The Author's POV

"Does anyone have potions? Quick!"

I panicked when I felt Smallsnake's body and his heartbeat weakening. Feeling his body which was extremely hot, I knew that the situation was extremely bad.

'Not today!'

Pressing my hands against his chest, I started to move my body up and down as I tried to get the blood running through his body.

I was currently waiting for someone to give me a potion. Only a potion could save Smallsnake.

"Quick!"

I shouted out loud as I noticed Smallsnake's condition worsening.

"Here."

Thankfully, Amanda was quick to react as she handed me what seemed to be a small potion.

As I was in a hurry, I didn't get a proper look at the potion, but feeling the texture of the bottle, I knew that it was a really expensive one. I was secretly thankful inside my heart.

Pressing my hand against Smallsnake's mouth and opening it up slightly, I gently poured the contents of the bottle into his mouth.

Watching as the liquid poured into his mouth, I could feel sweat trickling down from the side of my face.

"Please work..."

For the first time in my life, I felt genuine panic as I waited for the potion to take effect.

I wasn't the only one panicking, as Ryan shook Smallsnake's body and moved closer to him. Tears had started to gather from the corner of his eyes as he hugged Smallsnake's body tightly.

"Please don't die, please don't die, please don't die…"

His voice was rather frail, evident that he was also in a similar state to mine.

Behind him, the others were also showing similar reactions as they anxiously stared at Smallsnake's body on the ground.

"Done."

Throwing the now empty bottle away, I slumped back and gazed in Smallsnake's direction.

'Please work.'

I thought to myself as I suddenly felt something press against my forehead, wiping some of the sweat away.

"Thank you."

Upon noticing Amanda standing beside me, I thanked her for wiping away the sweat on my side of the face.

"…It'll be okay. You've already done everything you can for him. All you can do at this moment is hope that he recovers."

She quietly reassured me as I felt her soft hand grasp mine.

"Huuu…"

I wasn't sure whether it was because of her sudden actions, or her calm demenour, but I slowly also started to calm down as I gratefully looked at Amanda.

"Thank you."

I once again thanked her as I shifted my attention back to Smallsnake.

'She's right, I've already done whatever I could for Smallsnake. It will be up to him from this point forward.'

Given that the potion Amanda had given me was a highly ranked one, I expected its effects to be rather quick, but as minutes passed and Smallsnake's condition didn't improve, my complexion started to sour.

"Did it not work?"

I weakly mumbled out loud as my head lowered.

My hand grasped at my clothes as a familiar pain engulfed my chest.

I couldn't quite describe what I was feeling, but it felt as though all the energy had been taken away from my body.

"Shit…"

loud, as I felt guilt creep up into

have let this happen? I should've refused Kevin's offer once I realized that something wrong was going on

cautious, none of this would've

Given all the experiences I had, I should've known better to be more prepared, but

on myself and that my faults lied elsewhere, but these thoughts never stopped appearing inside my mind. In

"Smallsnake!"

voice rang in the room and my

"What happened?"

Smallsnake, the first thing I

"Move away."

to Smallsnake and placed my hand against his neck, and

"...It's working."

I had experienced dissipated and I felt a wave of relief enshroud my body as my shoulders relaxed and I slumped

"Thank god…thank god…"

mumbled to myself as the others also

hugged his body

onto his chest tightly,

"Thank you..thank you…"

I stared at Ryan

of them must have

look of utter pain on Ryan's face was an indication of how much he cared for

taking a moment to study the faces of everyone present did I finally realize just how much of an influence Smallsnake

"Thank god…"

I slowly stood up and headed

"Where are you going?"

of my

spend more time with Smallsnake, I know that there isn't much time left. We should free

"...You're right."

his head as his

rooms, I

where Jin is located, that one is where Emma is located, and that's where Han Yufei is located. Do me a

didn't say anything for a couple of seconds. Just as I was

"Okay."

come to him. On the outside, he appeared to be patiently waiting for her, but as I noticed the hurried taps

"As expected of him."

as I imprinted

"…He never changes."

***

Drip—! Drip—!

"Huuu…1035…huuuu…1036…"

sweat dripped down her face, Emma performed a series of

all the way toward her back, gently fell in front of her face, covering her eyes. Nonetheless, this did not stop her as she continued doing push-ups on the

"1037…1038…"

she had appeared in this strange environment, Emma never once found herself

more relaxed than back when

that place, this place was like

mana was currently sealed, it

body, the quicker their

more well-trained a body was, the more mana

well known, and even

time was also required to train the body, and the little improvement they would receive from a better body would easily be surpassed by those that only focused on ranking up

was also what Emma did in the

believed that training the body was a waste of time, but as she continued to do push-ups and she felt her muscles contracting, Emma realized how naive her previous view

building. The stronger the structure at the bottom is, the safer and more durable

this far, she lowered her

"Huu…1045…1046…hm?"

Kriii—!

push-up, Emma heard a familiar rock grating sound and stopped doing whatever she was

it a bit too early for them to

She had only just returned to her

exactly was

"Ugh…"

to spill in, and Emma felt a wave of warm and humid air enter the

light, Emma was

"Emma!"

that she heard a familiar voice coming from the opposite end