Chapter 3 – Ten Minutes in Hell
1699 Words
The desert roared.
The air shimmered under a sun that looked too large, too close.
Ryu Minho’s lungs burned as he sprinted across the dunes, sand exploding beneath his feet like powder. Behind him, the ground rippled — the movement of something vast and alive beneath the surface.
> [Timer: 09:54]
Nine minutes.
He didn’t even know how he was still running.
Every breath felt like swallowing knives. Sweat poured down his face, blinding his vision. His hospital gown, shredded from the heat and sand, clung to him in strips. Each step sank half a foot deep into scorching dunes, draining his strength faster than any monster ever had.
Another tremor rolled through the ground.
He didn’t look back — he didn’t have to.
The hiss was enough.
A jet of sand burst upward behind him as a serpent the size of a train car tore through the surface, its black scales glinting like molten obsidian. Its roar was a deep, vibrating screech that rattled his bones.
“s**t—!” Minho threw himself forward, barely dodging the massive tail that whipped past him, carving a trench in the sand. The wind pressure alone sent him tumbling across the ground.
He rolled to a stop, coughing out sand and blood. The heat pressed against his skin like a branding iron.
> [Warning: Vitality Decreasing]
[HP: 67 / 100]
“f**k your warning,” he rasped, forcing himself up on trembling legs.
The serpent had already circled back, its head rising from the dunes like a tower. Golden eyes locked onto him. When it opened its mouth, Minho saw the impossible — rows of metallic, blade-like teeth rotating like a grinder.
The serpent lunged.
He dove sideways, the creature’s jaw slamming into the sand with enough force to create a small explosion of dust and debris. The sound alone sent a shockwave through his skull.
> [Timer: 08:42]
Eight minutes left.
He was running blind, no weapons, no clue, no plan. The hospital wristband still dangled from his arm, the IV wound bleeding faintly. His entire body screamed for rest — but rest meant death.
“This isn’t real,” he muttered, sprinting again. “It’s not f*****g real!”
But the pain was. The heat was. The way his muscles tore and his breath caught in his chest — all real.
> [Penalty Quest: Survive for 10 minutes]
[Failure Condition: Death]
He grit his teeth. “Then I’ll live.”
The serpent dove underground again, leaving a ripple of moving sand. Minho stopped, eyes darting wildly. He knew this pattern — he’d seen something similar once in a D-rank raid.
Subterranean predators always struck from below.
“Come on… show yourself…” he whispered, body tense.
The sand in front of him exploded.
He jumped back on reflex, the serpent erupting upward, its body twisting midair like a coiled whip. Its tail crashed down, throwing him backward. The impact tore a cry from his throat as he skidded several meters before hitting a dune hard enough to knock the air out of him.
> [HP: 45 / 100]
Pain shot up his side. Something cracked — a rib, maybe two.
He coughed, spat blood, and laughed weakly. “Yeah… yeah, this is fine…”
The serpent was circling him now, moving beneath the dunes like a shark in water. Every few seconds, its massive body broke the surface, displacing mounds of sand like waves.
Minho’s eyes darted across the terrain — there was nothing. No rocks, no cover, no shadows. Just sand and heat and death.
He grabbed a shard of something half-buried nearby — glass, maybe crystal. It shimmered faintly in the sun, pulsing with a dull light.
> [Unknown Material Detected]
[Scanning…]
[Aether Shard – Residual Mana Crystal (Grade F)]
“Mana crystal…?” he muttered.
Before he could think, the serpent surged again. Instinct took over. Minho hurled the shard with everything he had left.
The shard hit the serpent’s face — and exploded.
Not much, just a flash of blue light, but it was enough to make the creature flinch and swerve off course. The shockwave blasted sand into the air, stinging Minho’s eyes. He blinked rapidly, heart pounding.
He didn’t waste the chance — he ran.
> [Timer: 07:18]
Seven minutes.
The dunes stretched endlessly, shimmering in the red light.
The serpent dove again, leaving shifting mounds that followed him like shadows.
He couldn’t outrun it forever. His legs were giving out. Each breath came with stabbing pain.
He needed a plan.
Think, damn it. Think.
The creature dove after sound — every time he ran, it tracked his footsteps.
So maybe… if he stayed quiet—
No, the sand still vibrated under his weight.
Wait… the shard had reacted to Ether. If this was like a dungeon, there had to be residual mana everywhere. Maybe—
The serpent burst up behind him again, ending his thoughts.
He dove forward, barely avoiding the strike. The creature’s mouth slammed shut inches from his legs. The shockwave sent him rolling again, his body screaming in agony.
He hit the sand hard, disoriented, his vision blurring.
> [HP: 32 / 100]
He was dying. Slowly, surely.
