Ren kept moving deeper into the forest.
This was the last stretch.
He had to leave the Secret Realm tonight. School started tomorrow, and whether he liked it or not, he couldn't stay here any longer. So this was it. One final search before giving up on finding a Rare Substance in this old realm.
He moved carefully, but faster than before.
The forest around him had already changed a little compared to the outer areas. The trees were taller here. Thicker. The air felt heavier too, richer in energy, but also more oppressive. Even the ground was different—less leaf litter, more roots, more patches of strange moss and black stone hidden under the soil.
Ren's eyes stayed sharp.
He was already beyond the routes marked on the map.
That alone made him tense.
But he kept going anyway.
Because if he turned back now, then this whole last-day search would be pointless.
And then—
It happened.
Without warning, Ren's entire body stiffened.
Not because something touched him.
Not because he saw an enemy.
But because a feeling hit him so hard that for half a second, his mind nearly went blank.
Die.
The word slammed into his instincts before his brain could even think.
Die. Die. Die. Die.
His body.
His mind.
His nerves.
Everything screamed the same thing.
Danger.
Absolute danger.
A level of danger so far beyond anything he had faced inside this realm that even comparing it to the Black Marsh Fang Crocodile felt stupid.
At the same time, the forest went eerily silent.
Too silent.
The insects stopped.
The birds vanished.
Even the strange beasts that sometimes moved through the undergrowth seemed to have disappeared all at once.
Then Ren heard it.
A slithering sound.
Coming closer.
Fast.
Ren didn't think.
He moved.
He threw himself sideways, rolled once, then immediately sprang toward the tallest tree near him. He climbed almost without feeling the strain in his arms, his boots and fingers working together as he pulled himself up faster than he ever had before.
He didn't think he could outrun whatever was coming.
So hiding was the only choice.
A stupid choice, maybe.
But better than standing on the ground like prey waiting to be noticed.
He kept climbing until dense branches and heavy leaves covered his body.
Then he froze.
Just as he settled into the tree, he finally saw them.
Two snakes.
No—
Two monsters.
Each of them was enormous.
At least ten meters tall where their upper bodies rose and no less than fifty meters long, maybe even longer. They moved through the forest like living disasters, their bodies thick enough that old trees snapped and toppled when hit by them, as if those trees were no more than twigs.
One snake was black.
Not normal black.
A dead, swallowing black that seemed to absorb light around it.
The other was white.
But that white wasn't gentle. It was bright, ancient, almost glowing.
Ren held his breath.
As the black snake passed through the forest, everything it touched withered.
Trees it brushed against shriveled in moments. Leaves darkened. Grass collapsed. Smaller plants turned into brittle dead husks almost instantly. Even one small beast that was too slow to escape seemed to convulse once and then crumple into something dry and dead.
The white snake was the opposite.
Where its body struck the ground, new growth burst out. Cracked soil turned green. Broken trunks sprouted fresh branches. Fallen plants became vibrant again. Grass thickened. Flowers opened. The entire forest seemed to surge with life in its wake.
Death.
And life.
Moving side by side.
Ren stared.
Then, very carefully, he used SCAN.
A screen appeared.
The first result came for the black one.
____________________________
NAME: Unknown
ORIGINAL SPECIES: Poison Vine Snake
CURRENT CLASSIFICATION: Evolved Catastrophic Variant
DESCRIPTION: Originally a common underground serpent-type monster. After coming into contact with an extremely rare and abnormal substance, it underwent a complete species evolution and transformed into a higher variant far beyond its original lifeform structure. Current body carries concentrated death-attributed corruption and withering force.
DANGER LEVEL:DEATH!!!!
SPECIAL NOTE: Has reached the highest level this Secret Realm can naturally sustain, preventing further growth unless it leaves this realm or external restrictions are broken.
KNOWN OBSERVATIONS:
Emits powerful death aura capable of withering plant life and weaker creatures by proximity alone.
Massive physical body capable of toppling large trees and reshaping terrain.
Appears to retain underground movement instincts despite current size.
Contact with body fluids or aura is likely fatal to low-level lifeforms.
Immediate confrontation not advised under any circumstances.
____________________________
Ren swallowed dryly and scanned the white one too.
____________________________
NAME: Unknown
ORIGINAL SPECIES: Poison Vine Snake
CURRENT CLASSIFICATION: Evolved Catastrophic Variant
DESCRIPTION: Originally a common underground serpent-type monster. After coming into contact with an extremely rare and abnormal substance, it underwent a complete species evolution and transformed into a higher variant far beyond its original lifeform structure. Current body carries concentrated life-attributed force and overwhelming regenerative vitality.
DANGER LEVEL:DEATH!!!!
SPECIAL NOTE: Has reached the highest level this Secret Realm can naturally sustain, preventing further growth unless it leaves this realm or external restrictions are broken.
KNOWN OBSERVATIONS:
Emits extremely dense life aura capable of stimulating explosive plant growth and environmental regeneration.
Massive physical body capable of toppling large trees and reshaping terrain;
Appears to retain underground movement instincts despite current size.
Life aura may be beneficial at a distance but overwhelming and unstable at close range for low-level lifeforms.
Immediate confrontation not advised under any circumstances.
____________________________
Ren stared at the scan results.
Then at the snakes.
Then back at the scans.
He did not remember seeing anything like this in the Secret Realm files.
Not in the maps.
Not in the public warnings.
Not in the beginner material packets.
Not even in the general manuals he had read before coming here.
Just to be sure, he opened his Light Brain and searched again.
Nothing.
No official listing.
No warning file.
No mention.
