The bar stopped…
And in the next moment—
Pain flooded through me.
It wasn't sharp like a wound, nor shocking like a fracture. It was something deeper… a wrong internal sensation, as if my body was being subjected to something it didn't know how to deal with. I felt unstable heat starting from my chest, spreading slowly through my arms, then climbing up to my neck and head, like a heavy current flowing through my veins.
My breath caught before I could scream.
Then the sound came out—hoarse, broken, powerless.
I collapsed to the ground because my legs could no longer support me. It wasn't a sudden spasm, but a gradual loss of control. My body trembled as if struck by a severe fever. I felt my heartbeat turn irregular—fast at times, then frighteningly slow.
I extended my hands in front of me, staring at them in disbelief. My veins were more prominent than usual—not glowing, but violently pulsing, as if the blood itself had grown heavier. Every pulse pressed from the inside. It didn't hurt sharply, but it piled up the sensation of suffocation.
"Stop…" The word came out with difficulty, barely audible.
Before my eyes, the words appeared:
[Merging in progress…]
I stared at them, something between mockery and fear slipping into my chest.
"Merging…?" A short laugh escaped me, then turned into a trembling exhale. "This isn't… merging… this is torture."
Suddenly, I felt a sharp pressure in my chest.
Not pain in the heart itself, but a powerful constricting sensation, as if my chest were being clenched from the inside. My breathing sped up, then became chaotic. Fragmented images passed before me: the moment of suffocation, the fall, the silence after death… everything returned—not as clear memories, but as an emotional echo running through my body.
As if something was passing through these experiences… and anchoring itself.
[Congratulations, integration with the host has been completed successfully.]
The pain gradually receded.
It didn't disappear, but it became bearable. It turned into a heavy, constant ache, like deep exhaustion after a long illness. I was able to breathe more calmly, even though my chest remained tight, and every movement reminded me of what had happened.
I remained sprawled on the ground, trembling lightly, staring at the sky without focus.
I lay there for a few moments, staring into emptiness, until I gradually began to regain my focus. My body was still heavy, as if the pain hadn't fully left, but my mind became a little clearer. I slowly lifted my head and directed my gaze to the place where the system message had appeared earlier.
"Status." I said it clearly.
Nothing appeared.
I waited a second, then another, then frowned and muttered in a low voice:
"Aren't they supposed to say: Status… and the stats appear? So why isn't anything happening?"
I repeated the word again, then began trying every command I knew, one after another, without order or logic. Nothing appeared. The silence was suffocating, as if the system was deliberately ignoring me.
I exhaled sharply and felt frustration creep into my chest. "What's wrong with this system? Is it stupid? How does it even work?"
I paused for a moment. I unconsciously softened my tone, as if I were addressing a living being rather than a machine, and said in a calmer voice:
"…Status."
In the next moment, the air split open before me, and a fixed transparent screen appeared, as if it had been waiting for that exact tone.
[Status Screen]
User Name: Zak Alder
Race: Human
Profession: Mage
Level: 1
Evolution Points: 0 / 100
Health: 10
Strength: 7
Agility: 4
Endurance: 3
Skills: None
Shop:
Locked
(Opens upon reaching level 10)
My eyes moved slowly over the stats. I paused at every number, as if trying to find something reassuring… and I found nothing.
Then a new line appeared at the bottom of the screen.
[System Notification:]
Host evaluation: Extremely weak.
Survival probability: Low.
System suggestion: Search for a safe location—
Or a place that won't disturb anyone when you die.
I stared at the notification for a long time.
A strange thought passed through my mind.
I actually… don't mind dying.
I lifted my gaze back to the stats again.
I was weak beyond description.
I swallowed and felt a heaviness in my chest.
If I'm this weak… how will I live here?
The question didn't fully form in my mind.
But it remained stuck there, pressing on me with quiet cruelty:
How will I continue?
"Shksh"
I kept thinking like that, until I heard the sound from behind…