NOVEL ONLINE FREE Chapter 7: A Struggle for Survival
Bang!
[ +4XP ]
With immense force, Liam shattered a spider clinging to the wall with his large metallic hand.
Due to his great power, bone fragments flew in all directions, while a large crack appeared in the rocky wall.
Crack!
Slowly, he pulled back his metallic hand, which suddenly began to crack.
The sharp spikes fell from it, while the steel layer covering his hand began to crumble and turn into smoke.
Within a single second, the steel layer completely disappeared.
Liam stared at his natural hand, made of flesh and blood, and sighed in displeasure.
"The effect of the Steel Hand spell ended so quickly. Tsk, I only managed to kill 6 spiders."
He shook his head with a sense of disappointment, but his morale did not drop.
He quickly looked at the number of points he had earned.
[ Distribution Points: 6 ]
Without thinking about it, he commanded the System: "Distribute all the points to Strength.
Now, without the help of any temporary spells, I can only rely on my own power."
[ Distribution successful ]
After waiting for about half a minute for his points to be distributed, he returned to wandering through the dark and cold tunnel.
He carefully observed his surroundings, searching for monsters to kill, but he only found a few spiders scattered in various places.
After an hour and a half of fruitless searching, he sat in a well-lit spot to catch his breath.
He looked at the ceiling, contemplating the glowing stones that illuminated the place, and exhaled at length.
"Phew."
"I have been wandering this place for a long time, and up to this moment, I am still unable to find any exit, or any sign of that boss the System told me about.
But that's okay, I've managed to kill seven more spiders, and I've increased my Strength and Endurance by four points each.
At this rate, if my calculations are correct, I will reach E-rank after killing only 20 more spiders."
His smile widened, and he felt a sense of satisfaction with the pace of his progress.
Clicking!
"This?"
While relaxing, he heard the familiar clicking sound of spiders coming from nearby.
But unlike the first time, he wasn't terrified; on the contrary, he felt happy.
He quickly stood up and took a fighting stance, raising his guard.
He checked the small holes and tunnels in the walls around him, searching for the source of the sound.
Clicking!
Clicking!
Tremors!
The clicking sounds continued to increase, coming from everywhere around him.
He furrowed his brows in confusion and took a step back.
Tremors!
"This situation is very familiar,"
a sense of unease washed over him, and he began to suspect something was wrong, especially when the ground and walls around him started to shake slightly.
Suddenly, he realized what was happening. His eyes widened, and he cursed:
"Damn it!"
Without a moment's hesitation, he turned and ran at his top speed.
If what he thought was true, he had fallen into a huge problem.
Although he acted preemptively and ran, he was still too late.
As soon as he was a few meters away, the tremors around him intensified, and unbelievably,
hundreds of spiders began to pour out of the holes in the cave's ceiling, raining down on him and the ground around him like a shower of bones.
The situation was so sudden and unexpected that Liam's mouth fell open in shock, his expression distorted, and his heart began to pound with frantic force.
"Damn it, damn it!" He didn't let hesitation slow his steps.
He clenched his fist and, with all his strength, punched a small spider that was about to fall on his head.
[ +4XP ]
Because of his increased Strength, his punches had become stronger and more solid.
As a result, a single blow was enough to shatter the spider structure and turn it into fragments that flew in all directions.
"Aaaah!"
But he didn't have time to be happy about his small achievement.
Another spider bit him on the leg, and despite feeling the pain, he didn't stop.
He knew that even a short moment of delay could lead to his death.
The spiders continued to fall, and within a few seconds, he was surrounded by hundreds of them, all attacking him at the same time.
He gritted his teeth in exasperation and quickly scanned his surroundings for an escape route, but he found none.
He began to tremble and felt despair.
His thoughts were in a jumble, but he calmed himself and regained his composure—or rather, he realized he wouldn't survive unless he fought with everything he had.
"Damn all this, you cursed insects!" he screamed at the top of his lungs, then put all his strength into his legs.
