Pain ceased.
Then, everything rushed back. A supernova of agony detonated behind his eyes as nerves came online with brutal and sudden speed. Gyeong gasped, wet, ragged sound that scraped his throat raw.
[Rebirth fully initiated. Regeneration in progress.]
The blue text was a hammer blow to his consciousness. Gyeong In screamed, but no sound left his lungs.
His vision swam into focus. He lay flat on his back, staring up at the jagged stones of the mine. He should be red paste. He should be nothing but bone and meat in the wrong order. Yet, he felt the weight of his own limbs.
Gyeong tried to lift a hand. It trembled violently, fat fingers twitching. He felt the cold sensation of skin stitching itself together under his clothes, the muscle fibers knitting back into place with an audible, wet pop.
[System Check: Complete.]
[Status: Vessel Integrity Restored.]
Gyeong In lay in the darkness, his breath coming in hitching gasps. He patted his chest. He was still fat. He was still Lucian. The injuries were gone, the blood vanished. He was whole.
"You..." Lucian wheezed, "You damn fucker, Was it so hard to explain that Rebirth, mean Literary REBIRTH after death?!"
He sat up, groaning as his obesity fought against the movement.
Lucian craned his neck, peering into the oppressive gloom above. He had really landed at the bottom of the cave; the ledge he had been thrown from was barely a silhouette in the crushing darkness.
He looked down at himself, running a hand over his torso. His clothes were in tatters, ripped to shreds by the jagged rocks and the violence of the fall. Strips of fine, noble fabric hung loosely from his heavy frame, exposing pale, unblemished skin beneath.
It made no sense. He remembered the impact, the crunch of bone, the explosion of pain. Yet, looking at his bare stomach, there wasn't a single scar, not even a scratch.
"You have to be kidding me," Lucian muttered, grabbing a handful of the ruined cloth. "So, I can die, but I can't die die?"
[Permanent death is currently restricted.]
Lucian pushed off the stone floor, wobbling as he found his footing. The darkness was thick, but a blue light emanated from the [System] text hovering in front of him.
"So if I die," Lucian mumbled to himself, "I have to re-watch the whole sordid affair?"
He began to walk deeper into the cave, his heavy steps dislodging pebbles that skittered into the abyss. The air grew colder, carrying a earthy scent. He brushed aside a thick cobweb, wrinkling his nose.
"Today, I died in the mine. I watched the hospital death, The whole day after reincarnating then the ride, then the fall. But what if I had lived for a year before dying?" Lucian kicked a small stone, listening to it bounce away. "Would I be forced to relive three-hundred-and-sixty-five days of monotony just to wake up? That's a prison sentence."
He squinted, trying to pierce the darkness ahead. He needed to find a way out.
Lucian stumbled forward, his hands brushing against rough walls. A weak orange glow blinked far ahead, and he followed it, his breathing heavy in the confined space.
He rounded a corner and found a crude wooden rack mounted to the wall. A half-dozen torches were stuffed into it, wrapped in oil-soaked rags. Lucian snatched one, grabbed a flint and steel from a hook nearby, and sparked a flame. The fire sputtered to life.
Armed with light, he pressed on. The tunnel widened, revealing the signs of the goblin attack. A discarded pickaxe lay twisted, its handle snapped. Dark, dried splatters stained the floor. Lucian stepped over a pile of rubble, his boots crunching on loose gravel.
"System," Lucian spoke to the air. "I've died once. I've survived a fall that pulverized me. Surely that counts as progress? Give me something to work with."
[Criteria: Inadequate.]
Lucian stopped, "Are we really still doing that?"
[Interface remains locked. Biological hardware requires adaptive pressure to stimulate growth. Current status: Fat.]
"That's not very sensible of you," Lucian scoffed, kicking a loose stone down the tunnel. It clattered loudly as it bounced off the damp walls. "I've been impaled and dumped into a pit. Does that really not count for anything?"
[No. Your first death was inevitable. It would have occurred sooner or later. It was merely a question of timing. Even so, your suicidal tendencies are noted as concerning.]
Lucian ground his teeth, fingers curling at his side.
Maybe give me a functional body next time, he thought bitterly, so I don't feel the urge to hold myself hostage just to squeeze out a scrap of information…
He had walked for what felt like an eternity, his legs burning with the exertion of hauling his mass through the uneven terrain. The silence was oppressive, broken only by his own ragged breathing.
Suddenly, the narrow tunnel opened into a vast, cavernous chamber. Lucian stopped dead at the entrance, the torchlight flashing wildly.
It was a dead end, a natural cul-de-sac carved by ancient water or perhaps something more sinister. The walls were encrusted with phosphorescent fungi that cast a sickly green glow, reducing the need for his torch. But it was the sound that drew him up short.
From the far side of the cavern came a rhythmic thumping, followed by wet, guttural chewing noises. Lucian's stomach churned, though not from hunger.
He squinted against the gloom, his heart hammering. He took a cautious step forward, keeping his back pressed to the wall. The green light revealed a pile of bones near the center of the room. And moving around them were three, distinct shapes.
Goblins.
They were smaller than the ones above, hunched and grotesque. They were tearing at something that looked disturbingly like a human leg. Lucian felt bile rise in his throat. He instinctively reached for a sword that wasn't there, his fingers closing on empty air.
One of the goblins paused, its large, pointed ear twitching. It turned its head slowly, yellow eyes piercing the darkness. It sniffed the air, smelling the smoke of Lucian's torch.
Lucian froze, pressing himself flat against the stone. He held his breath, praying the shadows would swallow him. The goblin dropped the bone, the sound echoing loudly in the chamber. It took a step toward him, dragging a rusty iron shiv along the ground.
[Detection: Hostile Entities. Range: Twenty Meters.]
The goblin let out a high-pitched shriek, alerting its companions.
"Damn you," Lucian hissed under his breath.
The three creatures scrambled to their feet, their movements jerky and unnatural. They spread out, moving to flank him. Lucian realized with a sinking heart that he was trapped. The tunnel behind him was the only exit, and they were blocking the route back.
He raised the torch, holding it out like a holy ward. "Stay back!" he shouted, his voice cracking.
The lead goblin lunged.