"Done and dusted!"
That's all I could think when that creepy thing's claw came at my gut.
But the second it touched me, it pulled back like it got burned, and the hand holding me let go.
I hit the ground with a thud.
Seeing the thing back off, scared as hell, it clicked for me.
During that scrap with the hound earlier, I got scratched on my belly, so I used some almond water to clean it up.
Since my combat suit was a pain to take off, I just poured the almond water straight onto the wound without lifting my clothes.
This left a big wet patch on my clothes, and when the thing reached for my wound, it touched the almond water.
Logically, a bit of almond water on my clothes shouldn't have hurt it, but for some reason, this thing was super freaked out.
Seizing the moment, I scrambled to my feet and bolted for my backpack. More almond water was in there!
The thing seemed to know what I was up to and didn't chase me. It just let out a couple of roars and vanished into the dark corridor.
By now, I had my backpack and the almond water in hand, but I was still shaking.
No wonder this was a level four layer. I almost bit the dust here.
I quickly packed up, dagger in one hand, almond water in the other, and pressed on.
Now, no matter how dark the corridor got, I wasn't about to hug the walls anymore.
After a few more minutes, it started getting hotter, and the air pressure went up. Breathing got tougher, like I was hiking up a mountain.
Then, I spotted a light in the distance, and my heart leapt. Could there be someone up ahead?
I sped up and rushed over.
When I got closer, I realized the light was coming from a bottle, with some blue thing zipping around inside.
I took a good look and realized it was lightning!
Lightning in a bottle!
I was stunned, but then it hit me—if I ran into another entity, chucking this lightning could save my skin.
I tried to pick up the bottle.
It was hot to the touch, so I found something to pad it and gave it a gentle shake. The bottle lit up with a bright blue glow.
"Maybe it can light the way," I thought.
With that in mind, I stashed the dagger and held the bottle out in front of me.
Sure enough, the blue light lit up the area. It was a bit dim, but way better than before when I could barely make out shapes.
I kept moving down the corridor, passing a few rooms but not daring to explore them. Who knew what freaky things might be lurking inside.
All I wanted now was to find M.E.G. and join up with the main force.
Then, I reached a slightly brighter spot and saw a human-shaped shadow up ahead.
I didn't dare get too close. I stopped a good distance away.
The person saw me too.
He waved from afar and said, "Hey, need a hand?"
I got what he was asking—if I needed help.
If it were an entity, it probably wouldn't be so chill.
Thinking that, I let my guard down a bit.
I replied, "Nah, I'm good."
But the wanderer didn't seem to catch my drift. He kept creeping towards me with this creepy grin, repeating, "Hey, need a hand? Need a hand?" That's when alarm bells started ringing in my head. I backed off slowly, saying, "Seriously, I'm good."
But this guy wasn't taking no for an answer. He kept robotically repeating "Need a hand?" as he picked up speed, even breaking into a jog.
"Shit," I cursed under my breath and bolted.
As I ran, the "vagrant" behind me suddenly kicked into high gear, and his skin split open, revealing a monster with a mouth full of razor-sharp teeth on its belly—a skin-stealer!
Hearing the pounding footsteps behind me, I glanced back and saw the skin-stealer charging at me. My hands shook so bad I almost dropped the lightning bottle.
Thankfully, the nuclear energy in my body that boosted my speed by 2 kicked in. I could feel I was running faster than when I first entered the Underworld.
But even so, the skin-stealer was gaining on me.
Then, I spotted a fork in the road ahead and veered right without a second thought. But out of nowhere, another hound appeared from the left and joined the chase.
Now I had two freaky things on my tail!
If it was just one, I might've stood a chance, but two? My tiny frame couldn't handle that!
I glanced at the lightning bottle in my hand, clenched my teeth, and spun around.
At the same time, I flung the almond water in my other hand, splashing both pursuers right in the face.
Even though I'd spilled a lot while running, there was still half left, and it hit the skin-stealer and the hound dead-on.
But with so little almond water, they only paused for a split second before lunging again.
That brief pause was all I needed to hurl the lightning bottle.
It landed at their feet with a *pop*, shattering, and the blue lightning inside shot out with a *whoosh*, exploding on the two creatures.
Seeing them glow blue, I quickly backed off.
In a flash, both entities dropped stiffly to the ground, emitting a faint burnt smell.
I felt a bit queasy but still pulled out my dagger and gave them each a couple of extra cuts.
That's when I noticed a small pearl lying quietly beside them, glowing with a milky white light.
Nuclear energy!
Nuclear energy only shows up in dangerous spots, and the higher the danger, the better the odds of finding it.
With the chase and the lightning bottle explosion, this definitely qualified as dangerous, so it made sense that one appeared now.
I eagerly picked it up, not caring about the dirt, and swallowed it whole. Instantly, a line of info popped into my mind:
Nuclear Energy: Level 1
Effect: Agility +1
Wear? (Remaining slots: 2)
"Wear," I thought.
As another slot lit up in my mind, I felt my body get a bit lighter.
I swung my dagger a few times, testing the agility boost.
Compared to before, my movements felt a tad quicker.
It was just a small improvement, but I was thrilled because that little speed boost would've taken weeks or even months of training.
Then it hit me—if nuclear energy appeared when I was chased by two entities, did any show up during the Level 9 entity army attack?
But back then, it was life or death, and I wasn't paying attention. Plus, I didn't even know about nuclear energy at the time, so I couldn't tell now.
After taking down the two entities and snagging the nuclear energy, my confidence in surviving the Underworld got a slight boost.
But just then, a cacophony of footsteps erupted in the silent corridor. The steps were chaotic, like a crowd was moving together. My heart skipped a beat.
The footsteps echoed endlessly, and the sound seemed to be coming from behind me.
I whipped my head around. In the darkness, a single shadow was slowly advancing.
Only one shadow, but so many footsteps?
A chill ran down my spine. Then, I noticed a room beside me.
The shadow was getting closer, and on the other side of the corridor, another shadow was slowly moving.
It felt like being surrounded by wolves on all sides, I thought helplessly.
Without hesitation, I dashed into the nearest room.
After slamming the door shut, I gripped my gun tightly and scanned the room.
Since I was already inside the room, even if I fired the gun and the entities outside heard it, they couldn't get in.
With that thought, I pressed my back against the door and gripped the gun even tighter.
But just then, in the darkness of the room, one pair of eyes after another lit up, all fixed on me!