The darkness enveloped him, and he felt as though he was being swallowed by an abyss of emptiness that incapacitated his senses. Slowly, he struggled to regain his composure and cw his way out of the dark container that had held him captive.

  Gradually, he began to feel the sensation returning to his body, starting with his skin and then his arms and legs. He realized that he was bathed in a sticky liquid that clung to his skin. He opened his eyes and saw a faint glimmer of light in the distance. Instinctively, he reached out towards the light, grasping at it until it was firmly in his hand.

  As the spot of light widened into a bright hole, he fell to the ground.

  "Upu ah!"

  He excimed in shock.

  'Where am... I?'

  He surveyed his surroundings, and his eyes fell upon the cave in which he found himself. He wondered how he had gotten there and why. He struggled to piece together his thoughts and recall his own name from the jumble of memories swirling in his unstable mind.

  'Theo...'

  Memories from his past flooded his mind like a piercing arrow, causing him excruciating pain that made him feel as though his head was about to burst. Amidst the turmoil, however, one crucial detail surfaced in his memory.

  'How could I forget? I am already dead... but'

  He turned around and something unspeakable is brought to his sight.

  "Uwah!"

  He came across a woman who appeared to be part beast, but she was barely alive. Her belly had been torn open, leaving a gaping hole in her insides. Her face was pale, and she drooled uncontrolbly from her mouth. Her eyes rolled back and shook, and her clothing and fur were covered in blood. Some of her limbs were missing as well.

  "...stone, stone, stone, monster, stone, corpse, corpse... "

  The woman muttered incomprehensible words, and Theo finally understood what was happening. He had been reborn, and the woman before him was his mother.

  'Mom'

  Yet when he look at the floor, he saw his own reflection in the thick liquid.

  "Unya!!"

  The creature in the reflection was a baby goblin, with a green and ugly face that looked fiendish and evil. Its nose and ears were disproportionately rge. Theo realized that it was the weakest and most common monster in the area, and its body was nothing like that of the beast woman.

  His mind was in turmoil, and he was bombarded with countless questions that threatened to shatter his thoughts. The muttering from his mother's lips intensified, and he felt as though he might explode from the pressure. In the end, he decided that the only way to find answers was to move forward and discover the truth for himself.

  As Theo attempted to approach the woman, a gigantic beast emerged from the darkness and devoured her head, tearing her neck apart. He felt an instinctive urge to scream, but he forced his mouth shut, and his legs were too weak to support him. Instead, he crawled behind the nearest stagmite he could find.

  As he peeked out from behind the rock, Theo noticed the scattered remains of rotten flesh, corpses, and maggots that littered the beast's ir. It was clearly a feeding ground for the creature. The beast resembled a bear with bat wings, covered entirely in bck fur with muscur, man-like arms. The only distinguishing feature was its enormous size - towering at least 10 meters tall - and its ability to walk on all fours.

  'Why the hell is that monster here!?'

  As Theo surveyed the monstrous creature before him, he recognized it as a Horned Huvan - a beast he had encountered once before during his time in the hero's party. They had battled a simir species but were unable to defeat it. It was one of those monsters that even the hero had struggled to fight.

  Now, alone and without any knowledge of his circumstances, Theo realized that he stood no chance of defeating the creature in a head-on fight. If he were discovered, he would be dead.

  'What am I supposed to do?? I am going to die at this rate'

  Despite the odds stacked against him, Theo was determined not to give up and become easy prey for the beast. He resolved to fight for survival, even if it meant risking his life.

  'That's right! If I am really a goblin, my growth rate is significantly faster than a normal human. Sooner or ter I might be able to walk!'

  He noticed that the beast is turned back and sleeping after eating those dying corpses. Then he tried to crawl his way to the nearest exit possible.

  'It's my time to escape'

  As Theo crept cautiously behind the stagmite, he accidentally pressed his hand into a thin piece of wood, creating a small clicking noise that echoed throughout the cave. Confused, he wondered why there would be a tree branch inside a cave.

  To his surprise, as he explored the area further, he discovered broken swords, a staff, and scattered arrows hidden in the darkness. Theo realized that he might have stumbled upon a previous battle that had taken pce in the cave.

  'GRrrhh'

  The noise was enough to wake the sleeping beast. It stood up and started walking towards the exit, in the direction that Theo was heading. Luckily, he had already concealed himself behind some stagmites before the beast even got up.

  The beast seemed disappointed when it found no prey from the noise and started heading towards the exit. It then opened its wings and flew away.

  'Now is my chance!'

  After managing to stand up with the support of a magic staff, Theo began walking in the opposite direction of the exit, knowing that he could not risk running into the Horned Huvan again. He made his way towards another gaping hole on the right side, keeping his focus solely on reaching his destination, even as the half-dead corpse tried to plead for his help.

  Just as he was getting closer to his destination, the sound of fpping wings caught his attention. Before he could react, the Horned Huvan had returned, nding silently behind him, ready to unch a surprise attack.

  Theo noticed the heavy air as he turned back, and saw the beast staring at him. As their eyes met, the beast began its aggressive attack, dashing towards Theo as fast as it could.

  But the way it attacked was different from what he remembered encountering as a human. The monster's skull split into several pieces, revealing another face beneath it. The new face looked like a yellowish sunflower filled with pus, with the smiling face of an old man. Its teeth were all human-like. Then, the monster's arm burst open with sticky yellowish slime, revealing its skeleton, as well as its feet and stomach. It stood up on two legs and stretched its body-wide.

  To Theo's shock, the creature screamed in a human voice, sounding like a man's terrified cry.

  "GWAAAAHHHHHHHH"

  "Uwnya!"

  Theo instinctively jumped towards the exit as the monster opened its mouth wide to bite him. He could see several strands of intestine-like organs ejected from the monster's mouth.

  As soon as Theo made it to the other side of the exit, the monster suddenly stopped and let out a small ugh. It was still a mystery to him why the monster didn't eat him when it had the chance. The monster turned its back on Theo and muttered words.

  "Rock, rock, rock, food, rock, water, water, water, water, water..."

  Theo's body tensed up, and he was frozen in shock. He couldn't believe that he had survived the encounter. Had he really made it out alive? As the monster finally disappeared from sight, Theo's tense body finally rexed, and he broke down in tears.

  "UWAAAAHHh!!! UWAhhhHH!"

  Theo recognized that his crying was a sign of weakness. He knew he must pull himself together and brace himself for what was to come. He couldn't let his emotions control him, especially with the possibility of encountering the beast again. As he wiped away his tears, he took a deep breath and faced the path ahead of him. It was a treacherous journey, and he couldn't ignore the whispers lurking in the darkness. But he had to keep moving forward. He tightened his grip and stepped forward with determination.

  "rock, rock, rock, air, air, man, man, man, man"

  He has no choice but to walk towards it, into the deep dark path, at the edge of the sanity hole.