CHAPTER 187: [OUT]

"No... No... No, no, no!"

Eli’s voice cracked as panic tore through him. His hands clawed desperately at the slick flesh around him, searching for something—anything—to hold on to inside the serpent’s mouth.

Every breath burned. Every movement made the slimy walls close tighter.

He pulled at his leg, trying to wrench it free from the serpent’s tongue, but the more he struggled, the tighter it coiled around him.

The pressure was suffocating, cold and wet against his skin.

"Am I actually—am I actually going to get fucking eaten?" he whispered, half-sobbing, half-laughing through the rising terror. His voice trembled, eyes stinging as tears blurred his vision. "I don’t... I can’t..."

His chest felt like it was collapsing, his lungs screaming for air. For a moment, the dungeon, the mission, the system—all of it—vanished from his thoughts. There was only fear.

After all the close calls, after all the near-deaths... this time felt real.

This time, he knew he might actually die.

"System... system, please..." Eli’s voice broke as he pressed a trembling hand to his chest, even though the system had long stopped responding. "I know I haven’t finished all my missions yet, but please—I... I can’t die again. I’ll do better, just—"

The serpent’s tongue jerked sharply, yanking him downward. Pain shot through his leg, making his body twist violently.

"No, please, no! I don’t want to die!"

He dug his nails into the fleshy walls, the texture rough and wet beneath his fingers. His nails tore, blood mixing with the serpent’s saliva, but he didn’t stop.

He couldn’t stop.

"System!" Eli cried again, louder this time—his voice echoing into the hollow dark. "Please—help me!"

The air grew heavier, thicker, the scent of blood and ozone choking him. His muscles screamed as the serpent’s pull became unbearable.

His grip slipped, fingers scraping against the pulsing flesh as he felt himself being dragged lower, deeper—

—and still, there was no answer.

And Eli’s hands were slipping fast.

The harder he tried to hold on, the faster his strength drained away.

His arms trembled violently, his nails scraping uselessly against the slick flesh, sweat and tears mixing with the serpent’s saliva until everything felt too wet—too smooth—to grasp.

"Please—please, no—" His voice cracked, raw and helpless, as his fingers finally lost their grip.

He fell.

The drop wasn’t long, but it felt like eternity. His stomach lurched violently, his heart stuttered, and the air tore from his lungs as his body plunged into the darkness.

’This is it.’

He shut his eyes. Braced for the burn. The crush. The agony of being swallowed whole.

But it never came.

Instead—something cold, damp, and impossibly strong coiled around him mid-fall, halting his descent with a sudden, wet snap.

His breath hitched sharply. "What—?"

He looked down—or tried to. The faint, bioluminescent glow of the serpent’s inner flesh shimmered just enough for him to see it.

The serpent’s tongue—still slick, still pulsing faintly with mana—was wrapped tightly around him again.

But this time... it wasn’t squeezing.

It wasn’t crushing him.

It was holding him.

Steady.

Suspended in the dark, Eli’s chest rose and fell in short, uneven bursts. Every heartbeat echoed through the fleshy chamber around him, magnified by the serpent’s massive pulse. The air was heavy, humid, smelling faintly of ozone and metal.

He waited for pain that never came.

"What the hell...?" His voice trembled, the sound small against the rhythmic thrum surrounding him.

The serpent’s body swayed slowly, a deep, rolling motion that almost rocked him—like it was careful not to drop him.

It was quiet.

Not peaceful. Just... eerily calm.

’What is...’

He blinked rapidly, trying to focus through the dim light and his own blurred tears. The walls around him glowed faintly, slick and alive, each breath of the creature expanding and collapsing like the pulse of an enormous lung.

’...happening?’

He sniffled, wiping his face with the back of his shaking hand. His throat burned, his lungs ached. "Why... haven’t you eaten me?" he whispered hoarsely into the dark.

The serpent didn’t answer.

Of course it didn’t.

His lips twitched into a humorless smile. "Just eat me already," he muttered. "You’re going to kill me eventually."

But the serpent only moved again—slow, rhythmic, its body undulating as it glided forward.

Eli frowned, feeling the vibration under him, the subtle shifting of motion through the creature’s massive frame. "We’re still... moving," he murmured, confusion tightening his chest. "Why are we still moving?"

He could feel it now—the rhythm beneath his body, the faint tremor of motion. The serpent wasn’t hunting. It wasn’t fighting.

It was traveling.

And it was carrying him.

Eli’s eyes widened slightly, realization dawning slowly. "Are you—are you actually taking me somewhere?" he whispered, voice trembling with disbelief.

It didn’t make sense.

Earlier, when it had swallowed them both, he thought it was because of Kairo—that the serpent saw him as the greater threat. But now, Kairo was gone. The serpent had spat him out... and kept Eli.

And then there was the voice. That distorted, broken echo in his head.

Orion.

The serpent had spoken that name.

The same name that made the system glitch. The same name that made Eli’s vision warp every time it appeared.

And now... the serpent was chasing him.

Realization crashed through him like ice.

’Another monster that’s after me.’

Great.

He felt stupid. So incredibly stupid for not seeing it sooner.

