Choice

With only 10% HP remaining, his left arm torn apart and his body paralyzed by the spider's venom, the choice to use the full recovery option seemed like the most obvious and sensible one. It was the lifeline that could save him from certain death.

But as he lay flat on the floor, battered and broken, Rama hesitated.

This game had proven to be far more challenging than he'd anticipated. It was like playing in hard mode, and his weak stats only boosted its difficulty to a nightmare level.

To survive, he needs to take a chance and test something important.

"If another spider comes, I'll choose the full recovery, But if not... I'll wait."

It was a gamble, a crazy decision, one he blamed on his Reader's POV skill.

One minute…

Two minutes…

Three minutes passed, and finally, what Rama had been waiting for arrived.

[HP: 10 (11)%]

This small but significant increase confirmed what he had hoped—the game had a self-regeneration feature. It likely only activated when he was still or resting, just like he was now.

A smile crept onto his face, but it quickly turned into a deep sigh as he thought,

"If only the system could answer my questions, I wouldn't have to do these tests!"

Relieved by this discovery, Rama decided to wait a bit longer. His eyes remained locked on the open bedroom door, scanning the darkness outside for any sign of movement. Every sound made him tense, but as his HP slowly ticked upward, he felt a small measure of hope.

12%… 13%… 14%…

Time seemed to stretch on endlessly, but after what felt like an eternity, an hour had passed. His HP had reached 30%, and he noticed that the paralysis that had gripped his body was beginning to fade, shifting from moderate to light.

Encouraged by this, Rama decided to change his position. He carefully pushed himself up, leaning his back against the wall beside the door, his legs stretched out in front of him. With the dagger clutched tightly in his hand, he was ready to stab anything that dared enter the room.

Rama waited patiently, each passing minute feeling like an eternity. Another hour crept by, and to his astonishment, he noticed something remarkable—his missing arm had begun to regenerate. The process was slow, but it was undeniable. At the same time, the paralysis that had gripped his body was now completely gone, leaving him with a renewed sense of control.

More than three hours of resting passed before his left arm was fully restored. His HP had climbed past 80%, and the once-crippling exhaustion had mostly faded. Rama felt stronger, more complete as if the pieces of himself that had been missing were finally being put back together.

With a deep breath, he made his decision.

"I choose reward two."

[You received three additional stat points]

Available Points to distribute: 4

Understanding that stamina was his biggest challenge when fighting the spiders, Rama knew he had to bolster his vitality to ensure he could endure the battles ahead. He allocated the points with careful consideration.

Name: Rama

Level: 4

[Stats]

Strength: 8 (9)

Dexterity: 13

Perceptions: 11

Vitality: 7 (10)

Intelligence: 15

As the stat increases took effect, Rama felt a surge of energy course through his body, like a breeze of life that reinvigorated his very being. His newly formed arm flexed with newfound strength, and his HP, now at 90%, left him feeling nearly invincible.

Rama stepped out of the room, his dagger gripped tightly in one hand while the other held a makeshift shield—a piece of a broken door that he had fashioned by turning the knob into a crude handle. It wasn't much, but it would have to do.

He moved cautiously through the building, every sense on high alert as he entered the main living room with an opening void to the second floor. He spotted two spiders almost immediately, their metallic fangs glinting as they crawled towards him.

The spiders moved in, but Rama's practiced movements were fluid and precise. He sidestepped the first one's leap and brought his dagger down in a swift arc, slicing through its exoskeleton with ease. The second spider lunged at him from the side, but he raised his makeshift shield just in time, deflecting the creature's attack before he struck again, ending the fight almost as quickly as it had begun.

The fight that had once left him breathless and on the verge of death now felt almost routine. He glanced at his SP bar and saw it had only increased by 15%. It was clear—the higher his level, the more effort it would take to fill the gauge.

Just as he was about to move on, a new notification appeared, catching him by surprise.

[Your comprehension of dagger weapons has increased]

[Dagger Mastery > level 2]

Rama couldn't help but feel a surge of excitement as he anticipated what the dagger mastery level-up might bring. He expected to see some immediate improvements—maybe increased damage or a new skill.

However, as he made his way upstairs and engaged in more battles with the blade spiders, he realized that nothing had changed. The only noticeable difference was his growing confidence.

"What's the level-up for, then?"

Despite this, his increased strength and stamina made the fights smoother. He took down two or three spiders at a time and rested for half an hour to clear the paralysis effect before continuing. Over the course of two hours, he managed to clear out the remaining 10 blade spiders in the building.

His SP bar now stood at 90%, tantalizingly close to leveling up again. But with all the spiders defeated, Rama knew he'd have to face the Shadow Drakes outside if he wanted to progress further.

The thought of facing those creatures again made his stomach churn with anxiety. He knew he needed an edge, something that could turn the tide in his favor.

As he paced the dusty room, an idea sparked in his mind—a memory from Book One of the Avatar of Gods novel. There was a chapter where Wen Tian, used his apothecary skills to create a potent poison from the venom glands of the blade spider. 

Driven by this new plan, Rama spent the next hour dissecting the spider corpses. It was a meticulous and unpleasant task, but eventually, he managed to identify the venom glands and smeared the venom onto the blade of his obsidian dagger.

"If this doesn't work, I'm gonna blame you, Wen Tian,"