Feeling a sharp pain all over his body, Lin Sei slowly opened his eyes, only to be met with cold stones in every direction.
"Huh? Where am I?" Lin thought, before recalling the events that had brought him to this point.
Before his thoughts could go too far, he heard a series of roars and shrieks, unpleasant to the human ear, drawing closer to him.
He quickly stood up and tried to escape.
Lin was weak. He had spent most of his time worrying about his lack of strength and inability to resonate with primary energy. Now, in this situation, his weakness became even more evident. He ran and ran, but the beasts kept pace.
"Damn it, if the beasts catch me, I'll die. But... if I don't catch them, I won't have food. If I fight, I die, but if I don't fight, I'll die too," Lin panicked. His combat experience was nonexistent.
Lin didn't know how much time had passed, but it was long enough for the beasts' cries to fade into the distance. He approached a cave wall and sat down to rest. His body was sore from so much running. His legs could barely hold him up.
As he leaned against the wall, he tried to calm his breathing and mind, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't. Those intrusive thoughts of death wouldn't stop.
"I'm really going to die, I'm going to die. I can't do anything against those beasts. I don't have a weapon, I don't have deep energy, no muscles, I have nothing. I still don't even know for sure if my brother is dead or where my father is."
*Slap*
Lin Sei slapped himself. "No, I can't give up yet! I have too much to do. What I need to do now is survive, no matter what. Survive and reach the tower. I must survive."
Thinking about this last point, Lin's blood began to boil with an indescribable flame. He ended up in this situation because he was weak.
"I have to get stronger, no matter what, but I have to get stronger."
Even though he was still panicking about his situation, he knew that if he stayed still, he wouldn't get anywhere, and the outcome would be death.
"Lin, always remember. Even if you're weak, you must forge the will to live, the will to achieve, and the will to survive. No matter the circumstance or adversity, you must survive because if you survive, fight, and persevere against all odds, one day you will become someone even the heavens must admire."
Lin Sei recalled his father's last words before he disappeared, who knows where. "Damn it, why am I thinking about that bastard right now?"
But no matter how much he cursed his father, he could never bring himself to hate him.
As he grew older and remembered his father's last words, he could feel the pain his father had always hidden from him and his brother. Thinking of his father's words in his current situation, he could feel his father's determination. Lin began to forge his own determination. He had forgotten in his panic, but he hadn't died yet, and he still had many things to do. As long as he didn't die, he could still accomplish what he wanted to accomplish.
It seemed that space itself bore witness to his resolve and declaration, as the area within a 43-meter radius around him began to twist and distort; unfortunately, he was too absorbed in his thoughts to notice.
Suddenly, he snapped his eyes open, and the space returned to normal
.
Several hours had passed since he sat down to rest, but it seemed he was in a relatively secluded area, as no beasts attacked him during his panic.
He got up, his eyes having regained their clarity, and he started to move silently across the dungeon floor.
"No matter what world this trial dungeon is connected to, it has to have weapons, and someone must have died here before. There's no way I'm the first to explore it."
After what seemed like hours of running, he found what he was looking for—a pile of bones and a pair of slightly rusted short swords.
"I was hoping for a spear, but the short swords will do," thought Lin as he picked them up. They were made entirely of some kind of black metal, and although one of them showed signs of cracking, they were sharp enough to work as a temporary solution.
"Then, let's go hunting."