Global Awakening: Only I Can Respawn

"What the hell?" YuWon mumbled, looking closer. "Is that poison?"

"Worse," Lucifer and Anna replied simultaneously.

Just then, something reached out of the swamp... a hand, then another, and then another. Some resembled human-like figures, while others were monstrous beasts with deformed limbs and sunken, glowing eyes.

"What… what is that?" one awakener gasped, backing up in fear.

"Zombies?"

"Not just any zombies, but reanimated corpses of the ones who failed to kill the hydra," Lucifer commented. "One head kills the enemies, while the other reanimates them and uses them to overwhelm the intruders."

The reanimated creatures slowly crawled onto the massive water lily leaves. Their eyes glowed a sickly yellow tint, and their bones made cracking sounds with every step.

Some creatures had bits of flesh hanging from them, while others barely held together.

Suddenly, one corpse lunged at an Awakener. Its skeletal fingers dug into his arm, pulling him into the swamp. The guy screamed, thrashing and kicking the creature to get free, but the reanimated being's grip was unrelenting.

"Hold on!"

Another Awakener rushed to help to sever the corpse's arm. But as soon as the arm fell away, another creature grabbed hold of the man, and more crawled onto the leaves surrounding them.

"Back away!" a mage roared, sending a burst of flames towards the horde.

The explosion ripped the corpses apart. But just as they breathed a sigh of relief, the shredded pieces of the corpses that were scattered around slowly pieced themselves back together.

Back on the other leaf, YuWon's group was holding the creatures at bay. But the result remained unchanged.

However, Lucifer was having the time of his life as he cut another creature in half... but this time, it didn't regenerate. A moment later, Anna did the same.

"How did you—?" YuWon asked.

"Use their weapons against them," Anna cut him off, killing another creature. "Not all of them drop weapons, so you might have to 'shred' them till you get a weapon."

Soon everyone knew what to do and began recklessly hunting the creatures. Some even began fighting amongst themselves to get the weapons first.

After all, no one wanted to be at someone else's mercy. In the end, the death toll among the awakeners only increased.

"Good," Anna smiled as the chaos on other leaves attracted more reanimated away from them.

"Wait... you did that intentionally?" Yeji asked, hiding behind Lysandra.

"Yup," she replied. "Now that the creatures are busy with others, we can take care of the hydra."

"Wicked..." Yeji mumbled with admiration.

"And this is for good measure..."

Anna threw what looked like an explosive to the furthest leaf. A deafening explosion shook the swamp and what little reanimated were around them, immediately left, swimming towards the other leaf.

"Damn... I like this one!" Lucifer commented, realizing what Anna did.

"Sorry, I'm taken," Anna laughed it off, handing YuWon her weapon. "Use this to break through the Hydra's scale. Then your Noir sword can deal damage to it."

"What other secrets are you hiding?" YuWon shook his head, taking the axe from her.

"You'll know in due time," she winked. "Now go before the sun sinks and the hell hole opens."

"Right!"

YuWon charged toward the Hydra with weapons in hand. Watching him head its way, the hydra roared. One head bared its fangs, while the other opened its jaws, and he saw a tinge of cackling flames from within.

Fire? Good luck hurting me with that.

YuWon grinned and pushed forward without even thinking about the fiery blast. A moment later, a stream of flames engulfed YuWon. As expected, the flames felt warm around him but didn't burn his skin.

But as the flames faded, something felt off. Suddenly the wind felt... cold to him, reaching parts where it shouldn't have. YuWon glanced down for a moment, only for his eyes to widen in shock.

...my clothes...

He was standing stark naked in front of a giant, two-headed dragon and, worse, in front of countless awakeners. Even the reanimated creature stopped fighting the awakeners to witness the spectacle.

"Well, well," Lucifer called out. "I must say, YuWon, even among the gods, your package is… impressive."

YuWon could feel his face turn red with embarrassment, and he spun around, glaring at Lucifer.

"Shut the hell up!"

By now, the rest of the Awakeners had taken notice of YuWon's… predicament. Some were too shocked to react, others tried and failed to hide their laughter.

A few men gave approving nods, while others just stared in disbelief. As for the women… well, they were having their peculiar reactions.

Anna, Lysandra, and Gina exchanged glances, grinning like fools. Even Yeji, who was usually more reserved, had her eyes glued between YuWon's legs. Lysandra, noticing this, nudged her with her elbow and pointedly raised an eyebrow.

"Enjoying the view, are we?"

"N-No!" she stammered, acting disgusted as she turned away. "I wasn't… looking… like that!"

"Sure, sure. Whatever you say."

Meanwhile, YuWon was trying to cover up what little dignity he had left. Awkwardly, he used one hand to hold his sword in front of his private area and glared at everyone.

"Can we please focus on the Hydra?!" he shouted, exasperated.

"Oh, don't worry, the Hydra's probably just as impressed as the rest of us. It hasn't moved since you exposed it to your exhibitionistic tendencies."

"Shut. Up." YuWon clenched his teeth.

The hydra's roar snapped YuWon back to sense as he noticed one of its heads moving towards him.

[Skill: Soul Bind has been activated.]

A wisp snaked out of YuWon's arm, striking the hydra's head. There was no way the skill would work on the Hydra, but it was enough to buy him some time. With the Hydra still in front of him, he slammed his foot down on the swampy waters beneath.

[Skill: Tectonic Slam has been activated.]