Which meant one of two things.
Either these two had evolved recently,
Or they usually stayed deep in their underground habitat and almost never came near the explored regions.
Ren looked at them again.
Then, despite the cold fear still gripping his spine, another thought rose in his mind.
A crazy one.
But not impossible.
If these two monsters had evolved because of some extremely rare and abnormal substance.
Then maybe—
Maybe that substance was still somewhere near them.
Ren's fingers tightened on the branch.
This was dangerous.
Obviously dangerous.
Stupidly dangerous.
But at the same time
This might be the only real clue he had gotten since entering the realm.
He watched the two giant snakes continue moving forward.
Then muttered very quietly in his head:
Death Snake… and Life Snake.
Good enough names.
For now.
Ren made his decision.
He would follow them.
From far away.
Very far away.
As long as he stayed careful, they probably wouldn't pay attention to him. To something like them, he was less than an ant. And if he lost sight of them or the danger became too great, he could always retreat.
At least that was what he told himself.
The snakes kept slithering toward a distant mountain range.
Ren climbed down only after they had gained more distance, then began following them through the broken forest, using their trail as a guide. It wasn't hard. One line of dead forest. One line of overgrown life. They may as well have painted arrows on the ground.
He kept far back.
Always far back.
The closer they got to the mountains, the stranger the land became. More rocks. Fewer ordinary trees. More warped growths where the white snake had passed. And pockets of dead ground where the black snake had moved.
Then, at the foot of the mountain range, both giant snakes entered one of several huge tunnel openings bored into the stone.
They did not pause.
They just slipped inside like rivers disappearing underground.
Ren stopped outside the tunnel entrance.
And hesitated.
For the first time since deciding to follow them, he truly questioned himself.
Going inside was dangerous.
More dangerous than anything he had done since entering this world.
Dark tunnels. Unknown underground routes. Two monsters strong enough to be classified as DEATH!!!! in his scan.
On the other hand,
If there really was a Rare Substance inside,
And if he turned back now,
There was a real chance someone else would find it first someday. Or maybe no one would. Maybe it would stay hidden for years more.
Ren looked into the tunnel.
Then down at his hand.
Then back into the darkness.
He took a deep breathe and muttered "Fortune favors the brave".
And stepped inside.
The tunnel was massive.
More than large enough for both giant snakes to move through easily. The walls were rough and cold, marked with old claw lines, strange mineral veins, and places where roots had forced themselves through cracks in the stone.
The snakes were already gone from sight.
But their energy trail remained.
Actually, trails.
Plural.
Ren frowned.
The further in he went, the more the tunnel system branched into multiple connected paths. Some were narrow. Some were huge. Some sloped downward. Some twisted to the sides. And all of them carried traces of either death-attributed energy, life-attributed energy, or sometimes both, as if the snakes had moved through this place many times before.
Ren slowed down.
At several junctions, he had to stop and use SCAN on the lingering traces in the rock and soil, comparing the density and freshness of the energy. A faint black residue on one path. A richer living green-white aura on another. At one point, both trails crossed and confused him enough that he almost took the wrong route.
He used the system again.
Then again.
Carefully.
Once, he found a tunnel where the black trail was strong but strangely stale.
Old route.
Not this time.
Another tunnel had fresh life energy, but it thinned too quickly.
Wrong branch.
He kept moving deeper, following the freshest and strongest overlapping traces. The air grew colder. Then warmer. Then strangely balanced again. The farther he went, the more the mountain felt less like stone and more like some giant underground labyrinth carved over centuries.
Several times he almost turned back.
Several times he didn't.
Eventually, after passing through one last wide tunnel lined with crystal growths and black roots, Ren reached an opening.
A cave.
A large one.
He immediately moved to the side and hid behind a rough column of stone at the entrance before fully exposing himself.
Silence.
No giant snakes in sight.
Ren waited.
Ten seconds.
Twenty.
A full minute.
Nothing attacked.
Only then did he carefully look in.
And what he saw made him stop completely.
At the center of the cave was a crystal formation.
Not natural-looking.
Not normal.
Inside that crystal was a beetle.
A small one.
And somehow
Beautiful.
Cute.
Both words at once, even though he felt like those two words should not belong together when describing a beetle.
Its body was split cleanly between white and black, not in a messy way, but in perfect balance. One side carried a soft pale glow. The other held a deep dark sheen. Its shell looked delicate and ancient at the same time, and the crystal around it reflected both colors into the cave walls.
Ren stared at it for several long seconds.
Then slowly used SCAN.
____________________________
NAME: Life and Death Beetle
DESCRIPTION: An ancient species originating from the original world of this Secret Realm. The individual before you has entered complete crystalization and can now be used as a Rare Substance. Contains balanced life and death essence preserved in near-perfect form.
RARE SUBSTANCE EFFECT: Can assist in comprehending 5% of both Life and Death Laws.
ADDITIONAL POSSIBILITY: There is a 0.0001% chance to inherit a secret technique related to its original species.
DANGER LEVEL: None
SYSTEM REMARK: Good for you. If it were still alive, you would already be dead.
____________________________
Ren stared at the last line.
Then at the beetle.
Then back at the scan.
"Thanks," he muttered under his breath. "Very comforting."
But his heart was already beating faster.
A Rare Substance.
A real one.
And not just any random low-grade material.
Something tied to Life and Death.
He slowly stepped into the cave, eyes still moving across the surroundings, not daring to relax yet.
(Author Note: If you enjoyed the chapter, please vote, rate, and leave a comment if you can. Your support really helps the novel grow and motivates me to keep writing. Thank you for reading!)