The Author's POV

'How long has it been?'

I wondered to myself as I dully stared upwards.

By now, all I could see within my vision was empty darkness. Nevertheless, I continued to keep my focus on my body.

As long as I could move my body...

'The body strengthening method requires me to suffer quite a bit in order to practice it, and at the moment it is of no use to me. However, the very first part of the exercise does not require me to do anything of the sort, since all I need to do is feel my muscles in order to feel the nerve connections to my body which might actually be able to solve my paralyzing problem...'

Focusing my attention on the muscles of my body, I shut my eyes and thought about the martial manual Han Yufei had given me.

With the aid of the chip inside of my head, I was able to somewhat recall most of the most important points of the first technique, body hardening.

'This is my only hope.'

There was only one goal I had at the moment, and that was to move my body again.

Only that way could I figure out what was actually happening to me.

'Now that I think about it, what exactly happened?'

My memories were hazy since all I could recall at the moment was seeing the portal swallow me up with Jin. Everything was sort of a blur as, after that, I had no recollections of anything.

Actually, thinking about it, there was indeed something else.

'I do faintly remember having my body carried somewhere. Did I perhaps pass out during the incident and got taken prisoner by the demons?'

Suddenly, different scenarios began to appear in my mind as my heart slowly sank.

'If that's truly the case, it makes sense as to why I'm here and my mana is sealed.'

Not only that but to have also taken my dimensional space…

The situation was a lot more precarious than I had originally thought.

'What happened to Jin?'

When my thoughts paused there, I suddenly recalled that Jin was beside me right before everything happened, and my eyes immediately darted to my right and left.

I was only able to see darkness at the moment.

I didn't give up though.

As I closed my eyes, I tried to focus on my hearing to see if there was anyone else nearby.

'If I can hear his breathing…'

Drip— Drip—

After a few minutes, I realized I was all alone inside of this space as the only sound I could hear was the sound of the liquid dripping from the side of the room. Its rhythmical drops messed up my concentration several times as my face contorted.

Struggling to hear for the next minute, I eventually gave up.

'Fuck, just what in the world is happening?'

I became frustrated once again as I stopped whatever I was doing and concentrated on practicing the art Han Yufei had taught me.

An impending sense of danger washed over me.

***

"Ugh…"

Jin's mind was currently in a haze at the moment as he could hardly think straight. While his stomach churned, his head throbbed.

"...Where am I?"

echoed out. Opening his eyes,

as he had long been accustomed to such darkness no thanks to his

"Hm?"

he was unable to

became alert. However, that did

"Ren! Kevin!"

the top of his lungs as

rise from within him as he remembered the events leading up to his

bastards fucking drugged me,

you guys do to me!? Let me go

once again shouted as

didn't let him go

wait till I get out of here! I'll

he let out were greeted with

"Bastards!"

shouted once more as the veins on his neck protruded and his face reddened. He could even feel some of his spit land on his face as

with no response...forcing Jin to calm down and stare at

his eyes a couple of times,

"Haaa...haa…"

wait

he finally calmed down and observed the area he

inside of what appeared to be a small, rocky room that was covered in some sort of strange

corner, there was a small section where

Drip— Drip—

water falling

a knit of his

'What's going on?'

"Huh? My mana?"

his eyes to see if there was something

his dimensional ring on any of his

bells instantly rang

This…

a prank that Kevin and Ren would pull. Maybe

never go as far

him that this perhaps

speaking and focused

I need to do is make my regain the senses of

***

'I can feel something.'

electric current flow through my body, my eyes

me. It wasn't long before I could finally fully feel my

mind as I waved my hand in front of me and felt the air on

I cant finally move

spread across my face as I took notice of this

"Thank god..."

quietly murmured

moving again, but instead of being annoyed by the thought, I was happy as I closed

my mind as I focused all of my attention on the

as there

"Ugh."

tingling sensation circulated around my body,

it, but I felt as though a thousand feathers

'This sucks.'

fell in and out

were slowly adjusting to the darkness around me, enabling

am in a small room. The size shouldn't be too big considering

of my thoughts, I heard

Clank—!

"Ukh!"

to the ground, I felt a weird mucus-like substance fall all over my

"What's this!?"