Death Warning

Setting aside the crisis Senju Chenghe was facing, Senju Kyogawa felt as though he were in a place of absolute darkness after being swallowed by that monster-like wall.

There was not a sliver of light here, pitch-black to the point where he couldn't see his own fingers, and the air was permeated with that strange, peculiar fragrance.

Senju Kyogawa sniffed the air, then held his breath, feeling quite unaccustomed to it.

Beyond that strange scent, the air here was also mixed with a pungent, fishy odor.

Yet, this fishy smell was bizarre; Senju Kyogawa couldn't accurately describe it. It was like a mix of the metallic tang of blood and the briny stench of seafood—in short, it was far from pleasant.

This nauseating odor was a fatal blow to Senju Kyogawa, who had already self-taught the Total Concentration Breathing: Constant. Especially now, trapped in a completely dark environment, the restriction on his vision had made his sense of smell even more acute.

It stinks, Senju Kyogawa grumbled in his heart.

He ignited flames in his hands, intending to illuminate the area, only to find that the fire vanished the moment it appeared, lasting barely a minute.

But how could that be?

Senju Kyogawa knew the power of his flames; once ignited, they would never be extinguished unless he, the master, drew them back into his body.

Puzzled, Senju Kyogawa asked the system in his mind.

The system ignored him as usual, telling him only to explore on his own.

Senju Kyogawa felt speechless. What was the point of having a system after transmigrating?

Fortunately, he was already used to the system's lack of presence.

However, the brief moment the flames had ignited illuminated a small portion of his surroundings, and Senju Kyogawa saw it.

He seemed to be in a vast space where the floor was red, covered in thick folds and layers of viscous slime.

Senju Kyogawa tentatively moved his feet, feeling as though his soles were glued to something, making it nearly impossible to move even a single step.

This slime is way too sticky.

Could this be the belly of that monster? Senju Kyogawa thought back to the second before he was sucked in, recalling he had seen something akin to a gaping maw, leading him to make a bold guess.

He wished he hadn't thought about it; the mere idea that he might be inside the "wall monster's" stomach sent a chill down his spine. Every hair on his body stood on end, and a cold shiver crept down his back.

Wait...

The chill on his back didn't seem to be his imagination...

It felt as if something was truly crawling on his back—something icy and cold, as if it were slowly licking him.

The chill extended from his lower back all the way to the nape of his neck, accompanied by a lingering dampness.

[Cuddle Points +1]

Realizing what an increase in Cuddle Points signified, Senju Kyogawa froze. His head turned backward with the stiff, agonizing difficulty of a rusted hinge.

"Hiss—ha—" A strange sound echoed from all directions.

Suddenly, a faint red glow illuminated the surroundings, accompanied by the sound of biological writhing.

In the dim red light, Senju Kyogawa's backward-turned gaze met a glowing red eyeball, which hung tremblingly in its lone socket, attached by a single nerve.

Upon noticing Senju Kyogawa looking at it, the monster's mouth suddenly split open, extending a slender, snake-like tongue to lick his cheek.

Senju Kyogawa's heart skipped a beat in terror.

Immediately after, the red light grew more intense, faintly mixed with a greenish luminescence.

Senju Kyogawa looked around in a daze, only to realize that the red light was emanating from the eyes of these one-eyed monsters. They possessed bodies like stingrays and glowed with a deep green fluorescence; compared to their trembling, detached eyeballs, the green glow seemed particularly dim.

Senju Kyogawa lost his voice.

The sheer density of these monsters was spectacular; he was now too terrified to even scream.

The monster on his back continued to crawl. Finally unable to take it, Senju Kyogawa swatted the disgusting thing away, leaving his hand covered in slime.

His stomach, already sensitive from skipping breakfast, immediately revolted, forcing up bile.

Senju Kyogawa couldn't help but vomit on the floor.

He couldn't help it; the monsters were simply too repulsive.

Senju Kyogawa took a deep breath, gathering all his energy into his lungs.

System, give me the cheapest Nichirin Sword on credit.

[Ding! Detection complete. Host possesses 10,745 Cuddle Points (approximately 107 days of life). Nichirin Sword (bootleg) redeemed! Host now has -250 Cuddle Points remaining. Please replenish your Cuddle Points as soon as possible, or you will face a life-threatening situation!]

Hearing this, Senju Kyogawa couldn't help but gasp. He hadn't expected a bootleg Nichirin Sword to deduct over ten thousand Cuddle Points.

And that -250 balance—was it mocking him?

[Warning! Warning!]

[Host must replenish Cuddle Points within one day, or face the risk of death. Time remaining: 24:00:00]

[23:59:59]

The system's ticking echoed in Senju Kyogawa's mind; every second of the clock was a countdown to his demise.