I ran down the corridor, lantern swinging wildly, the sounds of the climbing ghoul fading behind me.

My left arm was still numb from where the ghoul's claws had caught my shoulder.

Paralysis toxin. Should wear off in a few minutes.

Except it wasn't wearing off.

It was spreading.

The numbness crept down my left side, shoulder to ribs to hip. My left leg started to drag, the muscles not responding properly.

I stumbled, catching myself against the wall with my right hand.

No. This isn't right.

I tried to take another step. But my left leg buckled completely. I went down hard, knees cracking against stone, barely managing to keep my lantern from shattering.

The paralysis was spreading faster now. My entire left side was dead weight. And it was moving toward my chest, toward my lungs.

If it reaches my diaphragm, I can't breathe. If I can't breathe—

Panic clawed at my throat.

I fumbled for my pack with my right hand, trying to reach the potions. Maybe the healing potion could counteract toxins?

But my right hand started going numb.

Fuck!

No time for potions.

I activated Debug Vision, focusing on my own body.

[Status Effect Analysis]

entity_id: "jin_raith"effect_type: "paralysis_toxin"affliction: { affected_areas: "left_side (complete); right_arm (spreading)" progression_rate: "2_percent_per_10sec" estimated_duration: "45–60_minutes_without_treatment"}

severity: "high"

I have to remove it.

I focused on the status effect itself.

[EDIT: Remove Status Effect - Paralysis Toxin]

[WARNING: Complex biological edit - High cost, potential side effects]

Like I have a choice.

I accepted.

The effect was immediate and agonizing.

Pain exploded through my entire body, not the sharp pain of injury, but something deeper, like my nerves were being ripped out and reconnected. Every pathway lit up with fire, mana surging through my system in a violent purge.

I screamed, the sound echoing off stone walls, unable to stop myself.

My vision went white.

Then red.

Warm liquid poured from my nose... blood, running down my face, dripping onto the stone floor.

The pain peaked, held for what felt like hours but was probably seconds, then began to fade.

Feeling returned to my left side in a rush. My fingers twitched. My leg responded. I could breathe without restriction.

But my head felt like it was splitting open.

And the nosebleed wasn't stopping.

I grabbed my waterskin with shaking hands, tilting my head forward, trying to stop the flow. But blood kept coming.

I pulled out the blue vial with trembling hands, uncorked it, and drank.

The liquid burned going down, copper and mint and something else, Warmth spread through my pathways immediately, mana reserves replenishing.

After a minute, the bleeding slowed, then stopped. I wiped my face with my sleeve, leaving dark stains on the leather.

I sat there for a moment, back against the wall, waiting for my hands to stop shaking.

Then stood slowly, testing my legs. Both responded normally now. I picked up my lantern, checked my sword was still secure, and continued down the corridor.

The slope grew steeper with every step, the stone slick beneath my boots. I pressed one hand against the wall to steady myself, lantern swinging wildly in the other. The flame flickered like it was struggling to stay alive down here.

Great. Even the fire wants to give up.

The passage narrowed until my shoulders nearly brushed both walls. Bones jutted from the stone, femurs, ribs, skulls embedded directly into the rock like some fucked-up art installation. I kept my eyes forward, trying not to think about whose bones they'd been.

Then I saw it.

The walls were moving. Just slightly. Dust trickling from hairline cracks, the bones shifting millimeter by millimeter.

I froze mid-step.

Then...

Skeletal arms exploded from both walls.

"Shit!"

I jerked backward, but there was nowhere to go. Six skeletal limbs clawed at me from all sides, fingers wrapped around my ankle, my sword arm, my throat. The grip was ice-cold and impossibly strong.

They were trying to drag me into the stone.

My boots scraped against the floor as I struggled, panic flooding my chest.

If they pull me in, I'm done. I'm fucking done.

I couldn't swing my sword. Couldn't reach for something. Could barely breathe with the weight pressing down on me.

Debug Vision. Edit. NOW.

I focused on all of them at once, every animated bone fragment pulling at me, every skeletal hand embedded in the walls.

[EDIT: Bone Durability -95% - Multiple Targets]

The drain hit me like a physical blow, vision blurring, head swimming. But the effect was immediate.

The bones crumbled. Turned to dust and fragments. The hands released their grip, becoming nothing more than powder that sifted between my fingers.

