I'm Trapped in the Block

"Let’s try and see how to use it." The two little black figures looked very anxious.

One of the little figures pulled a stone knife from its waist, sliced open its finger, and pressed the bloody digit against the metal exterior.

"It’s no use." The little figure shook its head.

Mo Ling watched them, utterly baffled.

"Use a finger," the other little figure commanded.

Hearing this, the little figure who had cut itself seemed to recoil in fear.

But the one who gave the order grabbed it, slammed its hand onto the metal block, snatched the stone knife, and brought it down in one swift motion.

Flesh and blood splattered as a finger flew through the air and landed on the ground.

The fingerless figure clutched its hand, wailing on the ground as blood gushed out.

Mo Ling was so terrified he collapsed to the ground.

’Thank god there’s a metal wall between me and the outside.’

But the little figure who had brutalized its companion wasn’t finished. It grabbed the one on the ground and began slamming it against the Block.

It hacked off a palm, an arm, an ankle, an ear...

As if performing a dismemberment, the little figure pressed its companion’s various limbs and organs against the metal block, one by one.

It was as if it were running some kind of test.

As the little figure tested each part, it muttered to itself, "This isn’t it. This isn’t it either."

Mo Ling was frozen in horror by the gory, pulpy scene.

’What in the world are these creatures?’

After testing all the organs, the little figure opened its companion’s pack and took everything out.

As if preparing a ritual sacrifice, it laid the items out on the ground around the metal block one by one.

Clothes, food, tools...

There wasn’t much in the pack. The little black figure impatiently dumped everything out.

Its venomous gaze fell upon the metal block again, as if it were expecting something.

"This isn’t right either!" The little figure, growing impatient, aimed a vicious kick at the metal block.

As the sharp-clawed foot flew toward him, Mo Ling instinctively flinched back.

BANG!

The metal block didn’t budge. The only one hurt was the angry little figure.

After a brief rest, the little figure started pressing the objects from the ground against the metal wall, still trying.

Nothing happened.

Finally, the little figure gave up and began gathering its things to leave.

But Mo Ling wasn’t about to let that happen.

’I have to make it keep attacking.’ Mo Ling was growing bolder.

The little figure was about to gather the objects from the ground when Mo Ling targeted one and activated his power.

The berries on the ground vanished.

One after another, the berries on the ground were soon all gone.

The little figure’s eyes lit up. It quickly took out a few handfuls of berries from its own pack.

Mo Ling accepted all comers, taking every last berry for himself.

’Even if this little guy can’t save me, at least I can stock up on some food.’

The little figure pulled out all the berries from its pack and ran beyond the range of Mo Ling’s perception.

When it returned, its arms were laden with berries.

After he had stored some, the space inside the metal block started to run out. Mo Ling needed to leave himself some room to move, so he stopped teleporting them.

The little figure, seeing the berries in its hands no longer vanishing, was overjoyed. It set them down and ran off again.

’What is it doing now?’

When he saw the little figure again, it was covered in blood, its body riddled with deep wounds as it staggered forward.

It stumbled toward the metal block, glancing back with every step, before quickly hiding behind it.

Before Mo Ling could get a closer look, a tremendous impact struck.

The metal block was sent flipping ninety degrees!

Luckily, the little figure had dodged in time, or it would have been crushed to a pulp.

Inside, Mo Ling was thrown about, his head spinning, and slammed hard against the inner wall.

Struggling to look out, he saw a ferocious, boar-like creature writhing in pain on the ground. Steam rose from its back, and its eyes glowed with a predatory red light.

The creature scrambled back to its feet. The armor plates on its back stood on end as it curled into a ball and rolled toward the little figure.

The little figure quickly hid behind the metal block again. The spherical creature began to glow an incandescent red, then abruptly accelerated, staying hot on the little figure’s heels.

In a deadly game of chase around the block, the creature came dangerously close to crashing into Mo Ling in the center several times.

’This can’t go on. I won’t be able to take many more hits.’

The metal block was certainly sturdy, but Mo Ling inside was only flesh and blood.

Mo Ling made a snap decision. He quickly teleported a few rocks inside, then tossed them out into the rolling creature’s path.

But the rolling creature flashed red and simply smashed the rocks to smithereens upon contact.

’What kind of power is that?’

Mo Ling tried teleporting a patch of ground away to create a pitfall, but the rolling creature simply leaped over it.

Within his limited field of view, he couldn’t find anything harder than rock.

There was only one option left.

Mo Ling focused his perception on the rolling creature.

’Teleport!’

A bloody, cube-shaped chunk of flesh appeared inside his metal space.

The red glow on the rolling creature vanished, and it stumbled to the ground.

Its curled body unfurled. A section of its foreleg was simply gone, leaving behind a perfectly square void.

Blood slowly began to seep from the impossibly smooth-cut surfaces.

’It worked!’ Mo Ling immediately pressed his advantage.

Cubic voids of all sizes began appearing all over the creature’s body, riddling it with holes.

At the same time, Mo Ling tossed the teleported chunks of flesh back out, creating a rain of meat in the jungle.

Soon, the creature was reduced to a mangled, irregular pile of flesh, its surface vaguely discernible as a collection of smooth, flat planes.

And the puddles on the ground were filled with cubic chunks of meat of all sizes.

"All done," Mo Ling sighed in relief.

Within his field of view, the lush green of the rainforest was now stained red.

The little black figure was prostrate on the ground, head in its hands, trembling. When the commotion died down, it slowly got to its feet.

It looked around, took in the horrific scene, and scrambled away in terror, fleeing from his sight.

All of its earlier arrogant ferocity was gone.

As his adrenaline faded, the bloody scene outside began to make Mo Ling feel sick.

But then again, he’d eaten earthworms. His stomach was getting stronger.

’I’m already trapped here waiting to die. What’s a little gore?’

It was just that his only apparent hope for rescue, the little figure, had also been scared off.

Rain began to fall outside. The heavy downpour washed the blood clean away, its drops drumming against the metal block.

The patter of the rain and the rich, earthy scent of life filled Mo Ling’s senses.

’What a strange sensation.’

His heart finally at peace, the exhausted Mo Ling drifted into a deep sleep.

...

When he next awoke, his view had changed.

The surrounding scenery was receding. The metal block had been placed on a small cart.

Not only that, but a circle of berries had been arranged on the cart’s platform around it.

Two little black figures were struggling to pull the cart, as if trying to transport the metal block somewhere.

Mo Ling was instantly on alert.

Black figures continuously flashed past the edges of his vision. It seemed there were many more of the little figures nearby.

Soon, another one of the little figures ran up to them in a hurry.

"Hurry and get this to the front! The humans are breaking through!"