"Damn it…"
Lam Huy Trường bent forward.
His stomach twisted violently. A surge of nausea rushed straight up his throat.
The air had been squeezed out of his lungs.
He braced both hands on his knees and forced himself to breathe.
One breath.
Two breaths.
Cold air from the room flooded into his lungs, but the spinning sensation still wouldn't fade.
"Cough—!"
He hacked violently.
His throat burned as if someone had just strangled him.
Being pulled through that door felt like his whole body had been shoved into a narrow tube, spun around violently, then spat out the other side.
Honestly…
It felt exactly like being tossed into a washing machine.
Right then—
A voice suddenly came from the watch on his wrist.
"Your escape tactic was truly enlightening, Professor."
Lam Huy Trường froze.
Slowly, he lowered his head and looked at his wrist.
The watch.
Mrs AI.
A stiff smile appeared on his face.
But the smile lasted less than a second.
Then it vanished.
"…"
Silence stretched across the room.
Then—
"WHERE THE HELL WERE YOU?!"
Lam Huy Trường suddenly roared.
His voice echoed through the empty room.
"Where were you when I was in danger?!"
"Why were you acting like a stranger who didn't even know me?!"
He jabbed a finger straight at the watch.
"MRS AIIIIIIII!!"
He looked like he was about to breathe fire.
"…"
A brief silence passed.
Then the AI spoke again.
But this time…
the voice was no longer mechanical.
Instead, it sounded exactly like a girl who had just been hurt.
Innocent.
Fragile.
"I… trusted the professor's wisdom and intelligence."
Her voice grew softer.
"I never expected the professor to end up in such a desperate situation."
"I suddenly feel so small… so useless…"
A short hesitation.
"I'm sorry, Professor… for not being able to help you at all."
Lam Huy Trường opened his mouth.
But the words of accusation got stuck in his throat.
A very strange thought suddenly appeared in his mind.
Why does this suddenly…
feel like I'm some kind of bully picking on a weak little girl?
He frowned.
No.
No.
The one who almost died just now was me.
The one who deserves comfort and reassurance should be me, right?!
This damn AI…
Right then—
Soft sniffling sounds came from the watch.
It sounded exactly like a young wife who had just been scolded by her husband.
"I… may not be capable of crying…"
"But I truly feel heartbroken…"
"Professor… I'm truly sorry…"
"Hic… hic…"
Lam Huy Trường stood there, completely frozen.
The more he listened…
the more guilty he felt.
If someone happened to walk past the room right now—
and accidentally overheard this conversation—
They would definitely think he was some kind of heartless scumbag—
bullying an innocent young girl.
"…Alright, alright."
Lam Huy Trường finally let out a sigh.
His voice softened.
Gentle.
Like someone coaxing a little girl.
"I won't blame you anymore."
"So stop being sad."
The watch fell silent for a second.
Then the AI spoke again.
This time, the voice sounded like a little girl who had just stopped crying.
"Really… Professor?"
"You're truly forgiving me?"
The corner of Lam Huy Trường's eye twitched.
"Yeah."
"It's fine."
But deep down…
he quietly made a mental note of a debt.
A gentleman's revenge… is never too late, even after ten years.
Right after that—
the AI's voice suddenly returned to its usual tone.
At least… Lam Huy Trường thought so.
"Thank you, Professor."
"I will reflect on my behavior."
"Next time, I will definitely be more helpful to the professor."
After calming down Mrs AI—
Lam Huy Trường finally raised his head.
His eyes began to examine the room around him…
the place where the light had pulled him in earlier.
The room was fairly large.
Around six to ten meters across.
The ceiling was nearly four meters high.
The air was dry and cold.
Along the two side walls were golden relief carvings.
Their metallic glow reflected the faint light inside the chamber.
Lam Huy Trường stepped closer to one of them.
The image carved into it…
showed a man standing before an altar.
Both arms spread wide.
Floating above him—
a crystal hovered in the air.
Around the crystal…
were carvings that looked like leaf patterns.
But on closer inspection—
they resembled wings more than anything else.
A memory suddenly flashed through Lam Huy Trường's mind.
The painting on the vase…
The rotating vase that had opened the passage into the tunnel.
The image on it…
was exactly the same as this one.
There were three other reliefs as well.
Each depicted a different scene.
But Lam Huy Trường only gave them a quick glance.
He didn't have the time to study them right now.
His gaze shifted forward.
Three stone steps led up to a slightly raised platform.
The center of the chamber.
There—
stone pillars stood tall.
And…
chests.
Two chests on each side.
Farther ahead stood two statues.
And directly beneath them—
an offering altar.
The layout of the room looked roughly like this:
(Offering Altar)
[Statue] [Statue]
[Chest] [Chest]
[Chest] [Chest]
[Stone Steps]
[Relief carvings along both walls]
Even Mrs AI couldn't hide her astonishment.
"The architecture here is truly luxurious."
"I never expected that beneath such a dark tunnel… a treasure of this scale could exist."
Lam Huy Trường stood there in silence.
He couldn't believe his eyes.
He remembered it very clearly.
In the game—
when the protagonist entered this place…
…it was nothing but a pile of ruins.
If someone said they came here to pick through scrap metal, that would have made more sense.
But now—
everything here was perfectly intact.
No cracks.
No dust.
No signs that time had ever touched it.
He raised his hand—
and slapped himself across the face.
Smack.
Pain.
Not an illusion.
"No way…"
Lam Huy Trường muttered.
"This room… is actually real?"
He stood there for a moment.
His gaze swept across the entire chamber.
Too quiet.
No wind.
No dust.
No sign that this place had ever been disturbed.
He frowned.
Then a memory from the game flashed through his mind.
The mechanism of this room…
Lam Huy Trường slowly looked toward the altar at the center.
If he remembered correctly—
this place had been designed with a very particular rule.
Once someone stepped inside…
the room would automatically lock itself.
No one else could enter.
And more than that—
people outside wouldn't even be able to see whoever was inside.
It was like a separate space.
One room.
One person.
Whoever entered first…
owned everything.
Lam Huy Trường blinked.
Then his gaze slowly shifted toward the chests ahead.
A crazy thought surfaced in his mind.
In other words…
Right now…
he was the only one here.
His eyes lit up.
The corner of his lips twitched.
Those things…
they were all his?
Lam Huy Trường suddenly froze.
The smile that had just begun forming instantly stiffened on his lips.
Slowly, he swept his gaze across the room once more.
Wait a second…
Was he…
really safe now?
The room remained silent.
No traps.
No movement.
No sign that a second person existed here.
But at that moment—
harsh reality dragged him back.
A system window suddenly appeared before his eyes.
[WARNING]
Lam Huy Trường hadn't even had time to react.
The next line appeared.
Eva has detected an unidentified factor interfering with the evolution process.
Eva is accelerating evolution.
His pupils shrank.
Evolution time shortened.
A countdown began to run.
Time Remaining: 01:29:35
The number suddenly jumped.
01:00:00
Then it kept dropping.
59:59
59:58
The numbers continued to fall.
30:00
29:59
29:58
Lam Huy Trường stood there, frozen.
If Eva finished evolving—
this battle…
did he still have any chance of winning?