He accepted the Breakthrough immediately. Forcing his body to move, he dashed into the cavern. Stopping at a certain distance, he took out his dagger and prepared for a confrontation.
"This one can't get in here. It's too big to come here."
The snake's size was too large for it to enter the cavern. There was no way it could come inside and attack him.
But the Emergency Quest gave him an uneasy feeling.
"Why would the system put up this quest? That too so suddenly?"
He had no idea.
Then—
A screech echoed through the entire cavern, creating shockwaves that lifted him off the ground and slammed him into the walls.
He took high damage, his HP dropping significantly.
[612/985] (falling)
Pain exploded in his back as he struggled to breathe. His body screamed in protest as he picked himself up with great effort, trying to recover from the shock wound.
But the serpent was not going to give him any time.
Another sound followed.
Not a screech.
Something entirely else.
The cavern shook with impact.
It felt like a river had started flowing in the cavern.
He stood there, trying to figure out what was coming next.
Then he saw it.
A thick, dark liquid flowing toward him from different parts of the cavern.
"Venom!"
The serpent had filled the cavern with its venom.
It intended to end him inside the cavern.
"Bastard is trying to bury me inside."
"How do you even come up with this?! Are you some prodigy or what?!"
Even if it was clearly against him, he couldn't help but admire the serpent's strategy.
[Dash!]
He immediately fled upon seeing the stream of poison coming in, but running was no longer going to help him.
The cavern had many interconnected routes—but only one entrance.
The serpent's venom had spread in all directions.
"Shit!"
He turned as he saw the venom approaching, but it was now coming from all directions.
[Dash!]
To where?
To the cavern wall.
Run again.
He started sprinting again, but on the wall this time.
His foot slipped.
[Dash!]
Again—to the other wall of the cavern.
Breakthrough had evolved Dash into Double Dash.
"Upgrading this skill was the best decision I made!!"
"It's a fucking lifesaver!"
He could use two consecutive dashes without any cooldown.
The Double Dash allowed him to use two Dashes before going into a cooldown of 20 seconds.
He sprinted continuously on the cavern walls, using Dash to change walls as soon as he became unable to keep running on one.
The snake's venom had already flooded the entire floor.
But things got even worse.
As he tried to activate Dash, he felt a sudden dizziness.
He almost fell into the poison but activated Dash at the last second.
He had inhaled the venom's gas.
He had been poisoned.
His movement started getting sluggish.
His lungs burned due to the inhaled poison.
His vision started to blur.
Breathing felt like knives stabbing into his chest.
Running was getting more difficult with each passing moment.
His HP fell with every passing second.
[502/985](falling)
[System - Emergency Quest Complete!]
Reward - Poison Resistance Lv 1
1000 Sigils
"You could have given me that from the start! I almost sank in this poison river, you know!"
[System - Poison Resistance Reached Level 2]
He had already taken in enough poison gas that made the skill stat level up very quickly.
[Poison Resistance Reached Level 3]
[Poison Resistance Reached Level 4]
[Poison Resistance Reached Level 5]
The skill leveled up very quickly, making his situation much better.
The dizziness was almost gone.
He had to run till the terrain absorbed the poison.
He kept running, leaping from one wall to another, from wall to ceiling.
It had become a battle of attrition again.
[Poison Resistance Reached Level 6]
Would the terrain absorb the poison first?
Or would he run out of stamina first?
He kept running and leaping as the terrain slowly soaked the poison, while his stamina kept running out fast. The stamina bar soon turned red.
[103/670]
[Poison Resistance Reached Level 7]
Continuous running and leaping soon showed its effect.
His foot slipped.
He found himself mid-air, falling into the poison.
[Dash!]
Useless.
It needed a solid surface to be activated.
"Shitt!!!!"
His fingers clawed at empty air.
The venom's surface reflected his pale face as it rushed toward him.
No solid surface.
No escape.
"I'm dead."
But....