Rayen glanced around, heart pounding as countless glowing eyes stared back at him from the shadows. Wolves. More than a hundred eyes meant at least fifty wolves. Fifty. He couldn't even handle two in his dream. How the hell was he supposed to deal with fifty in real life? Escape? Impossible. Death felt certain.
Terror gripped his body. Sweat trickled down his forehead, his legs trembled uncontrollably, and he was one step away from pissing himself. Slowly, with a hand raised in a desperate attempt to appear harmless, he stammered, "H-h-hello, e-everyone. I-I'm just h-here for..." He paused, forcing a deep breath into his lungs. "I'm just here for those lilies inside. I only need three... just three. Otherwise, my mentor won't teach me. S-so, can I...?"
The wolves stepped into the light, emerging from the darkness to encircle him like a ritualistic hunt. Then, one figure moved from the back—a battered old wolf, clearly their elder. His left eye was gone, and he dragged his body forward with only three legs. Scars covered his body like old war maps, and a chilling calm rested in his gaze. He stepped closer, sniffing Rayen's trembling form. Rayen stood frozen, eyes wide, expecting death in the next second. But nothing happened. The old wolf simply moved behind him. Is he... their leader? Rayen thought. Is he their king?
The old wolf gave him a push forward.
Rayen looked back at him, stunned. Is he helping me...? Oh—right, this is WuXhun Online. In this world, beasts help traveling cultivators. Yeah... yeah, they should help me too. I'm a player, after all. The fear began to fade. His breathing steadied, and he let his guard down—just a little.
The old wolf led him into a cave, and as they went deeper, Rayen's dread slowly eased. The air grew calmer, the howls distant, and his body no longer felt like it was on the verge of collapse. When they reached the end, his eyes widened at the sight before him—glowing yellow lilies radiating a divine light. He rushed forward, mesmerized. Their scent wasn't sweet—no, it wasn't the lilies. Something felt off. He glanced left, then right.
Skeletons. Piles of them. Scattered across the cave floor like discarded trash. Oh... so the wolves dump their food here after eating. But then a realization struck, slamming into him like a blade to the chest. Wait... does that mean I'm the—
A warm wetness hit his left arm. He looked down.
It was gone.
Only blood flowed where it used to be—spurting, staining the floor crimson.
Terror twisted his face into a mask of pure horror. "AAAAAH!!" he shrieked, spinning around to find the old wolf chewing his severed arm, teeth stained with his blood. Rage and panic surged through Rayen's veins as he screamed, pissed himself, and backed away. The old wolf bared his blood-soaked fangs in a grotesque grin.
Then, chaos.
The wolves charged, pouncing on Rayen as he screamed. They tore into him—ripping his flesh, cracking his bones, shredding his organs like paper. Blood splattered in all directions, soaking the stone beneath them. His howls echoed through the cave in raw agony. He felt everything—his skin tearing, his insides being devoured, his body falling apart.
What... what is this?! I'm the protagonist! Why are you fucking mutts eating me?! I'll kill all of you! You betraying shits! I was the strongest player in WuXhun Online—
Wait... I was the strongest player in the game. But this... this isn't a game.
His screams grew louder, more desperate. "PLEASE! LEAVE ME! YOU MOTHERFUCKERS! FUCK OFF!! AAAA!! IT HURTS! IT FUCKING HURTS!!"
---
The wolves had nearly devoured Rayen—his organs were gone, his flesh torn apart. Only his skeleton remained, with bits of muscle clinging to the bone and a half-eaten heart struggling to beat. And yet, despite being consumed almost entirely, he was still alive.
How... how am I still alive? I should be d-dead... it hurts, it hurts too much... I can't take this anymore...
His fading eyes locked onto the divine lilies just ahead. Slowly, he tried to reach out—but with no hands or legs, there was nothing he could do. Even the smallest movement sent waves of hellish pain through his ruined body.
I haven't completed my quest...
His vision blurred as his eyelids grew heavier.
Am I going to die here? What a pathetic way to go... such a disrespectful death...
His eyes closed. His breath stopped.
The wolves approached to check if he was truly dead. Finding no sign of life, they dragged what remained of him and tossed his body onto a pile of old skeletons in the corner of the cave. Then they left—perhaps off to hunt again, as Rayen alone hadn't satisfied their hunger.
Rayen's eyes opened.
He was no longer in the cave, but floating in an endless space. Stars shimmered all around him—vast, cold, and beautiful.
"Where... am I? Am I dead?" Rayen asked, his voice echoing in the void.
A voice answered—a voice that couldn't be identified as male or female.
"You aren't."
Rayen was stunned—there was no one around. Just that voice, echoing through the vast, endless space. His eyes darted in every direction, trying to find the source, but there was nothing. Only stars. Only silence.
"Who are you?" he asked, his voice firm but uneasy.
The voice didn't respond.
Tch... so you don't want to answer, he thought, frustration bubbling inside him. Fine then. Let me ask something else.
"Then what is this place? I was in that damn cave, in the middle of the night. I just wanted some divine lilies... and those fucking bastards ate me."
The voice said nothing about the wolves. Instead, it responded to his question:
"This is the endless space—a place where the soul connects to the world. You are here to receive knowledge."
"What knowledge?!" Rayen snapped. His patience was thinning fast. Waking up after that nightmare only to face a cryptic voice in a surreal void was pushing him over the edge.
"The knowledge...about the fact that you can't die..that easily."
"I can't die? What the fuck do you mean? I am dead! My entire body was eaten!"
"You can't die alone. No matter how hard you try, you won't die—not completely. Even if your body is torn apart, it will regenerate—your heart, your lungs, your organs, your flesh... all of it. But you will feel the pain of every death. And with every regeneration, your body will become stronger, more durable than before."
Rayen's eyes widened.
"What the FUCK do you mean by that?! I'm not your damn test subject—or some divine experiment! How dare you mess with my body?! Take it back! I could endure one death—I can't go through this over and over again!"
The voice was silent for a moment. Then it spoke again.
"By saying, you can't die alone, I doesn't mean that you are immortal. You can die—but only if you die together with that person. You and they share this fate. If true salvation is what you seek, then you both must die as one."
Rayen blinked. He didn't understand. But piecing things together, he asked calmly,
"...Who is that person?"
"Find out yourself," the voice replied instantly.
Rayen's eyes widened in fury. His rage erupted.
"You motherfuc—"
Suddenly, the endless space shattered.