[First Floor]


    Xiaodan and himself ventured down into the basement, but it felt darker than ever; shrouded in abundant shadows, and eerily quiet–but, it felt as if there were other presences upying the space alongside them.


    "...Jeong-Hui…" Xiaodan whispered, staying by his side.


    He nodded, "I know. This is definitely a trap."


    Even knowing that, the two still slowly moved through the depths of the ck basement–periodically hearing small, but rming noises of inexplicable origins. sh.


    It was the reflexes engraved in his body that prompted him to step forward just in time to avoid the malicious swipe that aimed for his ankle.


    "Wha–?"


    He looked down, only briefly seeing a hand wrapped in ck fabric swipe by before disappearing back into the darkness.


    "Kehehehe…"


    The ominousugh from the crazed men echoed throughout the pitch-ck basement, leaving the two falling still, turning to each side, but only being met with more darkness.


    "He''s here…!" He warned.


    "Yeah…" Xiaodan nodded.


    –Before any further words could be exchanged, he instantly raised his arms in a guard just as a swipe came from the darkness–shing through the leather guards on his forearms and leaving a set of cuts on his arm.


    "Ngh…!"


    [Health Points: -50 | 2950/3250]


    "Jeong-Hui!" Xiaodan called out worriedly.


    He went for a quick counterattack, but his dagger only shed through shadows, being taunted by the disembodiedugh of the crazed man.


    "...I''m fine," he huffed, assuring hispanion as blood dripped down from his cut forearm.


    "Are you sure?" Xiaodan asked.


    He held up his arm, showing the set of four cuts that were left on his forearm, having ripped right through the fabric of his ck coat, "...It wasn''t that deep, I guess. I only lost a small amount of health from that."


    "...Still, be careful," Xiaodan said quietly.


    "Yeah, we''ve got to be on our guard; one-hundred-and-twenty percent of it. My guess is that this guy is slippery, but he doesn''t hit very hard–at least, I hope that''s just how it is," he said quietly, whispering to his ally.


    Again, another assault came from the overwhelming shadows–this time aimed at Xiaodan, who stepped back to avoid a sh from the almost animalistic ws of the crazed man, bumping into Jeong-Hui''s own back.


    "--!"


    "My bad!" Xiaodan apologized.


    "Don''t worry, just stay on–!" He began to reply, but their conversation was cut short.


    –It was another swift assault from the darkness, this timeing from the ground as Xiaodan''s leg was cut, embedding a sh on his left shin.


    "Agh–!" Xiaodan winced.


    "Xiaodan!" He turned around.


    "...I''m fine!--Stay focused!" Xiaodan assured him, holding his bleeding shin.


    It wasn''t a momentter than when he turned forward again that he leaned back slightly, dodging the iing, sharpened nails of the maniacal figure by a mere hair.


    Managing to evade the dirty attempt to eviscerate his eyes, he ducked down and stepped forward for a swift counterattack, but his daggers only went right through thenky figure that blended into the shadows.


    "...Kehehe…"


    Again, thenky, hunched-over entity vanished into the shadows around them, heckling his failed attempt at a retaliation as he clicked his tongue.


    "Shit…!" He muttered to himself in frustration.


    "Jeong-Hui…" Xiaodan called his name.


    He looked back,ing back to a stable mind as he assisted his silver-hairedpanion with standing, giving his shoulder to help Xiaodan stand.


    "Can you move?" He asked.


    Xiaodan nodded, "Yeah…I was just having trouble standing…for some reason."


    For some reason, Xiaodan''s words became uneven and fractured, putting more time between each word as his eyes began to blink slowly.


    "Xiaodan?"


    As he called the name of his androgynouspanion worriedly, he began to feel a certain way himself; it looked as if Xiaodan was swaying right before his eyes, yet unmoving.


    It was the room itself–spinning and twirling as nausea set in.


    So heavy…my eyelids…He thought.


    Holding his head, it felt like he had to support it for it not to slump down due to how heavy it felt, stumbling about as his coordination was thrown offpletely.


    "...Jeong-Hui…"


    Xiaodan''s voice seemed to grow distant, yet it was right there with him, no more than a meter apart.


    "...What…is this?" He muttered.


    It was a simr sensation to being intoxicated, but magnified a few times over; even with his nimbleness and heightened coordination, it was still a tall task to remain standing and upright.


    sh.<novelnext></novelnext>


    "Huh…?"


    Unable to react to the sh of darkness that rushed past him, he was only able to figure out what had just happened once the prompt appeared:


    [Health: -50 | 2900/3250]


    As he witnessed his health drop, the pain finally set in as sensation returned–feeling a heat gather around his side as blood squirted out from the tear in his coat.


