When Henry finally drifted back into consciousness, his body felt like it had been encased in lead. He could barely twitch his legs, and even his uninjured right arm felt heavy.
"Wh—" Henry tried to speak, but he instantly choked on the word. The sheer agony of his bruised throat and crushed chest violently cut him off.
'I won,' Henry thought, his mind sluggishly trying to piece the nightmare together. 'But why doesn't it feel like I did?'
As his vision slowly cleared, he finally noticed the glowing blue screen hovering quietly in the air directly above his face.
Congratulations on completing the shortcut to the Dungeon Boss room.
Notice: This room will not respawn.
Henry read the prompt over and over again, his brain struggling to process the words. He couldn't tell exactly how long he had been passed out on the cold stone floor, but he knew one thing for certain: it had been long enough for the hobgoblins and the spearmen in the second cavern on the right path to reset.
His body tried to physically shiver at the thought of waking up surrounded by respawned enemies, but his central nervous system was far too wrecked to even produce the reflex. It remained a purely mental shudder.
For a long while, Henry just lay there. Unable to speak without triggering agonizing pain, but comforted by the absolute security of the System's prompt confirming he was safe for the moment, he let his eyes slide shut and fell back asleep.
After an undetermined amount of time, he woke up again.
This time, his mouth was parched, feeling as though it had been stuffed with dry sand. Alongside the thirst came intense, hollow hunger pains, violently gnawing at his stomach.
Henry knew it was going to hurt, but he had absolutely no other choice. 'A little pain for some food and drink... not a bad trade-off, he rationalized.'
He took a tiny shallow breath, gritting his teeth as he struggled to form the words.
"System..." Henry whispered, followed by a long, torturous pause as he fought through the spike of pain in his ribs. "...restart."
Despite the broken cadence, the System acknowledged his intention. A flash of blue light swallowed him, instantly transporting him back to the safe zone at the front of the dungeon.
Lining the cavern floor were eighteen tightly wrapped sandwiches, stacked neatly in 3 baskets, along with a fresh wooden keg of water.
'Eighteen sandwiches. Six a day,' Henry calculated. 'I was out cold for three whole days.'
The three days of rest had stabilized him enough to finally stand up. As he pushed himself to his feet, he looked down and immediately realized part of the reason he was still struggling to breathe. The center of his steel chest plate had been completely caved inward by the devastating force of the F-Rank Cobra's tail whip, physically compressing his ribcage and restricting his lungs' ability to expand.
Henry grabbed the edges of the crushed breastplate and tried to pry it off, but the dented steel wouldn't budge, sending a hot flare of pain directly into his chest.
'Come on, think. What can I do to get this shit off?' Henry thought, his frustration mounting.
He tried a few more times, tugging at the leather straps and the warped metal, but to no avail. Finally, he drew his utility knife with his good right hand. Wedging the thick steel blade underneath the edge of the dented armor, he used the hilt as a lever.
He pried upward with all his remaining strength.
Fuckkk! Henry screamed internally as the warped metal violently scraped against his bruised ribs.
With a harsh screech of bending steel and snapping leather, the chest plate finally popped loose. Henry unbuckled the rest of it and let the ruined armor clatter heavily to the stone floor.
The relief was instantaneous. It felt as though a massive boulder had been lifted off his lungs. His breathing immediately deepened, becoming significantly smoother, though he still didn't want to test his ability to speak.
Henry uncorked a waterskin and took very small, careful sips to soothe his raw throat, followed by nibbling slowly on a ham and cheese sandwich. Exhausted from the sheer effort of removing his armor, he laid back down and called it a day, letting the food work its way into his system.
The next morning.
Henry woke up feeling leagues better. His chest's ability to expand and contract had vastly improved without the crushed steel binding it. However, his left arm was still locked in a splint of dull, throbbing pain, completely useless while the bone continued to knit itself back together.
Since he couldn't physically train or hold his sword with both hands, he decided it was time to assess the aftermath of his near-death experience.
"System," Henry said, keeping his voice slow and quiet. He felt a faint sting in his throat, but it was perfectly manageable. He relaxed his shoulders and added, "Stats."
Immediately, the translucent blue panel flared to life in front of him. His eyes shot straight to his progression.
Rank Progress: [ 82 / 100 ]
"What the hell," Henry muttered aloud, genuine shock breaking his silence.
As the initial surprise faded, he switched back to his internal thoughts. 'Those cobras were worth a shit ton. twelve rank progress points in a single fight... I mean, it was an absolute hell of a fight, but still. If I got fourteen points in here under a fifty-percent experience penalty, these kinds of life-or-death fights would be a total cheat code on the outside.'
But his pragmatic side quickly took over, cooling his excitement. He stared at the blue light, sobering up. 'In here, I can say 'System Restart' if I get cornered. Out there in the real world... I wouldn't have a get-out-of-jail-free card. I'd just be dead.'
After grounding himself with that grim realization, Henry finally looked past his rank progression to review how the System had allocated his twenty-eight newly earned attribute points.
Name: Henry Sinclair
Rank: F
Strength: 66
Speed: 80
Agility: 75
Stamina: 85
Vitality: 58