Global Awakening: Only I Can Respawn

He was alive, but barely. He must have been fighting these creatures for a long time, as it was clear from the condition of his body. His skin was scorched, covered in burn marks from head to toe, and his left was dangling to the side, clearly broken.

But despite his injuries, he fought fiercely against a swarm of bile leeches, slimy creatures that moved toward him, throwing their acid on him. But they weren't alone.

A few balloon-like creatures were also behind the bile leeches. They were called the Gastrognats.

These creatures trap the excess gas produced during digestion and use it to float around the stomach, acting like kamikaze bombs. Even the slightest pressure can cause them to explode. The explosion Anna heard before was one such attack.

No wonder the spinebacks had fled and were waiting outside the stomach.

The constant blasts from Gastrognats had made it impossible for them to survive in their usual home, forcing them to escape into the esophagus.

However, it wasn't the time to solve mysteries. Anna drew her sword and jumped into the fray.

"YuWon!" she shouted.

Upon hearing his name, YuWon turned his head slightly. He couldn't afford to take his attention off the beasts that had been attacking him relentlessly. But that slight turn was enough for Anna to see his bloodshot eyes from the pain and exhaustion he had suffered through.

Just then, a bile leech lunged at him, intending to bathe him in acid. YuWon swung the noir blade with his good arm. However, after fighting continuously without rest, his agility and strength were at rock bottom.

Killing anything, no matter how small it was, was impossible for him. Just then, Anna arrived to save him and sliced through one of the bile leeches before it could attack.

As the leech died, its acid sprayed everywhere. With no hesitation, Anna placed herself between YuWon and the acid, letting the burning liquid hit her instead. Her skin burned upon impact, but she gritted her teeth and endured the pain for YuWon.

"What are you doing here?" YuWon asked. "You shouldn't have come! You're going to get yourself killed here!"

Before Anna answered, he quickly rubbed some mucus on her back to soothe the pain. As disgusting as it was, it was what he had been doing to survive for so long.

As he did that, Anna smiled, reaching out to his scarred face. It was like she didn't care about the pain, but only about him. YuWon looked confused. He wasn't the YuWon who loved her, yet she was willing to take such a risk for his sake?

"I couldn't save you once," she whispered. "I'm not making the same mistake again. We can talk about... how you'll make it up to me later. First, let's get out of here."

As she said that, a Gastrognat flew toward them. Its bloated body was swollen, ready to explode at any moment. Without thinking, Anna kicked the creature away, straight towards a cluster of bile leeches.

The moment the Gastrognat burst, the explosion triggered a chain reaction. The bile leeches sprayed their acid everywhere, causing more Gastrognats to explode, and the cycle continued.

"Move!" YuWon shouted.

He grabbed Anna's wrist and pulled her behind a large mucus-covered tissue. The two of them ducked as the bile leeches exploded and melted into the surrounding stomach walls.

Anna winced in pain. Although she was safe now, the acid from before would take a while to get neutralized. Her muscles were screaming from all the running and fighting she was doing.

But when she looked at YuWon, all her pain faded. Not because he was her solace, but because he was in a much worse state than her.

His face was pale, drained of all colors, and he was having a little difficulty breathing. Still, more fight left in his eyes, that same stubborn determination she had always admired.

"Don't look at me like that," YuWon smirked. "I'm fighting because I don't want to die and turn into shit. There's no deep philosophy behind it."

"You're a dumbass..." Anna chuckled.

"Says the one who jumped into this crap-storm for no reason,"

As the explosions continued, none of them had anything to say and kept holding each other, hiding behind the mucus wall.

***

As YuWon opened his eyes, he was confused about where he was. Then it all came flooding back. He moved a little and felt something soft under his head. As looked up, he realized he had been sleeping on Anna's thigh.

She was fast asleep herself, her head tilted back against the mucus-covered wall, and her chest rose and fell with each breath.

At least she's alive.

YuWon sighed and looked down, only to get surprised. The acid burns that had covered his skin were gone and his broken arm was tied up with a makeshift splint. Anna had healed his injuries to the best of her ability while he was out cold.

But YuWon was neither pleased nor unhappy with it. What he felt was confusion. She had saved him twice now. But no matter how much she did for him, there was still that nagging doubt in the back of his mind.

How could he trust her completely when another version of her had tried to kill him before?

The situation wasn't like Gina's or Lysandra's, where he could just get with them and forget about everything. Sure, it was another version of her, from another timeline. But that wasn't enough for him to forget about what he went through.

As if she knew YuWon was thinking about her, Anna stirred and opened her eyes. The first thing she saw was YuWon staring at her and smiled at him.

"Did no one tell you it's creepy to watch people sleep?" she asked.

"Good thing you got enough energy to talk shit," YuWon replied, getting off her. "Let's find a way out of here."