The heavy rain drenching his body was a grim sort of comfort. He lay crumpled on the forest floor while every nerve in his body screamed the same warning into his mind. The constant banging in his head seems to dull the pain he felt all over as he lay crumpled on the forest floor, his bones twisted in such ways a human bone could not, and his face all swollen and tears streaming down his face. The only signal his brain was sending was pain and the incoming sense of death that washed over him; his body lay helplessly on the forest floor while the rain did the work of carrying his blood even deeper into the forest to the nose of monsters. He could tell death was inevitable as he lay there staring up at the rain as it thrashed onto his face, while the harsh but cold wind sipped into any open cut he seemed to have had. The rain hadn't stopped as a huge thump reached his left ear, which was barely functioning at the time; before he even saw the monster in front of him, his life flashed before his eyes. New batch of tears ran down his pale face as his bloodied lips shuddered gently, and quiet sobs escaped his mouth as if clinging to a silver thread. He pushed himself away from where the sound erupted from, his entire body screamed in pain as he gained new injuries from scraping his back on the forest ground, and twigs poked at his back as a shadowy figure appeared from behind a tree. All he could see were the creature's teeth—long, white, and stretched into a sickening grin. Thick strands of saliva dripped from between them, splattering softly onto the ground. A cold, suffocating dread crawled through his chest. He tried to push himself backward, clawing weakly at the ground to escape the looming monster, but his frantic movements faltered. Slowly, helplessly, his body went still as his eyes locked onto the empty darkness ahead of him, as if something unseen had stolen the strength from his limbs.
He stared at the floating screen in front of him as it ran a loading sequence before a sharp voice rang inside his disoriented brain.
"System's boot complete."
"Time taken: 18 years, 4 months, 2 weeks, 5 days, 10 hours, 45 minutes, and 9 seconds"
His mind left the monster, aiming to bring his doom to the fascinating system in front of him. The system runs a new interface, and this time its voice is relatively lower as if sensing the constant banging in his head. The low growl of the monster seems to snap him out of his daze as his face fixes on the monster again. The system voice rings out once again, juggling his attention between death and amusement.
"Host has been completely linked to the system."
"Host condition: critical."
"Host mental state: critical."
"Probability of the host surviving: extremely low"
"Will the host be willing to open his one-time login reward; can be used once and grants the host what he needs most in his current situation?"
His mind races as the monster takes a step closer to him, and he can feel his body heating despite the heavy rain drumming against his skin, he raked his aching brain as his voice comes out hoarse and dry, and as he opens his mouth, rain drops fell in, moistening his sore throat to a manageable extent. "System, what are the probabilities of me escaping this situation without dying in my current state?" A now familiar ding goes off in his head as the robotic voice hums in his head.
"Probability of the host escaping this situation without the reward is zero, while if u chose to use the reward, it is a guarantee one hundred percent.
He could now feel the monster's breath tinging along his tongue; he bit his tongue as he opened his mouth again, this time his voice gaining a bit of pride he once felt before this sorry state. "System, do I have any rewards that aid in regaining my lost health and stamina?" The question seems to run through his head as he doubts his own luck, the system dings sharply against his ear as he squints his nose, trying to block out the foul odor coming from the monster breaths the was nearly ghosting over his face, the monster sniffs him once, twice before grabbing his ankle, pulling him deeper inside the forest, he winces at the pain enough to earn a grunt from the monsteras it continued his journey deeper into the forest. On queue, the system dings once again.
"The host does have a reward that heals both health and stamina, but it's just a primary gain for a better gain. Is the host willing to use the reward called the sacred sects' heavenly pill?"
His body is pulled along by the monster as it ventures deeper into the forest. He kept his gaze on the visual image in front of him as the system displayed a red pill with carefully drawn golden lines around it, some curved around like waves of water, while others looked like dragons standing and riding the waves of water under it. A description of the pill was placed, "A sacred pill from the sacred sect, the pill grants the physique of a true sacred being and is the best elixir to take when stepping into the world of immortality. Do not take the pill lightly." The last part was written in red as if the system was warning him to reconsider his choice and go for a safer option, and he just smiled, "System, it is all on nothing, I am going to take the pill." The system dings once again.
"The host has chosen to use the sacred pill. Consuming the sacred pill now."
The system dings once again as the monster tosses him into a cave, and pain shoots through his body as his body lands on the ground with a thud. The pain causes his entire body to shudder as his brain begins to shut down, his eye lids gets heavy, he closes his eye once, and he blacked out completely.