The three pinprick-sized green lights cast a sickly glow on the twisted pile of corpses.
How?
The word wasn't just a thought; it was a silent scream.
How the hell...?
Kang Ji-Won looked at his left leg. It was a black, wet mass in the dark, throbbing with a dull, heavy pain. The "tourniquet" hurt, but it was working. He was still alive. Barely.
I can't stand. I can barely crawl.
And these... (He looked at the pile of bodies) ...weigh more than I do.
Baek. You fat bastard. Did you know? Did you send me here knowing I would fail even if I succeeded?
No. Doesn't matter. Think.
Money. Hyun-Soo. 72 Hours.
He reached out a trembling hand. The crowbar was still in his grip. He couldn't use it to pull.
He let it go. Clang.
He reached his empty hand toward the nearest goblin corpse. His fingers touched something cold, slimy, and hairy.
Hair... ear hair.
"Ghgh..."
He grabbed it.
He closed his eyes. He took a deep breath of the foul air.
Pull!
With a muffled, animalistic grunt escaping through his gritted teeth, he pulled with every ounce of remaining strength in his arms and back.
Ghhhrrrr...
Nothing.
The pile didn't move. It was as heavy as rock.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHH!!"
The pain.
It wasn't from his arms. It came from his leg.
The movement, the tension in his torso, pulled the dirty cloth tourniquet. It bit deeper into his shredded flesh. It was as if a rabid dog had sunk its fangs into the wound and clamped down.
Ji-Won let go of the corpse. He fell onto his side, panting, tears streaming from his eyes, leaving clean tracks on his bloodstained face.
No... no... no... impossible...
He had failed.
This was it.
He had done everything. He had faced death. He had killed. He had crawled.
And it wasn't enough.
He would lose everything, not because of a monster, but because of... physics. Because of 150 pounds of dead meat.
It was the ultimate insult. Dying as "Scrap," because you couldn't even take out the trash.
Hah... hah... hah...
He laughed.
It was hysterical laughter, choked, full of despair. The laughter of a madman in a dark cave, lit only by three green dots on a pile of corpses.
Great. "Void Echo".
He remembered the damn blue window.
Useful? "Shadow Step"? One meter?
He looked around in the pitch black.
I'm in a shadow. The whole cave is one giant shadow. So what? Do I "step" one meter into the wall and die?
Useless. Just like me.
Stupid. Stupid system.
He lay there, staring up at the invisible cave ceiling.
Unless...
A thought. A crazy, desperate thought, perhaps just delirium from blood loss.
... "Allows the user to merge with any shadow..."
...User...
But... how did the "System" know I was the "User"? It just appeared.
I acquired the skill from the "Shadow Goblin".
Shadow.
Shadow Step.
What if...
He looked at the pile of corpses in front of him. They were in near-total darkness, lit only by the faint green dots. Their own shadow stretched out behind them, black on black.
What if the skill isn't meant for me... to move?
... "and emerge from another shadow..."
What if...?
He raised a trembling hand. He wasn't looking at the corpse, but at the dense shadow beneath it.
"Ghgh..."
He forced himself to sit up. The pain made him see stars.
Ignore it.
This is crazy. This won't work.
And what is your other choice? Bleed to death next to another goblin dinner?
Focus.
The blue window... he had asked it, and it vanished.
"Show me... show me 'Shadow Step'," he whispered in the dark.
Ting.
In his head.
The blue window appeared again, illuminating his stained face.
[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]
"Mana..."
"1 Mana". I have no idea what that means.
But... "Allows the user to merge"...
What if it's not "me"?
He reached out... and placed his hand directly on the nearest goblin corpse.
He closed his eyes.
I want... to "merge" with your shadow. (He was talking to the dead body in his mind, feeling utterly stupid).
No. Not like that.
He focused on the shadow under the corpse. The dense shadow where the body touched the ground.
I want you... to go... there.
He looked at a patch of shadow one yard away... toward the cave entrance.
... "Shadow Step".