As Alen ran for his life, the ground suddenly started to shake. It wasn’t exactly an earthquake; it was far worse and more disgusting.

A fountain of purple water burst out from the ground just a few feet away from him, shooting several kilometers up into the sky. As droplets of the purple water fell back down, the rocks and pebbles on the ground instantly started to melt away.

Alen’s face paled. He finally understood that the disgusting, poisonous water was actually a highly corrosive acid, even far worse than sulfur. Not only did it smell horrific, but it melted everything it touched.

Alen quickly backed away, not wanting to come into contact with the acid. But it didn’t stop with just one. As the ground continued to shake, more fountains burst out from the earth.

Alen didn’t wait; he sprinted away with all his might. His lungs burned with intense exhaustion. He had already run for several kilometers, and now he had to run again. If he hadn’t awakened his Mana, he would have been dead already.

*Burst!*

He dodged a sudden geyser of water erupting right beneath his feet, getting as far away as possible. But a few drops of the water splashed onto him, burning the fabric of his jacket. Fortunately, his skin wasn’t burned, as the acid only hit the very edge of the garment.

He kept running without stopping. Looking back, he saw thousands of these fountains erupting into the sky. A few of them had exhausted themselves, but the total number of geysers was constantly increasing. He had to leave as soon as possible.

In the distance, he spotted a fog-covered area that showed no signs of the bursting fountains. He immediately changed direction and ran toward it. It took him several minutes to reach the boundary, finally breaking free from the acid attacks.

As he drew closer, Alen saw a dense forest. The trees were tall, and every single trunk was a deep purple color. The leaves were black or dark purple, as if they thrived in the darkness.

’What the fu*k is this place? It feels even weirder and more dangerous than the place I just passed through.’

*BOOM!*

Hearing the distant sound of another acid blast, he didn’t dare turn back. He couldn’t retreat now; there was no guarantee the fountains wouldn’t reach him eventually. He had to keep moving if he wanted to live.

But just as he took a step forward...

[Ding!]

[Place: The Forest of Dead]

[Trial 1: Survive!]

[Trial Initiated...]

Seeing the sudden notification, he felt a wave of shock.

’So my gut feeling was right? Damn! my cursed luck!’

He started walking into the forest. There was nothing else he could do. If he wanted to leave this ’hellhole’, he had to pass this bizarre trial.

’And what do you mean by ’Survive’? Shouldn’t there at least be some information or a warning? How am I supposed to know ’what’ I need to survive from?’

’Damn this cursed world!’

He entered the dark woods. As he walked, he felt absolutely no signs of life. Even the fallen leaves felt dead beneath his boots.

*Sigh...*

’At least I won’t have to battle any monsters or humans...’

But a moment later, his assumption was proven completely wrong. He heard bushes rustling nearby.

Alen froze, his breath catching in his throat for a few seconds. As the rustling continued, a drop of sweat rolled down from his forehead to his chin and fell to the ground. He felt extremely nervous, having no idea what might emerge in this dangerous place.

Swallowing his fear, he stepped forward and slowly parted the bushes. What he saw inside drained all the lingering fear from his expression, replacing it with pure, pale horror. His hands started to tremble.

In front of him were humans... or rather, former humans. They were eating monsters, animals, and even themselves.

The sight was so revolting that Alen almost choked. He watched as one undead human tore into a monster corpse, and once it was done, it started biting off chunks of its own skin. Several half-eaten bodies lay scattered across the ground—humans, animals, and monsters alike.

’What are those things? Are they undead? Yeah... the System called this place ’The Forest of Dead,’ but I didn’t think it would actually contain the walking dead. And undead humans, at that?’

Disgusted by the sight, he slowly stepped back, wanting absolutely nothing to do with these creatures. But as he retreated, his boot pressed down on a fallen branch.

*Crack*

The undead’s hollow eyes snapped toward him.

*KRRREEEEEEEAAAK—!* 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

It lunged at Alen with incredible speed. Alen didn’t have time to block the attack, but he managed to swiftly dodge to the side. The undead’s body slammed heavily into the tree right behind where Alen had just been standing.

Suddenly, Alen felt much lighter. His legs had moved far faster than he expected. He looked down and noticed a faint aura of mana leaking from his legs. He had unconsciously channeled mana in a moment of sheer desperation.

’So this is mana... it feels good.’

But the fight wasn’t over. The undead stood back up, completely ignoring the fact that several of its bones were broken from the impact. It locked its hollow eyes onto Alen again.

*KRREEEEAAK!"

It launched forward once more, this time even faster and wilder. Alen dodged it again.

As he moved, he started to get a better feel for the mana coursing through him. He realized that mana was actually very similar to blood. If he wanted to strengthen his body with it, he just had to increase the ’force’ in the targeted body parts. Just as increased blood pressure made a limb feel more charged and active, the same concept applied here. He just had to increase the mana pressure in a specific area.

[Ding! Your understanding of ’Mana’ has slightly increased.]

[Ding! You have learned a new skill: ’Body Strengthening’.]

Alen felt his comprehension expand. He was now instinctively able to strengthen his body with mana. He saw a fist launching straight toward his face.

He didn’t dodge this time.

[Body Strengthening!]

He threw a punch with all his strength, combining it with the mana imbued in his fist.

*BOOOM!*

The undead’s body was launched backward with incredible force, crashing directly into a tree. All of its ribs shattered. But incredibly, it stood back up and threw itself at Alen again.

Alen felt lighter and stronger as he continued to channel his new skill.

[Body Strengthening!]

He punched the creature again, this time aiming directly for the head. The undead’s head blasted apart. The body fell backward. But somehow, even with its head completely gone, the monster managed to stand up and lunge forward yet again.

"Damn bastard! Take this!"

Alen kicked it hard in the chest. As the body started to fall backward, Alen didn’t give it any time to recover. He punched it. He punched it again, and again, and again.

As a relentless shower of fists rained down on the undead, every single bone in its body finally broke into pieces. Slowly, it stopped moving.

Sensing that the undead was finally completely gone, Alen stood up and brushed the dirt from his clothes.

He looked at the deeper in the dark forest.

’I have to get out of this place as soon as possible or more trouble will come forward.’

Then, he started walking deeper into the forest.