The trembling.
It started about a minute later.
It wasn't normal shivering from the cold. It was deep, violent, originating from the marrow of his bones. Shock. His body was screaming, telling him that it had sustained damage beyond its ability to comprehend. His teeth chattered together, making an audible sound in the silence of the fungal forest. Tak. Tak. Tak.
The pain.
Now that the lethal rush of adrenaline had stopped, the pain returned. It wasn't as sharp as before; it was a dark, dull, heavy throb. The tourniquet he had tied was digging into his flesh, and every beat of his heart sent a wave of nausea through him.
But he was alive.
He forced his eyes to focus.
The blue window. It was still there. It wasn't a dream.
[Void Echo (Hidden)]
[Skill Acquired: Shadow Step (Rank F)]
Void Echo...
Shadow Step...
"What..." he whispered, his voice dry and cracked. "What... does it do?"
He stared at the words. Should I think about it? Do I speak to it?
"What is... 'Shadow Step'?"
Ting.
The crystal sound rang in his head again.
The original window faded, and a new one appeared.
[Skill: Shadow Step (Rank F) - Active]
[Description: Allows the user to merge with any shadow of sufficient size and emerge from another shadow within a range of (1) meter.]
[Cost: 1 Mana]
[Cooldown: 10 Seconds]
"..."
For a moment, Kang Ji-Won didn't understand.
He read it again. Merge... shadow... 1 meter... mana?
He laughed.
The laugh came out as a dry, painful cough.
"Mana"? What is damn "Mana"? Do I look like a wizard to you?
And "1 meter"? One meter?
He looked at his destroyed left leg. It was a lifeless lump of shredded meat, tied together with a dirty rag. He couldn't even sit up, let alone "merge" with anything.
Useless System! He screamed in his mind. You gave me something useless! What am I going to do with this? "Step" one meter closer to death?
It was the ultimate cosmic joke. He had gained a power... and it was trash. Just like him.
No.
No. Think. Think, you idiot.
The System is real. That means the power is real. It's just... not what I need right now.
What I need right now is to get out of here.
He looked around.
The Gate, the rippling blue tear, was still there, about forty feet away. Forty feet of blood-soaked moss.
Forty meters, not one.
And the contract...
He looked at the dark cave entrance.
I killed the guardian. Ji-Won remembered. The Shadow Goblin. It was guarding something.
... "Three remaining goblin corpses."
That's what Baek had said.
Baek lied about the "Safe Zone." But... did he lie about the bodies?
They're inside. I bet they're inside.
The calculator in his brain, fueled by years of poverty, started working even through the fog of pain.
I killed the guardian. The path is safe now. All I have to do is... go in, tag the bodies, and drag them out.
If I go back now... I go back empty-handed.
I'll still owe Baek 20,000 Won for this broken, bloodstained gear. I'll still be homeless. Hyun-Soo will still be...
No. I came here for money. I'm not leaving without it.
He grabbed the rusty crowbar that was still embedded in the creature's throat.
"Ghgh..."
He tried to pull it out. It was stuck.
Doesn't matter. I can use it as a crutch.
He placed his good hand on the moss. "AAAAAH!"
He tried to stand.
White, hot, explosive pain.
His left leg couldn't take any weight at all. It collapsed under him instantly, and he fell back onto the moss, panting and cursing.
"Damn it! Damn it! Damn it!"
He was trapped.
He had survived. He had won. He had gotten a "System."
And he couldn't even stand.