A black-armored man with raven hair clutched a young girl's hand as they darted through the dense forest, desperately trying to evade the pursuing beasts.
"They're on our tail! I can't keep them off much longer," the man gasped between labored breaths.
The young girl, appearing no older than seven, merely glanced at him with wide, frightened eyes and continued running, her small legs working furiously to match his pace.
These two unfortunate souls remained the only survivors of their group; their three companions had already fallen victim to the monstrous beasts that roamed these woods. Now he bore the responsibility of protecting her—the only child among their former party.
The man possessed the "Strong Body" gift, allowing him to render himself invulnerable for approximately ten seconds. Beside him, the young girl wielded the "Light" gift, enabling her to illuminate herself and manipulate light however she wished—a talent that had saved them more than once during their flight.
Finally, the beasts lost their scent as they crossed into a different territory. Ray, the exhausted man, halted his desperate sprint. Lily, the small girl at his side, stopped as well, both gasping for air after their prolonged escape.
Ray consulted his map. "All right, we're in the Shadow Forest. If I'm correct, the shadow portal that will lead us out is just a few Shadow continents away."
He checked his stats—all reasonably strong with personal attributes ranging from 30 to 40, while his Strong Body skill had reached level five. Lily examined her own abilities; her Light skill stood at level ten, with personal stats hovering around twenty.
"Ray, duck!" Lily shouted suddenly as Ray glanced up to see a shadow bat diving toward him. He dodged swiftly, seizing the creature's head and crushing it with one powerful hand.
"I appreciate it, kid," he said, offering her a warm smile. "Thanks for saving me."
Lily returned his smile as they resumed their journey toward their next destination: the Blood Continent.
Meanwhile, elsewhere in the forest, Damien examined skeletal remains with interest. "These bones seem valuable," he remarked, lifting one for closer inspection.
"I like those blades—they look sick," Awana said, prying the sharp weapons from a fallen creature. As he did so, an unexpected notification appeared before him.
"Your inventory has been unlocked. Would you like to store the Shadow Dual Blades inside your inventory? Yes or No?"
Awana eagerly selected "Yes," ready to accumulate as many weapons as he could discover.
Jacob grunted with impatience. "You guys are wasting so much time. Shouldn't we be, I don't know, fighting monsters and getting stronger? You're just sitting here collecting bones."
"We're catching our breath," Michael explained defensively. "That fight was exhausting."
"You didn't even help," Jacob snapped. "The only ones who contributed were me, Damien, that menacing assassin over there, and Awana. What exactly did you do?"
Michael fell silent, unable to respond. His staff hadn't been powerful enough, and he averted his gaze in shame.
"You losers can do whatever you want. I'm going to hunt some monsters," Jacob declared before storming off.
"What a bunch of losers," he muttered while trudging through the forest. After walking for what seemed like hours, Jacob realized with growing frustration that he kept returning to the same spot regardless of his direction.
"What is this? Some kind of hallucination?" he wondered aloud.
Suddenly, a mission notification materialized before him: "Survival of the Loop: Kill 30 beasts. Every time you die, you will respawn. Objective: Kill 30 Shadow beasts. Reward: Skill upgrade."
A smile spread across Jacob's face. "This is exactly what I wanted. Time for the grind to begin."