The air was damp and heavy, the stench of decay lingering in every corner. His footsteps echoed faintly, and with each step, Ash's grip on the sword tightened.
He followed the directions from the novel, using his memory to navigate the winding tunnels.
But the novel had only described the general layout—actually being here was a different story.
The oppressive silence was broken by a faint scuttling noise.
Ash froze, his heart pounding.
From the shadows, a creature emerged. Its form was grotesque—a Shadow Rat, about the size of a dog, with glowing red eyes and sharp, jagged teeth.
Ash grimaced.
In the novel, Shadow Rats were described as low-level monsters, barely a threat to awakened individuals. But for someone with his stats…
It was nothing but a death sentence.
"I never thought fighting in VR games would actually help me like this," he muttered, settling into a defensive stance.
The rat hissed, lunging at him with surprising speed.
Ash barely managed to sidestep, his movements sluggish due to his weak body.
Swinging the sword awkwardly, he grazed the creature's side, drawing a thin line of black blood.
The rat screeched in pain, but it only made it angrier.
It lunged again, this time faster.
Ash cursed, rolling to the side. His breathing grew heavy—The fight had barely started, yet his stamina was already running dangerously low.
"If this keeps up… I'm going to die," he muttered bitterly. The thought stung. Did I overestimate myself? Maybe I shouldn't have come here…
Doubt threatened to consume him, but he bite his lips, shaking his head fiercely.No. I can't think like that.....I need to get rid of my weak mentality... If I let it control me…....I'll end up just as useless as I was back then,
Suddenly a memory threatened to surfaced in his mind, but he pushed it back.
His grip on the sword tightened, his knuckles whitening, "Fuck...This bastard now soured my mood.."
His eyes scanned the environment with newfound fury and determination.
The rat circled him, readying for another attack.
That's when he noticed the loose rocks above—an unstable section of the wall.
A plan formed in his mind.
As the rat charged again, Ash deliberately turned his back, baiting it into following.
At the last second, he threw himself to the ground, narrowly avoiding the creature's bite. The rat slammed into the wall, and the vibrations shook the loose rocks above the wall.
With a loud crack, the rock above the wall collapsed, burying the rat under a pile of rubble.
Ash lay on the ground, panting.
"Eat that....fucker," he said, wiping the sweat from his brow.
But there was no time to rest. He needed to keep moving.
***
Ash kept moving across the mine sometimes he reached dead end sometime he came across group of Shadow rat, but he managed to bypass them without alerting them,
It was pure luck that Shadow Rats were low-level monsters with a weak sense of smell; otherwise, he would have been dead by now.
Occasionally, he encountered lone Shadow Rats, but he always managed to eliminate them, using his surroundings cleverly and relying on the experience he had gained from hunting monsters in the game...
But no way his body was in one piece,
He was bleeding from many places, and barely managed to stop the bleeding with the first aid he bought in his bag.
His stamina always hit rock bottom after every single fight and he had to rest to continue forward,
Three days passed in this relentless cycle, and during that time, he hadn't been able to get even a moment's rest.
The risk was too great—sleeping could mean death.
Thus, he was utterly exhausted.
His blue eyes were bloodshot, red veins webbing across them from the lack of sleep.
His silvery-white hair was now matted and stained black with the blood of Shadow rats..
Bandages wrapped around his body, some fresh, others soaked through, a testament to the countless wounds he had endured.
"This...much...pain...is...nothing" he said under his breath,
His muscles screamed with every movement, wounds aching as if on fire, but he tightened his grip and pressed on, his determination was stronger than the pain.
I don't want to.....experience the pain of losing someone...again...and for that...I need to keep moving forward.
He thought and forced his body to move,
After what felt like hours of navigating the dark tunnels, Ash finally reached a wide chamber deep within the mines.
The chamber was filled with jagged rocks and signs of mining, the walls rough and uneven.
At the center of the chamber a rat bigger than the previous small one's was Sleeping peacefully,
Its black fur glinting faintly in the dim light.....A Shadow Fang, An evolved and stronger version of Shadow rat.
He was barely able to fight Shadow rat let alone this Shadow Fang.
Ash swallowed hard, his grip tightening on his weapon.
Of course, It's never easy, is it?, he thought under his breath, forcing down the knot of dread in his throat.
