Monsters in the Darkness

Chapter 1: Monsters in the Darkness

The setting sun gradually descended, and the dim yellow sunlight stretched the shadows of hundreds of tall buildings into countless monstrous, clawing figures across the city.

Night was approaching.

Shen Mu sat silently in his apartment, meticulously inventorying the supplies he had prepared.

"Candles, matches, wood, old clothes, and various collected combustibles..."

In front of Shen Mu, by the bed, the supplies he had gathered were piled high. Most of it was chopped-up furniture wood, torn clothes and bedding, or flammable items like books that once held knowledge.

But now, they could all be categorized as light and fire to ward off Undead Creatures.

After all, at night, those terrifying monsters resembling corpses, skeletons, and even Wraiths like vengeful spirits, required these things to be resisted.

"It's a pity. If I could get a Spiritual Realm Mark, maybe I could change professions and become a Spiritual Realm Lord, no longer fearing these terrifying monsters that emerge from the darkness."

A hint of regret appeared on Shen Mu's face.

However, since the terrifying Black Tide first descended three years ago, when many Spiritual Realm Marks were scattered.

Now, finding a Spiritual Realm Mark, whether it's a Lord-type, skill-type, or divine artifact-type, is basically no different from winning the lottery.

"Also, I don't know what will happen after the countdown in my mind ends."

Shen Mu frowned slightly.

Because in his mind, there was a constantly decreasing countdown dialogue box at this moment.

Countdown: 00 hours 09 minutes 43 seconds.

And it was gradually decreasing the countdown time as time passed.

"What is this thing?" Shen Mu had no idea.

He only knew that it was a countdown dialogue box that appeared naturally when he transmigrated with it.

And Shen Mu's transmigration time was this morning.

Then, since this morning, he had discovered such a countdown in his mind.

He had endured until now, and finally, there were less than 10 minutes left in the countdown.

"Speechless." Shen Mu pursed his lips.

Especially after transmigrating and learning about the tragic situation this technological world, which was originally no different from Blue Star, faced after being impacted by a Fantasy-side Crystal Wall System World called the Spiritual Realm three years ago, a situation that could be described as an apocalyptic crisis, his mood became even worse.

"Otherwise, my predecessor, who had the same name, wouldn't have committed suicide by cutting his wrists." Shen Mu glanced at his left wrist, where a trace of uncleaned bright red stain remained.

This was the reason why he possessed this body.

However, as for the wound, it had miraculously disappeared due to Shen Mu's transmigration, completely recovering to a state as if it had never been injured.

Of course, Shen Mu didn't know the specific principle.

But one thing he understood was.

Now, his countdown was about to enter the final stage, and he would finally know what would happen after the countdown ended.

Swish swish— A wind blew outside the apartment, carrying a kind of whimpering sound. If you listened carefully, you could even detect some strange, subtle crying sounds composed of countless voices within it.

There was no change in Shen Mu's expression.

He just glanced out the window. The setting sun was about to disappear, and the entire sky was almost occupied by darkness.

Only on the western horizon, a small part of the sun was still struggling to release its last bit of light, as if it still wanted to protect this world that had been eroded by the Undead World.

Night was falling.

"It's time to light the fire." Shen Mu immediately dragged a huge iron bathtub from under the bed. It was already blackened from years of burning fires and had thick ash residue.

However, this did not affect its effectiveness as a brazier.

Whoosh!

As Shen Mu lit a few newspapers and threw them in, and then threw flammable synthetic fiber clothes next to them, a pile of fire emitting a foul-smelling black smoke immediately burned in the brazier.

Taking advantage of this burning flame, Shen Mu then threw in finely chopped furniture wood, completely stabilizing the flame in the brazier within this small apartment, which was forty-three square meters on the property deed but only a mere thirty square meters of actual usable area.

"Now, it's safe." Shen Mu looked at the fire burning in the brazier in front of him and nodded with satisfaction.

But he thought of something and quickly went to the window, opening the tightly closed window.

Immediately, the smoke generated by the burning seemed to find a vent and was discharged through the window.

"Almost got carbon monoxide poisoning." Thinking about his predecessor's memories, Shen Mu couldn't help but curl his lips, feeling a wry smile at his own foolishness.

Although now, hot weapons and many original physical rules were no longer effective due to the invasion of Spiritual Realm rules.

However, the basic rules of life were still used as they were.

Falling into water would cause drowning.

An untreated stab wound would cause death from bleeding.

Of course, now you would also be choked to death by smoke or die from carbon monoxide poisoning, it was all the same.

