Key Rush (5)

"So…..this is the underworld, huh?"

I mumbled to myself. I named the bottom part of the river the 'underworld.' Why? Because it sounds cool, of course! But in all honestly, I was surprised my theory turned out to be correct. When I was drowning, I was desperate. Really desperate. Even the faintest bit of hope would of had a significant effect on me during that moment.

So, when I had thought of an absurd, desperate idea, i went for it without any hesitation. No matter the chances of success, if it was 1%, I was willing to risk it all. There was no way I'm dying here— that's just not happening!

Luckily, it turned out to have worked. This blood river truly is strange. To have an upside and a downside. Well, if the voice didn't call this place the below level, it wouldn't even be fair calling it the downside. There was little to no difference, besides the tree and the sun, of course.

It seems like when the sun sets, it's actually rising on the other side. When the crimson moon rises, it's descending on the otherside. Is this mission designed for us to escape the strengthed monsters during the crimson moon by quickly swimming to the opposite side? And repeating it over and over again, until we reach the Weeping Blight? Still, only one side can get the tree and it's from the upperworld.

Nico was there, but i was certain he was struggling during the crimson moon. To have called me for help, to team-up, just because he was afraid of the crimson moon rising spoke levels about his current ability to defend himself against the strengthened monsters.

At the same time, he didn't seem aware of this little secret underworld. If he was, without a doubt, he would of dived and went into it to avoid me, when the Key Rush first began. It seemed there are gaps in his knowledge, after all! It's not omniscient!

That was a good thing to know, because lately, I have been feeling more and more ignorant. It was starting to do irreversible damage to my self-esteem, being surrounded by individuals that was capable and had knowledge of The Mulligan that I didn't have, expecially Nico with his nearly limitless amount of knowledge, as if he knew everything about The Mulligan. Almost made me suspect that he was the creator of it.

I eventually sighed, shaking my head. Though that train of thought was a bit wasteful of time, it was a good way in helping me calm down, after having a near-death experience. No matter how numb I could grow to the dangers of The Mulligan, this is still my first time going through all this. And to be frank, it scared me. Whatever else I could experience terrified me. Even still, that didn't deter my determination.

For I will have a second chat at life, no matter what! A chance to make things better, to live a life I never had!

With a sudden flame burning inside my heart, I stood up on my feet and scanned my surroundings. Everything was the same, but I was no fool. Even though the sun was up, I knew that within the depths of this river hid, hundreds, maybe even thousands, of Bloodroot Stranglers. All waiting for me to start walking down the river, so that they could attack me.

Atleast they were weak during daylight. That thought gave me some form of solace. I felt like I was ready to fight them head on and start rushing towards the next level— I was certain that Nico, right now, was struggling to deal with the strengthed monsters by the crimson moon! If I took advantage of him being monetarily stalled, I can reach the next level before him, possibly even before Nightfall!

But first there was a problem I needed to fix….

"It's either this, or die from thirst."

I reassured myself, reluctantly getting down on my knees by the blood river, taking a deep breath, I stared at my own reflection in the river. Then, reaching out, I cupped my hands and allowed the crimson water to gradually flow inside.

'No matter how dangerous it could be, this is much better than trying to drink my own pee…'

I thought to myself, I knew I was being reckless, but I seriously didn't want to drink my own pee to satisfy my thirst.

So, as quick as I could, I lifted my cupped hands towards my mouth, parted my lips and allowed the crimson water to flow inside, gulping it down greedily, my Adams apple becoming highly visible during it. My eyes tightly shut, expecting something bad to happen.

The crimson water flowed directly through my throat— the taste was….decent. Nothing special, but nothing bad either. It tasted like regular river water—but I would say that the river from back where I camped with Isabella, Cassie and Zeke was much better. Significantly better. Still, atleast this quelled my thirst….and is without a doubt much better than drinking my own pee.

Just as I finished gulping down the last bits of it, a violent scream escaped from my throat, my eyes rolling back, as I felt a seering pain. The veins started bulging violently, my pulse was erratic and there was a familier taste.

An error appeared in front of me, the system flashing with warnings:—

Status: Alive (ingested toxic fluid — Cardic Strain detected)

I activated [The Zone] instinctively at the sudden pain, my brain calming down for a brief moment— this brief moment was all I needed to recall basic physiology.

'I'm suffering a caradic strain….too many red blood cells. Was the crimson river hyper-oxygenated? This is bad….im lucky I didn't drink any of it while submerged.'

Blood viscosity was killing me. I had to act fast before the toxins fully absorb. There was ways to survive this situation— slicing a bulging vein, inducing sweat from my clothes, or using salt. However, I had no way of using any of these methods! I lost [Fool's Rapier], my clothes was drenched with the toxic water of the blood river and there was no salt!

So, I did the only thing I could do at the moment.