Behind the Shadow fang, in the wall a small white stone was embedded,
From every angle it looked ordinary, and the miners must have left it alone as it was nothing special,
But that's how Runes are....always in plain sight, but difficult to identify
He glanced at the Rune, then at the Shadow Fang.
There was no way he could defeat this creature in his healed state let alone in his current state.
His only option was to grab the Rune and leave quietly.
Here goes nothing, he thought, Walking slowly towards the beast and the rune slowly.
The silence was suffocating, each creak of his boots against the ground sounding deafening to his ears.
CRACK!!
When a stray stone crunched beneath his foot, he froze mid-step, panic flaring as the beast let out a low growl in its sleep.
Ash didn't dare breathe, his body rigid as he watched the creature shift slightly, its ears twitching.
For a moment, he was certain it would wake,
But then the beast exhaled, its growl fading into a deep, rumbling snore.
Ash let out a slow, shaky breath, his heart still pounding in his chest like a war drum.
He took another careful step forward, this time more deliberate, more precise,
After what felt like eternity, he passed the Shadow Fang and reached the wall behind the beast,
Ash was now just a few feet away from the beast, every nerve in his body screaming at him to retreat.
But he bit his lip and reached for the rune embedded in the wall behind the beast,
He tried to take out the rune from the wall but was unsuccessful,
Fuck, this body is really too weak, he thought bitterly.
He reached out for his sword, the sword was now nothing but a dagger.
It broke while fighting earlier.
He used the broken sword to chip away at the wall around the rune.
The blade screeched against the stone, but the rune still refused to come loose.
Then, suddenly, Ash's body froze. A cold shiver ran down his spine, and time seemed to slow.
It was as if his entire life flashed before his eyes in a single instant.
Instinctively, he rolled to the side.
BOOM!!!
The ground where he had been standing exploded, sending dust and debris flying through the air. His vision blurred, his lungs filled with dust, and he coughed violently.
"Cough... Cough... So much for being careful," Ash breathed shakily, his voice strained as he tried to catch his breath.
Through the swirling dust, his eyes locked onto the rune, now lying a short distance away, dislodged by the explosion.
He forced himself to his feet and sprinted towards the Rune, His muscles screamed in protest, pain shooting up his legs, but he gritted his teeth and pushed forward.
Grabbing the rune, he turned and bolted for the exit.
SCREECH!!!!!
Behind him, the Shadow Fang let out a deafening Screech, the chamber shaking with the force of its anger.
The beast lunged, closing the distance between them with terrifying speed..
Ash didn't think—he acted on instinct, diving to the side just as the creature's claws raked through the air where he had been standing.
With the rune clutched tightly in his hand, he ran.
Fuck... If I survive this, I'll annihilate all these fuckers... someday, Ash thought, as he forced his battered body to keep moving.
The chase through the tunnels was a blur. The Shadow Fang was faster, stronger, and more relentless.
Ash's legs burned, his lungs screamed for air, but he didn't stop.
Finally, he spotted the faint light of the mine's entrance spilling in ahead of him.
But the Shadow Fang was right on his heels, its growls and pounding footsteps closing the distance with every second.
The sharp, uneven floor tore at his boots, and his shoulders brushed jagged rocks, but none of it mattered.
The only thing that mattered was the narrow light ahead—his only way out.
Ash's mind raced.
I couldn't outrun it.
Right now he can outrun the mindless beast while using the surroundings but,
The moment he hit open ground, it would catch him, and there'd be nowhere left to hide.
Damn it… I have to do something!
The Shadow Fang lunged again.
Ash twisted his body at the last second,
But, he was not lucky this time.
He was tired and his body was falling apart.
The creature's claws grazing his side, pain shot through him as his tattered shirt grew wet with blood.
Ash stumbled, nearly falling, but he forced himself forward.
The light of the entrance grew brighter, just a few meters away.
With the last of his strength, he dived toward a cluster of loose rocks near the entrance.
He scrambled to his feet, ignoring the pain in his side, and shoved the pile with everything he had.
The rocks tumbled down, collapsing part of the tunnel.
Dust and debris filled the air, and the Shadow Fang screeched as it was buried under the falling rubble.
Ash staggered out of the mines, collapsing onto the ground outside.
His breathing was ragged, his body trembling from exhaustion and adrenaline.
Blood dripped from the wound on his side, it was deep enough to kill him—not yet, at least.
But then,
Bzzzt—rrrrk-rrrk-khhh...
!!!!!!!!!
Ash eyes widened at the sound.
***