He did a final check. It was time for action.

  Jin-woo moved with purpose. He took off running. Every ounce of his enhanced frame and power tore up the distance in a blink of an eye. His pants and shirt snagged and tore multiple times from the brush around him. He reached the tree. The rough bark offered perfect foot and handholds that made the climb trivial for his long limbs. As if the trees had adapted to accommodate desperate climbers.

  He grabbed them as fast as his arms could move. Fruit filled his shirt. Their sweet scent made the risk worth it. Mouth flooded with saliva. It took a few more seconds for him to slide down without losing any of his precious cargo. He would not let any escape. Not after the experience they went through biting into the biscuits.

  The run back cost him three of his prizes. Casualties to poor cargo management. Jin-woo had almost stopped to pick them up, but his clear mind quickly squashed any thought of that. He was forced to ignore them and his bleeding heart.

  He made a mental note to secure them better the next time. But for now, they could enjoy their rewards.

  Jin-woo emerged from the tangled undergrowth with a triumphant flourish. His makeshift fruit basket bulging. Some of the juice leaked out into his shirt leaving a sweet smell. His enhanced senses screamed with anticipation.

  Each step after making the clearing felt lighter than the last.

  “I told you it’ll work,” Jin-woo said. The grin on his face was massive. But when he looked up, Graq wasn’t smiling. Jin-woo stopped in his tracks only a few feet away from him.

  The ratkin’s ears were pinned back. Fur seemed pale, even though that should not have been possible. And tail tucked between his feet. He trembled.

  “Graq?”

  Graq’s mouth moved silently. Miming words Jin-woo couldn’t figure out. A trembling hand pointed toward him. Or maybe the fruit.

  Is there something on me?

  Jin-woo looked down–

  “Behind you!” Graq shouted. He stumbled and fell backwards, forgetting how to walk.

  Time seemed to crystallize as Jin-woo slowly turned around. The ground beneath his feet began to vibrate with a deep, resonant rumble that spoke of massive weight. Oddly reminiscent of the Rat Lord’s heavy size.

  Sounds of the earth being torn apart filled his enhanced hearing. Tearing of roots, branches, bushes, and anything in their way.

  Jin-woo stared at a tiger that dwarfed even the Rat Lord at the shoulders. Length at least three times that. It stared at him with dilated eyes. Showing fangs at least three feet long. Lethal grace. Muscles ripping beneath orange and black striped fur.

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  The beast stretched away feline languor. Casual power tearing the ground, claws leaving deep gouges in the earth. Stone and roots were destroyed in its wake.

  Jin-woo’s arms went slack. The fruits he gathered scattered across the ground. He couldn’t respond or say anything. His mind, usually clear and racing with thoughts and calculations, offered only one singular thought.

  We’re so screwed.

  “Come here!” Graq’s voice penetrated Jin-woo’s paralysis. The ratkin tried to tug at his arm ineffectively. Not strong enough nor large enough to get him to move. But it was enough.

  [SKILL BROKEN: Stunned Paralysis]

  A series of notifications appeared in his feed.

  [HOSTILE ENTITY DETECTED]

  [CLASSIFICATION: Cloud Tiger (Manaless) - (D+) Ranked Monster]

  [THREAT LEVEL: Extreme]

  [SURVIVAL PROBABILITY IN DIRECT COMBAT: 0.01%]

  [TACTICAL SUG…]

  “Yeah,” Jin-woo said. That had done it. It broke him out of whatever primal fear the tiger had caused him. Though his voice still sounded distant. The thought of being so weak and helpless struck a chord within him. After the endless slog of battles in the dungeon, defeating the gigantic Rat Lord, and finally leaving through the portal. After everything he had been through.

  It should have counted for something, right?

  Enhanced body forged for combat and exceeding any human limits he could think of. And yet, it had refused to accept a simple command of move in the face of this predator. Jin-woo looked back at his status, really feeling the (F+) rank it gave him. An objective truth and nothing more.

  He stepped backwards. Each one required full conscious effort, his eyes locked onto the tiger's own. His muscles fought against his every decision, primal instinct screaming to lay down in absolute stillness.

  “Stop looking into its eyes!” Graq threw a rock at his head.

  Jin-woo snatched his vision back. Violently tearing his head away from the tiger’s eyes.

  They retreated into the hospital proper, a turn of the stairwell above the dungeon entrance. Measured steps that felt like crossing an ocean. The tiger, nightmarish predator as it was, remained in full view. It sat on its haunches, head tilting with consideration, ears focused with laser precision on its potential prey. The more Jin-woo watched it, the more he found himself at awe of its predatory grace. There was something majestic about it. Beyond earth animals.

  [SUGGESTION ACTION: Continue Retreat]

  [WARNING: Do not attempt to…]

  The notifications appeared before him like cosmic jokes.

  Finally, once he got a chance to sit, did the enhanced mind he carried return to proper function. The double doorway would prove far too narrow for the beast’s massive frame. The walls, while aged and beaten by physic breaking warps, would buy them precious time to reach higher floors if the tiger decided to charge anyways.

  His survival instincts urged immediate retreat to his safe room. Deeper into the concrete sanctuary around them. And yet, Graq sat there huffing and puffing, but not moving. Laying down instead.

  "Why aren't we moving?" Jin-woo whispered. "That thing could—"

  Graq sat up. “We don’t have to worry about that thing.” His scholarly tone jarring in the situation. Incongruous with the machine of death and destruction just outside the building. It irked Jin-woo for some reason, itching at his ego.

  But that was no issue now for his mind to quickly squash with interest. He swallowed his retort about Graq’s prolonged imprisonment and lack of self-protection. Instead, he put his hands on his knees and watched the ratkin stand up and pace back and forth. Intermittently looking back at the tiger with its massive tail swishing back and forth, audibly even from the distance.

  He would tap his chin occasionally, nodding along before finally coming to a sufficient conclusion.

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