"Huh? 15 days? What is the system talking about?" Lin Sei was surprised by the system message—a message devoid of any details.
Two hours had passed since Lin decided to hunt once more, but his sense of unease hadn't diminished. Coupled with the feeling of being watched, his vigilance was at an all-time high.
Lin began to explore the deeper sections of the dungeon, observing his surroundings carefully. What struck him as odd was that he hadn't encountered a single beast for some time. He couldn't tell if it was because he was drenched in blood or if the beasts had decided not to provoke him further to avoid more casualties. In fact, he hadn't even come across the weakest or smallest beasts during his exploration. A sense of discomfort and dread began to grow around him.
Suddenly, he heard a strange sound.
"Gr…"
Behind him, he heard the growl of a beast. However, he didn't make any sudden movements. "A beast that can approach me without alerting my senses! No matter how strong this beast is, it's definitely on a completely different level from the wolves I've been fighting."
Lin quickly turned around and found himself face-to-face with an enormous, unparalleled wolf. It stood about four meters tall, its reddish fur marked with violet patches.
With every movement, a black lightning bolt traced its figure, scorching the ground around it. Its aura was so suffocating that Lin's only thought was to flee, but his legs were completely rooted to the ground. Not even his Dragon's Visual Projection ability could help him manage his fear.
The wolf looked at Lin with a level of rage and intelligence that none of the other wolves possessed.
When it awoke from its slumber, it realized that many of the young wolves in its pack were being killed one after another—one of its kin among them. Enraged, it tracked down the culprit and now confronted him.
At that moment, Lin knew he couldn't possibly face this beast with his current strength. In fact, escaping successfully seemed nearly impossible.
Lin understood that turning his back on the beast would be foolish, so his only options were to move left or right. Fixing his gaze on the wolf as though preparing for battle, Lin lowered his body. Then, he turned to the right and ran as fast as he could.
However, the wolf didn't move, seemingly intent on playing with Lin Sei. After he had run a fair distance, the wolf let out a howl and dashed forward. In mere seconds, it caught up to Lin, slashing at him with its claws at a speed he couldn't follow.
Before Lin even realized what had happened, he lost all feeling in his left leg and collapsed. The wolf had precisely severed his Achilles tendon.
Biting his lip to stifle a groan of pain, Lin attempted to teleport away. However, in his disoriented state and moving linearly, he couldn't escape.
Every time Lin teleported further away, the wolf caught up to him almost instantly, inflicting more injuries as he fled. But when he teleported once more, he realized the wolf had stopped its pursuit.
When he raised his head, all he saw was a vast expanse of darkness.
Lin felt despair. Behind him was a monster he couldn't even imagine defeating, and before him was a massive abyss of unknown depth. He looked left and right, realizing the area around him had narrowed, leaving him with no escape routes. He had to choose quickly.
Lin was desperate. He knew he would die there if he couldn't kill that wolf, but his options were limited.
As he stared into the deep abyss before him, a wild idea formed in his mind. "If necessary, I can always do it."
Upon reaching his first class, his wounds would heal, and his stamina would recover, though only superficially. He wouldn't be able to regenerate lost body parts or anything critical.
Lin drew his short swords and disappeared, reappearing at the wolf's hind legs. He stabbed both swords into the same spot, hoping it would be enough to injure the beast.
But his hopes were dashed. Even with all his strength, he only managed to make a small cut.
Lin disappeared again, reappearing on the other side of the wolf, determined to slash until the beast bled out. Unfortunately, the wolf didn't let him do as he pleased.
Due to their disparity in combat experience, it only took the wolf a minute or two to figure out Lin's patterns, greeting him with claws or an open maw every time he teleported.
Though it was clear the wolf had an affinity for lightning, it didn't take Lin seriously enough to use it. It was toying with him, looking at Lin with disdain.
Thus, the battle dragged on for several minutes. While the wolf had a few cuts, Lin's body was covered in wounds, with a deep gash along his back bleeding profusely. It seemed he had no chance of victory.
When the strain of constant teleportation combined with his injuries, Lin's internal organs were just a few blows away from being reduced to pulp.
"Survive."
His gaze locked onto a deeper wound he had inflicted on the beast, seeing a glimmer of hope for victory. However, before he could act, he felt his consciousness waver. An intense wave of fatigue nearly overwhelmed him.
With his body in such a terrible state, the accumulated fatigue finally bore down on him. He felt his weakness acutely and sensed death approaching. "No. No. No. No."
He couldn't accept it. Not even 15 days had passed, and he was already about to die? After all the determination he had mustered, was this how it would end?
He refused to accept it. He stared at the beast before him, a manic gleam in his eyes. "Fine. Fine. Fine. Fine!"
Something inside his mind snapped.
Once more, he charged, completely ignoring the pain that was dragging his consciousness down.
The wolf watched him with an expression that seemed to hold contempt in its eyes as it opened its maw.
The creature growled, its fangs gleaming under an intense light. Lin gripped the hilt of his short sword, sweat making his fingers slip. He couldn't afford to hesitate. The wolf let out a roar that reverberated in his chest like a war drum, charging toward him with terrifying speed.
With an agile twist, Lin rolled to the side, narrowly avoiding the beast's jaws. His sword flashed as he swung it with all his might. The blade sank deep into the wolf's flank, tearing through flesh and muscle, releasing a hot stream of blood that splattered across his face and clothes. A piercing howl erupted from the monster's throat, echoing like thunder through the forest.
But Lin wasn't done. He drove his swords deeper into the same spot, hoping to hit a vital organ. However, the wolf, in a spasm of pain and rage, turned its massive body. The force of the impact threw Lin to the ground, leaving him defenseless for a moment.
That moment was enough.
The wolf lunged, its jaws snapping shut like a steel trap. Lin raised his left arm to defend himself, but it was futile. With a brutal bite, the wolf's fangs tore through his flesh, breaking bone and ripping his arm off completely in an arc of blood that rained down like crimson droplets.
Staggering backward, falling to one knee, the pain pierced him like a burning spear. But he didn't let go of his sword. He held it firmly in his right hand—the only one he had left—his mind a storm of adrenaline and desperation.
The wolf, panting, its flank soaked in blood, dropped the severed arm and fixed its wild eyes on Lin.
Lin, his vision blurring, his heart pounding like a war drum, gritted his teeth. He wouldn't fall there. Not without a fight.
Though he had sacrificed his left arm, he finally managed to grievously wound the wolf. But Lin was in no condition to celebrate this achievement.
"Survive."
As he stood, drenched in blood—his own and that of his opponent—only one thought filled his mind.
"I must survive."
A voice in his mind pleaded with him, urging him to survive at all costs. Strengthening his grip on his weapon, coughing up more blood, he continued stabbing and slashing.
"Survive."
As the word repeated endlessly in his mind, he attacked the wolf, which was beginning to slow due to blood loss. He stabbed it once more, but his weapon broke on impact.
"Survive."
Losing his balance from the blood loss, as death began to close in, he could only hear one word. Reaching into the beast's wound, he tore at it with his hands—
"Survive."
The wolf began to fall. Its eyes were filled with indifference, thinking that if it had used all its power from the beginning, it wouldn't have ended up in this state, but there was no medicine for regret.