The giant centipede stood before Leon, its body casting a scary shadow. Its forcipules shone wickedly.

"Fuck!" Leon turned around instinctively and ran.

But something fell off.

He turned his head slightly to look back. And then....

He stopped abruptly. "What the...?"

The centipede didn’t move. Not even a little bit. Its head was raised high as if it were roaring, but its body was completely still. No movement. No sound. Just like a statue.

"Well, this is a first." Leon whispered. He then started walking toward the giant to check it out but suddenly a voice rang out behind him.

"Where do you think you were running to?"

Leon jumped and faced back.

The same man from his last dream stood there. Calm. Composed.

"It’s you." Leon felt like he knew him but for some reason, he couldn’t remember him. "Who are you?"

The man chuckled. "Who am I, huh? Your memories haven’t returned. But your eyes should be okay. You don’t recognize me?"

Leon’s eyebrows furrowed. "Am I supposed to know you? Even if I knew you, what are you doing in my dream?"

"I’m here because you called me," the man replied.

Leon blinked in surprise. "I called you? Seriously? I don’t even know who you are."

"You’ll know," the man said. "When you start remembering or use your brain a little. I guess. But for now... why were you running from that worm?"

"Worm?!" Leon’s eyes widened. "That looks like a worm to you?!" he snapped, pointing at the giant beast behind him. "Can you even see how big that creature is? What am I supposed to do? Welcome to a feast where I’m the meal? Spread some sauce on myself, so I taste good?!" He said sarcastically.

The man burst into laughter. It echoed in the distance.

Then he pointed casually at the monstrous centipede. "Why don’t you just kill it? It will solve some of your problems." 𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦

Leon blinked in surprise. "What problems?"

"For starters, you’ll receive a reward to lift the first curse placed on you."

Leon froze. "Curse?" he whispered. "I’m cursed?!"

The man smirked. "You aren’t just cursed. You can be defined as a walking store of curses."

Leon didn’t know what to say. ’Why would someone put curses on me? What did I ever do to offend anyone?’ He wondered.

The man’s expression shifted. Less mocking and more serious now.

"So, do you want to live with those curses? Or get rid of them and get stronger."

"Of course, I want to get stronger. But before that, who put those curses on me? And why?"

"I can’t answer that. Just understand one thing. When you get rid of all those curses, you will be something like..." He stopped searching for the fitting word.

"Unstoppable."

Leon clenched his fists. He still didn’t know if what the person in front of him was saying was all true.

"What do I have to do for it?"

"I already told you," the man said. "Just kill that worm."

"Is that even possible?" Leon asked. "How can I kill something that big with my strength? Even an A-class knight would struggle against it alone!"

The man tilted his head slightly.

"So you think you can’t defeat it because you’re weak. And that you would be able to if you were strong?"

"What else? If I were an S-class knight, I could probably kill it in one strike!" Leon said.

The man fell silent for a moment.

Then he asked calmly. "Who do you think is the last one standing in a battle? The strongest one?"

"Of course. Who else?"

The man shook his head slowly. "The last one standing isn’t the strongest. It’s the one who refuses to stay down. Strength isn’t served on a platter. It’s earned. The resilience to overcome the impossible, the will to do what must be done rather than what you merely can... that’s what claims victory."

He looked at the centipede. "In ten seconds, it will start chasing you again. If you want strength... if you want your mother to wake up from her slumber someday... if you want to do what you are meant to do, which you’ve forgotten, then kill that worm."

His form began to fade.

"Otherwise... this will be our last meeting."

"Wait!" Leon shouted. But the man dissolved into thin air.

Ten seconds passed as Leon still stood there, frozen. Many things were spinning in his head.

Then....

Movement.

Dust rained down as the centipede twitched slightly. Then it let out a piercing shriek and lunged at Leon with terrifying speed.

Leon didn’t waste a single second and started running again. His heart was pounding with tension and fear. His legs felt desperate.

But that wasn’t all...

Something else rushed through him.

A face flashed in his mind. A sickly middle-aged woman lying on a medical bed, unconscious.

"I can wake her up if I kill it, right?" His jaw tightened. "I hope you aren’t messing with me."

He skidded to a stop and turned sharply.

"No more running!"

The centipede lunged. Leon moved fast but barely dodged, the creature’s pincer grazing his shoulder.

Blood burst out. Leon screamed as pain tore through him. His entire body felt like it was on fire. But he stood up. He staggered but steadied himself quickly.

Then.... he faced it again.

He dodged another strike. Then another. And another. His movements became sharper, his reactions faster.

A strange confidence was rising within him, something innate, something old that was buried deep within.

The centipede raised its head high and then threw its massive maw toward him.

Leon jumped and thrust his foot forward with all his might. The kick landed on the creature’s right eye.

SPLAT!

The centipede screeched in agony and violently whipped its head. The force sent Leon flying like a rag doll. He crashed hard onto the ground and then rolled to a stop.

Pain spread through every part of his body. But he didn’t care. He pushed himself up again.

He remembered a girl’s face. She was being mocked for her old, shabby dress. His sister.

He moved on instinct. He leaped again and shot his fist forward.

Splat!

This time, the centipede’s left eye exploded under the impact.

Leon didn’t stop. Leon landed on the giant’s head with a flip. He grabbed its armored plates and started punching its weak point again and again.

"DIE! DIE! DIE!"

At first, nothing. But with time, each punch grew fiercer. The skull beneath its skin started to cave in. And then finally...

A punch went deeper. Blood splattered.

The centipede shuddered. Then collapsed the next moment.

Leon fell onto its body. "I.... I really did it." His breathing was uneven but a smile spread across his face. Tired, painful, but satisfying.

Just then, a translucent panel appeared before his eyes.

[Congratulations, host. You met the condition to bind with the system.]