Chapter 31: Buried

'Where am I....?'

Insig thought to himself exhaustedly. When suddenly, memories surfaced in his mind and he finally remembered what happened.

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When the last round of fireballs rained down, he thought that the barrier was going to be destroyed, so he immediately activated the artifact in his hands and covered himself with life energy.

*Zing* (Artifact sound effect)

Starting from his finger that held the ring, earth quickly surfaced from his skin and spread to his whole body, making him sturdier.

After that, he immediately looked for what he deemed as a 'safe place', even though wherever he hid, the impact of the fireballs would still crush him.

He hid there for a minute or so. However, that terror that he expected didn't come. Instead, he heard the cheers of his coworkers.

'Don't tell me.... I activated my artifact for nothing!? Then.... how do I remove this?'

He felt depressed at this thought, he wished to use the artifact for when a fatal attack hit him. He wanted to use it last time, but he forgot because he was new to this world. But now.... it was all for.... nothing.

After a minute of regret, he hurriedly stood up and approached the window. But suddenly, the sky darkened and clouds blocked the sky.

The surroundings went dark and almost looked like night time. If it weren't for the fact that there was a bright Sun up-high just minutes ago, he would have mistaken it for a night time.

Insig suddenly got an ominous premonition. He felt that something scary was coming.

"W..... What the f*ck is this?"

*Thud* *Rumble*

Suddenly, the earth faintly shook. But, it quickly got stronger as time went on.

Water rained down at the barrier and the impact shook the whole camp. Things that were hanging in the walls wobbled and fell down.

"Oh no! Oh no! Oh no! Oh shit! Oh shit! Oh shit!"

Without even thinking, Insig quickly bolted to the place he deemed as safe earlier.

While running, he sometimes lost balance and stumbled because of the darkness and the earthquake, but he still reached his destination.

*Rumble*

While looking around, he observed that the walls were cracking and dust was falling in between these cracks. (He felt them, so don't question me how he knew this even though the place was dark)

He heard his coworkers screaming and panicking in fear. They sometimes hit their head in walls because of the darkness

Insig ducked and covered his body with his hands. He felt the rough texture of the earth in his scalp, giving him a 0.0001% sense of safety.

He was shaking in fear and all around him was darkness. He was sweating slightly because of nervousness and he felt that his bladder was about to... burst, but Seiki didn't mind that.

'W... What the f*ck? Am I going to die? Again? In the past, I thought it was slightly cringe when MC's experienced near-death scenarios many times, but it was actually scary.'

Realizing his inappropriate thoughts, Insig shook his head and disciplined himself.

'What are you thinking about, idiot Insig? You're about to die! At least do something! Like...'

*Shatter*

While he was immersed in his thoughts, the sound of glass shattering entered his ears.

"... Oh f*ck."

This was Insig's last thought.

*Boom!* *Rumble!*

Without a warning, Insig suddenly felt his vision shake. He felt like the world was angry.

Loud sounds, reeeeally really loud sounds, echoed throughout the place. Everywhere.

Everywhere the rain hit would immediately cause a loud sound and crumble. He felt like his ear drums were bleeding because of the rain.

This made him hear a high-pitched 'iiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiii', making him dizzy.

The walls were cracking in too much force, and the ceiling immediately fell on Insig.

*Thud*

Debris buried him and hit his head, rendering him unconscious. However, the rain continued to attack him, making him soaked and wounded.

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'... That's right... That was what happened.'

Insig nodded to himself mentally.

'Then.... does that mean I'm buried in debris?'

Insig tried to move his hands to push away the thing that was pressing him. But it was for naught as the unknown thing was pressing unto him heavily.

'Should I just stay in this place?'

Insig asked himself as he feels oddly secure here. No enemy, no pain, no life, and no happiness. He can also stay in this place for a very long time because he has his mana heart to heal him, so he doesn't have to worry about dying or suffocating.

Indecisive, Seiki Insig, but then, because he was in an enclosed space, dust and gravel was everywhere.

'Oh f*ck.'

Dust entered his nostril and this caused him to cough. His muscles tightened and tried to expel the dust.

*Cough*

However, every time he coughs, his limbs would twitch and this would cause them to ache in pain because of the debris squeezing his body.

'Aaargh! Damn it! It f*cking hurts! Stop coughing!'

This repeated on and on, until the dust and gravel were fully expelled from his nose. Insig's eyes were slightly moist from all the pain, his eyes were fierce and he looked angry.

'Hahaha. F*ck it! I changed my mind. I'm gonna leave this place!'

He doesn't want to be here anymore. No space, no air, no movement, no companion. It was torture.

With that, Insig planned his escape. He looked for all the possible things he could use in his arsenal.

'I only have my magic, my body, and my knowledge... Let's look at my magic first.'

