The collision was a symphony of wet thuds and snapping bone.
The Scavenger Hound's weight hit Lin like a falling boulder. The creature's hinged jaw slammed shut inches from his ear, the sound of its teeth grinding together echoing like a gunshot. Lin felt a searing heat across his shoulder as a claw ripped through his rags and skin, but he didn't pull away.
Instead, he pushed.
He drove the obsidian shard upward with every ounce of his desperation. The glass sank into the soft, pulsating tissue of the creature's throat.
Squelch.
Black, oily blood erupted from the wound, drenching Lin's face and blinding him. The Hound let out a sound that wasn't a growl—it was a high-pitched, digital-sounding shriek that vibrated in Lin's very marrow. It thrashed wildly, its six legs scratching frantic, bloody lines into Lin's chest and arms.
"Die..." Lin wheezed, his fingers slipping on the blood-slicked glass. "Just... die!"
He twisted the shard. He didn't know how to fight, but he knew how to destroy. He thought of his boss's sneer. He thought of his ex-girlfriend's silence. He poured every bit of his twenty-six years of bottled-up rage into that single, jagged piece of glass.
The Hound's movements became sluggish. The frantic scratching turned into weak twitches. Finally, with one last shuddering breath that sprayed black mist into the air, the creature went limp, its heavy head resting on Lin's chest.
Lin lay there, pinned under the cooling carcass, gasping for air that tasted like copper and rot. His vision swam with red and black spots.
Then, the world turned blue.
[Ding!] [Survival Task Completed!] [Survival Time: 01:00:00]
[Hidden Objective Achieved: First Blood (Kill a Hostile creature while at Critical Health).] [Calculating Rewards...]
[Rewards Granted:]
Basic Body Integration (Level 1)
5 Free Stat Points
Skill Unlocked: 'Bottom-Feeder's Resilience' (Passive)
A sudden jolt of electricity shot through Lin's spine. It wasn't painful; it was the opposite. It was like a surge of pure caffeine and adrenaline being injected directly into his veins. The deep, aching exhaustion in his muscles receded just enough for him to find the strength to shove the dead Hound off his body.
He sat up, wiping the black ichor from his eyes. His shoulder was still bleeding, but the wound was closing—not disappearing, but knitting together at a visible speed.
"Body Integration..." Lin muttered, staring at his trembling hands. "Is this... the System fixing me?"
[Body Integration: Adapting the Host's soul to the physical vessel. Current Status: Level 1.] [Note: At Level 1, the Host is no longer 'Critically Malnourished' but is still 'Physically Weak'.]
Lin looked at the screen floating in the rain.
[Name: Lin] [Level: 1] [Class: None] [Health: 15/50] [Mana: 0/0]
[Stats:]
Strength: 2
Agility: 3
Constitution: 2
Intelligence: 4
Luck: 0 (Absolute Zero)
[Available Stat Points: 5]
"Luck is zero. Figures," Lin wiped more blood from his forehead. He looked at the five points. In the novels he read, people usually balanced their stats, but Lin knew he wasn't in a game. He was in a meat-grinder. If he couldn't move and he couldn't hit, he was dead.
"Put 3 into Strength and 2 into Agility," he commanded.
[Confirmed. Strength: 5 | Agility: 5]
As the points were allocated, Lin felt his muscles tighten. The skeletal look of his arms didn't change much, but the density felt different. He felt... heavier. More grounded. He stood up, and for the first time since arriving in this hellhole, he didn't feel like a leaf about to be blown away by the wind.
He looked down at the Scavenger Hound.
[Would you like to 'Extract Essence' from the Scavenger Hound?]
"Yes," Lin said instantly.
A faint, ghostly vapor rose from the creature's carcass, flowing into Lin's chest.
[Essence Extracted. +10 Experience Points.] [10/100 XP to Level 2.] [Loot Found: 1x Cracked Hound Tooth (Trash Grade Resource).]
Lin picked up the tooth—a curved, yellowed fang. It was worthless to most, but to him, it was a trophy. His first achievement in two worlds.
"Bottom-Feeder's Resilience," Lin recalled the skill name. "System, explain."
[Skill: Bottom-Feeder's Resilience (Passive - Rank F)] Description: You have lived in the dirt and survived. Pain perception is reduced by 10%. Recovery speed while in 'filthy' or 'harsh' environments is increased by 5%.
Lin looked at the endless rain, the piles of trash, and the muddy ditch he had just crawled out of. A grim smile touched his lips.
"So the worse it gets, the better I get?" he laughed, a dry, raspy sound. "Finally. A System that actually suits me."
But his small moment of victory was cut short. From the mists further up the Sinks, a flickering torchlight appeared. Then another.
"Over here! I heard a shriek!" a gravelly voice shouted through the rain. "If one of those hounds caught a fresh 'drop,' there might be some clothes or scrap left to scavenge!"
Lin froze. In this world, the monsters weren't the only things he had to worry about. He gripped his obsidian shard, his eyes narrowing.
The background character was done hiding.