Wei had already searched the entire area inside the barrier.
Now it was time to see what lay beyond.
For the past few days, he had survived on the food provided by the system and some strange fruits that barely looked edible.
But food wasn't his biggest problem.
Water was.
There was no water source on the mountain. He had been surviving on the small supply of water from the system, but that was running low as well.
After thinking about it for a long time, Wang Wei finally took a deep breath.
Then he stepped outside the barrier.
The moment he crossed the invisible boundary, a strange feeling washed over him.
Danger.
It was as if some invisible protection had been lifted.
He was no longer safe.
Shaking his head, Wei began walking slowly down the mountain, searching for water. He remembered that most mountains usually had lakes or streams somewhere below.
He just had to find one.
Every step he took was filled with caution.
The forest around him was eerily quiet.
Then—
Zrrrrrr…
A strange sound echoed through the ground.
It sounded like something large was crawling in the soil.
Wei's eyes widened.
Without hesitation, he quickly ran and hid behind a massive tree.
Even though this world was different, what shocked him the most was the size of the trees.
They were enormous.
Ancient giants reaching toward the sky.
The strange sound grew louder.
Zrrrrrr… Zrrrrrr…
Then he saw it.
A worm-like monster slowly crawled across the forest floor.
What made it terrifying wasn't just its appearance.
It was its size.
The creature was almost as large as a car.
Wei held his breath, not daring to move.
Suddenly—
Ding!
A notification appeared in front of him.
[New Quest]
Quest: Defeat the beggar-Class Monster — Poison Worm
Reward: Inventory
Failure: ???
Reading the quest, Wei's face became tense.
"Does this system want me to die?"
He looked at the monster again.
The creature was almost the size of a car.
"How am I supposed to defeat that thing?"
But then his eyes moved to the reward.
Inventory.
Wei's expression changed.
"That reward… is actually very useful."
He also wanted to test how strong he had become after raising his stats.
Taking a deep breath, he began looking around for anything that could help him.
He didn't want to fight the monster head-on.
But after searching the area, he found nothing useful.
After thinking for a moment, Wei made a decision.
"Fine… I'll do it."
Suddenly, he jumped out from behind the tree and swung his sword at the monster's back.
"YAAAA!"
Clang!
The blade struck the worm's thick skin.
The impact sent a painful vibration through Wei's arms, almost making him drop the sword.
But it only left a small cut.
Wei's eyes widened.
"That's it?!"
Without wasting another second, he immediately turned around and started running.
Behind him, the Poison Worm felt the pain and let out a furious screech.
It began chasing him.
Wei kept running while looking back.
But the monster was faster than he expected.
Its massive body slid across the ground at terrifying speed.
"Damn… it's fast!"
Wei continued running, breathing heavily.
Then suddenly—
He saw an opportunity.
Two massive trees were growing very close to each other.
Wei quickly jumped through the narrow gap between them.
The giant worm tried to follow him.
But its huge body got stuck between the trees.
Wei stopped and turned around.
Looking at the trapped monster, he smirked.
"Just as I thought… you're not that intelligent."
He rushed forward and began slashing the monster again.
Clang!
Clang!
Clang!
But its skin was still too tough.
Suddenly—
"URRRRRRR!"
The monster let out a terrifying scream.
Then its body began releasing a thick, jelly-like slime.
The sticky substance spread everywhere and started melting the trees.
Wei's eyes widened.
"Acid?!"
If the monster freed itself, he would be dead.
He had to kill it fast.
Wei quickly looked around, searching for a safe place to attack.
Then he saw it.
The only place without slime—
The monster's mouth.
Wei gritted his teeth.
"I don't have another choice."
He rushed forward and thrust his sword directly into the creature's open mouth.
"DIE!"
The blade pierced deep inside.
"UUUURRRRR!"
With a final painful scream, the Poison Worm's body went still.
It was dead.
Wei stepped back, breathing heavily.
Wei collapsed against a tree, his chest rising and falling rapidly. His arms trembled from the fight.
His clothes were partly burned by the acidic slime, but luckily he wasn't seriously injured.
Slowly, he pulled his sword out of the monster's body.
Ding!
[Quest Complete]
Reward: Inventory Unlocked
Another notification appeared.
Ding!
[Valuable Item Detected]
Wei frowned and looked around.
"Valuable item?"
His eyes soon landed on the massive worm corpse.
"…Is the system talking about this?"
He shrugged.
"Well, I have an inventory now anyway."
"Let's try it."
In the next moment, the giant worm body disappeared and was stored inside his inventory.
Wei nodded in satisfaction.
"Not bad."
After that, he continued walking down the mountain, still searching for water.
After some time, he finally found a lake.
But the moment he saw it, his body froze.
The entire area was filled with hundreds… maybe thousands… of Poison Worms.
It looked like a city of worms.
Wei quickly hid behind some bushes.
Carefully, he filled some water into his inventory.
Then he slowly retreated.
As quietly as he had come.
Because he knew one thing very clearly.
If he got caught here…
It would be game over.