The embers shifted underfoot, crunching softly as I paced the edge of the molten lake. Its golden surface was deceptively calm, a lie so blatant it almost felt like a personal insult. Each ripple radiated heat that pressed against my skin, heavy and oppressive, like the weight of a chain I couldn't break.
"Perseverance," I muttered, kicking a loose rock into the lake. It disappeared with a hiss, swallowed whole by the molten gold. The System's cryptic bullshit echoed in my head like a bad joke. "Yeah, I get it. Keep trying. But how the fuck do you keep trying when every step forward burns you alive?"
No response, as always. The System never deigned to explain itself beyond those damn riddles.
