which is lined with red stone bricks. They leave markings and dust on my turquoise shirt, or more likely what's left of it.
Tilting my head from side to side, I try to see what's in the room.
It seems identical, and I think I even see the damn wide marble sink sticking out from the wall.
What a fuckery.
I shake my head, a bit angry and annoyed.
What if all of these are the same?
Do I seriously have to jump like a grasshopper around these and check?
Insanely dangerous, and only one mistake and I’m done. But I can already think of a few ideas.
Maybe the old man could help.
I look up at the archway and notice how tall it is compared to me, which might be about twice the height of an average human.
By simple calculation, I can craft a rope ladder or some sort of hook with a rope to throw up, lock in place, and climb it since the inventory works more than well here.
“Yeah. Good one.” This will definitely do. I will ask the old man to help with the craft.
But now, I need to die and get the hell out of here.
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A shiver runs down my spine as I turn around to check the sink again.
By making up my new plan, my brain already forgot how the room looks.
Despite it being my own blood and flesh, it is extremely haunting and uncomfortable to look at blood- and acid-melted flesh staining the floor and partially the walls.
As I spin, I make a lot of mess, preparing the room for a horror movie backstage.
If I could call the little jerk again, I’d tell him! What a mess.
I get a bit angry at the cat again, as it seems he was indeed lying to me now.
“Pfft. Drink from any of these, my ass.”
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Moving towards the hammer, I tediously grab it with the stumps, feeling phantom pain despite the fact I’m on the painkiller acid right now.
*Fwoosh*
It stores in my inventory after a couple of tries to lift it to the desired level.
What else can I lose?
I imagine that to give this place a final test, I can indeed try to kill myself by dipping my head in the liquid.
My brain wanders again, and a horrifying scene flashes in front of my eyes.
What if I somehow survive but melt my face off, including my eyes? Part of my brain might get damaged, yet I’ll still be alive a bit, lying on the ground, gurgling blood, being in a zombie state with half of my brain missing.
“Then don’t dip your head in it, just the tip of your tongue.”
I should really get out of here as soon as possible. I don’t remember talking to myself aloud this often.
One dip with my tongue, just to make sure.
I give myself the final task.
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Approaching the still water, I see my exhausted reflection with large dark purple circles under my eyes and a few more red spots in the whites of my eyes—definitely popped veins from the stress and pain.
Hair stuck to my greasy forehead and an overall extremely exhausted expression.
I lean towards the odorless liquid with my arms behind my back and stick my tongue out a bit.
*Dip*
The end of my tongue dips into the watery liquid.
*Nothing happens*
*Slurp*
I pull my tongue in while sipping a droplet accidentally.
Gazing at the surface, I wait a few seconds for it to calm down and assess the damage I await by sticking out my tongue.
Nothing.
“Maybe, after all... That little jerk.” Raising my eyebrows, I gaze at my reflection, wondering.
*Slurp*
I purse my lips and take a sip of the liquid.
Trying to analyze the taste, nothing seems to be off.
Maybe it is already melting my intestines.
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Ah, fuck it!
*Slurp Slurp Gulp Slurp Slurp Slurp Gulp Gulp Gulp Gulp Gulp Gulp*