The Cave of Despair and the Giant Beast

Among the messages emanating from the ring, a small portion was bad news that made his scalp tingle—for instance, even if she managed to escape alive, there was a high probability she’d be entangled by some strange villainous faction.

The rest were introductions and instructions for the items inside the ring.

Beyond that, the only good news was that after blood-bonding and gaining ownership of the items, she found some food and water in this magical space ring!

Enough to last for a while.

“Ugh… this compressed biscuit is so awful! With all this space inside, why couldn’t there be something tasty? Damn it…”

Pulling out a brick-like compressed biscuit, Qianwei took a bite and was immediately reduced to tears by its dry texture and bland flavor.

It was his first time using such a magical storage device. Moving with his will, she closed her eyes and concentrated on the ring, sensing the vast space within.

The most conspicuous and plentiful items were a large pile of paper currency—familiar pink notes with a denomination of 100, but the portrait was of a long-haired beauty instead of anyone he recognized.

Qianwei took some out and fiddled with them briefly before losing interest, even feeling a pang of sadness. After all, in his current situation, he had money but no life to spend it.

“Sigh… what should I do? That bastard was probably lying to me.”

She spread the bills on the stone altar and sat down, then took out a blanket to keep warm.

With a flick of her ring-adorned hand, Qianwei produced a softly glowing golden orb about the size of two fingernails, and a similarly sized black diamond-shaped crystal.

According to the wicked woman’s introduction, these two special items were called the Holy Spirit Core and Soul Crystal, which could grant him two special abilities.

The former could induce his own power to awaken and provide energy to his body. What ability he awakened depended entirely on luck.

The latter contained an Analytical Mental Ability called “Blue Hole,” which could analyze objects or people—much like a system cheat in games!

Moreover, this ability called Blue Hole had some rather sinister and tempting secondary functions, like hypnosis and the like.

Hmm…

Even setting that aside, as someone who usually enjoyed web novels and games, the mere ability to analyze information was already incredibly alluring to him.

The reason he hadn’t used them immediately was that to obtain Blue Hole, he first had to use the Holy Spirit Core, which carried about a 50% chance of death.

“…Her tone was definitely off when she said that probability. She must be lying, right? Maybe the chance of death from failure isn’t that high?”

That vile bastard just wanted to make him hesitate and agonize, didn’t she?

Qianwei gritted her teeth and finally decided to try.

“But to absorb it slowly into the body, where exactly should I put it? Eat it? Can I even swallow something this big? Ugh… seems impossible. Damn it, why didn’t she explain this part more clearly!”

Considering that once absorption started it couldn’t be interrupted, and he didn’t know how long the fusion would take, it couldn’t interfere with his ability to eat.

So the only choice was… the other “exit,” right?

“Wait, I’m a girl now!”

Qianwei shifted her body, about to try, when he suddenly remembered this fact and jolted to a stop.

“Hmm… might as well take this opportunity to examine my changed body!”

In the past, Qianwei had never been in love; all his knowledge came from the internet. Taking a close look and touching herself made his heart race.

Carefully searching through the miscellaneous area of the ring’s space, she soon found a full-length mirror and pulled it out.

Her altered appearance immediately came into view: short pink hair, deep blue eyes, a hint of worry on her brow, and delicate features that made her no less beautiful than that wicked woman!

“So pretty. Must be because my original looks were good.”

Qianwei moved around her space a bit and made a funny face, then lowered her gaze to the massive new additions that hadn’t been there before.

“D-cup? Maybe bigger… well, proportionally it’s okay, but it’s a shame about those hard-earned muscles.”

If his friends saw him like this, it would be really bad, wouldn’t it?

After spending some time thoroughly inspecting her new form inside and out, Qianwei finally remembered the main task. With a deep blush, she managed to insert the glowing core into her body, then dressed with a hint of lingering embarrassment.

With her underclothes as a barrier, as long as she was careful when using the restroom, there was no risk of it falling out.

“Hmm… it’s quite noticeable. Whew~”

Starting the fusion process, Qianwei sensed her body carefully for a while, eagerly anticipating awakening superpowers while also worrying that the fusion might really fail and kill him.

To distract himself and reduce anxiety, she made marks on the wall just in case he lost track of time, and simultaneously explored toward the cave exit using the map he found in the ring.

The cave was uneven except for the altar at the deepest part, littered with sharp stones.

The farther out she went, the fewer glowing ores there were; the cave grew wider and dimmer, and the air grew colder.

After several hours, she rounded the last corner on the map and saw the small exit at the end of an inclined slope, narrowing like a bottleneck.

But the next instant… a gigantic eye blocked the exit.

“What the hell!?”

Even though he was mentally prepared, Qianwei was so startled that her legs gave way and she fell, screaming with a pale face.

The giant divine beast blocking the door was real!!

Roar! Boom!

The tremendous roar, accompanied by the trembling earth, jolted Qianwei back to her senses. She scrambled to her feet and ran back, hiding around the corner, panting heavily as she leaned against the wall.

“Th-this is way too big! Its eye alone is larger than the cave entrance…”

He estimated the eye to be nearly two meters wide. Going by that, the overall body was at least tens of meters long. If it ate her, would it swallow her whole?

Qianwei shuddered violently and shook his head to dispel the strange thoughts, then his expression fell into despair.

“How could I possibly escape!”

Even if he succeeded in awakening his powers, he didn’t think he could survive the jaws of such a behemoth. That wicked woman probably wasn’t lying about that part.

The hope of escaping alone was minuscule, infinitely close to zero.

Once the food ran out, the only way to extend his life a little longer would be that one method.

“Do I really have to choose this…”

Qianwei looked glumly at the slightly complicated cave map crisscrossed with lines, where a small cross was marked in a special color.

According to that wicked woman, there was a victim who had chased her here but was instead trapped and sealed by her.

As fellow victims, they seemed to be on the same side, but the reality was far from that.