Chapter 131: Chapter131-Legendary Rank Monster

"When is this going to end?" I'd been falling like this for what felt like several minutes. The fall seemed endless, and the weightless feeling was really scary. Sunlight began to disappear the further I fell. At first, I was worried I might get seriously hurt, but then I suddenly realized something. Wait! This is just a dream. Why should I get injured? It should only be a slight pain, like last time. Seconds felt like forever. Anyway... I braced myself, unsure of what I'd hit at the bottom. But... Huh? Suddenly, the air around me slowed down, almost like the tunnel was catching me. The falling sensation softened, and before I knew it, I gently landed on a cold, stone floor. It was a surprisingly soft landing, like falling onto a cushion. I stayed there for a moment, catching my breath, my heart still pounding from the fall. It was pitch blackno sign of sunlight or any clue where I was. I sat up slowly, feeling the soreness in my body from the fall. "What just happened?" I muttered, my voice echoing in the darkness. Shouldn't I have hit the ground really hard? Anyway, I should be grateful I didn't. Who knows what might have happened otherwise. So, where am I? I looked around and saw that the entire area was filled with... What the heck is this place? Headless statues... Yeah, they were all similar to the giant statue outside but only about 35 meters tallhalf the height of the one I saw earlier. I confirmed this with my appraisal skill. I also noticed a few things about my surroundings: there were lamps set into the walls that provided light, making it easier to see. I'm not sure when these lamps turned on, but they must have activated automatically since it was pitch black just a moment ago. Oh, and back to the walls... The walls and the statues were all made of dark stone. I quickly moved forward when I saw the timer on the notification pageit showed only two seconds left, meaning I had about ten minutes remaining. After a few more minutes of walking, I reached a new area. Is that an altar? In the center of the space was an altar, surrounded by an area roughly 20 to 50 meters wide. With the timer ticking down, I hurried towards the altar. But as I got within ten meters, a massive face suddenly appeared in front of me, completely startling me. My body froze when I saw it. It wasn't a normal faceit lacked any typical features or physical attributes. No, it wasn't even a face. It couldn't be called one... Instead, it was a giant floating eye, about atleast 20 feet tall. Its surface was smooth and textureless, creating an unsettling, fantasy like appearance. The pupil was a bright red, piercing through the darkness as it fixed its gaze on me. Yeah, it was staring directly at me... Around the eye was a bizarre, shifting mist that emitted a faint glow, enhancing its horrific and evil aura. The sheer intensity of its gaze made it difficult to move. For several seconds, it simply watched me in silence. The fear and pressure in my chest grew stronger with each passing second. My instincts screamed at me to run, and my heart felt like it was pounding harder and harder. Despite my efforts to stay calm, the eye slowly moved closer... I... My instincts were yelling at me to run, and my heart felt like it was urging me to escape. I tried to stay calm, but it was useless. The eye-shaped monster kept advancing slowly, as if it were evaluating me. Damn, I need to do something Or this thing might Wait, what's happening to me? I'm a Gold ranker now, but I still feel so weak. Sure, I might become one of the strongest someday, but right now, I'm worried I might not make it through today. What kind of person am I? With this attitude, how can I ever become the strongest? Instead of letting fear paralyze me and only thinking about running, I need to understand the situation. I need to stop panicking and start thinking clearly. How can I handle this? What can I learn from it? If I want to get stronger, I need to face these challenges head without acting like a dipstick... But this time, something shifted inside me. Even though I was still scared and feeling a lot of pressure, I didn't panic or try to move. Instead, I met the eye's gaze directly. Facing the razor dragon had taught me an important lesson: when an opponent puts this much pressure on you, it means they're stronger and trying to intimidate you because they see you as weak. So, this time, I decided to do the opposite. The fear and pressure were even greater than what I felt with the Elite dragon. I realized that running away probably wouldn't work, as a monster like this would likely stop me from escaping. Therefore, I chose to stand my ground and appear strong, even though I knew I wasn't very strong. Another thing that reassured me was realizing that this was just a vision. I wasn't actually facing the monster in person. Letting fear overcome me in front of an illusion seemed like surrendering too quickly and, is just shit... For a moment, it seemed like the monster was laughing at me, possibly because I was standing my ground. But then I