Kai stood in the Colosseum with both of his hands resting on his waist, while his right foot remained dug deep inside the skull of the goblin.
*Huff... Huff...*
His chest rose and collapsed erratically as a sharp panting noise escaped his lungs. It was irregular. Rapid.
As he gasped for air, the faint sounds of a gurgle began to slip through.
With each gasp, his voice grew more and more hoarse while a strong burning sensation enveloped his throat—almost as if someone was relentlessly grinding sandpaper against his throat from the inside.
Feeling something filling up his chest, his brain grew duller as he stumbled backward and fell to the ground while the sounds of panting only seemed to have gotten worse.
"Motherfu—" As he tried to curse, he was interrupted abruptly by his very own body. Blood gushed out of his mouth—tracing down his skin, it stained his clothes.
Just as he had thought, blood had started to enter his lungs. If it went as it was now, it would surely mark the end of his life.
'A little bit of extensive movements, and this is what I become!?' He thought as he gritted his teeth together, trying to contain himself together.
His vision became blurry as a layer of crimson began to coat itself over the surface of his eyes.
Kai slowly tilted his head backward. His gaze drifted upward as the blood flow to his head seemed to have slowed down, letting his mind and vision clear up a bit.
Just as his vision recovered, he squinted his eyes as he noticed something hovering in front of his eyes.
---
[You have successfully Cleared the third phase of the Trial of Strength.]
[Rewards - (+1) Strength Stat]
[Would you like to continue?]
---
It was yet another System Window, faintly glowing up in the sky.
As Kai read the content of the screen, his gaze seemed to have shifted in terms of emotions. It had evolved into something rather stiff, like a glare.
He quietly glared at the screen while his breath regained its flow, the metallic taste of blood still lingering in his mouth.
Lowering his eyes, he pretended to quickly scan his body.
"Yeah... Doesn't look like I can continue..." He said sarcastically, his voice barely above a whisper, wavering as the pain intensified with every word.
The system window didn't react at all.
Almost as if it couldn't understand his words at all.
Kai slightly shook his head and continued, "What a drag... Well, no. I don't wanna continue."
The system window pulsed with a glow as it registered Kai's response, the content changed almost instantly.
---
[Understood.]
[You have passed the First of the Seven Trials.]
[Total Rewards gained - (+3) Strength Stat]
[Additional guaranteed rewards have been issued.]
[Additional guaranteed reward - Full Recovery.]
---
With that said, his body began to emanate a golden glow, getting brighter with each passing second while a soft churn hummed in the air.
Just like before, his body began to heal as an otherworldly warmth pulsed inside him.
With an eye-blinding flash, the golden light dissipated while his body fully recovered.
The blood stains, internal injuries, fatigue—everything had disappeared without leaving a single trace behind, almost as if it had never even existed in the first place.
Kai fluttered, opened his eyes, sat up and took a deep breath, and let out a firm, long sigh.
"Finally... I can breathe..." He said as he retained his calm composure, while briefly scanning his entire body with his eyes.
No matter how many times he had gone through this process of full recovery, he just couldn't make his brain to believe something like this was possible.
'But again, at this point, nothing seems real to begin with.' a thought popped up in his mind, calming his internal strifes down.
---
[You are now being teleported to the Safe Zone.]
---
As he was just wondering about what to do next, another one of the System's windows materialized right in front of his eyes.
Almost immediately, the same white glow enveloped his body as his consciousness blurred out for a brief second.