Insig closed his eyes and tried to sense his energy. Inside his body was a sphere of energy, half of it was filled with bright light— the life energy. While the other half was filled with black miasma— the death energy.

It was full of wonders, but they were only the size of a bowl.

'My energy is quite lacking... it must be because when I was unconscious, I applied life energy to my body, therby healing me even when I'm asleep.'

Insig theorized, although it was a useless theory.

'Whatever, all I know is that I only have a single chance of escaping...'

Insig felt conflicted at the fact that he only has one chance to bet his life with.

Insig doesn't like gambling.... well... he doesn't like it if it affects his life.

Moving on, Insig directed his attention to his body. With the darkness all around, his sense of direction was baffled. All he knew was that there was something pressing his body all around.

Insig tried to move his toes, to his feet, legs, until the upper part of his body.

'Only my hands have the highest chance of escaping because of their flexibility. But...'

Insig frowned and knocked his hand.

*Thud*

'There's a large debris block blocking half of my body... And only my left— non dominant hand is available.'

*Sigh*

Insig habitually sighs in helplessness, when he suddenly remembers what happened earlier.

'Please, no.'

But it was too late, dust and gravel entered his nostril and traveled into his larynx. His muscle spasmed as it tried to get it out.

'Oh f*ck.'

*Cough*

'Please help.'

The sound of coughing and muffled cry resounded deep under the ground for a while.

After settling down, Insig was mentally and physically tired, but he didn't dare to breathe roughly. His whole body was aching in pain because of the weight and some sharp parts of the debris that were weighing in him.

However, his eyes were bright like a lava. They seem to hold a scorching anger in them, capable of killing an army.

'Hahaha, f*ck it. I think it's better to bet my life on this one chance. Let's die, mother f*ckers!'

Driven by anger, Insig imbued death energy in his left hand. Dark miasma surrounded his hands and solidified around it.

*Thud*

Insig punched through the debris blocking his left hand. However, there was too much weight and mud obstructing him.

Regardless of this, Insig kept stretching his bruised hand. He kept on punching and pushing his hand towards the surface.

"Grrrr Aaaa!"

*Creak*

The creaking sounds of bones entered Insig's ears and he growled in response. He screamed his lungs out, trying to boost his will.

'Come on! PIERCE THROUGH!'

With all his might, Insig tried to get his hands out. His pessimistic thought kept bothering his will, but he still persisted.

'What if the debris is thicker than we think? What if we run out of energy? What if we meet a harder obstacle?'

This thought kept gnawing on his will, decreasing his strength.

'F*CK IT! SINCE I ALREADY STARTED IT, THEN LET ME END IT!'

*Growl*

Insig's eyes reddened and he grinded his teeth in pain. The sharp debris scarred his arm, but he still persisted. The creaking pain of his bones made his hand tremble, but he still persisted.

These seconds felt like years for Seiki. Adrenaline rushed into his hands until he finally felt the wet and murky texture of mud in his arms.

*Thud*

Insig punched through until his hands felt the cold sensation of air.

For a second, Insig was dumbfounded. His eyes widened and his heart beat hastened.

'I..... did it?'

After recognizing his achievement, Insig smiled widely and celebrated.

'I did it! Muhahaha. I'm the strongest person in the world!'

Insig didn't know that he was actually buried meters beneath. However, because of the rain, most of them turned into mud and were washed away.

After calming down, Insig finally felt tired and.... he tasted something in his mouth. They were hard crumbly bits that tasted disgusting.

'What is this...? Wait.. is this gravel!?'

After recognizing it, Seiki quickly spit out the saliva until all of them were gone. However...

'Damn it!'

Because of the tight space, all of the saliva and gravel landed on his... face.

'Whatever, let's just focus on escaping here.'

With that, Insig pushed his hand even further until the limit of his reach. His hands felt the cold and wet sensation of the mud surrounding it.

'F*ck yeah!'

Insig started removing the mud around his hands, either by shaking, or by pushing. However, he met a problem... The obstacles kept coming back.

'Damn it! Oh author, why are you making me suffer this much? If this is what it takes to be an MC, then I don't want it!'

Insig complained to himself. This was his habit formed by reading too many books.

In spite of this, after a measure of time, Insig was still able to release his arms from the debris. Although this took 10% hard work, 20% removing the obstacles that came back, and 70% talking to himself in loneliness.

'Ahhh~ finally. This is the first time that I felt so grateful for being able to move my hands, isn't that right, Mr. brain?'

After his arm, Insig started to dig into the debris blocking his shoulder. With much difficulty, Insig removed the obstacles blocking his shoulder.

But unfortunately, he still can't remove the large debris blocking his whole body because of its size and weight.