Putting both my index and middle finger together, I opended my mouth wide, then plunged the fingers down my throat, going as deep as I could. Tears streamed down my face, as I began to choke violently, instinctively trying to push my fingers out, but I held it together. Shutting my eyes tightly, I digged my fingers deeper.

Until, I felt my stomach churn. Quickly, I pulled my fingers out, as I crouched down and vomited violently into the blood river, the toxins exiting out of me before it was fully absorbed. It was brutal, the most gut-wretching experience I have ever been through (literally).

Once all of it the fluids exited my stomach, I breathed heavily, then collapsed down on to the floor. Coughing slightly and splitting out blood—minor throat bleeds. It was as if my throat was on fire, I didn't even dare swallow my own spit.

My body was weak, my mind felt dizzy. I just wanted to lie down and sleep

Status: Alive (Stabilizing — Residual Iron Overload)

'Fuck this shit…'

Breathing heavily, I slowly got on my feet, despite my muscles protesting. No matter how weak or dizzy I felt, it didn't matter. I still had to reach the next level.

Glancing at the river, I shuddered at the thought of what would of happend if I drank even the slightest bit of it while I was submerged and swimming. Would I have straight up died? This is the second time I have experienced some throat trauma, I might genuinely go crazy at this rate….

"Never drink from the crimson river. Noted."

Every action has a consequence. I shouldn't be so reckless next time. The safer decision is always the best. Just because I don't feel like drinking, doesn't mean I should drink from something that could of literally killed me if it wasn't for my quick reaction.

Struggling to even stand properly, I reached up to a tree, I reached for my trousers, then dropped them down without any hesitation. Cupping my hands together, I peed into them.

Some of it spilled out, most of it spilled out actually, but I managed to get a decent amount. Raising my cupped hands, I quickly gulped down my own urine, my throat still dry from the violent vomiting—so I had to resist the urge to gag and vomit the urine out.

Eventually, it was over.

I had hydrated myself, but did so in a way that almost got me fucking killed. But I guess you learn from you're mistakes. I hope Nico on the upperworld drinks from the crimson river and dies.

Raising my trousers back up, I stretched my limbs and took a deep breath. I couldn't stay here any longer. That little scenario just wasted five minutes of my time.

So, without further ado, I clenched my calves and burst forward, down the river, towards the next level.

Distance to next Level: 5.8Km

It was close! Just within my grasp! I needed to end this quickly, as I knew relying on my own piss to hydrate myself wasn't healthy. After around three to two cycles, my kidney will shut down. It's a limited replacement for actual water, but for now, it gave me the energy I needed to still keep on running this marathon.

However, the moment I stepped through the blood river, as expected, Bloodroot Stranglers sprung out from within the depths. Expecting this, I already had [Probability Pryer] and [The Zone] active. A powerful combination, that allowed me to dodge nimbly, without any of them being able to grab on to me.

The combination of being able to see the probability of outcomes before they happen, mixed with flow-like state mind, allowed me to navigate through the countless Bloodroot Stranglers that tried blocking my way, easily making my way towards the next level of the blood river.

From how much had passed without using any of my blessing abilities, I have managed to save up some innate spirit. A useful amount, no doubt. This allowed me to keep [Probability Pryer] and [The Zone] active for quite the long duration, perhaps if used wisely, I can even keep it on until I reach the very end of this level.

However, not everything was that easy.

As the Bloodroot Stranglers realized that I was dodging their most unpredictable attacks somehow, they had realized I could forsee them in someway. They seemed fairly intelligent, as the moment they realized they were facing against someone who could see the future—they all hurdled up and ganged up on me at once.

As my eyes was darting around, being vigilant of any attacks that could come from my blind-spot. A sudden sensation made me halt in my tracks, as my mind was all of a sudden overwhelmed by an immense amount of probabilities.

From the depths, more than twenty of those Bloodroot Stranglers revealed themselves, lunging out towards me in violent fashion, not hesitating for even a second. Unknownily, they had exploited the one weakness [Probability Pryer] had, it was that it was very easy to overwhelm!

It made me dizzy momentarily, especially since my mind was still recovering from what I had just done earlier to save myself from cardiac arrest. So, when they lunged towards me, grabbing on to all my limbs, waist, throat, I was momentarily unable to react!

However with [The Zone] active, I managed to recover quickly. Without delaying any longer, I deactivated [Probability Pryer] and before they could drag me down to the depths, I augmented my feet with the pitiful amount of Fury [The Zone] saved up during it's brief use.

Clenching my jaw, I clenched down on my calves and then jumped up into the air, the force from my jump, causing the blood river to be pushed back—revealing the depths for a brief moment. As for me, I was sent flying towards a tree.

Raising my hand, I timely grabbed a branch, rotated myself like a monkey and flawlessly landed on my feet right on top of the branch, looking down at the Bloodroot Stranglers smugly.

"Hehe."

Without wasting anymore time, I was on the move again.

Time until Nightfall: 20:42 minutes.