Legendary Person: I brought my skills back to reality!

Xu Hao frantically rummaged through his backpack, sweat dripping from his forehead. "I definitely brought it! I definitely brought it!!!" he muttered to himself, his voice filled with anxiety.

He could see every item: the cool touch of the potion bottle, the metallic texture of the weapon, the shapes of the various objects. But he just couldn't find that crucial scroll.

Xu Hao took a deep breath, forcing himself to calm down. He closed his eyes and recalled the scene of packing his backpack in his mind. Weapons, potions, fire talismans... Suddenly, a terrible fact surfaced in his mind.

He opened his eyes, his face turning pale. "What do I do? What do I do?" Xu Hao muttered to himself, his voice filled with despair. A small oversight had plunged him into such a dangerous situation.

Xu Hao's gaze swept over the skeletons and bats around him, and memories flooded back. Back when he was leveling up here, killing just a dozen or so bats would drop a return scroll. At that time, he always disdained carrying dungeon escape scrolls, thinking it was a waste of inventory space.

But now, the situation is completely different. Time is of the essence, and every second is precious. He simply doesn't have the leisure to fight those bats, let alone wait for luck to strike and drop a return scroll.

Xu Hao clenched his fists, his nails digging deep into his palms. He stared into the depths of the cave, feeling as if countless eyes were watching him from the darkness. Time ticked by, and he remained trapped in this dangerous place, unable to escape.

He stood up and looked around. The scattered bone fragments reminded him of his recent frenzied killing. Time ticked by, each second pushing him further away from his chance to rescue Lin Ya.

Xu Hao glanced down at his stats. Although they were at full strength, he knew perfectly well that without going to Bichon City to buy the book and learn "Summon Skeletons," the slight boost from leveling up alone wouldn't be enough to fight that powerful monster.

A wave of helplessness washed over him, and Xu Hao slumped to the ground, clutching his only two random teleportation scrolls tightly in his hands. These were his last hope, but he knew in his heart that relying on them to travel was simply not enough time.

I'm currently at the deepest part of the Skull Cave. With two random tickets, I'm lucky if I can even get back to the entrance of the next level. Going back to town is a pipe dream!

A sense of despair began to spread, and Xu Hao closed his eyes and sighed deeply.

Only fifteen minutes left...

Just as Xu Hao was falling into despair, the system gave him a notification. He quickly opened the interface and saw a message from Zi Yu: "Brother Hao, are you there?"

This simple greeting was like a ray of sunshine in the darkness, instantly igniting Xu Hao's hope. His fingers trembled slightly with excitement as he quickly replied, "Ziyu! Where are you?"

"I'm on the second floor of the Skull Cave! Where are you? Want to level up together?!" Zi Yu's reply came almost immediately.

Xu Hao took a deep breath, trying to calm his excited emotions. His brain raced, calculating time and distance. "Ziyu, listen to me, this is important," he quickly typed, "Do you have a return scroll in your inventory?"

The few seconds of waiting felt like an eternity. Finally, Ziyu replied, "Yes! I just killed a bat, and one dropped."

Xu Hao felt his blood boiling. He immediately stood up and ran towards the cave exit while continuing to type: "Great! We'll meet in the connecting passage on the second floor. I have urgent business to attend to back in the city; it's a matter of life and death!"

Zi Yu seemed to realize the seriousness of the situation and replied even faster: "Okay, Brother Hao! I'm going right now! Be careful, I'll be there soon!"

Xu Hao ran while carefully watching his step. The skull fragments and uneven ground nearly caused him to slip and fall several times, but he gritted his teeth and continued forward. Every second was precious, and he dared not slacken his pace for even a moment.

Finally, he saw the stairs leading to the second floor. Xu Hao practically leaped up the stairs, his heart pounding in his chest. As he reached the second floor, he heard familiar footsteps in the distance.

"Brother Hao!" Zi Yu's voice came from around the corner, and Xu Hao felt happier than ever to hear that voice.

They met in the middle of the passage. Zi Yu looked a little out of breath, clearly having run all the way. "Here! This is a return scroll," she quickly took out a scroll glowing with blue light from her backpack and handed it to Xu Hao. "What exactly happened?"

Xu Hao took the scroll and looked at Zi Yu gratefully. "Thank you, Zi Yu. I don't have time to explain now, but you saved me, and you may have saved others as well. I owe you a favor."

Zi Yu was about to say something more, but she only saw Xu Hao swiftly unroll the scroll, and blue light began to surround his body. Before completely disappearing, Xu Hao said to Zi Yu, "I'll tell you the details when I get back. Thank you, Zi Yu!"

With a dazzling blue light, Xu Hao vanished into the Skull Cave. Zi Yu stood there, looking at the spot where Xu Hao had disappeared with doubt and worry.

As the blue light faded, Xu Hao found himself standing in the safe zone of Beach City. Without pausing, he immediately sprinted towards the bookstore. Pedestrians in the city turned to look at the young man running frantically, but Xu Hao paid no heed to their stares.

As he ran, he quickly opened the system interface to check the time.

"Remaining game cooldown (startup) time: 03:21"

Is it too late?! Seeing this number, Xu Hao's heart pounded even harder. He quickened his pace, almost running through the bustling streets.

Finally, the familiar wooden sign came into view—"Beach Bookstore." Xu Hao rushed into the store, almost bumping into the owner who was tidying up the bookshelves.

"I'm sorry!" he apologized hastily, then rushed to the counter. "I need the skill book for 'Summon Skeletons,' quick!"

The bookstore owner was startled by his urgent tone, but quickly recovered and took out a faintly glowing book from under the counter. "One thousand one hundred gold coins."

Xu Hao practically threw the gold coins on the counter and grabbed the books. He checked the time again:

"00:17"

Without time to examine it closely, Xu Hao opened the book and began studying. A system notification popped up: "Do you wish to learn the skill 'Summon Skeletons'? YES OR NO?"

"00:02"

"YES!"

At the very last second, the system notification sounded:

"You have learned the skill: Summon Skeletons".

Xu Hao let out a long sigh of relief, his muscles finally relaxing. He looked at the book in his hand, which had already turned into specks of light and disappeared. The other customers in the shop were looking at him with strange eyes, but Xu Hao couldn't care less at that moment.

A flash of blue light, and Xu Hao disappeared from the spot.

Bookstore owner: "Using a dungeon in a bookstore? What's the matter that's causing this commotion, young man?"