Gulp-
After drinking the potion, Raphael collapsed onto the floor, flailing his arms and kicking his legs. He could not catch his breath. Soon he would stop breathing altogether. He was going to die, die-
Raphael then slipped into a hazy state. In the distance, he saw two enormous bronze doors covered in mystical patterns.
That was the "Underworld Gate"!
Raphael had heard that only the dead could see the gates of the Netherworld.
He could not help drawing closer to those two doors, feeling as though he had reached the end of his life.
I'm not dead yet!
Raphael seemed to suddenly remember this crucial fact.
Right, I just drank the "Living Corpse" potion.
Then the suffocating sensation and the pain of his heart stopping struck again, sending Raphael rolling across the floor. His entire body hurt, as though someone had flayed him and soaked him in salt water.
Raphael kept convulsing. The agony felt like constantly hovering on the brink of death.
Just as this torment worse than death began to cloud his consciousness again, a voice suddenly said, "Idiot, why are you breathing?"
Why am I breathing?
The voice spoke again. "Dumbass, why does your heart need to beat?"
Right, why does my heart need to beat?
Raphael's mind gradually cleared. I'm a "Living Corpse" now. Do corpses have heartbeats? Do corpses need to breathe?
He abruptly sat up. "I can't control whether my heart beats, but I can stop breathing."
Once he realized this, Raphael immediately felt much better. His lungs, burning from the suffocating sensation, seemed to suddenly realize that they did not actually need so much oxygen.
Gradually, Raphael calmed down. He had successfully advanced.
Then he grinned. Who knew going mad every now and then could have this kind of effect?
In truth,