Clang!
The iron branch split like a dry cracker. Sena didn't have time to think. Only one instinct remained: get away. He threw his body to the side, but his foot got tangled in the steel cables coiled around the trunk.
He tumbled out of control. His head slammed into a branch below before he finally crashed violently onto the reddish dirt.
Thud!
The world spun. His lungs felt flat again. Sena crawled over the iron sand, coughing until blood-streaked saliva soaked the soot on his hands. His ears were still ringing from the earlier "heart" explosion, making the sound of the monster's skittering legs above him sound like a thousand knives being sharpened at once.
Clack! Clack!
The giant mantis leaped down. Its heavy weight made the ground tremble.
"D-damn it..." Sena forced himself to stand. His knees shook violently, nearly giving out. He tried to run, but his steps were unsteady. He collided with an iron root, fell face-first, scrambled up, and kept forcing himself deeper into the rusted forest.
Beside his face, the blue screen was still blinking obnoxiously.
[Viewer Count: 1]
"Hey! You, watching!" Sena screamed, his voice cracking and full of desperation. "If you're just here to watch me die, go to hell! Tip me... I need something to kill this thing, or I'm a corpse!"
Sena nearly tripped again as the serrated pincers slashed the air right behind his neck. The gust of wind from the attack felt cold and smelled of rot.
[@DeathCult_MC]:"Damn, still alive? Fine, I challenge you. If you can burn that bug, I'll give you some capital. [Bounty: Burn that monster. Reward: 10 RC]"
[Akasha System: You received 10 Rift Coins (RC). Interdimensional Shop Opened.]
The shop interface exploded in front of his eyes. Sena tried to press the "Earth Shop" menu, but his bloody, trembling fingers kept hitting the wrong icons.
"Open... open, you bastard!" he roared.
The monster was only two meters away. Suddenly, the interface shifted. Sena didn't even have to touch it anymore; his frantic brain waves synced with the system. Driven entirely by his desperate need for something cheap and flammable, a retail gasoline bottle (5 RC) and a gas lighter (2 RC) instantly materialized on the screen. He locked his eyes on them. Buy.
White light flashed. A glass bottle and a green lighter appeared, but a panicked Sena failed to catch them perfectly. The gas bottle fell to the ground, nearly shattering.
He snatched it up, kept running until he saw a narrow gap between two intersecting giant roots. Technician... think, Sena. Get into a hole smaller than it is!
Sena dove into the gap with frantic movements. His jacket got snagged, tearing as he forced his shoulders through the cramped space.
The praying mantis lunged in. Its horrifying head got wedged between the roots, barely a hand's span from Sena's face. The stench from its mouth made him want to gag. The monster's mandibles snapped repeatedly, trying to reach his throat.
Sena shook. He popped the gasoline bottle cap with his teeth—nearly breaking them in the process—and splashed the liquid onto the monster's head. Some of the gasoline spilled onto his own hands.
Sena reached for the lighter. He pressed the igniter.
Click. No flame.
Click. Click. "Light, you bastard! Light up!!" Sena screamed hysterically. Cold sweat poured down his face. The monster began to crack the roots pinning it down.
Click! A small flame appeared.
Sena threw the lighter at the gasoline-soaked mantis.
WHOOSH!
The fire erupted. But the monster didn't die instantly. It shrieked—a high-frequency scream that made Sena's nose bleed. The burning monster thrashed violently, slamming its head repeatedly against the roots where Sena was hiding.
The intense heat roasted Sena's skin. He had to crawl backward, away from the flames that were starting to lick at his own jacket. The smell of burnt insect meat and singed hair filled the narrow space. He watched the monster struggle in the fire for what felt like an eternity, until finally, its movements slowed and stopped.
Sena collapsed into a sitting position. He was gasping for air, his chest tight from the smoke. His hands, stained with gasoline, felt hot and reddened.
The screen in front of him chimed incessantly.
[Viewer Count: 156]
[@DeathCult_MC]:"HOLY SHIT! The burnt smell reached my sensory mode! Are you brave or just stupid, bro? Your hand is burning too!"
[@Dungeon_Doc]:"Wash your hands with clean water if you have any!"
Sena stared at his trembling hands blankly. He didn't feel heroic. He felt like he was about to pass out.
[Achievement Unlocked: First Blood. Reward: Mysterious Egg (Tier 1)]
White light flashed, and a pitch-black, scaly egg the size of a melon dropped right into his lap.
Sena flinched, nearly throwing the object in shock. However, as his palms touched the scaly surface of the egg, he felt something. Warmth. Not just warmth, but a slow, pulsing heat that beat in rhythm with his own frantic heart.
In the middle of this ice-cold iron forest that smelled of death, that pulse felt like the only living thing. Instinctively, Sena hugged the egg tight to his chest. Its warmth seeped through his torn jacket, calming the shivers in his body.
He didn't know what it was, but his gut told him not to let go.
However, the forest wind carried the smell of burnt meat further. From the darkness behind the iron trees, dozens of pairs of yellow eyes lit up one by one. Low growls and the sound of iron claws scratching the ground began to echo from every direction.
Sena stared at his empty gasoline bottle, then hugged the egg in his arms even tighter.
"Huff..." Sena let out a weary sigh, his voice swallowed by the first howl. "I don't think... that was enough gas."