{Ding… Ding… Ding…}
The sound was sharp… repetitive… as if it pierced the skull, not the ear.
Then—
{Special Title – Stubborn – Activated}
Silence.
A moment…
Then—
A beat.
One beat… heavy… as if a new heart had begun to pulse.
Then—
Another.
Stronger.
Deeper.
Then—
A third…
Air exploded into his chest.
He sat up suddenly.
Gasping.
As if his lungs had tasted air for the first time.
His eyes widened… staring into the void before him without understanding… without awareness.
"H… ha…"
His breaths were broken, his body trembling uncontrollably.
He looked to the right—
Trees.
But…
Not trees.
Their trunks… white… bare… smooth like bones.
And above…
They weren't branches…
But massive fungal masses, tangled, twisted, as if growing over each other in disgusting silence.
To the left—
The same scene.
Behind him—
The same.
Ahead—
An entire forest… of something that did not resemble life.
The darkness was dense.
Not the darkness of night…
