Soon, as the light subsided, Kai began to regain his vision as he noticed a familiar darkness shrouding the corners of his eyes.
He blinked a few times to quickly let his eyes adjust to the sudden shift in light.
Finally, as Kai opened his eyes, he found himself sitting in the same dark Cell-like room with his back resting on the cold, rough stones.
His body trembled uncontrollably as the cold environment of the cell only seemed to be sprinkling salt on his wounds.
Suddenly his body started to shimmer once again in a soft white glow—lighting up the grimdark room.
At the exact same time, a bright cerulean light shone inside the room as another one of the system's windows materialized in front of his eyes.
---
[You have successfully cleared the Second Trial.]
[Initiating appropriate rewards...]
---
Then, at the right side of the system window, another screen materialized, although, a bigger one this time.
---
[Given the current condition of the player, automatically accepting rewards.]
[Total Trial Rewards gained - (+1) Endurance Stat]
[You have received the additional guaranteed reward - 'Full recovery']
---
As the content appeared over the screen, the white glow that glistened over the edges of his body, began to emanate a golden glow—slowly spreading around his body.
Soon, the golden glow completely covered his body and with a sudden spike in its intensity, it illuminated the entire cell while rays of light projected outside on the dusty brick floor through the door made up of thick metal rods.
With just as much speed, the eye-blinding flash of golden light dissipated completely, leaving the completely healed body of Kai behind.
Realizing that the warmth that comforted his soul through the process had disappeared, he snapped open his eyes and found out that the wounds had disappeared without any traces while his lost leg had regenerated anew.
However, he didn't utter even a single word.
Rather, he slightly got up and comfortably sat with his back resting on the wall and his one leg completely straightened over the ground, while his right leg created a hill of its own—on top of which his right arms rested.
He tilted his head backward until it touched the very wall and looked slightly towards his left.
Over there, was a small window in the upper parts of the wall, enclosed by the metal bars that made sure no escape was possible.
Through the window, the soft white glow of the moonlight entered the cell in the form of rays as he looked outside towards bright stars that shone across the colorful night sky.
He let out a deep sigh as he closed his eyes, thinking about the stuff that happened with or without his control—recalling memories that were nothing short of a disappointment.
"I could've really died back then..." He mumbled in a voice barely enough to be called a whisper.
"Whatever that mysterious voice was... It saved my life twice in that short amount of time..."
Kai wasn't wrong in the slightest with those words that he spoke. Although it might have looked like something that one would simply brush off and move on, Kai could only feel disappointed in himself.
So many things had happened in the last 24 hours that he just couldn't calm his mind down.
At first, he almost died at the hands of a spell as soon as the trial even started.
Then, his lifelong belief crumbled right in front of his eyes.
And in the end, in one way or another, he had to dirty his hands with the blood of his own kind—humans—to survive.
However, Kai wasn't affected by the last part even in the slightest. Although it was true that he had never killed humans—let it be in reality or in the game—he couldn't feel any negative emotions lingering in his mind about those.
On the contrary, he couldn't help but reminisce about the feeling of exhilaration that he felt throughout the battle when he was practically cornered.
He slowly opened his eyes as a thought emerged in his mind amidst the memories of the trial.
'I wonder why the monsters didn't come out of hiding... Could it be that they were gonna come out in the second trial?'
He let out a small yet heartfelt giggle as he shifted his weight ahead and, by pressing onto his knee with his hand for support, stood up.
"Not like I should care about it any longer." He muttered under his breath as his lips stretched from the corners, forming a small smile as he looked at his tattered clothes.
The system did really heal him but his clothes lingered on his body with mere strands of fabrics that held onto each other with all their strength.
"Anyways, I should try to get this thing over with soon."
"System?" He said out loud in the air and took a pause as if making sure that it heard his next words carefully.
"Start the next Trial."
As soon as those words slipped out of his mouth, a System window instantly materialized in front of his eyes—as though it was waiting all along.
---
[Understood.]
[Initiating the Third Trial...]
---
Up until now, Kai had been flashed by the sudden light twice as he tried to enter the trial, but this time, it was different.
He had prepared himself for the upcoming torture as he was hellbent on taking the system's attack head-on.
Kai tightly shut his eyes, waiting for the flash to come, but as if System wanted to make fun of him—rather than a flash, a cranky loud noise rang in the cell.
Kai snapped open his eyes as the loud noise itself seemed to be banging at his eardrums, and he was left wide-eyed as he saw the cell door slowly open up by itself.
Clearly shocked, he couldn't help but notice a system window forming right outside the door.
---
[Third of the Seven Trials—The Trial of Agility has begun!]
---
Kai glared at the screen with eyes that looked as though they were ready to eat the system, but soon he began to chuckle loudly.
"You, sneaky bitch!"