Kang Ji-Won couldn't breathe.
The crushing weight of the creature's corpse was pressing down on his chest, squeezing the little remaining air from his lungs.
Ghg... a... air...
The foul stench of musk and blood filled his mouth and nose. Thick, hot liquid—the creature's blood—was dripping onto his face, seeping into his eyes, burning them.
I'm going to die. Damn it, I killed it, but I'm going to die suffocating under its corpse!
Panic.
Cold, pure panic, stronger than the searing pain in his leg.
Push!
With a muffled cry, he used his good right leg and his arms to shove. His entire body tensed.
AAAAHH!
Exploding white pain. His shredded left leg screamed in protest at the movement, as if a thousand flaming knives had been driven into it at once.
But the weight shifted.
The corpse was slick with its own blood. Shhh-thump.
The heavy carcass slid off his chest and fell onto the wet moss beside him.
"HAAAAAAH!"
Ji-Won gasped.
A massive, painful, desperate gasp that pulled the cold, stale air of the cave deep into his lungs. It burned. It was the most beautiful thing he had ever felt in his life.
He lay there, panting. Breathing deeply, every breath sending waves of agony from his leg, but he didn't care. He was breathing.
I'm... alive.
Slowly, as the fog of suffocation began to clear, he lifted his head.
In the dim blue-green light of the surrounding fungi, he saw his enemy.
The creature was lying on its side. Motionless.
And the crowbar...
Oh God.
The rusty crowbar was gone. He had driven it completely, up to the handle, through the creature's soft throat. The desperate strike while lying down... it had worked.
I... killed it.
I... killed something.
There was no feeling of triumph. There was no pride. Just a cold emptiness, and overwhelming exhaustion.
Now what?
He looked at his leg.
It was a mess. A dark, wet mess. The pants were torn from thigh to knee. He couldn't see the wound clearly in the dark, but he felt it. He felt the blood flowing hot, forming a sticky puddle beneath him.
...Too much. It's flowing too fast.
I killed the monster... only to bleed to death.
Irony. What cruel irony.
He pressed down on the wound with both hands, ignoring the muck and alien blood covering them. He let out a muffled cry as his fingers touched raw flesh.
Stop it... I have to stop it...
But he was so cold. The cold began to creep in from his fingertips and toes. It wasn't the cold of the forest. It was an internal cold.
The faint blue-green light of the fungi began to... dim.
No. No, don't close, eyes. Stay awake.
Hyun-Soo...
Sorry...
His vision began to turn into a dark tunnel. He no longer felt the pain, only... numbness.
So this is it...
...Ting.
A sound.
No, not a sound. It wasn't in his ears.
It was... in his head. A pure, clear sound, like a crystal bell tone.
Then, in his fading vision... a light appeared.
A bright blue light.
Right in front of his face, a transparent window floated, glowing with a clean, internal power. It was the cleanest thing he had ever seen in his life.
And on it... words.
[Existential Threat Detected.]
[Activating Emergency Protocol...]
...What? Am I... hallucinating? Is this the 'System' vision everyone sees before dying?
[Synchronization Error... No Matching Echo Found.]
[Searching for Alternative Solution...]
[ "Void" Detected.]
[Echo Activation: Void Echo (Hidden)]
[Analyzing Slain Target: Shadow Goblin (Rank F+)]
[... Simulating ...]
[Skill Acquired: Shadow Step (Rank F)]