One-Eyed Monster

Igor felt he shouldn’t have turned around; that turning made him see the massive flames rushing towards him, bringing an intense heat that made it impossible for him to remain calm.

”Damn it, we’re screwed!” He shouted as he turned his head and started running with all his might...

He vaguely sensed another figure rushing past him, moving even faster!

This...

Igor was just about to hesitate, but he felt the burning sensation from behind intensify, so he didn’t think twice and chased the blurry figure ahead.

The flames and heat waves seemed to have a life of their own, pursuing them wherever they ran, without any breathing space.

Igor originally thought that figure knew a place to hide, but now he realized that the figure was blindly fleeing like a headless chicken.

But Igor could never catch up, as that figure was simply too fast.

Igor vaguely felt like his back was about to be scorched by the flames.

How could this figure run so fast!

Igor knew this was the Inner World, where many scenes were fake. Although the scenarios were fake, the sensations were real; the feeling of being burned was identical to real life. Failing in the Inner World meant exiting in reality too, so Igor naturally couldn’t be careless, nor could he pretend it didn’t matter.

He had only one thought now: run.

Then he had a second thought from watching the figure in front: catch up.

Igor now felt like a hunted rabbit, desperately running, but rabbits have many burrows for refuge, whereas he had none.

There was nothing but open ground ahead, with no choice but to run in any direction, unable to find a hiding place... and even if there was one, how did he know that the strange flames wouldn’t follow him around corners? Forget it, just keep running.

Who exactly was the voice that warned him earlier? Was it the figure ahead? If so, he must ask.

Igor’s mind was filled with questions; if not for the relentless pursuit of the flames, he might have exploded from all the thinking!

Run, hurry up!

Thinking was a luxury he couldn’t afford; the most crucial thing right now was to escape this unbearably hot fire!

Igor felt himself running faster and faster. He had two motivators: one was to escape the troublesome flames because if they caught up, he would only be left to burn; the second was to catch up to the figure ahead and clarify things...

These two motivations drove him to continually increase his running speed! Even Igor had not realized how fast he could actually run before.

In a way, he should thank the figure, because it was leading the way by running ahead, ensuring no new dangers would arise from its path. He could run confidently in this direction without needing to worry. Without this figure, he might have been scared of unexpected surprises from the ground!

No sooner did he have this comforting thought, than flames suddenly shot up from the ground!

The flames unpredictably erupted without pattern or warning, reminiscent of the white flame marsh behind Guru Mountain Moonflow Stream.

”What the hell!” Igor thought as things kept worsening, rendering him speechless. This increased the difficulty level; it was already frustrating to run at high speed, now he had to constantly overcome obstacles while running fast, surely this was intentional!

”Hey, you back there, where did you come from!” Suddenly, the figure ahead shouted, continuing to both run and yell.

”Huh?” Igor wasn’t used to talking while running; he struggled to keep up with the rhythm.

”I said, you’re here, to mess things up, aren’t you?” The figure continued to shout; maintaining such a roar while running at high speed indicated a remarkable physical condition.

Igor couldn’t manage; just replying with a ”what” made him feel breathless. But he couldn’t stop running, as the flames were right behind him!

It was an awkward situation: the flames aggressively chased them from behind, while sparks kept erupting around; a slight mistake would genuinely lead to being devoured by the flames.

”I said, do you have to be fire-related? As soon as you’re here, you start a fire!” The figure continued to roar, paying no mind to whether Igor could hear.

However, Igor noticed the distance between them seemed to be closing, because he could hear that person’s words clearly.

At this moment, Igor realized that he had somehow attracted all these flames!

Yet, he felt quite aggrieved. He had no idea why this was happening. As he ran, he pondered the situation, gradually adjusting to the rhythm of running and dodging, which was much better than at the beginning.

”Please, stop following me!” The figure now began to plead with Igor, sounding quite pitiable.

But Igor didn’t want this either; he didn’t want to keep following the figure. Yet, he had no choice. He was unfamiliar with the area; if he messed up and the flames from behind caught him or the sparks from the ground got him, that could be disastrous.

”I said, can’t you understand? Stop following me!” The shouting continued.

Igor ignored it; this was not the time to play hero. Being a bit cowardly was no big deal.

Igor was puzzled; he had just been exploring deeper into his Inner World, but who would have thought it would lead to this, running in a world full of flames, where a single mistake might get him consumed by the flames.

He hadn’t yet figured out how this all happened, but he knew now that he couldn’t stop!

”Say something!” The figure ahead was already getting anxious; unable to shake off the big tail behind them, with erupting sparks from the ground and inescapable flames, truly a stroke of bad luck.

Igor wanted to run aside, too, but he didn’t know where it was safe or not. Everything was unfamiliar; he could only follow the person ahead!

”Hey, I beg you, say something, at least tell me who you are!”

Speaking was difficult while running fast; Igor still couldn’t manage it. He opened his mouth, but all he could produce was a sound.

The sound was ”Ahhh...”