*Gulp*

*Gulp*

"Phew!" I let out a sigh of relief while holding two empty potion bottles in my hand.

Upon drinking two bottles of HP potion, as if my inner parts were being cleaned with the touch of its liquid, I started feeling a refreshing feeling spreading through my body. It was an addictive feeling that made me want to drink more of them, yet I know I can't and I shouldn't, as I would definitely need them in the future.

[HP: 1007↑/1050]

After the refreshing feeling, with the growing seconds, my jaw bones began moving themselves to their original places with no intervention, just with the pure effect of magical potion. I have to say that, against these things, modern science doesn't stand a chance.

I mean, what kind of medicine can heal a broken jaw in under ten minutes? No, there is not even one, at least there wasn't any at my time on the Earth.

Whatever, enough of this overly praising, my jaw seems to be healed.

Moving my jaw from right to left, "Yes, I can finally speak again," I tested out in case there are still some cracked parts left, but fortunately there are no.

However, there are some bad news. With a momentary anger, I might have used a little too much mana, as much as just enough to leave myself 30 MP. Well, who stands up with anger sits down with loss. I can't change the past, all I can do is to recover it as much as possible in the next waves. And that bastard deserved that!

'System, how much time left until the next wave?' I asked through my thoughts.

[REMAINING TIME MINUTES]

"Sigh, I guess I will return to cultivating again."

Sitting on the floor in lotus position, I closed my eyes, and started once more again to cultivate. Within seconds, the only thing I sensed and heard were my heartbeat and my breathing with the relaxing feeling of circulation of Qi through my whole body as all my senses shut to the outside world.

...

...

...

[REMAINING TIME MINUTES]

Hearing the notification sound in my mind, I understood the time has come, so getting out of my meditative state to prepare, I started stretching my muscles for the oncoming battle.

I don't think the consumer rights apply here, but I hope the system gives me a decent reward for all the hard work I put in fighting in these waves. Not like expecting anything from this mindless machine or whatever the hell it is, but shedding my blood in exchange for nothing would be awkward.

"Uh, finally starting," holding the hilt of the Torchlight, I waited for the countdown.

[FOURTH WAVE IS STARTING WITHIN 3 SECONDS]

[]

[]

[]

[!!]

With the countdown hit zero, the light started its creation while illuminating the hub even more with its immense brightness. Yet, it wasn't bright enough to blind my sight, so I could observe what it was doing.

Seeing the light forming more than one creature, "It seems this time I have many 'friends'," I understood the situation I was in right away.

As I observe its creation from afar, after a few seconds, the light fades away upon finishing its job, and revealing what was behind its brightness.

Emaciated, a roughly humanoid figure with an almost-hairless, mottled, decaying hide creature, or for those who don't have time, briefly just a ghoul found life with the light gone.

[Dusk Ghoul Lv.17]

[Name: ---]

[Race: Ghoul]

[STR: 120]

[AGI: 115]

[VIT: 77]

[INT: 40]

"Ugh, you guys again... Our last meeting wasn't so pleasant," I said, while recalling the previous time when I swallowed the saliva of one of them. But, looking at it from a positive perspective, I have never opened my mouth during a close combat ever since then.

"And... you are many too," I started counting their numbers.

Based on my guess, their numbers must be around 70-80.

*Raaaagghhhrr!!*

Looking at me like an unopened food box, they all let out a shrill cry in unison before running towards me, shaking the ground under their feet with each step.

As my muscles itched for battle, unsheathing the Torchlight while releasing some bloodlust aura unintentionally, 'But doesn't the more crowded mean the more fun is?' a smile bloomed on my face while dashing towards them.

With my high agility, feeling the friction between my body and the air, I felt like, as if my body became a bullet that pierces through the air, a bullet like nothing can stop it.

Gazing at my foe, I see revealing his sharp teeth through his mouth that had already opened to taste my blood and flesh like they won.

Within a second, far beyond a normal human body's limit, I appeared in front of him with an incredible speed. In his open mouth, rather than tasting my flesh as he hoped, he tasted the cold steel of Torchlight's blade a millisecond before it split his head in two, and sent him to death.

Before his body, made of rotten flesh, had fallen onto the ground, I was already ahead of another. With all the training I've done until now, instinctively, I drew up my sword to send a heavy upper slash to sentence him with the same fate as his fellow racial before advancing to the next one again.

