[Jake's POV]
The spiral staircase felt like a mountain.
With every step I took, the torn muscle in my abdomen screamed in protest. The heavy combat corset was soaked through with blood, the sticky warmth spreading down my hip and soaking into the fabric of my tactical pants. My vision was tunneling, the edges of the world turning dark and fuzzy as the blood loss and sheer physical exhaustion threatened to drag me under.
I didn't have Oracle to regulate my adrenaline. I didn't have the System to numb the pain. I was operating on nothing but raw, violent willpower. Every breath was a conscious effort. Every movement was a defiance of my own mortality. The pain was no longer just a physical sensation; it was a heavy, suffocating blanket trying to drag me down into the dark. But I couldn't stop. I had come too far. I had burned too much of the world to let my own body fail me now. I forced my legs to move, one agonizing step at a time.