'Damn it. Looks like I really need to do 'that'.... Goodbye Mr.Legs. I will remember you. Oh, that's right, in case you don't know Mr. Brain, I name him Mr. Legs because we're too lonely. Isn't it an... ugly name? Hehe, sorry.'

Insig talked to himself. This is the result of leaving him alone for minutes without being able to do anything.

Still, knowing that it was necessary, Insig immediately got serious and got to work.

He closed his eyes and sent a small amount of death energy to his leg. What I mean by small is, as small as a needle.

However, this small needle was deadly enough to kill a human. With his control, Insig made the death needle kill all the other life energy in his legs.

Insig felt an itchy sensation deep inside his leg. He suddenly got an ominous premonition.

'T... This must not be true, right?'

Insig tried to reject the truth, however, his worst nightmare came true.

As the dead energy kills more and more, they increase in size too. But this was not the thing that Seiki focused on.

Right now, Insig's eyes are reddened in pain. It was slightly moist because of tears and he was grinding his teeth.

'Damn it!!!!! It f*Cking hurts!!'

He felt an uncomfortable sensation deep inside his legs. It felt like hundreds of fire ants were biting him inside. His flesh, bones, skins, and such were all screaming in pain.

However, the pain didn't lessen one bit, instead, the pain increased as the death energy spread more and more.

"Aaargh! It washt lak dis wen ahy furiphayd maysef!" (It wasn't like this when I purified my self)

Insig screamed in a muffled voice caused by pain and the debris blocking him.

He wanted to stop but it was necessary, so he endured it. He endured the pain and screamed when he couldn't bear it, until it finally ended.

*Sob*

With teary red eyes, Insig was sobbing but he didn't dare to breathe heavily. He was mentally exhausted but he persevered and resisted the sleepiness.

'F*uuuuuuuuuuuuck.*

Insig screamed mentally. After calming down, he proceeded to kill his legs.

'This time, I will do it right.'

Insig closed his eyes and with death magic, he killed his nerves first. Then, he covered his whole leg with death energy so that not a single piece would be wasted.

Black spots started surfacing at his leg, until it turned into a black miasma. All that was left was dirt, some fabric, and some oil and water.

Insig felt weird at his 'legs'. He can't feel them anymore, but it feels like he still has legs. Quite ironic.

'Whatever. Anyway, with this energy, there's a chance of breaking this boulder.'

Insig said to himself. This was his plan, turning his body into energy. He used it on his legs because he doesn't need to use them.

Insig closed his eyes and imbued death energy in his freed hands. Dark miasma started flowing around his skin, and it solidified when he wanted to.

Insig solidified the miasma and he clenched his fingers, starting from the tip to form a fist. Afterwards, Insig started punching the large debris blocking him.

*Thud*³

Dust fell and the earth rumbled as Insig continued punching the debris. The debris cracked and dust kept falling down.

Insig's hands bled and he felt that his skin was peeling from the friction and pain, but he kept fighting for his freedom.

Until finally, a beam of light fell down on Insig's eyes. It was soft and smooth, unlike the dazzling and scorching brightness of the afternoon sun.

'The light is so beautiful... It reminds me of the scene I read in a novel once. It was a scene where the super duper selfish guy looked at the night sky and obtained the 'heart of loneliness'. I kinda miss reading it.'

Insig leisurely thought to himself and he continued punching.

*Crack*

With the last crack, the large debris finally crumbled. Large amounts of dust fell on Insig's head, dirtying his face and hair. However, his eyes were bright and seemed like they held stars inside.

'Hahaha, I escaped! I did it! Oh yeah!'

Insig's heart throbbed in nervousness, excitement, and ecstacy. His eyes slightly moistened as he thought of all the hardships he went through just now.

'I swear I won't join in a war unless I'm strong enough.'

Insig shook his head and quickly got to work. He pushed the debris surrounding him with his palm to push his upper body up. It was quite easy coming out because he doesn't have his legs to hinder him.

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Up above the ground, a human head suddenly popped out of a hole.

The face of the human head looked handsome and fair, however, it seemed messy and unkempt because of the dirt and dust all around his face.

His bloodshot eyes were as if he hadn't slept in a month, but they held stars in them, with expectation inside.

After an arduous climb, Insig finally felt the wind blow on his face.

He looked up and saw the golden-orange sun about to touch the horizon. The clouds were dyed with yellow color, blending with the sky.

Insig breathed in deeply. He really wanted to do this. When he was buried, he didn't dare to breathe heavily in fear of feeling his body ache all over again, but here, he doesn't have to worry about such a thing.

The cold and humid sensation of air entered his nostril, into his larynx, into his lungs. It felt cold, but comfortable.

'Ahh~, I didn't know that being able to breathe was actually a blessing. I guess as I experience more things, I learn to be more grateful for what I have.'

Insig opened his eyes and excitedly looked around, however, what he saw made his heart drop to the bottom….