In the pouring rain, faint lights cast long streaks on the ground.
Where the light couldn't reach, the underground sewers emitted waves of stench. Ji Tan Jin quietly sat down, streaks of red blood from her back smearing the wall. The overwhelming, unspeakable horror made it hard to breathe.
She tore a strip from her white garment and tied it around her head over her bleeding eyes.
Her face, obscured by blood and mud, made her features indistinguishable.
Ji Tan Jin remained silently seated. Even though her eyes had been gouged out by a member of the organization who took advantage of her carelessness, it was not a major obstacle for her.
Since then, her mental power had been scanning every movement in her surroundings.
The rhythmic patter of raindrops sounded. Suddenly, a series of chaotic system sounds rang out in Ji Tan Jin's head:
"Tick...tick...tick........"
In an instant, Ji Tan Jin's body stiffened. A boy's clear voice rang out in her mind:
"Greetings, Miss Ji! Through scanning, the system has determined you are a dangerous element that could pose a threat to humanity. The system has found the root of your hatred for this world. Therefore, it has decided to initiate a life-binding process, to quickly guide you back to the righteous path..."
Ji Tan Jin swiftly interrupted the boy and said coldly:
"I refuse!"
"Oh no, Host! If you give up, the system will have no choice but to eliminate you. But if the Host completes the mission, you will be able to return and fulfill one wish."
Stunned for a moment, Ji Tan Jin hesitated for a long while, then asked in a trembling voice:
"Even if it's... against the laws of nature?"
"That's right, Host."
Finally, Ji Tan Jin lifted her head. Although the emotions on her face couldn't be clearly seen, her voice betrayed the intense excitement within her:
"Alright. I'm willing!"
"From now on, it's a pleasure to accompany you, Host. My name is Number One."
Ji Tan Jin nodded.
"Please prepare, Host. The system will quickly transport you to another world."
Ji Tan Jin pursed her lips.
A heavy pressure weighed down on her head.
Her body rapidly became weightless and fell into the void.
Next, she landed in a patch of head-high grass.
She sat up, suspiciously holding her waist. "Do all systems use such a brutal method to drop people?" she wondered.
Ji Tan Jin used her mental power to scan a 10-meter radius around her.
Finding nothing dangerous, she pushed her way through the tall grass, surrounded by rows of tall, ancient trees.
After a moment of assessment, Ji Tan Jin discovered that some tree species were very similar to those on Earth, but their size far surpassed them.
Suddenly, a heavy rustling sound of something treading on the ground emerged from afar. Ji Tan Jin quickly climbed onto a nearby branch, silently observing. A massive, ferocious boar-like beast was charging in her direction; it had clearly smelled the fresh blood emanating from her.
It approached the base of the tree where Ji Tan Jin was standing and forcefully rammed the tree trunk, intending to make the person in the tree fall.
Its massive body heavily slammed into the tree, causing it to shake violently. Even Ji Tan Jin, who was standing, was slightly jolted.
With one hand, she clung tightly to the tree trunk to maintain her balance. With the other, she quickly pulled a strange object from her hip, swiftly twisted its tail end, causing it to extend elastically and wrap around her wrist. Then, swiftly and accurately, she swung her arm up, and a sharp, blade-like gust of wind tore through the air, swiftly as lightning, slashing deeply across the beast-pig's two eyes.
Kỷ Tán Cẩm gently withdrew the sharp blade, expressionlessly watching streams of fresh blood spray across the wild boar's face, listening to its increasingly frantic, miserable screams.
A cold smile spread across his lips:
"Ah! Still struggling, are we?"
Before he knew it, a cruel shadow flashed past, and the beast suddenly fell silent, its head detaching from its neck and dropping to the ground, followed by its heavy body collapsing.