[-30 HP] [HP: 977/1050]

Upon feeling the pain coming from my shoulder, I turned my head only to see one of them that bit me. Unfortunately, it's his unlucky day. Because of the hardness of my armor, he couldn't drive all his teeth into my flesh, only managed two long ones. But it still is a scary fact how much jaw strength they have and how firm their teeth are to pierce through a thing that's harder than normal metal.

*Crack*

*Crack*

Clutching his head with my right hand, I directed all my strength into my fingers.

I must appreciate how he doesn't let me go, even though his head crumbles underneath my strength.

Yet...

*CRACK!*

In front of ultimate power, it was a meaningless effort as his rotten brain and skull shattered into pieces before falling onto ground. The only thing he gained by doing that was delaying the others' death...

Slightly pushing his body to fall on the ground, I started dashing towards the three of them that were in my way.

[-150 Qi] [Qi: 810/960]

The Torchlight's blade gets covered with a faint bright light with the input of Qi.

[̷W̴A̴R̵N̴I̶N̶G̸!̷ ̶S̸P̶I̷R̷I̷T̸U̷A̶L̴ ̴I̶N̴T̴E̷G̶R̶I̶T̸Y̵ ̴I̵S̵ ̷A̷T̴ ̶S̴T̵A̸K̷E̷!̴]̶

Some panels have appeared, but I will check them after this fight.

Not even needing to go near them, holding it horizontally, I swung the Torchlight with all of my power to release an energy slash made from Qi that traveled with great speed before hitting, and perfectly splitting the ghouls' body into two parts.

[̶̳͕̈́́W̷͚̊́Å̶̠͎R̶̳͆N̶̟͑̈́I̶̡͇͌̑N̸̖̓G̸̗̈!̴̖̖̕ ̶̬͗S̴̬̚͠P̸͉͊Ì̶̜̚R̸̨͍̒̌Ī̵͉̰T̶̄͜U̷̱̟͑̍A̴͎͉͘Ľ̶̳͗ ̸̭̟̅͊Í̸͓̔N̸̢͐̈́T̶̠̉̃Ḛ̵̔ͅĢ̷̿R̸͓̖̂̍Ḯ̵̞̼̀T̴̖͊̈Y̵̙̅͆ ̵̢͍̈͋Į̷͜͝S̸͇͂͘ ̷̝͔͗A̸̰̿͆T̸͓͒̉ ̵͍͆̏S̴̘̆T̵̡̲̐͛A̶̟̙̐K̸̫̏É̷̙̈!̶̺́̊]̸̨̛̣

After the scene, I directed my steps to another group. The more I swung my sword, the more my blood boiled with excitement. With every fallen monster, I lowered my guard against this madness. Like my heart was burning in fire, like my veins were circulating only adrenaline rather than blood. I even forget the time while constantly swinging my sword. The only thing that I cared about was killing more and more enemies. The only thing I cared about was swinging the Torchlight harder.

[̶͎̠̘̓̀̈́͛̑̾ͅW̸̛͔̦̆Ă̵̡̳̱̠R̸̨͍̲̤̥͐͗̍͌N̸͎̝̹̉͐́͝Į̸͎̬͕̯͈͒̾͑̐̌N̸̛̠̝̳̤͋̈́͌̀̀͑̅G̸͕̓!̷͚̪̺̂̌̈́̈́͛̚ ̵̧̥͉͐͑͂̕S̴̗̬͕̝̦͔̬͇͂̈́̀̾̆P̵̢̗̱̦̍I̷̧̛̟̯̱̤̓̈̿̈́͗̚͠Ṛ̸̻̯̬͍̦̬̰̈̎̀͂̓͘Ĭ̵̛̠͇̫̜̒̄͗T̶̨̙̬̬̘̺̠͑͆̋̾̃̚Ṷ̷͂̓̆͗̎̄͋Ả̴̘̭̖͕̍̒͘Ļ̸͉͒͊͒͝ͅ ̸̩͔͇͔͓̿̃̆͜͜Ỉ̶̥͉̭̰̥̙̞͗͌̈̃̊Ń̶̘̙̼͚̦̹̂͠T̸͓̼̪̝̳͓̂͑̓͘͝Ȩ̴̨̥̺͖̙̦̭̋Ģ̸̜̥͈̻̜̪͙̔̈́͂̿̓̈̕͝R̸̝͇̘͕͈̩̤͒̽Ǐ̷͇̳͈̳̜̪T̵̠̈́́̃͘͠Y̸̟̜̞̮̌͋̎͊̒̿͜ ̷͕̜̱̣̎͛̍͊̉̄̚I̷̧̗̦̣͍̯͒͛̿̂̓͝S̵͚̳̥̈́̀̍͌̚͠ ̷̰̙͚͎͎̖̇͊A̶̧̯̥͔̫̥̭̎T̷̢͈̤̣͚͇̉͗̈̀͋͝ͅ ̶͈͙̪͚͔̱̒̿̾̔͝S̸̲͑͗̀̓̐̈́͂͠T̷̢̞̱̟̠̤̑̌̀̚A̶͍͈̬͝K̵̩̜̠͉̪͌͒̍̂̂E̵̬͗͗̔͂̌̓!̴̳̜̻͇̜̜̦͛̂̄̅̆̊]̷̖͉̲̩̲͖̤̚

