As soon as the alarm blared, Kaiza hastily pulled his foot away from the red-marked ground. His gaze darted around, searching for the awakened creature.
To his surprise, two creatures on either side of him had begun to stir, their bodies slowly stretching. Their eyes flickered open, scanning the surroundings in search of the one who had disturbed their long slumber.
"They're awake," Kaiza whispered, his pulse quickening. Moving cautiously, he attempted to slip away unnoticed.
Just then, his system interface abruptly flashed before his eyes, flooding his vision with new messages.
[New Threat Detected]
[Fire Creature Awakened]
[Fire Creature Awakened]
[Fire Creature Awakened]
"What? I didn't step on another danger zone! Did I?" Kaiza muttered, momentarily stunned. His mind raced, trying to grasp what had triggered the alert and awakened the slumbering creatures. The messages continued flashing in his interface, heightening his anxiety.
Determined to find an answer, he quickly scanned his surroundings. He hadn't crossed the marked area—so what had caused this?
Then he saw it.
Behind him, a raging storm churned violently, rumbling as it advanced. Each strike against the danger zone sent shockwaves through the ground, awakening more creatures—each one immediately locking onto him as their target.
But something was off.
Kaiza's breath hitched as he noticed a stark difference in the creatures. The two he had awakened were similar in form, but the one emerging from the storm was unlike them. It radiated a different kind of menace, its entire body engulfed in roaring flames, burning hotter and wilder than the others.
While the other creature remained calm, its body unlit, Kaiza quickly realized that fire wasn't their natural state. Each strike from the raging storm sent embers flying, igniting flames across their bodies.
'Perhaps that's why they're called fire creatures,' he mused.
Kaiza stood frozen. Moving recklessly could alert the two creatures near him—and worse, awaken even more of them. But despite his caution, he didn't just stand still.
He observed.
The two creatures, dog-like in form, communicated with each other through soft groans. Their sounds carried a strange rhythm, almost as if they were engaged in a conversation.
Without wasting time trying to understand them, Kaiza focused on escaping before the creatures behind him spotted him. He needed a way out.
Then he noticed something.
"They... can't see?" he murmured after several careful observations. Their eyes were pure black, void of pupils or any sign of vision. That realization gave him a small advantage—but it also came with a risk.
"If they can't see, their other senses must be heightened," he thought, though he had no confirmation. Still, it was his best bet.
Slowly, Kaiza began inching away, making sure to step only on the green zones while avoiding the danger zones at all costs.
But then, he made a wrong turn.
Now trapped, he stood at the edge of a field filled entirely with red zones. There was no way back, and no safe path forward.
That wasn't the worst part.
As he moved, the creatures followed.
With every step he took, they mirrored his movement, closing the distance.
Fear gripped him as a terrifying realization settled in—his assumption had been correct.
"I have to distract them," Kaiza mumbled, his voice barely escaping his lips.
Lost in a sea of thoughts, he struggled to settle on a single plan. Ideas flooded his mind, each one battling for dominance.
His first thought was to remove his shoe and throw it to create a diversion. But he quickly dismissed the idea. The desert sand was blistering hot—touching it barehanded would be agonizing, let alone walking on it without protection. The heat radiating from the ground was already punishment enough.
Then another idea surfaced—what if he simply moved as if the creatures weren't there?
The thought alone sent a shiver down his spine. The mere possibility of stepping wrong, of triggering even the slightest sound, made the idea feel like a death sentence.
A minute into his plan, Kaiza realized something unexpected—it was working.
He had never imagined he could last even a few seconds without the hungry-looking creatures tearing him apart, yet here he was, moving through their midst, unnoticed. If he could maintain this approach, he might just make it out.
Guided by his map, he navigated carefully, avoiding the danger zones with calculated precision. As he climbed a small hill formed by a pile of sand, he took a deep breath, finally feeling a sliver of relief.
Standing at the top, Kaiza found himself flanked by the two black creatures, eerily positioned like his personal bodyguards.
"Finally," he exhaled, his voice carrying a mix of exhaustion and triumph.
For a moment, he forgot about the creatures beside him. In his mind, he had reached the finish line. Any second now, his system should acknowledge his success—perhaps even reward him. This so-called "appropriate punishment" had been anything but fair. If this was a mere consequence for losing focus, what would happen if he failed a major mission? Would the system send him straight to hell?
