"Death is around every corner of Sumatra. If I leave things to chance, only death awaits me."
Thinking this, I finally took the initiative and shot the remaining mud balls onto my body, saving the last one for my right hand.
Once I fired the final shot, I dropped the Mud Viper, barely repositioned my arm through the mud, and felt it harden completely. With that, I had become a sculpture. Positioned just before my nose was my rugged bone sphere, also covered in mud.
I angled it slightly away from my face so that when it hardened, a narrow passage remained open below—just enough for me to breathe. But the gap was hidden well enough that no one would notice unless they looked closely.
A true fan of I Surpass the MC would recognize this tactic—it was the same one Inala used in the novel. It worked for him, and I could only pray that it worked for me too. Or should I pray to the devil? Since, technically, a god was the one who put me in this mess.
While I was lost in thought, Inala observed me with a glint in his eyes.
"This guy… he's insane."
Inala's eyes gleamed with something unreadable as he watched.
"Who the hell willingly entombs themselves in mud, leaving only a slit to breathe? He's gambling his life on a single breath—no hesitation, no second thoughts. If the vipers even suspect him, he's dead. No escape. No struggle. Just a slow, helpless death, buried alive in his own trap."
"This just got interesting."
'That guy…' Resha stared at the hardened sculpture that was me. Thanks to the tonic, his Fragment Disease was temporarily suppressed, allowing him to throw a small Mud Viper at my mud-covered form. He intended to sabotage my plan.
The Mud Viper shook its head from the impact and examined the sculpture. Judging that melting through the hardened mud alone wasn't worth the effort, it slithered away in search of another target. The youngest batch of students—only ten years old—were too helpless to fight back. They were easy prey.
"Tch!" Seeing his plan fail, Resha clicked his tongue. He lifted his bone sphere and absorbed more of the tonic it had accumulated with his Skill—Toxin Refinement.
Time passed in this tense state as Gannla slowly moved away from the Mud Viper nest it had collapsed. Once it had gone far enough, the surviving Mud Vipers retreated, carrying with them the people they had turned into sculptures.
The shelter in the Academy of Refinement remained safe thanks to the blocked entrance. As a result, the Mud Vipers inside hadn't sensed the retreat signal. When Gannla was finally out of danger, the elites rushed into the shelter, slaughtering the remaining Mud Vipers.
"I survived that."
I sighed in relief, inhaling deep gulps of air as the hardened mud on my body began to crack and fall away. The Clan had the necessary reagents to dissolve it completely. But as I collapsed onto the floor, pain flooded my senses.
"Damn… I can't even tell how many bones I've fractured. It hurts… even breathing hurts."
"You want to live that badly, huh?"
A cold voice echoed above me.
A middle-aged man stood before me, staring with an emotionless gaze. His body was as robust as steel, his eyes cold enough to make me feel like I was trapped in a blizzard. A suffocating stench of blood clung to him, something that could never be washed away.
'This isn't over, is it? No… this is just a small taste of what's to come, isn't it?'