I heard the whispers; They were calling me. I knew I was losing myself, but I couldn't prevent myself from falling into this pit. My vision was becoming red, blurry, my heart was beating like crazy while trying to carry oxygen to my body, yet I didn't stop, my body didn't stop. My body was taking damage, getting clawed, bitten, and yet I couldn't feel anything, not even a scratch. The whispers were echoing through my mind, invading it. I tried... I tried to resist them, but the more I resisted them, the stronger they called.

[̸̟͎̠̥̞̘͕̐̏͜W̷̨̡̟̫̪̯̪͚̖̠̰̤͛͂̋̕Ã̵̢͍͚͖͚̲̮̹̯̓́͂̒̿̾̂͆̕͝Ŗ̵̛͓̱̥͕͓͖̾̀͆̍͐̔̃́̚͜Ň̷͔̬̪̰̹̘͉̞͇̈́͛̌̏͝I̴̛͕̹̙̓̃͊̂̌̎͊͊̚Ņ̸̣̱̬̬̺͍̳́̓̎̆̇͊̏̏̽̈́̊̕͝ͅG̵̛̜͎̟̝̬̹̃͂͐̔̋̒͌̋ͅ!̵̗̪̰̫̝̫̭͙͖̙̓̐͑͜ͅ ̶̱͔̩̥̗̘̗̄̒̉S̶͚̖̄͑̋̾P̷̢͍͇̖̟͕͓̭̭̂́I̴̗̬͊͐̔͛͘R̷̨̬̻̼̳͕̞͇̜͌̉̍͌̒͆͑̽͝ͅI̷̙̥͒̈́̄̕T̴̻͈̱͓̝̟̹͎͚͈̎̋͗̋̇̊̉̔̑̈͗͠͝Ȕ̸̢̢̲̳̩͕̭̜Ą̶̜͙̙̮̹͔̜̝́L̷͚̭̥̬͎̭̤̘̙̝̋͑̎̍ ̶͖̞̦̪̖̽͒̄̎͌͗̀͆̿̏̚͠Ī̶͔̬̱́͐͛̃͑̈̈́̆͜Ņ̵̥̬̠̘͉̫̗̣̼̎͐͛́̽͊̄̂̀̚͘͜͠T̷̢̜̰̙̞̠̝̻̫͚̊͆̈͌ͅË̵̫̹̲̬̯G̸̟̋̄̉͂̈̀R̴̫̠̦͍̮̓͒͋͠ͅI̸̖̤̮̖̎́̀̅̄͜͠͝T̸̡̡͉̜̥̜̤̦̟͉͖̦̝̑͐̈́̓̎͑̓̽̉́͌Ỳ̸̬̠̥͜ ̸̢̢̳͕̻̞͕̙̲͎̼͆̉́̓̌̊̄͌͝I̴̼̙͍̙͖̋̓̇̅̒͋̀̃̌̌̔Ŝ̸̻̖͕͖̰͈̝̫͔̻̘͇̝̅̀̃̀͊͊̃̃͝ ̷̞̣̓̍ͅA̸̮̺͍̝͙̱̦̹̒̑̊̊̽͆̒̃͆͘͜ͅT̵̨̛͍̹̠͉͉̻͙̞͈̖͙͜ ̸̪̫̝̹̻̳̥̼͑̏̒͊͋̉̒̐̾͜͝S̸̪̞͇̤͕̹͕̯̻͍̑͊̽͆͐̓T̵̛̛͍̞̣̗̖̺̘̹̪͓̬̀͋͒͂͋̏̾͗̓̕Ḁ̶̧̿̎̆̔͒Ķ̶̱̲̼͓̻̳̘͌͂̒̾̀͛͂͌̀̍͐̕͠Ę̴̗̟̭̦̺͚̤̭̳̘̠̈̕ͅ!̴̩̘̑]̴̙̱̮̩̻͉͚͈̟̀

The red, this madness that covered my eye spread more and more until completely covering my entire view like cancer cells. I was losing... My consciousness....

