Crawling.
Every movement was a nightmare.
Kang Ji-Won dug his fingers into the wet blue moss and pulled.
Pull!
His good right leg pushed, but it was weak, shaking from exhaustion and shock. His destroyed left leg was just a dead weight, a piece of torn meat he dragged behind him, leaving a shiny dark trail on the glowing floor.
Ghg... ah...
Every push sent white sparks of pain flashing across his vision.
One inch. Another inch.
The corpse. It was only two yards away. It looked like it was a mile away.
He saw it clearly now, in the faint blue-green light. The dead man was lying on his stomach, arms outstretched.
Sorry, man. Ji-Won thought, the words bitter in his mouth. Sorry. But you can't use it anymore.
One last push.
With a muffled cry, he lunged forward and collapsed beside the body.
Hah... hah...
The smell of death. His own blood, the other man's blood, and the monster's blood. The smell was thick, sweet, and disgusting. He almost vomited again.
No time. No time.
He reached out a trembling hand.
His fingers touched the worker's vest the dead man was wearing. It was damp. Not from blood, but from the cold moisture of this world.
"Sorry..." he whispered audibly this time.
Then he gripped the fabric.
SHRAAAACK!
He grabbed the collar of the vest and ripped it. The fabric was cheap and old, but surprisingly strong. It didn't tear easily.
"Damn it!"
He shouted, digging his fingers into the tear and pulling with all his remaining strength. It was like trying to rip a wet phone book.
Shraack! ... Shraack!
Finally. A long piece. A strip of thick cloth.
Good. Good.
He didn't waste a second. He dropped onto his back beside the corpse and lifted his shredded left leg.
"AAAAAAHH!"
Just lifting it sent a wave of nausea and pain through his body. He almost passed out.
No. Stay awake. Damn it, stay awake!
With eyes squeezed shut, he wrapped the strip of cloth around his thigh, above the messy wound.
Higher. Tighter.
His hands were sticky with his blood and the beast's blood, making the fabric slippery.
"Damn it... work with me!"
Finally, he tied a knot.
Now. The hard part.
He tied a double knot, then started to pull.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"
The pain was unbelievable. Unlike anything he had felt before. It was worse than the creature's attack. It was a concentrated, cold, sharp pain, as if an ice blade were slowly cutting through his bone.
The tourniquet was closing. Cutting off the blood flow.
More. It has to be tighter.
He cried. Hot tears of pure pain mixed with the cold monster blood on his cheeks.
But he didn't stop pulling.
Hyun-Soo. Hyun-Soo. 72 Hours. Hyun-Soo.
He kept pulling until he felt something pop deep inside his thigh. He tied the final knot with clumsy fingers that could barely feel anything.
Then he collapsed.
His head fell onto the wet moss, his whole body shaking uncontrollably.
Hah... hah... hah...
He was panting.
And the pain... it was there. God, it was there. It was a burning, dark throb.
But... the dripping.
The wet sound of his blood flowing freely... stopped.
The warm puddle forming beneath him... was no longer expanding.
It... worked.
It worked.
He lay there, in the dark, beside the corpse that had just saved him, shivering, crying silently, but... alive.
And after a full minute, when the searing pain receded slightly to a bearable ache, he forced his eyes open.
It was still there.
Floating before him, silent, bright, and indifferent to his suffering.
The blue window.
[Void Echo (Hidden)]
[Skill Acquired: Shadow Step (Rank F)]