People say adrenaline is the best natural anesthetic when your life is on the line. And unfortunately, the effects of that "drug" had just evaporated from Sena's bloodstream.
Seconds after delivering his cool line to the camera, his body immediately demanded payment for all the delayed pain. Sena couldn't even muster the strength to crawl out of the root crevice. His legs felt like jelly.
He collapsed sideways, his shoulder hitting the reddish dirt. The burning sensation in his right hand returned with full force, throbbing in sync with the sting of the scratches on his back and the bruises on his ribs.
He leaned against a steel root, panting with half-closed eyes. On his left chest, Kroco crawled slowly, occasionally licking the residual blood on Sena's torn jacket collar with its forked black tongue.
The Akasha camera hovered right in front of Sena's face. The blue screen blinked, this time displaying a small detail beneath his balance.
[Viewer Count: 53,102]
[Account Balance: 49,953 RC (Earth Est.: Rp 499,530,000)]
The chatbox moved so fast that the text looked like a blurry waterfall.
[@Death_Kid]:"BUY A BAZOOKA BRO! SHOOT THE FOREST!"
[@Hardcore_Fan]:"BRO HE'S RICH NOW LMAOO SUDDENLY A SULTAN!!"
[@Handsome_Gamer]:"50k RC capital is enough to unlock Tier 1 Arkandiva Shop. Buy an elemental sword or armor! It's a waste to just save it!"
[@Fake_Healer]:"SPAM POTIONS BRO! SPAM POTIONS!!"
[@DeathCult_MC]:"It's useless to buy a sword if his hands are shaking holding it. Better buy a folding coffin."
Sena snorted softly, suppressing a wince as he tried to move the fingers of his right hand. His skin was blistering red and peeling from the gasoline spill earlier.
"Bazooka, my ass," Sena muttered hoarsely, his eyes scanning the holographic screen nervously. He glanced toward the darkness of the forest. "Heavy weapons are loud. Those crazy dogs are only temporarily blind. Their hearing will recover, and I don't want to still be here when they come back."
His pragmatic mind took over, but his physical body refused to compromise. He needed mobility, and mobility required an intact body. With his left hand trembling violently, Sena tried to swipe the menu from "Earth Shop" to "Arkandiva Shop". His blood-smeared fingers slipped twice, leaving a trail of virtual red smudges on the mid-air screen, before finally succeeding in turning the page.
A barrage of magic items appeared. Their prices made Sena's eyes widen.
Skill Book: Basic Fire Element - 15,000 RC.
Teleport Scroll - 50,000 RC.
Insane. The screen blatantly showed the conversion of almost half a billion rupiah, a number greater than his entire life's earnings climbing BTS towers. His brain could barely process that his life had just been valued that highly by strangers.
But in this crazy world, half a billion was apparently just beginner's pocket money. Ignoring his wildly racing heart at the nonsensical prices, his eyes immediately sought the medical category.
Minor Health Potion - 500 RC. He forced his finger to press the icon. Click.
1.5 Liter Mineral Water (Earth Shop) - 1 RC. Click.
A flash of white light. A small glass bottle filled with a thick red liquid and a plastic bottle of mineral water landed in his lap.
Sena wasted no time. He popped the potion bottle's cap with his teeth, praying he wouldn't crack a molar this time around. It smelled like a mix of rotten strawberries and copper. Without hesitation, he downed it all.
It tasted far from magical. The sensation was like swallowing a handful of ice needles. Sena gagged, clutching his throat as the freezing liquid flowed harshly into his stomach, then spread through all his blood vessels.
On his back and hands, the wounds began to hiss softly. Thin steam rose from his blistered skin. His flesh cells were forced to knit back together in a matter of seconds. It was incredibly itchy and painful, making Sena growl as he bit down hard on his jacket collar.
But a minute later, his right hand could move normally. The burns had turned into pink scar tissue. The scratches on his back closed completely.
"Magic is a bitch... but it's effective," he sighed in relieved awe.
Sena grabbed the mineral water, greedily drank half of it, then hurriedly washed his soot-stung eyes with the rest so his vision would be sharp again. He needed to move from this place immediately.
Suddenly, a crunch... crunch... sound came from the side.
Sena turned warily. But what he saw wasn't a monster. Kroco, the obsidian-scaled dragon lizard, had hopped from his chest to the ground. The creature, no bigger than a fist, was casually chewing on sharp iron filings and rusted bolt fragments like they were potato chips.
Sena stared blankly for a moment, his tension easing slightly. Kroco's four red eyes met Sena's, then the reptile swallowed the iron in its mouth and let out a soft burp. A small puff of black smoke drifted from its snout.
"Well... at least I'll save on pet food," Sena muttered, shaking his head.
He looked back at the chat screen. His strength hadn't fully recovered, and his breathing was still ragged.
"MithrilTycoon..." Sena mumbled hoarsely, staring directly into the camera lens. He coughed softly, wiping the residual water from his chin with his jacket sleeve. "I don't know who you are... or why you'd throw that much money at a dying man. But... thank you. I owe you my life."
The chatbox chimed loudly. A golden message appeared, piercing through the sea of normal text.
[SUPER CHAT! @MithrilTycoon has donated: 100 RC!]
[@MithrilTycoon]:"Don't die. My investments never take a loss. And find shelter, now."
Sena frowned. Shelter?
Right as he read the message, the deep red sky above him rumbled softly. It wasn't the heavy sound of thunder, but a high-pitched static hum that made the hairs on Sena's arms stand up. The air suddenly felt thick, its scent changing drastically to something highly acidic, like the smell of a leaking car battery.
A drop of water fell from the sky, landing right on the iron branch where Kroco had been chewing.
Ssssss!
The water boiled instantly, eating through the steel branch as thick as a man's thigh until it left a melted black crater.
Sena's eyes widened completely. That wasn't normal rain.
[System Warning: Weather Anomaly Detected. Corrosive Storm (Rust-Rain) approaching in 60 seconds.]
Kroco hissed angrily at the water droplet, then quickly crawled back up into Sena's jacket.
"You've got to be kidding me," Sena swore. He scrambled to his feet. On his camera screen, dark green clouds began to roll viciously, covering the red sky.
A second drop fell, this time hitting the tip of Sena's boot. The thick protective rubber of his shoe instantly hissed and melted in seconds, releasing a white smoke that stung the eyes.
Sena cursed loudly. This storm wouldn't just melt the entire iron forest; it would flay the flesh from his bones.
Without having time to think of a direction, Sena ran blindly into the sea of rust. In the corner of his eye, the blue screen blinked red again—displaying a new countdown to death that now felt like it was robbing the remaining oxygen from his lungs.