Awakening: Reincarnating With the SSS-Level Extraction Talent

[HP: 1,250,000]

[Skills: Venom Blast, Wrath of the Broodmother, Shadow Bind, Queen\'s Rage, Poison Mist]

...

"Alright, spider," Alex growled, gripping his weapon tightly. His undead minions clustered around him, awaiting his command. "Let\'s see what you got."

Without hesitation, Alex launched his first spell, Explosive Fireball.

A searing projectile erupted from his hand and collided with the queen\'s side.

But when the smoke cleared, the damage was laughable.

-4,495!

The number was minuscule against her massive health bar, and Alex felt a cold sweat start to form.

He steeled himself, shouting to his undead, "Hold her off! Buy me time!"

The Grand Skeletons, Bony Knights, and Spectral Wraith charged at her, bones clinking and spectral weapons shimmering.

They surrounded the queen, each aiming to land a blow.

But in two brutal swings of her legs, the Grand Skeletons were reduced to dust.

The Spectral Wraith barely had a moment to react before one of her pincers ripped it apart, its essence fading in a single, terrifying moment.

The Bony Knights tried to shield themselves, their armor rattling as they blocked her strikes.

But the queen\'s strength was too overwhelming; she reared back and crushed them under several legs, their bones crumbling too.

[All your undead have been slain.]

"Oh." Alex\'s heart sank as he saw his loyal undead allies wiped out in an instant.

He reached for a potion, knowing that summoning new minions would be impossible with his depleted mana.

But as he raised the flask to his lips, the queen lunged.

One of her spiked legs crashed down, shattering the vial in his hand.

Alex\'s last hope for backup vanished, and he found himself alone with almost no mana and no allies.

All he could do was use spells and his dagger.

His grip tightened around Whispers of Shadows, and he launched himself at her, slashing in a desperate flurry with Rending Slash.

His sword struck her armored hide repeatedly, sending sparks flying, but every blow seemed to slide off her body, barely making a dent.

-6,100! -6,180!

Shadow Strike!

-18,384!

The numbers ticked away at her health bar, but with a 30-second cooldown, it would be too risky to actually deal with her this way.

She barely seemed to notice his attacks, and when she did, it only seemed to enrage her further.

With a blood-chilling screech, the beast released Queen\'s Rage, her body surging with raw, ferocious energy.

A single swipe of her leg struck Alex, sending him flying across the chamber.

-6,492!

His [Superior Awakener\'s Set] still protected him from physical damage, but even then, the queen still did damage to him.

He skidded to a halt against the stone floor.

Pain throbbed through him, his vision blurring, but he forced himself back onto his feet.

This wasn\'t working.

He was out of resources, out of options.

"Damn it..." he muttered, forcing his legs to move as he prepared for one last-ditch effort.

But before he could even get close, a dark mist poured out from beneath the queen, engulfing the room in a thick haze.

[High-level poison has filled the room.]

[Use a poison antidote.]

But thankfully enough, his Poison Resistance held, and no amount of poison could ever hope to affect him.

He tried to attack again while taking advantage of that fact, but then he felt it—a piercing, sickening pressure at his side.

Two of her legs drove straight through him, pinning him to the ground like an insect trapped by a pin.

[Critical Blow received!]

-9,485! -11,486!

His vision swam as blood soaked his armor, pooling beneath him.

The life drained from his body, his consciousness slipping as the queen\'s face hovered above him, triumphant and monstrous.

"SAVIOR!"

The beast princess\'s scream echoed through the chamber, filled with despair.

Alex could barely make out her silhouette, watching him fall with horror.

And with a final slash from the monster, everything faded to black.

[You have died.]

[Sending you back to reality.]

In a blinding flash of blue light, Alex found himself back in his bedroom, his heart pounding as he gasped for air.

Sweat dripped from his brow, his hands trembling slightly.

For a moment, he simply sat there, reeling from the experience, his mind trying to grasp what had just happened.

"I... died…" he whispered.

It was the first time he had experienced death in Universal Descent since he\'d arrived in his second life.

Even with his strength, his abilities, and all his preparations, he\'d been no match for the queen.

He clenched his fists, rage bubbling within him as the sting of humiliation hit.

All his skills, his undead army, his mana pool—everything he\'d worked so hard to build up—had been nothing against her might.

He punched the wall beside him, his frustration coming out in a single, furious blow that left a dent in the plaster.

Ding!

A message appeared before him.

[Enemy was too powerful, thus no penalty was given.]

But it didn\'t matter. Even without a penalty, the defeat still stung.

It was unexpected to be teleported all the way to the 20th floor out of nowhere, as he expected to go little by little, but even then, he was sure that the queen would have killed him.

He was facing a level 200 beast while being only a tier 3 player.

He needed to be stronger before doing anything else.

And though he only had 5 in-game days left to save the princess, he was sure he could do it if he manages right.

[29:57 minutes until you can reconnect.]

Now he needed to wait.

Unfortunately, the game hadn\'t fully merged with reality yet, so he couldn\'t check out his status window or anything of the sort to do things while waiting.

For example, he wanted to check his tier 3 advancement trial, but he couldn\'t.

Ding!

[StarPillow: Alex, what happened? I saw that you died! I\'m coming over!]

The notification broke through his thoughts.

Of course, in Universal Descent, players could see when their party members or friends died, and Alice must have been worried.

Barely a minute later, Alice materialized in the bedroom beside him, dressed in the same cute outfit she\'d worn before going inside the game.

Her face was a mix of worry and relief as she looked him over.

Ding!

But he then also received another notification out of nowhere.

[RichDad (Richard): Are you okay, kid? Seems like something happened, thanks for keeping my daughter safe.]

He noticed that Alex died, but Alice didn\'t, so it was understandable.

[FateBreaker: It\'s fine, just had a small problem.]

The message was left on read, but at least Alex knew that Richard saw it.

"What happened?" she asked softly, placing a gentle hand on his shoulder.

Alex forced a smile, patting her head to reassure her. "Just a little problem," he replied, his tone lighter than he felt. "Got caught in a trap."

"These monsters…" Alice grumbled, frowning. "They\'ll use any trick to win."

"Yeah."

Being sent to the 20th floor was a trap used by the guards if they knew for sure that the queen would win against the players.

But on the other hand, the fight Alex had with the queen hadn\'t had any traps: it was fair, and yet he lost.

He needed to become stronger within the next five days if he wanted to save that beast princess.

Ding!

[After your intervention, the time to save the princess has been reduced by 2 days as a penalty.]

He felt a chill.

That left him with only three in-game days to rescue her.

Otherwise, she would die and it would have been useless.

Time was slipping away faster than he\'d anticipated.

"Well, I\'ll manage." He had to.

But there was no way he\'d rush back to face the queen unprepared.

He\'d need to be smarter, and he\'d need every bit of power he could muster.

He needed to do several things first: increase his mana pool to be able to summon all his undead, grow his attributes, as well as increase his skill\'s level and damage output.

If he wanted to defeat the level 200 legendary boss, then he would have to do all of this.

And within three days.

...

For the next half hour, Alex and Alice sat in front of the TV, watching news about [Universal Descent], which was taking over all the channels.

They decided to take a small break, Alex also needing it to rethink of his strategy.

But after eating and doing their "activities", it was now time to go back.

Alex straightened, his determination renewed.

Ding!

[You can now reconnect to Universal Descent.]

"Ready?" He grinned at Alice, who nodded excitedly.

"Yes! Let\'s go!"

He pressed the button on his interface, anticipation buzzing in his veins.

[Do you want to connect to "Universal Descent"?]

"Yes."