...

...

...

...

Darkness replaced red. I realized at that moment I have already lost the connection between my body. I already lost. It was just like dying and finding myself in that dark place, but unlike death, this is not as cold and scary as it.

My mind was falling deeper and deeper into the darkness. I already lost my body, what's the point of not losing my mind too..

I might even stay here forever, right? After all, it's warm and feels familiar...

I don't even need to fight those monsters here anymore...

I can just give myself in...

...

...

...

After an unknown time in the darkness, my eyes caught something, something bright. It was a light. It was small, actually too small compared to the darkness, yet it was piercing through it and was bright enough to get my attention even though all the darkness that surrounds it. I- Wait, what is my name? I don't remember... But it shouldn't be a big problem, right?

Why was there a light in such a place? And what is light? How do I know this? I don't know, but I want to go there. Yes, I will go there. I want to find out what it is.

I turned my body in the light's direction and started floating there. I was so slow. Why was I slow? I don't know, but at least I was getting close to the light.

...

...

...

How much time passed, days? Months? Years? I don't know... Only thing I know is I still am heading to the light. I guess it became much brighter as I got closer.

...

...

...

I have been heading to the light non-stop. The more I get close, the more it shines brighter. I will reach there one day...

...

...

I'm finally here! I can touch the light and must say that it is much bigger than I thought. There are some weird voices coming from behind the light. I tried to listen to what it is, and it probably says the same thing over and over probably. I don't know, I can't hear properly from here. I guess I will have to touch the light.

I placed my hands on the light and started waiting.

"Uh, nothing happening? Did I come all the way here for nothing?"

"Then I better head back to the darkness again."

As I was about to lift my hand from the light, something happened, something that hurt.

[̶̨̨̲̖̣͈̲͖͔͙̃̈͛͜ͅC̵̨͙̳̞̬̹͉̪̪͔͐͐̓͐͊̕͝O̶̧̗͔̾͛̿̐̓̈́N̸̮͔̤̭͕͚̈̇̈́̇̅͗̐ͅN̵̡̢̢̬̭̻̳̙͈̩̝̿̑̊̽͛͋͘Ḙ̵͔̰͚̈́͐̂͛̔C̸̗͍̟̘̟̘̻͎͙̓̽̎̈́̊͂̀̚̕̕͠ͅṪ̸̛̥͍͐͆̃̈̅̈́̅̕͝͠Í̵̛̩͔̦̣͓͈̃̒̋͗̆͂̀͛̊̽ͅǪ̶̳̙͖͗̓́̉͗̀͌͌̐́̇͠N̴̰̜̽͆̑͐͘͘͠ ̵̨̗͚̰̞̮̦̞̹͙̞̒̊̓͐͊̂͊̃́̍̚Ę̶̌̇S̴̲̽̈̓̉̽͆̇T̶̢͙̰̰͋́͌͋̀͌̈́A̶̢̗̟̱̘͚̬̱̳̼̲̳͂̄́̇̋͠B̵̧̭̖̪̮͇̘̖͖́͗̂́͑̊̏͘L̵͙̯̋̎͆̚͝I̴̢̨̧̖̞̼̳͚̘͔̩͇͒S̷̝͈͈̦̒̀̌͐́͆̒̂̚ͅH̸͖̙̙̟̙̹͍̲͇̭̣͋́̄͛͛̈́͑̈́̎́̀̕Ě̶͈̥͈͈͍̺͎͍̙͓̣͑̃́D̸̥̙̣̰̺͔̜̙͔̏̑̌̏̑͜͠ͅ]̶̪͉͂͛̋̐͐́̀̏͆̆͂͘

