A sudden light spread across the battlefield.
All around, beasts began to revive once again. Countless low-level beasts stood up at the same time and immediately started killing one another. In an instant, the battlefield was once again filled with chaos, blood, and deafening roars. The valley that had briefly fallen silent was now drowning in the cries of beasts fighting for survival.
In the distance, two massive beasts stood facing each other.
Burn marks covered their bodies, but those wounds were slowly healing. These were not ordinary beasts. One was a fox-type beast—the Lightning Fox—while the other was an Asura Wolf. After reincarnating for the second time, they had grown far stronger under the influence of the light's power. Alongside them were more than ten other elite-level beasts, all engaged in a fierce and merciless battle.
On the other side of the battlefield, deep between enormous rocks, there was a well-like crack plunging far underground. Near one of the stones inside that crack stood a half-upright figure.
His eyes carried a strange, unfamiliar shine. His face was clean, without any fresh injuries. His arms, which had once been twisted unnaturally, were slowly straightening. His neck was healing, his legs regaining strength. There was dried blood beneath his nose and along the sides of his eyes, but even those wounds were rapidly recovering.
The man's body now radiated a far stronger glow than before. His hair shimmered faintly in the falling light. Slowly, he tried to stand. From above the crack, rays of light poured down, illuminating his naked body, which gleamed unnaturally under that radiance.
Outside, the battle raged on.
Beasts attacked one another in a frenzy. On one side stood two enormous beasts, far larger than the rest—each as big as a young elephant. They were high-ranking elite wolves. Their bodies had completely transformed, and their jaws were so powerful that a normal beast caught between them would be torn apart instantly.
At the edges of the battlefield, more beasts slowly rose to their feet. The moment they opened their eyes, their overwhelming power became evident. For now, these were the strongest beings present. Beneath them were dozens of elite beasts—foxes and wolves alike—and more than a hundred normal beasts locked in relentless combat.
Ji Hoon had succeeded in reviving.
His plan had worked—he was alive again. But the price he had paid for that success was far from small, and it would not benefit him in the long run.
Inside the terrifying crack, Ji Hoon opened his eyes.
A strange sense of power flowed through them. His face was filled with an eerie, deathlike calm. Faint flames of energy flickered within his pupils. As he tried to stand up, pain surged through his body. He grabbed the nearby rock wall for support. Even so, not a trace of pain appeared on his face.
Ji Hoon looked around silently, then slowly lifted his gaze upward. It was impossible to tell what was going through his mind. He only realized how deep the crack was. From above, he could faintly hear the roars of battling beasts.
Although Ji Hoon had lost his memories, his common sense was still intact.
He scanned his surroundings and noticed blood scattered everywhere. As he touched the rock wall, he muttered,
"Why did I fall from such a height…?"
He looked upward again.
"And why is the sound of beasts fighting so loud outside?"
"Where… am I?"
Above him, a massive explosion shook the battlefield.
The two largest beasts had not yet taken action. For now, only low-level and elite beasts were fighting. But the difference in their numbers was enormous. Once the top elites joined the battle, it felt as if the entire valley would be blown apart.
Ji Hoon remained trapped inside the crack, naked, staring upward, thinking about how he could escape from this place.
The noise of the battlefield echoed throughout the crack. The beasts were fighting with terrifying intensity, and the sound reached even here.
Then—amid all that chaos—another voice echoed clearly inside Ji Hoon's mind.
It was Layla's voice.
"Congratulations, Ji Hoon. You have successfully revived. But there's bad news—escaping from this place won't be easy. You'll have to struggle a lot."
Ji Hoon froze.
His entire body stiffened as he thought, Whose voice is that?
How can it be so clear even in all this noise?
He touched the wall and said aloud, "Did that voice come from here… or somewhere else?"
He looked down at his own body. He couldn't remember anything.
"You idiot," Layla said. "You still don't understand? I'm inside your mind."
Ji Hoon frowned.
"What nonsense are you talking about?"
"What are you doing in my head? Are you even human?"
"And what do you mean I killed myself?"
Layla replied calmly, "I am a part of your will and soul. I'm here to guide you."
Ji Hoon laughed lightly.
"Oh? So you're my guide?"
Then his expression turned serious.
"Honestly, I'm not interested in my past."
"If my past were that great, I wouldn't have ended up dying here."
"So don't tell me any of that. Just tell me—how do I get out of this place?"
Layla paused.
"So this is your true nature," she said with a laugh. "Careless… I understand now."
She continued silently to herself, Ji Hoon, you really are interesting.
Just like you said before—I'll tell you about your past once you become strong.
Then she spoke aloud, "Fine. Anyone who revives in this place becomes a Ranker. You are now a Level One Ranker. Escaping from here won't be that difficult for you."
Ji Hoon nodded slightly.
"So I'm a Level One Ranker…"
Layla continued, "Focus on the sphere of power you feel in the center of your body. That is your body core. It contains a great amount of power. You may gain a random skill from it—but that isn't guaranteed. It's just a myth that luck always grants one. Still, your physical body has already become far stronger."
Ji Hoon sat down on the ground. Slowing his breathing, he focused inward, trying to sense something within himself. At first, he saw nothing and understood nothing.
Then, suddenly—
His consciousness shifted.
He arrived in a colorless space.
A vast white emptiness surrounded him, and before him floated a small sphere. Its power distorted the white space slightly, pulling it inward.
Above, on the battlefield, the Elite Wolf and Elite Fox clashed once more, causing another massive explosion as two beasts collided mid-fight.
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