realized it was just an illusion, so it couldn't really laugh at me. Despite that, the monster still looked intimidating. In the midst of my fear, I remembered I hadn't used my appraisal skill yet. I decided to use it now. "Appraise." A virtual screen appeared in front of me, showing details about the monster. **Judgment Eye** Height: Approximately 25 feet Weight: Estimated to be 0 pounds Strength: (Sorry, your level is too low to determine!) Weakness: (Sorry, your level is too low to determine!) Critical Body Parts: (Sorry, your level is too low to determine!) Rank:??? Odds of Success: There is a 0% chance of defeating this creature in combat. When I saw the info screen, I was really confused. Why does it show the weight as zero? Maybe it's because the monster is just an illusion. And what's up with the question mark for the rank? System, can't you just say my level is too low to determine? Why write that shit? Focusing on something else... I kind of expected the odds of success to be zero. So, does this mean the creature in front of me is a legendary rank monster? The system didn't say it outright, but from what I see, it seems obvious. If it were an Elite rank monster like the troll, the system would have already gave it's details by now. Since it keeps saying my level is too low, it must be a legendary monster. And if it really is a legendary rank monster, that explains why the fear and pressure I felt were twice as intense as with the dragon. It's also the first time I've encountered a legendary rank monster since I came to this world. While I was lost in thought, the system's notification page suddenly appeared with a message. *(Ding, host, your skill "Future Sight" has finished!)* As I read it, the area around mealong with the monsterstarted fading into darkness as a portal opened up, consuming everything within seconds. This time, though, it didn't pull me in. My eyes opened, and I found myself staring at the bright white ceiling above. It didn't take long to realize I was back in my room. I sat up quickly, breathing heavily. Damn, that was shit... Even though I convinced myself I could stay strong against it, the experience took a huge toll on me especially my body, even if it was just an illusion. Everything just felt too real. Anyway, getting back to the "sight" thing. So, this means the situation I saw is going to happen in the future. From the vision, it's clearit's coming. Now the question is, how do I avoid it? It happened in an unexplored area, so for the next few days, I'll need to be extra cautious and avoid stepping into any risky zones. I'll stick to the safe areas on the map. But there's a problem. The vision was from the future, but I don't know when exactly it'll happen. Without that information, I'm left wonderingshould I be on edge all the time? I can't live in fear every day. I mean, I'm only human. What if the future I saw doesn't happen for another year or two? Ugh, too many questions, and it's getting harder to decide what to do. After thinking it over, I decided not to worry too much. I'll have to be careful when necessary and handle things as they come. With that settled in my mind, I turned my attention away from the sight and focused on other matters. I let out a long yawn, suddenly realizing something important. "Shit, I forgot I'm supposed to be asleep!" It hadn't even crossed my mind until my body reminded me just how exhausted I was. "Ahh, fuck it. What time is it?" I quickly glanced at my watchit read 2:45 a.m. There were still a few more hours left to sleep. Relief washed over me as I realized I didn't have to stay up any longer. "Alright, let's call it a night." Wrapping up my thoughts for the moment, I knew that whatever I was worried about could wait until morning. Getting enough rest was more important right now than stressing over the future. I needed sleep, and I needed it badly. I laid back down on the bed, pulling the blankets up as I tried to calm my racing thoughts. The exhaustion was starting to hit me hard, but my mind was still buzzing with everything that had just happened. The image of that massive, floating eye kept flashing in my head, along with the pressure it made me feel. Even though I knew it was just a vision, my body couldn't shake off the fear completely. I rolled over and shut my eyes, determined to get some rest. But sleep didn't come easily. My mind kept wandering back to the sight. How was I supposed to handle it when it finally happened? What kind of power would I need to face a legendary rank monster like that? Could I even survive it? I groaned, frustrated with myself. There was no use worrying about something I couldn't change right now. I had to focus on what I could do in the present, not what might happen in the future. "Just sleep," I muttered to myself, forcing my thoughts to quiet down. Eventually, my body gave in to the fatigue, and I drifted off into a deep, restless sleep. *** When I woke up, the morning light was filtering through the curtains, gently warming the room. I stretched, feeling slightly better now that I had rested, but the memories of