"I did it," he murmured, allowing himself to bask in his small victory.
But his celebration was short-lived.
Just as the words left his lips, his system interface flickered to life.
New messages incoming…
[Scanning…]
Kaiza's moment of triumph was abruptly cut short. A sinking feeling settled in his chest as he watched the system interface flicker.
What was it scanning?
Lowering his gaze, Kaiza's heart pounded at the sight before him—red markers scattered across his interface, each one signaling a new threat.
"What is going on?" he muttered, staring blankly at the figures ahead.
Then, the system fed him new data:
[Fire Creatures]
[Rank - 2]
[Aggressiveness - 30%]
[State - Deep Sleep]
[Can be Awoken By - Raging Storm, Low-Rank Fire Creatures]
[Relation with Low-Rank Fire Creatures - Offspring]
Kaiza's stomach dropped.
These creatures… they weren't just another obstacle. They were the parents of the ones he had just barely escaped. And if those lower-ranked creatures—or worse, the raging storm—triggered their awakening, he would be facing something far more dangerous than before.
"The punishment is over! What the hell is this now?" Kaiza cried out in frustration.
But in his frustration, he failed to notice something crucial—time.
During his cautious journey alongside the two fire creatures, it was as if time itself had slowed, almost pausing. The realization sent a chill down his spine. Had the system manipulated time, or had his perception been altered?
Determined to find out if the system was malfunctioning—perhaps even messing with him—Kaiza quickly checked the timer.
Just under two minutes remained.
Then, new messages flooded his interface.
[Incoming - Raging Storms, Low-Rank Fire Creatures]
[H-Kai, survive the next few minutes of punishment]
[Incoming Low-Rank Fire Creatures - 7]
[Awoken by Raging Storms]
[+7 Incoming Low-Rank Fire Creatures]
The numbers kept climbing. The storm showed no signs of stopping, and with each strike, more fire creatures stirred from their slumber.
Kaiza clenched his fists.
This wasn't just a punishment—it was a nightmare that refused to end.
"And it'll keep going until it awakens the high-rank fire creatures," Kaiza muttered, his eyes locked on the ever-increasing numbers marking his impending doom.
Then, his system blared.
[H-Kai, RUN!]
But running wasn't the answer.
"Running won't stop them. They'll be here in seconds," Kaiza reasoned, his mind racing for another way out. He had to stop both the storm and the fire creatures from advancing into this part of the terrain.
Standing in the middle of two worlds—one filled with slumbering fire creatures, the other awakening into chaos—Kaiza felt a terrifying realization wash over him.
This was death in disguise.
This was exactly what his ancestral hero had warned about—the kind of death that didn't announce itself as an execution but as an inevitable force, swallowing everything in its path.
And now, Kaiza understood.
This wasn't just a punishment. This was a trial.
The system wasn't simply testing his endurance—it was testing his ability to survive. Running wasn't enough. He needed a real solution.
Then, just as he reached that conclusion, his system blared again.
[To stop fire creatures: Gather enough crystal balls to create a blockade.]
Kaiza's eyes widened. A blockade… That was it.
Now, all he had to do was find the crystal balls—before it was too late.
"How do I get crystal balls?" Kaiza was about to ask when, as if reading his mind, the system instantly provided more information.
[Crystal Balls are power weapons found in Fire Creatures.]
[1 Low-Rank Fire Creature = 5 Crystal Balls]
[1 High-Rank Fire Creature = 15 Crystal Balls]
Kaiza's heart pounded.
"How many crystal balls do I need to build the wall?"
[Wall Requirement = 10 Crystal Balls]
Then, two options appeared before him:
[Fight]
[Low-Rank Fire Creatures: 2 = 10 Crystal Balls]
Or
[High-Rank Fire Creature: 1 = 15 Crystal Balls]
Kaiza's gaze flickered between the countdown timer and the incoming firestorm.
"I don't have time to fight multiple low-rank creatures."
His survival instincts clashed with temptation. Crystal balls weren't just for building a blockade—they were also valuable power sources, offering multiple rewards. This wasn't just a choice between life and death; it was an opportunity.
His fingers hovered over the interface.
Then, with steely determination, Kaiza clicked on his choice.