Infinite Realm

Sato walked through the door with no hesitation at all. Having come this far, turning back at the last minute was nothing more than making a dumb decision. In fact, he couldn't even retreat at this point as once a the main trial have been activated, there's no turning back again for the challenger unless they replenish the resources spent in doing so. As for the process of the resources, there was no need to say that the current Sato couldn't afford it.

As his entire being went through the door, Sato suddenly experienced a zero-gravity sensation as he felt himself become weightless. This feeling went on for 3 seconds and during those seconds, apart from feeling weightless, Sato could neither hear, see, smell nor feel anything. It was as if his entire being was shutdown; his senses going dark. This feeling was akin to being in a mother's womb; the only exception being the operation of one's conscious.

*Vroom*

In a strange unknown space, a black wormhole suddenly opened mid air and spat out a dark figure.

[[System notification :

You have discovered [Bloodfall lands]

No reward is given for this discovery.

]]

"Hmm?"

Once he felt free from that oppressive feeling, Sato's body began to readjust back to it's normal state of operation. However, just as it did so, Sato was given a surprise he never expected.

With his eyes widened in surprise at what laid in front of him, Sato discovered that he was free falling his way to the ground.

"Shit!" Sato cursed.

He was at a height of at least 35 metres. Even if he didn't die, getting seriously injured was still a possibility.

'I have to find a way to cushion my fall.' Sato began operating his brain at high speed.

Ideas after ideas ran through his mind as Sato was running out of time but he still couldn't figure out anything to do. There was no object close by to make use of. Even the landing area was devoid of rocks, being nothing but barren land.

'Am I going to die just like this?!' Sato was disinclined to giving up just like that. He didn't have a teleportation skill like Fudo or an explosive spell like Xue Yan, so the options of teleporting to a safe distance or cushioning his fall with an explosion were cancelled.

There was only one option Sato was left with, and that was to set his body in the right position that would bring about the least amount of damage to him. The rules of the trials were quite simple and there was just one major thing to note; don't die no matter what. So even at the cost of breaking an arm or a leg or maybe even both, Sato wanted to assure his survival. In the end, he could simply down a healing potion and return to his peak form.

'That's it!' Sato's eyes glistened with realisation.

Putting his hand in his space bag, Sato pulled out a HP vial, unclogged it and placed the opening in his mouth.

'If I time it well, then it should work.'

What Sato was trying to pull off was a special strategy that became quite popular at a point in time in VR games.

Health potions had the effect of healing players and they usually began working once the player swallows them. In fact, they begin working upon contact with the internal system of a living carbon-based being. In other words, the very second it gets into the user's mouth the healing potion begins its work. However, the healing speed when kept within the mouth is much slower compared to being ingested.

Now, the gaming strategy used by players was to keep the drug within their mouth during battles and as they got inured, they would ingest the potion. The use of this strategy was in extremely dangerous scenarios where one could easily be killed or severely injured with a single strike. By ingesting the potion at the appropriate time just as the attack connects, a healing effect would apply to the damage effect. This would create a scenario with a contrasting effect where the player is both being receiving damage and is being healed. As long as the timing is right and the amount of HP provided is just enough to neutralize the damage to a certain level, leaving the player alive, the strategy was an OP survival 'bug'. 

However, while it stood to be an OP 'bug', the factors involved in pulling it off made it a very impractical strategy in battle. This was simply because one couldn't always judge the amount off damage they would receive from an attack because certain various factors could potentially change the values. Also, the timing of the ingestion of the health potion had to be perfect lest the player dies before the healing effect kicks in or maybe takes it too early and still dies either way. To be able to pull this off perfectly in battle, one would need accurate information on the opponent's strength and preparation time; lots of it at that. Hence, the strategy was slowly abandoned and forgotten.

'But its not like I have any other choice.' Sato thought as he emptied the contents of the vial into his mouth. He however, didn't ingest the potion but left it in his mouth. His intention was clear; to ingest the potion at the last second just as he lands.

'Almost.' Sato's body increasingly got closer to the ground.

Just as Sato finally chugged down the liquid, he suddenly halted 1 metre up in the air. 

*Cough* *Coughs*

The sudden jerking sequence accompanied with Sato's hurried intake of the potion had made him almost choke on it. Luckily for Sato though, he was able to cough it all out in time.

"What the heck?" Sato exclaimed with an irritated tone.

*Bang*

Following Sato's complaints, the levitation effect on his body shutdown as he crashed violently on the ground.

"Ouch. That hurts." Sato picked himself back up from the ground.

'From the looks of things, I might have thought too much about things.' Sato sighed as he began surveying his new location.

The part about him thinking too much about things was Sato presuming that his being launched from mid air was a test check his survival rating when in actuality, it was nothing meaningful. In the end, a certain mechanism was set in place to prevent him from dying by a fall so even if he didn't do anything, Sato wouldn't have died. However, he didn't know this so he couldn't be blamed for taking preventive measures.

'That's…'

As he glanced around to take note of his location and possibly spot the challenge's goal, Sato noticed that he was in the middle of a desert-like environment with only red soil and red clouds. What made things even more 'special' was the fact that there was nothing else present. No lakes, no villages, no buildings, no plants, and apart from one very tall mountain, there was no ground elevation. The ground was perfectly flat with not a single boulder in sight much less a a hill or a mountain or even a valley. The only exception was the conspicuous mountain in the distance, whose peak penetrated the red clouds.

"I guess that's the challenge goal." Sato thought out loud. 

"Bloodfall lands huh?"

Glancing at the system notification that had alerted him a few seconds ago, Sato felt that the name of the trial location was quite interesting.

'Well it doesn't matter much. Time to check out this place.'

Making a quick equipment and skill check to confirm that he didn't miss anything, Sato then walked towards the mountain. While he didn't take the option of running, despite knowing that the challenge was timed, Sato still didn't walk at a relaxed pace. He was currently in unknown grounds and his safety mattered most. As for the best way to ensure his safety, it was to proceed with caution.

*Stomp* *Stomp*

As the ground was flat with only a bit of soil on it, Sato's footsteps were quite easy perceive in this dry land but he wasn't bothered. Simply because there was nothing he could about it.

'Either way, if something can hear me, I can also hear it.' 

With that thought in mind, Sato courageously, yet cautiously, continued on his journey deeper into the red desert.