last night still lingered in the back of my mind. Sitting up, I ran my hands through my hair and sighed. It was time to figure out my next steps. I had seen the future, sure, but nothing was set in stone. I didn't have to let that vision control my life. If anything, it was a warning, and now that I knew what was coming, I could be smarter about how I approached things. First things firstI needed to rank up and train crazily to make sure that I don't die in future by it's hand. Whatever it took, I had to get stronger, fast. There was no way I could take on something like that "Judgment Eye" monster in my current state. But I wasn't hopeless. I have several skills that, if used properly, could make me as strong as a mid-level Ace ranker. Plus, I've got a lot of potential. I just need to train harder, prepare better, and stay ahead of what's coming. "Alright," I said out loud as I got out of bed. "Time to get to work." This world won't wait for me to catch up. If I want to survive, I need to take charge of my own future starting now. *** "That's it for today!" I said, releasing the barbell from my grip. It hit the floor with a thunderous thud, echoing through the room like a gong. I exhaled deeply, my breath ragged from the strain. My arms felt like lead, muscles burning with the satisfying ache of hard work. The gravitational training room hummed softly, the air thick with the pressure of the increased gravity. I could feel every movement weighing down on me, like an invisible hand pressing relentlessly from above. Sweat clung to my skin, trickling down my forehead in rivulets, soaking into the fabric of my training gear. The gravity was set at 15 times the normal level, and every moment spent in this room felt like pushing against the weight of the world itself. I hadn't felt this kind of exhaustion in a while. Since waking from the coma, most of my time had been spent battling gold-rank dummies, which hadn't been particularly difficult. My agility and reflexes had stayed sharp, but I had been skipping out on the gravity trainingtoo focused on my hectic hunting schedule to maintain a regular routine. Today, I made the decision to change that, determined to get my body back in peak form. The barbell I'd just dropped weighed 115 kgno small feat on its ownbut under this intense gravity, it felt like an entire mountain in my hands. I remembered how sluggish I'd felt after the coma, how my body had betrayed me with its stiffness and lack of strength. At first, I had to start at 13 times the normal gravity, just to shake off the rust and retrain my muscles. Back then, an 80 kg barbell under 13 times gravity had been manageable, but still a challenge. As my strength returned, I pushed the limits15 times gravity with a 100 kg barbell. It had been grueling at first. Each rep felt like my muscles were tearing apart, like my bones were ready to crack under the pressure. But I persisted. Now, after 10 days of dedicated training, I could feel the difference. My muscles had adapted, becoming stronger, more good... The first week had been a brutal grind, but by the seventh day, I was finally able to lift 100 kg with easeeven with the crushing force of 15 times gravity weighing me down. Don't think that I just trained for three hours a day to see improvement. That's far from the truth. My week of training was far from ordinary; it was incredibly demanding. I significantly reduced both my hunting and sleep, dedicating 13 to 14 hours each day to pushing my limits. It was so intense that I hardly had any time to rest. Today, I decided to challenge myself even more by lifting a 115 kg barbell under 15 times normal gravity. The effort was extremely tough, and after just an hour, I was completely worn out. I collapsed on the floor, feeling every bit of the intense workout in my aching muscles. "Uff... Uf... I am tired." As I lay on the floor, I glanced at the watch beside me to check the time: **Name:** Michael Frostburne **Total Rules Broken:** 1 **Current Rules Broken:** 0 **Time:** 11:30 a.m. **Date:** 16th June, 2130 It was Friday, the last day of the week. Just like that, another week of training had nearly passed. Today also marked three months since my transmigration. The time had flown by during these three months. It had been an adventurous journeyarriving in this world, tasting new foods, enjoying modern video games, and going on hunts. Each day felt like a happy dream, though I hoped it wasn't just that. Still, I was exhausted, both physically and mentally. Yet, I was gradually starting to adjust to this new world. Slowly but surely, I was making progress and just needed a bit more time. "Here you go." I turned my head to see a letter on the floor. Looking up, I saw Allen standing there. It was the end of the training time, and I was about to pack up when he unexpectedly entered. "...What's this?" "An invitation," Allen replied flatly. I considered asking him for more details but decided to open the letter myself. I was going to find out sooner or later. === To : Michael of the Frostburne family ??? === Hmmm? What the heck? Why is there...