The primate-like Shadow Beast shrieked again and leaped through the jagged opening—directly into my tunnel. My first little victory was had. It didn’t adjust to my speed. It was a few steps behind me, and shocked if its irritated-sounding barks were any indication.

  Its movements were erratic now, its limbs hitting the ground in a pattern that didn’t match my rhythm. No steady gallop, no predictable pace—just sudden bursts of speed as it tried to catch me.

  My lungs burned, but I didn’t slow down. I had eight seconds.

  The tunnel ahead was opening up. The walls peeled back. My eyes adjusted quickly and made out what was ahead of us. This path I was on led to nothing but air and a chasm.

  “Fuck it!”

  I pushed harder, legs screaming as I hurtled toward the edge. There had to be a way across. There had to be—

  My eyes caught it. A thick, coiled mass dangled from above, almost like a vine. It twisted, writhing slightly, its surface pulsing with sickly, luminescent veins. It looked like something’s root, or maybe an exposed tendon from the cave itself, but I didn’t care. I had milked grosser mushrooms. Besides, the chased could never be so picky.

  I jumped at the edge, arm stretching, ready to grab that vine with a jaw if I had to. My finger locked around the pulsing vine right after my feet left solid ground. A cold, damp sensation crawled across my skin, but I held on, swinging wildly over the void. The momentum whipped me forward. My stomach lurched.

  The other side came fast. I released and tumbled onto solid ground, rolling to break the impact. I scrambled up, turning just in time to see the primate make its leap.

  A streak of unnatural black moving within the cavern’s darkness, its too-long limbs stretched wide as it soared. Its silver eyes spun before focusing on me. Its arms swung forward, reaching for the edge.

  I ran toward the edge.

  It caught the edge.

  I knew what I was going to do. I had five seconds!

  Its claws dug into the stone, barely clinging on. Its body slammed against the cliffside, legs kicking as it struggled to pull itself up.

  I lunged and pulled off a wild twist of my body. The soles of my boots connected with its face.

  “Fall!”

  It was a solid impact. Something–probably that stupid face and grin–crunched beneath the force. It let out a choked, surprised shriek, and its grip faltered, but it was not enough. It had only slipped back, barely hanging on by the silver edges of its claws.

  Its silver eyes locked onto me as shrieks and hoots echoed from its body. I landed on my side, and shot forward, grabbing the first loose rock I could find. My fingers tight around the rock as can be, I swung down and pummeled it.

  “Go down!”

  The stone cracked against its face. Three seconds. I kept going, swing after swing, ignoring the shrieks and wet, splitting sound.

  Rock broke, so I swung at it, knocking its head to the side. Picked up another rock and hammered its fingers, and then the eyes popping up on its head. The sound of rock cracking beneath me reached my ears. An idea–I had an idea. I kicked off the ground and away from the primate.

  Adrenaline burning in my body, I pointed at the space and activated my Trump Card. The black abyss ripped open, and a shaking, howling, Shadow Beast fell out as skeletal hands bid it farewell.

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  “I think I got it!”

  That falling Mauler slammed into the crumbling ledge, and it gave way. The two creatures tumbled into the abyss, their howls echoing and their silver eyes shrinking into the void.

  There was the sound of an impact, of rocks crumbling, and maybe a pathetic whimper, but then silence.

  On my rump, I let out a shaky breath, barely aware that I was still braced for a fight, fingers twitching, heart still trying to pound its way out of my chest. My body was soaked in sweat, burning, aching, but I was alive. No way this trash day was a dream.

  A ragged laugh almost escaped me, but a sudden ding went off. I flinched so hard that I got some air time and almost fell backward. My pulse shot up again, eyes darting around for the source of that noise. My brain took an extra second to process the glowing blue window now hovering in front of me.

  ***

  ? Kill a Shadow Beast.

  +1 Level.

  ***

  I swallowed, staring at it.

  “Holy shit.”

  The feelings welling up in my chest–the disbelief, the satisfaction, and the pride–those feelings belonged to Set. The part of me that lived in this world was going through it. This sweet bliss–I wanted to scream and shout; thank god I was too shocked to force a sound out of my throat.

  “Level Up,” I muttered, strengthening the part of me from Earth. “I Leveled Up again.”

  Clarity was cutting through the excitement once more. This was the first time I had actually killed one of those things. It was messy, and I had to make use of the environment, but the Checklist was identifying it as a valid kill.

  I had pulled off something that no one else in the village had. Me. Set. I did it.

  “Level Up,” I repeated, savoring those sweet words. “Wait, this feeling,” I said, clutching my chest.

  I barely had time to register the words before a sudden rush tore through me, like I’d been dunked into ice water and yanked back out in the same breath. My clarity intensified. I noticed my breathing had steadied, and my legs no longer felt like they would stage a rebellion.

  Why, if I didn’t know any better, I would say that I was totally rested.

  With that thought in mind, I looked at my bars and confirmed it.

  ***

  HP: 12/12

  SP: 12/12

  ***

  Not only had I leveled and increased the stats by a point, but I had also had my stamina restored.

  I flexed my right hand’s fingers. Not that I wanted to do that again, but at least I could survive another chase if I had to.

  The relief lasted all of two seconds before my paranoia shoved it down. My eyes went to the crumbling ledge. The Checklist was saying something had died… but had it been both?

  Getting on my knees, I slowly crawled to the edge and peered into the abyss. My eyes, surprisingly, could make out the jagged rocks down there. I couldn’t see the bodies of the Shadow Beasts, but the rocks had an ephemeral silver sheen, like the remnants of something were still clinging to them.

  That was strange. My vision had always been decent, but… Had I always been able to see this well in the dark? Had I ever even noticed? I had never once been inconvenienced by the dark during my sprint.

  I barely had time to dwell on it before a wet, gurgling noise filled the air. I went rigid. The cursed shit was right beside me. I could hear low clicks now. Slowly, I turned my head.

  As alive as a curious serpent, the vine was there, its tip swaying beside my head, but now, there was an orange, slit-pupiled, and unblinking eye looking right at me.

  A slow, sucking noise filled the air, like it was tasting the space between us.

  I kept my cool. “Hello?”

  Then—a silver stinger slid out from its pupil with a sickening squelch. At the same time, tiny holes opened along the eye's surface. They were like pores, flexing as if breathing.

  I didn’t think. I threw myself backward, scrambling across the stone with every limb I had left, dragging myself away as fast as humanly possible. The stinger twitched as the vine coiled. Did it think I was just going to sit there, staring like an idiot?

  My macabre curiosity overwhelmed me, and I followed the vine up until my eyes found a large, pulsating, and veiny mass lodged in the ceiling.

  I made the executive decision to stop looking.

  I twisted, bolting to my feet. My body barely had time to register the next tunnel entrance before I sprinted toward it.