So close... My obsession was almost shattered.
After being repeatedly pummeled and prodded by the incarnated hind deer, leaving over a dozen hoof prints on my body, the third-generation director, whose obsession was nearly collapsing, managed to barely recover, sitting on his own grave and gasping for breath in fright.
The primary reason I can let my will and memory transcend death, continuing to "live" till now, is my obsession with becoming the greatest Forge Master in history.
And once the master-apprentice relationship with that creature is exposed, with its blasphemous smithing abilities, my reputation will inevitably be ruined, the thousands of years of goodwill accumulated will be lost overnight, and I will be recorded in history as the "Shame of Forging" under the contemptuous gaze of all Forge Masters...
How is that different from being dead?
