I fell into the darkness.
For several moments, I couldn’t see anything.
There was nothing but endless darkness surrounding me.
Then suddenly...
The darkness disappeared.
A radiant light entered my eyes, forcing me to narrow them.
What appeared before me was something I had never imagined.
Inside this hole was something that looked like an entirely different world.
At the center of this place stood a massive crystal.
It illuminated the surroundings, but its light seemed strangely dim.
Yet even that dim light was enough to make my eyes hurt.
I slowly looked around.
And what I saw was...
"Blood."
The entire area was filled with blood.
It flowed like a river, covering the ground beneath my feet.
I carefully approached it and immediately realized something.
This was not human blood.
I walked around the massive crystal and noticed a small beast drinking from the blood river.
But it only drank a small amount before stopping.
After that, it immediately returned to the place where it had made its home.
I watched it carefully.
From the looks of it, that monster should have been able to drink all of this blood.
But something was stopping it.
I didn’t know what its purpose was, and honestly...
I didn’t care.
I only cared about myself.
Whether that monster absorbed all the blood, became stronger, and eventually went on to threaten humanity was none of my concern.
I already had enough problems of my own.
But when I turned around to leave...
That ugly freak noticed me.
I cursed my luck inside my mind.
Of course.
When I finally found a place that wasn’t immediately trying to kill me, something like this had to happen.
I looked back.
The creepy four-legged monster was already crawling toward me at terrifying speed.
I didn’t think.
I didn’t hesitate.
I ran.
But that bastard kept following me.
I did everything I could to avoid it, but this place was far larger than I expected. The cave stretched endlessly, giving me nowhere to escape.
So I ran.
I ran with everything I had.
My breathing became heavier.
My legs grew weaker.
My stamina slowly began to run out.
But the monster behind me...
It was completely fine.
It continued chasing me without showing even the slightest sign of exhaustion.
No matter how much I pushed myself, the distance between us never changed.
Eventually, I realized something.
Running away forever was impossible.
I had to confront it.
I moved toward one of the giant white pillars surrounding the cave and used it as cover.
I tightly gripped my dagger and waited.
The monster approached.
I didn’t make a single sound.
I stayed completely still.
The creature slowly moved closer to my position.
My grip tightened around the dagger.
I gathered every bit of strength I had left.
Now.
It was only inches away.
I could attack.
But if I moved now, it would definitely notice me.
And if it noticed me...
I would die.
So I waited.
But maybe that was the wrong decision.
The monster suddenly stopped.
Then it turned around.
Its face was now directly facing me.
My heart began pounding violently.
My hand started shaking uncontrollably.
But to my surprise...
The monster did nothing.
It simply stood there for a moment before walking away.
I understood.
It couldn’t see me.
To test my theory, I grabbed the bread I had been saving and threw it toward the other side.
The moment the bread hit the ground, the monster immediately turned toward the sound.
It moved in that direction.
That’s when I realized.
This monster was blind.
It had only been chasing me because of the sounds I made.
I had found its weakness.
I tightened my grip on my dagger.
This was my chance.
I prepared myself and jumped toward the monster.
With all my strength, I drove my dagger into its head.
The monster immediately reacted.
Its body moved violently, twisting and thrashing around as it tried to shake me off.
My grip loosened.
Before I could hold on, I was thrown away.
I flew through the air and crashed into the ground.
Pain spread throughout my body.
It felt like every bone inside me was about to break.
But I forced myself to endure it.
I couldn’t stay down.
If I remained in the same place for too long...
This monster would kill me.
I didn’t stay there for another second.
I immediately forced myself up and ran toward the place I had arrived from.
But the monster was faster.
It rushed toward me again, forcing me to run toward anything that could slow it down.
But it followed me like a plague.
The dagger I had stabbed into its head was still there.
Blood seeped from the wound.
But it didn’t stop.
The monster suddenly accelerated and caught up to me.
Its claw struck my back.
Pain unlike anything I had ever felt exploded through my body.
Blood began flowing from my wound.
My vision blurred.
And before I could do anything...
I collapsed onto the ground.
The monster reacted to the sound immediately.
It climbed on top of me and pinned me down with its front leg.
It lowered its head and began smelling me, checking what I was.
I knew this was my only chance.
I reached toward the tip of my dagger.
With the last strength I had left, I grabbed it.
Then I pushed it deeper into the monster’s head...
and twisted.
The monster let out a violent scream.
Its body shook uncontrollably as it tried to move away.
But I refused to let go.
I held onto the dagger like my life depended on it.
Because it did.
The monster swung its head violently.
My body moved with it like a broken kite being dragged through the air.
But I still refused to release my grip.
Finally...
After a long struggle...
The monster stopped moving.
Its body collapsed beside me.
I didn’t even have the strength to lift my head and look at it.
My entire body felt broken into thousands of pieces.
Every bone felt like it had been crushed.
My vision began fading.
My life felt like it was slipping away.
A single thought remained in my mind.
"At least... I killed that bastard with me."
The last thing I saw was a transparent screen appearing before my eyes.
[Congratulations. You have awakened.]
And then...
I collapsed into the blood pool.