Deng Chun's consciousness had, unexpectedly, endured.
His vision was still dark, but he could still hear the roar of wind and sand rushing past his ears. He felt things striking his body, too, as though the wind were still blowing him along, rolling him over the ground a few times.
The body he had thought shattered was still there, apparently still in one piece. The terrifying sense of swelling and crushing weight had eased considerably—perhaps it had broken apart and reassembled, draining away the dark gold fluid injected into it.
These wild speculations arose precisely because Deng Chun was so confused about his condition:
I'm not dead...
Had he "died," everything would have been simpler—he would have lost consciousness instantly, then woken up back in the bedroom, whether in the game or in reality.
But what was he supposed to make of this?
He was certain the mask still covered his face, possibly in two layers, but the incessant clacking of the two masks struggling against each other had stopped.
Most importantly, the sighs and moans in his ears had also subsided, seemingly drowned out entirely by the howling storm. That gave him a rare moment of peace.
His vision remained dim, however. Although the light was gradually strengthening, he still could not make out his surroundings.
Unable to see outside, Deng Chun tried checking the system's prompt information.
To his surprise, he succeeded.
On the information center interface, a branch of the world quest had been marked "Complete," with new information following it:
``` "A successful escape! You have severed your direct connection with Magnetized Puppet Hundun (Possession Version), temporarily escaped the fate of becoming an external brain-computer, and earned a chance to catch your breath.
"However, the threat infiltrating from the Real World remains, as does the power