Infinite Evolution: From Orphan to Cosmic Overlord

Chapter 6: The Unluckiest Escape

I ran. Well, limped, really.

My legs screamed in protest, my ribs felt like they were caving in, and I was pretty sure my left arm was just along for the ride at this point. Every breath I took was like inhaling fire, but I could not stop.

Not with that thing behind me.

The beast let out another delighted roar. Oh, it was having so much fun. At least one of us was enjoying themselves. It stomped after me, taking its time, like a cat toying with a cornered mouse.

I gasped, barely dodging a claw swipe that sent a nearby boulder exploding into dust.

"Oh sure, just casually erase solid rock! No big deal!" I wheezed. Why was this my life?

My legs burned as I forced myself forward. I was never a fighter. Back at the orphanage, I was the kid who got shoved into mud puddles for reading instead of playing. Even in the village school, where kids spent their free time wrestling in the fields, I was the one sitting under a tree, nose buried in whatever scraps of books I could find.

No fancy holo-books. No online encyclopedias. Just dusty old texts, half-burnt journals, and whatever scribbles the local elder had lying around. But you know what? I was proud of it. I was a bookworm, damn it! I may not have had muscles, but I had knowledge!

And right now? None of it was helping me!

I tripped over a jagged stone and barely managed to stay upright. My whole body screamed for rest. No. I couldn't stop. If I stopped, I was dead.

The beast let out a deep, rumbling laugh.

"Oh, shut up!" I snapped, hating how pathetic my voice sounded. Yelling at a monster was probably not smart, but I was running out of options.

I spotted a jagged crevice ahead. If I could just reach it—

The ground rumbled.

Oh, that was bad.

The next thing I knew, the floor collapsed beneath me.

I didn't even have time to scream. I was falling, tumbling through a swirling mess of light and shadow. My body twisted, my battered limbs flailing as I plummeted into the unknown.

A portal?

I had read about them, of course. The ancient remnants of a lost civilization, unstable rifts scattered across the world. No one really knew where they led. Most people who fell in never came back.

So, you know. Things were looking great for me.

Pain shot through my chest as I tumbled through the swirling abyss. My ribs felt like they were trying to stab my lungs, and I coughed, blood splattering into the nothingness around me.

"Yup… definitely dying." My voice came out weak, almost amused. Figures. I survived a monster just to get done in by bad geography.

And then, I hit the ground.

Face first.

The impact shut my brain off like a light switch.

The last thing I saw before everything went black?

Shoes. A lot of them.

Neatly polished, standing in a perfect circle around me.

And then—darkness