I scrambled to my feet, gasping, and ran.

The corridor continued its downward slope, and I didn't slow until I was certain nothing was following.

Keep moving. Don't stop. Don't think about it.

Then the corridor opened into a small circular chamber, maybe fifteen feet across with a single exit on the opposite side.

I stopped at the threshold, every instinct screaming at me to keep going, but my hands were shaking so badly I could barely hold my sword.

Just for a minute.

I slumped against the wall, letting the lantern rest beside me, and forced myself to breathe slowly. In through the nose. Out through the mouth.

Then I closed my eyes and focused on the flow of mana through my pathways. It was like trying to feel blood moving through veins. The replenishment was slow, agonizingly slow, but steady.

Ten minutes passed in silence.

When I opened my eyes, my hands had stopped shaking.

Then I checked the watch I brought with me...

Four hours and forty minutes left.

Then I pulled my stats and decided to allocate my undistributed points.

STR: 15 —> 17

VIT: 12 —> 16

AGI: 13 —> 16

INT: 62 —> 69

WIS: 39

LUK: 16

Allocation Points: 15 —> 0

I stood, rolled my shoulders until something popped, and gripped my sword tighter.

Time to move.

----

The next corridor stretched ahead, thirty feet of cracked stone floor that looked like it'd been through an earthquake.

I crouched at the entrance, activating Debug Vision.

[Structural Analysis]

object_id: "support_beam_D14

"type: "load_bearing_structure"

status:

{

weight_capacity: "30kg_max"

collapse_risk: 95%

stability_rating: "critical"

}

I glanced down at myself, armor, weapons, pack. Definitely more than thirty kilograms.

Can't go back. Can't go around. So... what? Fly?

I stared at the floor pattern, thinking through options I didn't have.

Then an idea hit me.

I focused Debug Vision on myself.

[EDIT: Body Mass -50% - Temporary]

The effect was immediate. My limbs felt hollow, like I was made of paper instead of flesh

I took the first step onto the unstable floor.

The stone creaked beneath my boot, but it held.

Okay. Okay, this is fine. Totally fine.

I crossed slowly, deliberately, barely breathing. Every footfall sent small pebbles skittering into the cracks below. The creaking followed me the entire way.

Twenty feet. Twenty-five.

Then the effect started wearing off.

My weight returned suddenly, all at once, and my legs wobbled like a newborn deer's.

I lunged for the far wall, catching myself against the stone as the floor behind me gave a final, ominous crack.

Made it.

Leaning against the wall, catching my breath, and pulled out my last mana potion. The vial was cool in my palm, liquid inside glowing faintly blue.

I uncorked it and drank.

The effect was immediate, warmth spreading through my chest, mana pathways flooding with renewed energy.

And tossed the empty vial aside.

Better not fuck up from here.

The corridor opened into a massive, vaulted chamber. Rows of standing sarcophagi stretched ahead like soldiers at attention. Twenty, maybe thirty of them. All upright. All facing the single exit at the far end.

I stopped at the threshold, every instinct screaming trap.

It's just too obvious.

I tilted my head back, studying the vaulted ceiling.

Stone beams crisscrossed overhead.

Better climbing than walking to hell hole.

Then, I pulled the rope from my pack and searched the wall for handholds. The stone was cold and slightly damp under my fingers, but solid. I tied off the rope at a structural point and started climbing.

Hand over hand. Boot wedged into a crack.

My arms burned. My fingers ached. But I kept moving.

Twenty feet up, I pulled myself onto the first beam and paused, testing it with my weight.

It held.

Okay. Not dead yet.

Then I started across, moving from beam to beam, trying not to think about the sarcophagi directly below me.

When I was halfway across the chamber, I heard it.

Crack!

The beam beneath me sagged.

I froze.

Fuck fuck fuck!

[EDIT: Beam Durability +50%]

The beam shuddered, then stabilized.

I didn't wait. I moved faster now, pushing from beam to beam, not looking down, focusing only on the next handhold, the next step.

Finally, I reached the far side, lowered myself using the rope, landing in a crouch near the exit, and immediately scanned for threats.

Nothing moved.

I sighed in relief, leaning against the wall.

Made it. Now much further to the core chamber?

Then adjusting my grip on the sword, rolled my shoulders, I stepped into the darkness beyond.

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