Guide: "Oh, it seems the teleportation was off again. Oh well, there's nothing I can do about it now."

  The Guide began to fall toward the ground from a hundred yards in the air.

  Lee watched the falling Guide in surprise. [He's falling.]

  Jan looked on anxiously. [He shouldn't survive that landing. This fall is from more than a hundred meters in the air.]

  The Guide, falling from the air to the ground, looked toward the group. ["I should talk to them about the teleportation. Everything got messier when this man returned to the realm. Oh, it seems I'm close enough. It's time to transform."]

  From the outside, the Guide was seen plummeting toward the ground.

  Two seconds before he crashed to the ground, Lee noticed the Guide's legs beginning to change and grow larger as the pressure emanating from him doubled. His legs finally hit the ground.

  Boom

  The ground cracked, and a massive cloud of dust was released in all directions where the Guide landed

  In the dusty aftermath, the shadow of a bent man began to straighten. This man was unlike any ordinary person; the Guide stood at 5.8 feet tall.

  As Lee's gaze fell upon the Guide's legs, a sense of unease crept over him. The sight was far from what he had expected – the legs resembled something out of a science fiction nightmare rather than those of a human. Their appearance, strikingly similar to insect appendages with segmented joints, left an unsettling impression.

  As the Guide drew closer to the group, the pressure he released intensified fourfold compared to when he was in the air. The ground beneath their feet began to fracture from the immense pressure. Even Lee and Oscar knelt, and after a short while, even Oscar, who had an iron will, fainted from the pressure, just like the others.

  Lee, struggling against the pressure with all his might, suddenly remembered an old childhood memory .

  Lee's Past

  About a week after his mother had died, Lee recalled his father taking him to their garden. His father handed him two boxing gloves and wore his own boxing pads.

  Lee: "What are these for, Daddy?"

  Lee's Father: "What do you think, kiddo? They're for boxing. I used to do it when I was younger, and so will you."

  Lee: "But I don't know how to box, Dad."

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  His father smiled warmly. "I'll teach you, son."

  Spending time with his father was a rare treat for Lee. He eagerly put on the gloves and started hitting his father's boxing pads.

  Twenty minutes passed.

  Lee's father instructed him, "Put your weight into your punch. Have a strong stance so you can defend yourself. Put all your body's power into your punches while keeping your eyes up, ready to react to any changes."

  Lee followed his father's guidance. "Dad, I'm tired."

  His father encouraged him, "You can keep going. If you have the power to speak, you have the power to punch. Keep at it, son. You must always strive to be stronger."

  Lee got up and continued punching the boxing pads, correcting his stance and gradually improving his punches under his father's guidance.

  An hour later, Lee's breathing was heavy, and his body seemed ready to give out.

  Lee: "Dad, I can't move anymore."

  His father's words were a source of strength. "Come on, son. You can do it! Channel all the pain you feel about your mother into your fists."

  Lee remembered the pain of his mother's death. He kept hitting his father's boxing pads, blood starting to drip from his gloves with each punch. His stance and punches grew stronger and more precise.

  Two hours later, Lee's breathing was labored, and his body trembled on the verge of collapse. Hallucinations began to creep in, a voice in his head urging him to give up. As he teetered on the edge of unconsciousness, Lee suddenly heard his father's voice.

  Lee's Father: "Lee, get up. I believe in you just as your mother believed in you too. You have a sister to protect now. You need to get stronger. So get up."

  Inside Lee's Mind

  Lee found himself trapped in a dimly lit, oppressive chamber, the air thick with an aura of foreboding. In the darkness, he could just make out the silhouette of an enigmatic presence, a shadow that seemed to stretch beyond his comprehension.

  Shadow: "If you don't give up, your body will break under the strain."

  Lee's voice was hoarse, but his resolve burned brighter than ever. "Even so, I can't stop. I can't let it end here—not for Mom, Dad, Naomi... and not for myself."

  Shadow's voice was colder now, mocking in its clarity. "Your body is nothing. Too fragile. Too weak to hold even a fraction of the power I could give you."

  Lee's breath quickened, his fists clenching in the darkness. "I know that. But I will get stronger. I don’t care how, I will."

  The shadow’s presence seemed to grow more menacing, its power pulsating like a dark heartbeat in the chamber.

  Shadow: "Very well. I will lend you my strength—this one time. But mark my words, Lee: the price will be steep. After this, you'll collapse. Unconscious. For three days. I'll consume your excess energy to restore myself. You'll be weaker, thinner, for years to come. And we will not speak for at least thirteen years. Remember this: you owe me, and I do not forget."

  Lee: "I accept. Do it."

  As the words left his lips, the shadow unfurled, revealing two malevolent black eyes and a grin full of jagged, razor-sharp teeth. The deal was sealed. The weight of the pact pressed on Lee's chest like a thousand tons.

  Back in the present, Lee's father looked on at his exhausted son with a mix of concern and relief. ["Maybe I pushed him too hard. Maybe he don't have it."] As he moved to remove Lee's boxing pads, an instinctual warning surged through him. He quickly dodged, and as he glanced at his son, he saw a shadow behind him—two black eyes and a mouth full of sharp teeth. Lee's pupils shifted to a deep purple, a gray aura enveloping him.

  Lee's father sensed the predatory gaze upon him from lee, a sensation that made him feel like prey in the presence of a looming predator.