📘 Chapter 15 - I Don't Want to Die
In the Dream
Unknown's current state was strange — the closest thing to describe it would be a moment of realization… or enlightenment.
A new door of power had opened before him, one he had never perceived before.
He had never imagined this was possible: to make his body act like a specific substance — like water in this case — and have the body actually respond accordingly.
He felt, during the use of his technique, that he had truly become water. Then he gathered all the "water" — which represented the energy of his body — directed it toward his hand, and released it…
Like a waterfall that had been accumulating water for years until the dam that held it back was destroyed.
And that dam… was his opponent's body.
The effect?
His opponent's body was utterly destroyed.
Unknown was stunned — how was this possible? Then he remembered a certain detail in the technique:
The gathering of the water — the body's energy — and directing it to the hand.
He understood then:
All I did was gather a large amount of my body's energy and focused it into a single point — my hand.
And since I imagined my body as water, my body behaved with extreme flexibility. That resulted in a punch that was incredibly fast due to the fluidity, and immensely strong due to the concentration of energy in one point — the hand.
From this perspective, it explained the punch's terrifying power.
"Why don't I call it… the Flowing Waterfall?"
Wait…
Unknown thought of something that stopped him in his tracks.
"If gathering all my body's energy into my hand can increase strength this much… what would happen if I tried it with other parts of my body?"
After thinking this, Unknown began to visualize his body again.
He felt it… imagined it as a mass of water, its shape and structure identical to his own.
Then… he raised his leg slightly…
And brought it down swiftly — imagining the water, which represented his energy, surging from all parts of his body toward his leg.
And when his foot touched the ground…
The energy burst forward.
The result?
Unknown was stretched out on the ground, his face buried into what seemed to be the dream's earth.
But strangely… he was 12 meters away from the spot he had stood a moment ago.
He had crossed that distance in 0.7 seconds.
To understand what had happened, one must look at his arm and leg — the ones that executed these techniques.
They were crushed.
Flesh and blood had blended together.
Both the hand and foot were so disfigured that they couldn't even be recognized anymore.
And why did this happen?
1. Unknown didn't notice due to the high adrenaline, and the deep focus and strange feeling that came with creating and developing the technique.
He didn't realize his hand was just a lump of mangled flesh and blood.
2. Everything happened so fast.
From watching that legendary boxer use the technique…
To imagining it…
To developing it…
To the death of the boxer…
To realizing he could apply the technique to other parts of his body…
To trying it…
To ending up in his current state…
Unknown didn't even realize he had transitioned into a dream.
He didn't notice the strangeness of the place — something any ordinary person would've spotted immediately, no matter how focused they were.
Because this place… was unique. It had a feeling all its own.
But Unknown… didn't even notice that.
How could he notice something like that — in the state his body was in?
Let's return to Unknown...
Who didn't even know he was dreaming.
"What… is this? Am I dying?"
That's what Unknown was thinking in that moment.
From Unknown's perspective:
When he brought his foot down to the ground, pulling all the energy of his body and launching it into his leg,
the world around him changed suddenly.
He had been standing in one place…
Then couldn't remember anything except that his face had become engraved into the earth.
He tried moving his neck — but realized that his perspective was strange.
His neck… was broken, and twisted in a horrifying way.
When he noticed this, he was flooded with fear and shock.
"What's happening?!"
he thought.
Then, a wave of intense pain overwhelmed him, seemingly coming from his hand and leg.
He looked at them from the crooked angle of his broken neck —
and the sight of them made him want to vomit.
With everything he had been through, only one thought took over Unknown's mind:
Death.
But… despite the excruciating pain… despite everything that had happened…
Another thought overpowered death:
Life.
"I don't want to die..."
he thought to himself, and screamed with all the strength he had left.
But… only a soft whisper escaped.
"I don't want to die..."
And yet…
no miracle happened.
The world around him kept spinning.
His vision faded into misty colors.
The light in his eyes began to dim.
Even though he didn't accept it…
Even though he resisted it…
There was nothing he could do.
A feeling of unwillingness filled his last moments…
Then… darkness swallowed the world around him.
---
But suddenly...
As if the sunlight could no longer tolerate his sleep...
A brilliant ray of light shone fiercely into his eyes.
He opened them instinctively...
And then...
He was shocked.