Eli swallowed hard, his throat dry despite the damp air. "Why me?" he whispered shakily. "What are you going to do to me? Feed me to your... your kids?"

He grimaced. "Do dungeon monsters even have kids?"

The words tumbled out before he could stop them, rambling nonsense born of fear. His thoughts spiraled, tangling together until everything felt blurred and frantic.

’Focus, Eli. Focus. Think.’

He forced himself to breathe, even as his chest trembled. The serpent’s hold shifted slightly, not to harm him—but to keep him steady, as if he were precious cargo rather than prey.

It didn’t make sense. None of it did.

If it wanted him dead, he would’ve been digested by now. But if it wanted him alive...

Why?

The realization chilled him deeper than the serpent’s touch ever could.

’Unless... it’s using me as bait?’

No—no, that couldn’t be it.

If it needed bait, it would’ve kept Kairo.

But it hadn’t. It threw him away.

Eli pressed a trembling hand against his chest, fingers digging into the damp fabric of his shirt. Beneath his palm, he could still feel it—a faint, flickering pulse of mana. Weak. Unsteady. But there.

It was barely enough to be called alive, but right now, it was the only thing keeping him from falling apart.

His breathing came in ragged bursts, each inhale tasting of iron and static.

The serpent’s body moved around him, a slow, rhythmic undulation that made him feel like he was floating inside the chest of something alive and ancient. Each shift of muscle and pressure reminded him that he wasn’t safe. He was merely spared.

For now.

’I’m still alive... but why?’

He swallowed hard, trying to ignore how his own heartbeat echoed faintly against the creature’s steady pulse.

For the first time in a long while, he didn’t know which terrified him more—the system’s cold, unbroken silence...or the serpent’s strange, almost protective calm.

It should have killed him by now. He knew that. Everything in its nature screamed predator. But there was no malice in its movement, no tension in its grip. Just a steady, deliberate stillness, like it was carrying something fragile it didn’t want to break.

He wasn’t sensing danger—no warning, no sharp pulse in the back of his mind. That alone should’ve been comforting.

But it wasn’t.

Because he didn’t know if that meant his ability had stopped working... or if the serpent truly had no intention of hurting him.

The thought twisted his gut. ’If it’s not broken... if it’s just not detecting danger... does that mean it doesn’t see me as prey?’

His gaze darted upward, following the faint glow of the serpent’s inner walls. The light shimmered with each slow breath it took, like the world itself was breathing with him.

He clenched his jaw. "Okay..." he whispered, voice barely audible. "If you’re not going to eat me, then I need to... figure something out before you change your mind."

His voice trembled, but his resolve didn’t.

’Think. While it’s calm. While it’s—whatever this is—be smart. Before it decides you’re not worth keeping.’

The serpent’s tongue shifted again, a small movement that almost felt like a nudge. It was subtle—gentle, even—but enough to make him freeze.

He didn’t know what that meant.

A warning? A reassurance?

He wasn’t sure anymore.

Either way... he needed to find a way out.

While it was still being nice.

Or at least... as nice as a monster could be.

For a long while, there was only movement.

A slow, rolling sway that almost felt... rhythmic. Hypnotic, even.

Eli forced himself to breathe with it—to match the motion, to keep himself from breaking again.

His heartbeat finally started to steady. Just enough for his head to stop spinning. Just enough for him to think.

He pressed a trembling hand to his chest. His fingers came away slick with something warm, but he didn’t care. He’d take the warmth over the cold, crushing fear from before.

The serpent hadn’t eaten him even after minutes passed. It hadn’t crushed him.

He tried to make out what direction they were going, but it was impossible. Everything was the same wet, pulsing glow—the heartbeat of the creature surrounding him.And then—

It stopped.

So suddenly that Eli’s breath hitched in his throat.

The entire world seemed to freeze. No more swaying, no low rumble of movement. Just stillness.Thick, deafening stillness.

Eli’s heart started to pound again. "What... why’d you stop?" he whispered, his voice hoarse.

No response.

Not even the faint hum of the serpent’s pulse. The silence pressed down on him until he could hear his own breathing echoing back.

He looked around—though there was nothing to see but the faint blue glow reflecting off slick flesh.

His mind immediately went to them.

’Kairo? Caelen? Did they catch up?’

He strained his ears, desperate to hear something—an explosion, a shout, even the faint clash of mana somewhere outside. But there was nothing.

Just quiet.

The kind of quiet that made his stomach twist.

Eli’s pulse raced faster now, the silence unbearable. "Hey," he muttered under his breath, voice cracking slightly. "If you’re gonna kill me, could you not do the creepy dramatic pause thing first?"

The serpent didn’t answer.

Instead, it moved.

The tongue around him uncoiled slowly, the slick muscle shifting beneath him with deliberate precision. Eli stiffened, his breath catching.

"Wait—wait—what are you—"

The creature’s massive jaw creaked open.Light poured in.

It wasn’t bright sunlight—it was the dim, eerie luminescence of the dungeon forest outside. But after so long trapped in the dark, it was blinding.

Eli squinted against it, instinctively throwing an arm over his eyes.

Then he realized what was happening.

The serpent’s tongue—still supporting his weight—was pushing him upward.

Out.