[̶̧̨̻̳͔̏̀̇̈́̐́̾̈́̅̏͝ͅŖ̸̼̮̼̱͈̣̬̺͑̽͐̆̿̋̀̉͘È̶͇̂̐͐͆͆̓̅̅̃̋̑C̸̮͔̠̱̳̾̾͒̒̓̑̅̏̋̆͠Ò̴̭̞́̍͗̈́͜͝V̴͖̔̾̇͋͊͑̚E̸̗̜̣͂̉̇̈́́̀̑̓Ŗ̵̠̃̈́̔͂́͠Y̴̜̙͈̺͌̎̈́̅͛̕ ̷͖͈̗̥̦̱̫͗͊͆̏̐͊́̐̚͝͝͠ͅP̸̨̨͔̙͍̹̈́̋̅́̃̚R̶͚̪̞̲̩̻̼̲̘͒̑̃͂̒Ő̵̧̤̰͉͕̹͚̩͚̉̈̌̑̋͘T̵̜̲̪͔͍̹̯͖͍̔̓͑̀O̴̰̐̿͆͆̆͋̂̕͝͠C̸̢̩̯͇̭̽̆̃̆̓̐̂Ŏ̴̺̙̖̼͙̺̃̍͊͆̅͊́̇͘͝͠ͅL̵͍̝͕̪̰̯̹̪̈ ̵̧͎̠̦̇̒͊Į̴̼͔̰͓̞̟̭̳̋S̴̛̠͍̝͍̰̮͖̤̱͛͐̑͑̒̃̀͐͂̊̚ ̶̼̭̥̦̰͓̠̳̀͛̿͒̀̎̚S̴̳͙͛͠T̵̛̛͕͍̣̖̮͉̯̪̦̺͓̮͌͛͂̄͝͝Å̸̺̮̣̪̞̂̉͊̃̕R̸̝̜̠̉́T̷̺̯̼̹̗̬̳͊͌I̷̤͔̠̼̯͈͍͊̂͂́̆͝N̷̢͉̈́̈́̓̓̈́̏͝͝G̵̡̛̯͔̲͙̤̑̄͗̄̈͋̔̉̊̾͝ͅ]̷̡̡͓̘̜̬̎̓͠

[̴̮̞̀̆̈́̓̎̀̈́̇̏R̶͙̈́̔͘E̸̖̩̣̺͈̝͎̬͗C̶͚̀͆̒̀̕Ȍ̴̡̟͙͙̬̀̓̌͆V̵̬̔̍͊Ẻ̸̯̤͉̄̀̋́̿̊͝R̵̡̛̤̭̒̈́́Y̴̬͙̥̪̆͘ ̴̨̪̟̭͍̩̱͉̉̇̐̇͛͛͜%̶̨̛̭̬̺͚͕̻̥̦̂̈́1̴̢̢͕͉̗̭̰̟͚̋͑́̀̍̉́

"Aggghhhhhh!" I screamed as hard as my lungs would allow. Everything was spinning, everything was giving me pain.

My mind raced, half panicked, half determined. There must be an answer to this pain. There must be a way to make it stop. Yes, if only I could get my hands off this, I can be free again.

[̷̨̧̙͖͍̭̮͕̽̒̈́̐͗R̶̛̯͎͇̥̳̼͜E̵̝͉̲͈̬͙̱̬͆̌͂̂̃̕C̷̯̹͖̳͕͍̋Ǫ̸͚̝͍̝͒̓V̶̢̛̥̟̬̻̄̾̃̒̆̚E̸̢͈̖̐̉͜R̴̥̱̉͑͒Y̶̝͆ ̸̢̱͕͕͕̆̇̑͆̌͛̀̏%̶̭̥͔̈͑͂͛̚͝͝3̴̨̛͉͖̩̳̈́͒̊͌́̏̚̕

No! I can't do it. I can't get my hands off. My head feels like it is breaking into a thousand pieces only to merge again in the end. It’s some kind of loop that I can’t escape from. With every comeback of the pain, something gets in my head. Things that I don’t know, I don’t remember. I can’t stand it any longer… Everything feels heavy… I feel sleepy... I just need a good sleep...

[̶̘͇̰̌R̷̛̭̬͖̒͊̇̏͑́̔͜E̶͙̬͒̅͑̂C̴͉̟̘͍̫͛̍́̏̂̋̀̆Ő̷͙̳̜̞͎͚̼́͆̂̍͐̐̕V̷̛͕̂Ë̵̛̥̖̳̜́́̍͜Ŗ̸̛̯̦̗͍̇͗͂͛̅͘Ÿ̷̡̙̞̝̲̞͔́͝ ̸̮͚̐͆́̄̂̈͝%̶̜̮̣̹͓̬̎͐̎̆̽̽͆͘6̵͎͑̍]

...

...

...

...

...

[RECOVERY %100]

[RECOVERY COMPLETE]

[SPIRITUAL INTEGRITY STATUS: STABLE]

*Cough!*

*Cough!*

On the dozens of monster's dead bodies, a wounded human opened his eyes while coughing to expel the blood from his lungs .

-CHAPTER 34 END-