Death or Survival

As Takai pushed his friend Ji into the gate, Ji felt an overwhelming force pulling him in. Suddenly, he landed on strange wooden branches. Looking around in astonishment, he muttered,

"Where am I?!"

The scene was breathtaking: towering, thick trees surrounded him on all sides, their strong, interwoven branches forming a fragile "ground" beneath his feet. He lifted his head, trying to glimpse the sky, but it was completely obscured by the massive branches overhead.

Suddenly, a cold voice came from behind him:

"I'm here... to kill you."

Ji spun around, his face pale, and shouted,

"Who?! Who's there?!"

What he saw made his heart skip a beat—Don stood there, smirking maliciously. But the eerie expression on Don's face disappeared as he burst out laughing:

"Hahaha! Why do you look so scared? I was just joking!"

Ji glared at him, his face flushed with anger, and yelled:

"Enough! You're scaring me too much!"

Don stopped laughing and looked at Ji seriously, his crimson eyes gleaming faintly.

"Listen carefully, Ji. This place is called Zaire. It looks like a jungle, but there's no actual ground here. These strong branches form the terrain, but one wrong step could break them, and if you fall... you'll never come back."

Ji, still breathing heavily, replied stubbornly:

"Alright, I get it. But I need to get out of here as soon as possible."

Don sighed coldly, his red eyes glowing faintly as if recalling something distant. In a low voice, he said:

"There's a human empire nearby... but it's not always what it seems."

Ji looked at him in confusion:

"What do you mean?"

Don didn't answer. His mind was consumed by painful memories: the mission assigned to him by the organization. Back then, he was tasked with spreading the deadly Zan Kai technique over a confined area, but his control failed, expanding the range to 11 meters, leading to countless deaths. The faces of the elderly—easy targets, helpless in their final moments—still haunted him in his nightmares. From that day, Don became a different person: cold, reserved, and unwilling to get involved in others' problems.

He muttered to himself:

"I can't let it happen again..."

Turning to Ji, who was already moving forward through the branches, Don said in a loud voice:

"Don't be reckless, as always. You don't know what might be waiting for you."

But Ji wasn't listening. Hours of walking passed, and exhaustion crept into Ji's body. He slumped against the trunk of a massive tree, panting.

"How much further do we have to go?! It feels like I've been walking forever!"

Before Don could reply, both of them heard a faint cry:

"Help... someone...!"

Ji shot up, alert, and said eagerly:

"Did you hear that? Someone needs help!"

But Don stepped in front of him, his crimson eyes cold and unyielding.

"Leave them. You need to reach the empire quickly. Don't distract yourself with strangers."

Ji snapped back defiantly:

"What are you saying?! How can I just leave them?!"

Without waiting for an answer, Ji dashed toward the voice. Don sighed to himself, his tone tinged with sadness:

"Again... he doesn't understand."

Ji followed the cries until he reached the source, and the sight before him froze him in his tracks. A young girl was crying and screaming, while her older brother lay injured, deep gashes covering his shoulder and leg. The boy weakly held up a sword, trying to protect his sister from ferocious black beasts. Staggering, he muttered:

"I'll... protect you... sis..."

Then, he collapsed unconscious, and the girl screamed:

"No!!! Stay away from him!"

One of the beasts lunged at her, but Ji intervened, kicking it away. With determination, he shouted:

"I won't let you touch her!"

Ji fought the beasts, using the power of his bones, but they were far stronger than he anticipated. His muscles ached, and he yelled in frustration:

"Why aren't my attacks working?!"

From a distance, Don's voice rang out:

"Sharpen your bones. Use the dragons within you!"

Ji closed his eyes, trying to focus, but the beasts were relentless, their hides too tough for his power to pierce.

"It's no use!"

Don stepped forward confidently, saying:

"Let me borrow your body for a moment."

Ji hesitated but finally nodded:

"Alright... just do something!"

In an instant, Don took control of Ji's body, moving with blinding speed. He kicked the beasts with powerful strikes, either tearing them apart or throwing them into the river below, where they sank under their own weight.

When it was over, Ji returned to normal, panting heavily.

"How... how did you do that?!"

Don gave him a faint smile:

"You're learning quickly. But remember this: never trust appearances."

As Ji tended to the boy's wounds, the young girl, still trembling, asked in a soft voice:

"Who... who are you?"

She paused before whispering:

"I'm Lisa, the daughter of the King of the Human Empire. And this is my brother, Levin."

Ji froze in surprise.

"You're the King's children? Well then, I'll take you there." After a day and a half of traveling through Zaire, sunlight began to pierce through the dense trees, signaling the end of the strange jungle and the start of a new path. The air was different here—pure but heavy with anticipation. Ji stopped in awe as he saw the colossal gates of the Human Empire before him.

The gates towered dozens of meters high, made of dark steel and adorned with golden carvings depicting epic battles between knights and dragons.

The sound of horses neighing and the steady march of armored guards filled the air. The guards appeared like phantoms of iron, their silver armor glinting under the bright sun. They held long spears, each wrapped with banners bearing the empire's emblem: a golden eagle soaring above a mighty mountain.

Ji stared up in amazement and whispered:

"This... is incredible!"

Lisa smiled proudly, pointing to the emblem.

"That's our crest... my family's symbol."

She added quietly:

"My father always said the eagle represents our strength, and the mountain represents our resilience."

Ji nodded, walking alongside her. The area in front of the gates was bustling with life: merchants shouting to advertise their goods, children laughing and playing, women in brightly colored dresses, and soldiers inspecting every newcomer with stern gazes.

Ji muttered to himself, taking in the vibrant scene:

"An entire world here... so different from anything I've ever seen."

End of chapter...