"Damn it." In Shen Mu's mind, the residual memories of his predecessor also made him think of the terrifying Undead monsters that appeared every night under the cover of darkness. He couldn't help but grit his teeth, his mood becoming increasingly tense.

Subconsciously, he turned his head and looked outside the apartment.

The city streets, which should have been bustling before, were now dead silent, with no one around.

Borrowing the only remaining light, Shen Mu pursed his lips and looked at the car wrecks on the street, which were unusable due to the rules and abandoned there like graves. A hint of fear appeared in his eyes.

This was the residual memory of his predecessor, bringing fear that infected even him, who had transmigrated!

Fear of the unknown is the greatest fear.

However.

When Shen Mu looked up at the scattered lights in the windows of the tall buildings and commercial buildings around the apartment, his original fear dissipated quite a bit.

"Although the Undead Creatures of the Spiritual Realm are terrifying, at least many people and families have survived," Shen Mu comforted himself.

He turned his head to look west.

The sun, which had been struggling to protect this world, finally set completely.

Buzz! Then, when the last bit of light disappeared, a fluctuation that seemed to flash across the entire world in an instant appeared.

"It's here!" Shen Mu took two steps back.

He knew.

This was the dead Spiritual Realm, bringing all its rules and countless Undead Creatures.

The characteristic of its descent upon Blue Star!

Another characteristic that appeared simultaneously was the Gray Fog that permeated invisibly.

It only took two or three minutes for it to go from thin to dense, and then to the point where you couldn't see your hand in front of your face.

So much so that Shen Mu, who was standing at the window and still looking out of the apartment, could no longer see the street below the seventh floor!

"Woo woo—" A chorus of ghostly wails, mixed with faint, piercing screams, appeared in the streets or cities shrouded in darkness and gray fog.

Shen Mu took two steps back, away from the window, letting the black smoke vent outside.

He silently sat back on the bed next to the brazier.

His previous statement seemed incorrect.

Because Shen Mu knew clearly that after nightfall, any place without light would turn into darkness occupied by the rules of the dead Spiritual Realm, generating the gray fog area where Undead Creatures could be born.

As long as there is darkness, gray fog will be generated.

The gray fog concentration will gradually increase.

Undead Creatures will appear in the gray fog!

It was that cruel.

Unless a fire was lit to fill the entire room with light, even the adjacent room separated by a wall, or even the toilet sealed by a door, could have gray fog and monsters appear due to the lack of light!

Just like now, when the black smoke inside the house was venting out through the roof and windows, the gray fog outside also wanted to surge in.

But as soon as it got close to a place with light, the gray fog instantly dissipated as if it had been evaporated.

This was why people in this world, as long as it was night, would try their best to find a light source or light a bonfire!

As long as a bonfire was lit, the gray fog could be effectively avoided.

"Wait!" Just at this moment, Shen Mu, who had been sitting by the bed in thought, suddenly raised his head as if he had thought of something.

His gaze fell on a separate door in the small apartment of about thirty square meters, right next to the main door.

That was his apartment's toilet!

"Damn it!" Shen Mu thought of the residual memory of his predecessor. Every time night fell, even the toilet needed a candle lit to dispel the darkness!

A few minutes had passed since night began. If he was unlucky, according to the rules of the dead Spiritual Realm in the dark...

Perhaps...

Undead Creatures had already appeared!

"Need to light a candle in the toilet too!" Almost as soon as Shen Mu thought of this, he grabbed the matches and candle next to him and wanted to rush towards the toilet.

But before Shen Mu's butt left the bed, in the flickering firelight of the brazier in front of him, a faint sound appeared from inside the frosted glass door of the toilet.

"Uh ah..." It was like a painful groan, or like the whisper of a demon.

"!!!"

But this sound was like an explosion in Shen Mu's mind.

It made his whole body stiffen in place.

Because this sound...

It was the sound of an Undead Creature appearing!

Countdown: 00 hours 00 minutes 00 seconds.

The full series of DLCs and MODs for "Mount & Blade" have been successfully loaded into the running folder, and the running code fusion is complete.

The main bodies are "Mount & Blade: Warband" and "Mount & Blade: Bannerlord".

[Are you ready to start the game?]

Just then, the inexplicable countdown in Shen Mu's mind finally ended.

It then transformed into a dialogue box that appeared on his retina, visible only to Shen Mu.

"Mount & Blade?!"

"A small cheat program I casually made before I transmigrated, which integrated all Mount & Blade mods and DLCs!?"

Shen Mu couldn't help but widen his eyes.