And yet… something inside him refused to stop.
He crawled to his knees, fingers digging into the sand. “Come on, Minho. You’ve faced worse. Move!”
He forced himself up — every bone felt like glass ready to break.
The serpent roared again, circling.
Six minutes left.
---
He noticed it then — a faint shimmer on the horizon. The dunes curved down into what looked like a pit, a crater maybe a hundred meters wide.
And at the center… a pillar of light.
> [Detected: Mana Convergence Point]
[Warning: High Ether Density]
Perfect.
Minho stumbled toward it, legs barely functioning.
The serpent followed, tunneling beneath the sand, the rumble growing louder. He could almost feel its breath on his neck.
When he reached the edge of the crater, he looked down — the sand there was darker, almost glassy, pulsing with heat. Energy rippled through the air like waves.
If I die anyway… might as well go out trying.
He slid down into the pit. The serpent came right after, bursting from the edge like a missile. The entire pit shook.
Minho grabbed another shard of crystal, his palms bleeding. “Come on, come on!”
The serpent lunged. He rolled aside, slamming the shard into the dark sand near the light pillar. The explosion that followed was massive — bright, deafening. It threw both him and the serpent apart, sand raining down like molten glass.
> [HP: 12 / 100]
[Critical Condition]
He hit the ground hard, body barely responding. Through the ringing in his ears, he saw the serpent writhing in pain — half of its face charred black, golden blood hissing on the sand.
It turned toward him, enraged.
> [Timer: 03:02]
Three minutes.
No way he’d last that long.
The serpent dove again, emerging right beneath him. He felt the ground collapse — his body thrown into the air. He landed on its back purely by accident, grabbing onto a cracked scale.
For one surreal heartbeat, he was riding the beast.
He saw the glimmer again — near its throat, a faint line between scales where the crystal had burned through. A weak spot.
He didn’t think. He just acted.
With a hoarse yell, he jammed another shard — broken from the blast — straight into that glowing wound.
The serpent screamed, thrashing wildly, sand whipping in every direction. Minho was thrown off, rolling until his body slammed into a dune.
> [HP: 9 / 100]
The serpent convulsed, then went still. The golden glow faded from its eyes. Its body slumped, half-buried in sand.
Minho coughed, spitting blood. “No way… no f*****g way…”
The notification flickered before him, soft blue light cutting through the haze.
> [Penalty Quest Completed]
[Survival Time: 10:00]
[Calculating Bonus Rewards…]
[+2 Strength, +2 Agility, +1 Vitality]
[Obtained: C-Rank Weapon – Obsidian Fang Blade]
[Obtained Passive Skill: Desert Instinct]
[Effect: Allows user to detect vibrations and Ether movement within 20 meters]
He stared blankly at the floating text, chest heaving. The serpent’s corpse glimmered, dissolving into dust that scattered into the hot air.
> [Returning to Safe Zone in 10…]
His knees buckled. Relief flooded him, so overwhelming it was almost painful.
> [9… 8…]
He laughed — broken, hysterical laughter.
> [3… 2… 1…]
The desert vanished.
---
He woke up on cold tile.
The hospital room again — sterile lights, quiet hum of machines, blood on his palms. His chest still hurt, but the pain was fading, replaced by something new: strength. His entire body felt… lighter.
He sat up slowly, trembling hands gripping the bedsheets. The faint blue glow of the System hovered above him.
> [Status Window Unlocked]
[User: Ryu Minho]
[Level: 1]
[Title: None]
[HP: 100 / 100]
[Strength: 9]
[Agility: 8]
[Vitality: 8]
[Intelligence: 5]
[Perception: 7]
[Skill: Desert Instinct (Passive)]
[Weapon Equipped: Obsidian Fang Blade]
He exhaled slowly, staring at the faint weapon icon blinking beside his status.
When he looked to his right, a black blade — jagged, curved, like a serpent’s fang — lay against the pillow. Real. Solid.
His mind raced. He should’ve been terrified. Confused. But instead, a strange calm spread through him.
The System was real. The monsters were real.
And for the first time in years… he felt power coursing through his veins.
He reached out, gripping the blade. It felt warm, alive.
His reflection stared back from its polished surface — bloody, trembling, eyes glowing faint green under the hospital light.
A faint smile tugged at his lips.
Not joy. Not triumph.
Just the quiet realization that the world had changed — and he wasn’t helpless anymore.
But as the blue window faded, another notification flickered briefly at the edge of his vision.
> [New Quest Available]
[Daily Mission: Train or Die]
[Failure Penalty: Return to Penalty Zone]
The smile disappeared.
Minho looked down at his shaking hands, then at the blade resting beside him.
“…You’ve got to be kidding me.”
- Writer