    "Ghh–!!!"


    He looked around desperately for the enemy, sweating as his internal temperature spiked from the inexplicable nausea.


    By the time he fully turned in a circle, he realized something that set in dreadfully into his stomach:


    "Xiaodan–!!!" He yelled out.


    –He had been separated from hispanion in the gulf of darkness. It almost didn''t seem right; it was so abundantly dark, but he knew the basement, at least to some degree.


    It shouldn''t be thisrge, he thought.


    But, with little stability to his senses, he was unable to think properly nor gather his thoughts to rendezvous his sanity.


    This is bad. This is bad. This is bad. What should I do? Xiaodan and Eunji both are…! No! Get it together! Get it together—! He urged himself.


    It only seemed to get worse; the dizziness, the fever overtaking his body, and the overall sickness that swirled in his gut.


    The shadows around him danced and spiraled, leaving him unable to discern which direction he was facing anymore or where in the basement he even was.


    "Xiaodan! Eunji…!" He called out.


    sh. sh. sh.


    This time, three came–so fast and merciless that he could only flinch as the attacks came. One was left on his cheek, another on the left bicep, and thest on his right tricep.


    [Health: -150 | 2750/3250]


    Standing there for a moment, breathing heavily as his blood trickled down his ck coat, he felt his heat bubble up further as his legs began to quiver beneath him from the sheer dizziness at y.


    Wait…I think I get it now. It''s those shes–that guy''s ws! Each time he cuts me, he''s leaving some sort of poison in my wounds. It''s increasing with each sh–if it stacks like this, does it settle fast? Does he have to keep reapplying it?...Either way, I have to avoid it! He thought.


    He managed to react this time, by some miracle, countering the shes with his des, only to watch the man''s hands slip right through the ck-steel like an astral entity.


    "--!"


    At thest moment, he managed to [Blink Step] back to avoid it, nearly tumbling backward as the jarring movement threw his senses off further.


    Is he focusing on me since he knows I can hurt him with my frost…? He thought.


    There was hardly a window to ponder from as the attacks emerged from the shadows, lunging to him but–it was a distraction.


    Above…! He thought.


    From above, hanging like a bat, thenky figure swiped at him, to which he bobbed-and-weaved through the shes, stumbling back again after the assant vanished into the darkness once more.


    "D-disperse!" He called out.


    It was difficult to even speak as his throat tickled and his head throbbed and grew more light-headed by the moment, but he got it out just in time.


    [Spirit: -300 | 600/3600]


    I''m almost out of spirit. Right now…I have to make every drop of it count! Sage System, maximize my senses! He thought.


    [I must warn you, since you''ve asked this specific request: maximizing your senses can be incredibly dangerous for your mind and body alike. The Sage will bring you to a realm of sensory that you''re not ustomed to, do you still–"


    "Do it–!!!" He yelled out, interrupting his unique System.


    [...Request granted. Be careful, Jeong-Hui.]


    All at once, it hit him: Sight, even amidst the total darkness, he could see it all. Smell, everything, all at once, swirling and mixing, he could smell it, smelling even the fear of his lostpanion and the madness of his enemy. Touch, the cold air itself met his skin like an extension of his being. Hear, each minuscule sound resonated within his ears, leaving nothing silent as even the droplets of water in the farthest corners of the basement sounded like heavy rain. Taste, the darkness itself held an abhorrent greeting to his tongue, but like smell, he could taste the despicable nature of his enemy.


    It was all at once, unrestrained and stunning; he remained still for a moment as his senses maximized beyond supernatural levels–leaving him unhindered by the shadowy ambience.


    Come…! He thought.


    From behind this time, a sh came from thenky, unhonorable foe of his, but–it is exactly as he nned.


    From his [Disperse], he vanished before the sh could embed itself on his back, leaving a cloud of sensory-dwindling smoke around his enemy.


    He reappeared directly above the darkly-dressed yer killer, holding both of his daggers as his heightened senses fought against the poison in his body.


    "--Hades'' Touch!" He called out.


    [Spirit: -300 | 300/2600]


    "Wha–!?" The freakish man looked up at thest moment.


    "--You''re not going to have your way anymore! Not while I''m still drawing breath!" He yelled out.


    Before thenky, unsolid man could disappear into the floor, he crashed down on top of him with a swift sh of both of his daggers, bringing the frost-bearing steel right through his neck as the icy made his body tangible for that passing moment.


    "Gyuh–!" The figure spit out.


    In a brutal, one-move finisher, he lopped the eerie man''s head from his shoulders.


    Just like that, the slippery foe fell to the ground, no longer bearing their peculiar form as they returned to a solid state while their head rolled across the ground.


    [EXP + 2000 | 2600/13500]