Many years ago.When Shiney was young, she came to Drake’s restaurant with her friends, and she asked her uncle Marcus for a free lunch.Marcus agreed, but Jim didn’t.“Why should we give you and your friends free meals?” Jim asked back. “Do you think we’re getting the ingredients for free?”“Did I ask you?” Shiney retorted. “Why are you interfering when you’re not even the owner?”“What? You really are…” Jim gritted his teeth. He was eleven years old at the time. Shiney was eight years old. He didn’t want to waste his energy arguing with her, so he went back to the kitchen and argued with his dad instead. “Dad, if you give her a free meal, she’ll bring her friends again every week. You shouldn’t do this.”“She’s your cousin, Jim. If she asks for something, you should do it as long as it’s a reasonable request,” Marcus replied.“Huh? How is this a reasonable request?” Jim asked back.Marcus put juicy chicken pieces on five plates. “Take these starters out.”“Why are there five plates?
Ronny had long finished eating all the food in the room, and so he was ready to move out any time.However, he could see that Jim was still practicing very diligently.“If I don’t say anything, it looks like he’s going to practice for an entire year,” Ronny muttered under his breath.Jim was standing with his eyes closed, so it looked like he was doing nothing. Howbeit, Jim was learning to move vivre through his veins as he wanted.[Feel the energy pulsing through the veins…] Joe whispered in Jim’s mind to make things easier for him. [Once your mind is in sync with the energy flow, the veins will resonate.]Jim followed exactly what Joe said, and he was able to release vivre all over his body just like he did in his fight with Pyros. This was the first time he was able to do it again after that. So, it made Jim feel a lot happier.“I finally know how to do the full-body energy release,” Jim said. He could feel that his energy was much more stable now. Even his breathing was normal. “
A few minutes passed.No noise came from inside the room, so Ronny couldn’t tell whether Jim was alive or not.“Damn it. Do I have to do everything by myself now?” he could hear his own heartbeat. “I don’t think I can do that, though.”Just then, the door opened.Jim stepped out, looking completely alright.Ronny was extremely relieved to see him. “I thought you died.”“Did I disappoint you?” Jim asked, not smiling.“Of course, not.” Ronny looked into the room. The hornet nest was gone. “Did you kill the hornets?”“I practiced my new techniques on them,” Jim replied. “Anyway, let’s go. It’s time to face the werewolf.”“What?” Ronny was shocked. “You want to face that monster? Don’t you remember barely escaping from that thing last time? Why do you want to face it all of a sudden?”“Because I want to test myself against it,” Jim said confidently. “And I think I can defeat it now. Even if I can’t defeat it, I think I can at least stand my ground against it for a while. So, there’s no ne
The werewolf was fast, but Jim’s eyes were able to keep up with its movements. Not just his eyes, but his body was also able to move accordingly. He ducked to the side and dodged the claws, but the werewolf slashed its other arm even faster.“Ngh!” Jim was forced to unleash a kick. He struck its forearm and stopped the attack in its tracks.The werewolf brought its mouth closer fast, trying to bite Jim’s face off.Jim landed a hook punch, which barely stopped the beast. “Damn, he’s quite heavy.” Jim felt his own hand hurting. “I don’t think I’ll do any damage if I don’t use vivre.” Jim released vivre into both of his hands.The werewolf, as if able to sense the pressure building around Jim’s fists, howled at him, releasing a gust of wind like it did in the past.Jim felt the energy in his body and hands shake slightly but not as much this time like it did in the past. “That’s not going to work this time!” he jumped in to punch, but the werewolf quickly jumped back. “He’s backing away?
BAM~! BANG~! BA DA BOOM~~!!The explosive noise from the clash was so loud Ronny felt the vibrations travel through his body. It felt like the entire ceiling would collapse on him and bury him alive. He couldn’t even run because he was frozen in fear.The nearby walls of the rooms where Jim and the werewolf were got destroyed, setting multiple strong beasts on loose.The flaming, thundering sun energy Nero had gathered now dispersed into thin air, and the werewolf was pushed a few feet back.Nero could feel the werewolf’s arms trembling. He was visibly surprised. “It’s one thing you were able to use such an advanced attack, but for your body to be able to withstand it…” he grinned through the werewolf. “You didn’t disappoint me, J7. No, you’re worthy enough to be called with your real name, Jim.”Jim frowned. How did this bastard know Jim’s name? This meant that they probably had the ability to know a person’s identity from an image alone, using their connections. However, right now,
After the oversized rabbit from room number 175 and the monstrous ostrich from room number 246 died, the twin-headed black panther from room number 204 and the scary black mamba from room number 125 were still going even though they’re not in a position to properly fight.“These things are like zombies,” Jim thought as he kept fighting both the black mamba and the black panther. “They don’t care about their injuries, which makes fighting these things very hard. And all these beasts move very fast, so it’s consuming a lot of my energy.”[Do you want my help?] Joe asked.“No,” Jim was quick to refuse. He didn’t want to waste so much energy on these beasts as he still needed to fight the werewolf that was watching him fight from a distance. “That bastard… he’s waiting for me to tire out so he can easily defeat me afterward. I can’t let things go his way.”Jim released more vivre into his hands and tried to overwhelm the beasts with his barrage of punches.The black mamba and black panthe
The watchers’ chat was going crazy right now. Not just mid-level watchers, but even some high-level watchers joined the chat.“Is it true that a pawn named J7 defeated the werewolf that was being controlled by the chief manager?”“Yes.”“Then why isn’t there any footage?”“I guess Nero removed it since he lost?”“Haha, that makes sense, but I don’t believe this rumor. I mean, how can somehow who hasn’t even been on the first floor for a week manage to defeat a werewolf? Do you think that makes any sense? He’s not even a part of the Beast Brotherhood.”“But he seems very good at learning vivre, so he’s able to pull off a big upset.”“If he had depended on the nanobots, he wouldn’t have been able to defeat the werewolf, but because he learned vivre, his future growth is limitless. I wouldn’t be surprised if he becomes a high watcher within a year.”“A high watcher is someone who has at least managed to reach the fourth floor. You think he can do that? Don’t kid me!”The watchers were ve
“What do you think is up there?” Ronny asked.“It’s definitely not freedom,” Jim said. “From what the robot hinted, there are four floors. So, the second floor is just a passing stop.”“Of course. We’re going to keep climbing until we get the hell out of this dungeon,” Ronny said. “Now, ladies’ man first.”Jim glanced at him and raised a brow. “Ladies’ man? Seriously?”“C’mon, you should look at yourself in the mirror,” Ronny blurted. “Of course, you got a great body and all, but you look like a fine specimen after you put the suit on. You’ve got the look and the swag in your genes. If you were to say you’re a billionaire’s son, I wouldn’t doubt you.”“My dad is a chef,” Jim replied.“Can’t chefs be billionaires?” Ronny retorted.“Name one billionaire chef,” Jim asked.Ronny paused a second and said, “Your dad.”Jim paused this time and laughed just a little.“Haha,” Ronny also laughed a little.This was the first time they shared a genuine laugh together since they met, even though i