Savagely and brutally, he began to run forward like an unstoppable beast.
With every step he took, he stomped on a spider that stood in his way, crushing its bony body.
[ +4XP ]
[ +5XP ]
[ … ]
But even his frantic escape method didn't work for him either.
As soon as he had covered a distance of seven steps, a spider fell on him from the ceiling and bit him on the shoulder.
"Ah!"
He screamed from the intense pain he felt, and his steps faltered for a moment. Because of that very short delay, many of the spiders that were trying to bite him managed to pounce on him.
Bite!
Bite!
…..
Before he could realize what was happening, he was bitten five times in several random places.
His blood flowed profusely, and the venom spread inside his body.
Due to the significant damage he sustained, his HP bar began to drop at a rapid pace.
Several dark red screens also appeared before him.
[ Warning: Danger of Death ]
[ HP: (130 / 36) ]
[ Immediate treatment is required ]
Liam's eyes reddened, and he felt an intense numbness throughout his entire body.
His thoughts raced, and he felt death approaching him for a second time.
In a final struggle, he grabbed the spider biting his shoulder with both hands and pulled it with extreme force, until its fangs came out of his flesh, accompanied by a large amount of his blood.
Screeeech!
The spider screamed in fury, but he didn't care. With all his strength, he crushed the spider and threw its remains away.
[ +4XP ]
[ Warning: Danger of Death ]
[ HP: (130 / 24) ]
Stumble!
Liam's vision became blurry, and his consciousness began to scatter.
He was about to fall involuntarily, and because he stopped struggling, he became an easy target as more spiders pounced on him.
His body was covered with bite marks and bleeding wounds.
Even his body began to emit a putrid smell due to the abundance of venom coursing through him.
Laughter!
Amid his desperate situation, Liam started to laugh like a madman, heedless of everything, which made him look as if he had completely lost his sanity.
In a loud voice, he looked up at the ceiling and screamed:
"I won't die here! No matter what price I have to pay, I will survive, I will survive!"
But his voice began to fade, as his strength completely failed him, and he fell to his knees.
As if the spiders had been waiting for that moment impatiently, they surrounded him completely without holding back their power,
until his body disappeared amidst a moving pile of bones.
[ HP: (130 / 13) ]
[ Warning ]
[ Warning ]
The System warnings continued to appear, but Liam didn't look at them—or rather, he couldn't.
He was in a critical state; his blood pooled on the ground, and his body was disfigured.
[ HP: (130 / 7) ]
[ Heir's status is critical ]
[ Activating emergency transfer protocol ]
[ Destination: ???? ]
[ Countdown initiated: 5...4...3..2 ]
[ Transferring... ]
Suddenly, Liam's surroundings began to distort, incomprehensibly.
The spiders felt an intense terror that made their bodies tremble and freeze.
Involuntarily, they stopped their assault on Liam.
That brief second of paralysis allowed the helpless Liam to regain a little clarity.
He opened his foggy eyes and looked at the System screens, but because of his scattered consciousness, he couldn't see what was on them.
But he didn't care. With the last of his willpower, he screamed: "I will survive!"
Then he commanded: "System, add all the Distribution Points I have to Vitality."
[ Emergency transfer protocol has been disabled ]
[ Distributing... ]
Because of his previous struggle, Liam had managed to kill 8 spiders, which provided him with 8 bonus points.
A beautiful warmth began to flow through his body once again.
Because of this, he regained his clarity, some of his wounds were healed, and the HP bar stopped its rapid decline.
Within a fraction of a second, it began to rise.
[ HP: (130 / 3) ]
[ HP: (210 / 77) ]
Without wasting time, he stood on his feet, taking advantage of the spiders' momentary paralysis.
Despite being able to, he didn't flee. Instead, he unleashed his full power and began to crush the spiders around him.
[ +4XP ]
[ +4XP ]
He knew that there was no hope for him to survive except by raising his rank.
His powerful blow was like a bell that woke the spiders.
They all looked at him at the same time and pounced on him again.