The creepy Giant Leech was moving from surface to surface, pulling its bulk forward with a series of rhythms, its mouth leading the way, followed by its tail.
It was chasing every fish it could get its hands on.
But there didn't seem to be any change after Alex's arrival. It was completely pitch dark, and all the sounds were overshadowed by the stream of water.
Completely unaware of Alex's existence due to the loud noise and lack of light, it continued doing its work.
Alex let out a sigh. 'Phew.'
But soon his face twisted in disgust. Small leeches were all over the place, particularly emerging from the Giant Leech's body. Disgusted and scared, Alex ran toward the source of the water.
The water flowed through the middle of the cave, with both sides filled with rocks. Beneath the rocks hid rats with sharp teeth, while wolf spiders clung to the cave ceiling. And now, in the water, were fish that looked like piranhas.
It was a horrifying place for Alex to be, but compared to the Dragon or the Snake, it still seemed safer in comparison.
Alex absolutely hated snakes.
Soon, something jumped on Alex, it was so quick and unexpected that he only noticed after it landed on him.
It was a frog. Not so terrified, he grabbed it and threw it back into the water, only for it to be consumed by the fish.
[You have been affected by Poison]
[All your stats will decrease by 0.5% for 15 minutes]
Although the debuff wasn't significant, he could feel himself walking slightly more slowly than before.
____
[Player : Alex]
[Level : 1 (0/100)]
[Vitality : (341/520)]
[Stats : ]
[Strength : 14.6] (-0.5)
[Stamina : 10.9] (-0.5)
[Agility : 18.1] (-0.5)
[Skills : ]
[Sage Vision : Level 1]
____
[Vitality : 341/520]
[Vitality : 335/520]
[Vitality : 327/520]
[Due to being poisoned, you will lose your vitality over time]
[If your vitality drops to zero you will die]
"I see now... vitality was more or less about my state of being. But what if I die from a gunshot or something, would my vitality immediately drop to zero? If so, then it's a useless stat. There's so many things I want to know though."
Alex was now walking slowly, noticing that his vitality dropped every time he ran. 'I should at least maintain my vitality and not let it go below 50%, which is about 260 points.'
[Vitality : 327/520]
The cave was way too deep and endless. The deeper he went, the denser the air got.
"There is no way I'm going back. Those leeches...I'm positive, they were poisonous too."
Alex had now been walking for 30 minutes straight already, but there was no sign of any change. Soon, a red message appeared on top of the screen.
[Vitality : 312/520]
[Warning!!! Due to extreme hunger, your immune system will decrease your vitality every minute]
'So based on the amount of vitality, I have like 300 minutes to feed myself?' Numbers floated inside his mind, thinking deeply about it.
'No, considering any unexpected creatures potentially charging at me, and with the condensed air and me having to walk, it's safe to assume that I have 45 minutes or even less.'
'Also, there is no guarantee that the moment it drops below 50, my health won't deteriorate or if the system will punish me in any way.'
Alex was now more careful than ever. "Could I eat the rat? I have no weapon, nor am I confident about how they will counterattack."
'The frog? It's poisonous. Leech? Its disgusting nature brings shivers down my spine, I would rather die than eat it, plus they look extremely poisonous.'
'Spiders? Creepy as hell, and they are in a group too. And lastly, the fish? Forget about it. The fish will literally eat me before I do.'
'So in the end it's a do or die, I see.' Alex, with a tired face, looked at the roof. 'I have never missed home more than ever.'
'If I really had to bet, the frog is the safest option.'
"Alright, let's do it," Alex shouted with determination.
Near the water, two frogs sat unaware, while fish hid beneath the surface, waiting for the perfect moment to strike. Not willing to let it happen, Alex picked up a small rock and tossed it into the river. The frogs immediately jumped away from the water.
'Now is the time to strike.' He threw a rock toward the frog, the rock barely missed it. After three repeated failures, he finally managed to hit it.
With the frog crippled, Alex rushed to catch it. Now the impossible part was...how would he eat it?
Raw? There was no way in hell he'd do it. With his spirit broken, he just left the frog.
'I can't really eat it after all. It's gross, my immune system can't handle the stress and torture.'
The frog, injured, was slowly trying to escape from Alex. Suddenly, one of the fish leapt out of the water, devoured the frog, and, with a few flaps of its body, returned to the water.
Alex smiled. 'I have an idea.'
Using the same old method, he caught one of the frogs, crippled its movements, and baited it out. As soon as the fish leapt onto the land, Alex grabbed a large rock and hurled it at the creature. However, he narrowly missed, and the fish managed to escape back into the water.
Alex was determined, he was going to have fish for dinner the next try. This time, however, it hit the fish. The injured fish tried to flee, but Alex kicked it to the side of the wall, separating it far from the water.
This was a successful attempt.
Alex hit the fish with the stone. Once the fish was dead, Alex heard a sound.
[You have slain a Black Piranha!]
[You have gained 5 exp!]
"So this is how it works. Unless I kill them, I won't get any exp. I thought it was mission-based."
Alex felt less morally disgusted as he tried to eat the fish raw. "If I don't eat you, you would have eaten me once I was defenseless. This is the food chain. I'm sorry, poor soul."
[You have consumed a poison!]
"Wait what???"
"Poison??"
Alex's eyes were getting blurry. It was starting to get dark again. His hands felt unresponsive, and blood was leaking from all over his body, from his mouth, eyes, and ears.
The first thing Alex made sure of was to get to the safest place in the vicinity. Slightly higher off the ground and about two meters from the water, Alex lay on the rigid rocks.
"Am I going to die?" Alex breathes slowly, thinking about all the things he had spent his life doing. "Well, I was gonna die earlier anyway."
As he slowly lost consciousness, Alex closed his eyes, accepting his defeat. 'I should have done more in my life. I always held back in my life, always hiding my talents from my peers and never actually working on honing them or being actively competitive. I just wanted to live a normal, happy life. But now I'm regretting not going all out, living to the fullest. I'm gonna die without living the actual life I truly wanted.'
'This is it.'
[Vitality : 108/520]
[Vitality : 77/520]
[Vitality : 37/520]
Alex dies*
Or so he thought.
[Your immune system has resisted the poison!]
[Congratulations! You have obtained a new skill!]
[Poison Resistance : Level 0]