The Strange Wilderness

Cold, an endless, bone-chilling cold flooded Lu Chen's consciousness.

This cold did not come from the outside world, but radiated from within his own body, as if a block of ice had lodged itself inside him, constantly emitting a frigid aura.

Beyond the cold, streaks of venomous, shrieking screams echoed incessantly through Lu Chen's mind.

It was a maddening sound; under the assault of those shrieks, Lu Chen felt as though his head were splitting apart, a desperate urge rising within him to smash his skull against a wall.

Regrettably, although his head felt as if it were shattering, the icy energy within his body rendered Lu Chen completely unable to move.

He could only lie on the bed, allowing the cold to erode his body and the maddening, venomous voices to reverberate through his mind.

Damn it, what on earth is happening? If this keeps up, I'm done for!

As a fine young man from the twenty-first century, Lu Chen was utterly bewildered; he had no idea why such a situation had suddenly befallen him.

Could I be sick? But there's no illness like this!

Confusion filled Lu Chen's heart and mind.

Yet, even without understanding his current predicament, Lu Chen realized that if things continued this way, he was certainly doomed.

Unfortunately, despite this premonition, the icy energy lingering in his body and the relentless, shrill screams left Lu Chen unable to do anything, even if he wanted to.

Soon, he couldn't even think at all.

Just as Lu Chen felt he was about to die, he vaguely sensed someone approaching his bedside, followed by the sound of a strange voice.

It was a crude, peculiar language, yet Lu Chen inexplicably understood its meaning.

"Shaman, A'Chen... his condition...!"

"It is not good. I will give him... medicine later. Whether he can... survive, depends on him..."

"May the ancestors protect him!"

"Shaman, the things around the village... are increasing. If this continues, we won't be able to hold out much longer."

"Sigh!"

The words were few, yet heavy with sorrow. However, Lu Chen was in no state to pay them any mind; the condition of his own body had already exhausted every ounce of his strength.

Not long after their conversation, a withered finger pried open Lu Chen's mouth, and a bowl of hot broth with a strange scent was poured in.

The broth didn't smell unpleasant, but it had a peculiar sensation to it.

As the thick liquid entered his stomach, a wave of warmth flooded Lu Chen's body and mind.

Stimulated by the broth, the icy sensation finally eased just a little.

As his body improved, the shrill screams in Lu Chen's mind also began to blur.

Just like that, the heat radiating from the broth lingered in his body, driving out the cold within.

As the frigid energy dissipated, the screams in Lu Chen's mind grew weaker and weaker.

Finally, before the heat from the broth could fade, the icy energy in Lu Chen's body was completely driven away.

With the departure of the cold, the murmurs in his mind also fell silent.

Once everything was calm, a cold, mechanical voice suddenly appeared in Lu Chen's mind.

However, Lu Chen no longer had the energy to pay attention to it.

The struggle between the heat and the cold, along with the relentless screaming in his head, had consumed too much of his mental strength.

When those annoying things vanished, Lu Chen, exhausted, drifted straight to sleep.

Yet, this night, Lu Chen was destined to sleep fitfully. From the outside, one could clearly see him tossing and turning, waving his arms as if caught in a nightmare.

Lu Chen was indeed dreaming, though whether it was a nightmare remained to be seen.

In that dream, Lu Chen transformed from a fine twenty-first-century youth into a young tribesman named Chen, living in a primitive tribe.

In the dream, Lu Chen experienced the short fifteen years of Chen's life, and the terror he encountered at the very end...

That night, Lu Chen slept for the entire duration. It wasn't until the next day, when the sun was high in the sky, that he finally woke up.

Even then, after waking, Lu Chen sat on the bed for a long while before his senses fully returned.

"Judging by those memories, I've transmigrated—from the Celestial Empire to a primitive tribe. But this world is somewhat unusual."

To be honest, transmigrating to a primitive tribe didn't bother Lu Chen.

Setting aside the fact that this world possessed strange powers, even without them, Lu Chen was confident he could live well here using the knowledge from his original world.

Regrettably, having accepted the memories of the tribesman Chen, Lu Chen tragically discovered that this world was not simple.

Lu Chen hadn't forgotten the young tribesman's final memory: he had been patrolling around the village when someone called his name, and the moment he turned around in confusion, he collapsed.

That was followed by everything Lu Chen had experienced since arriving.

Such a bizarre experience filled Lu Chen with dread.

"Someone calls your name, you turn around, and you collapse? That doesn't fit the primitive world at all. Shouldn't the wilderness be about rampaging Barbarian Beasts and the struggle between man and nature? What is this? Why is it developing into a supernatural horror story?"

"And it's not just my fainting spell; the Clan Chief and the Shaman have recently been warning us not to go out at night. I have a bad feeling about this world!"

Having transmigrated, Lu Chen felt anxious about his new reality, but he soon pushed those thoughts aside. The hunger in his stomach forced him to consider more practical matters.

"So hungry. I'll worry about the situation in this world later; right now, I need to eat."

Struggling to rise from the bed, Lu Chen relied on the memories he had integrated last night to grope his way around the room. After a long moment, he grabbed a piece of cured meat and began to gnaw on it viciously.

Soon, a small portion of the meat had entered Lu Chen's stomach, and only then did the hunger in his belly subside slightly.

However, looking at the remaining half of the meat, a bitter smile appeared on Lu Chen's face.

"Damn it, this barbarian youth—no, I should say that in this world, I am an orphan, and this is the only food left in the house. Now, I need to worry about where my next meal is coming from."

"Sigh, this is a textbook hellish start!"

A bizarre world, the status of an orphan, and insufficient food—all of this made Lu Chen realize just how difficult his situation was.

Yet, just as Lu Chen was feeling distressed, a somewhat familiar, cold, mechanical voice suddenly rang out in his mind.

Host has sufficient Experience Points. Proceed with upgrade?

The voice was mechanical, devoid of any emotion, but it was a voice Lu Chen knew well. He had heard it in his original world, and he had heard it in this one as well.

"This voice is... it's from that brain-dead mobile game I was developing when I transmigrated! How did it follow me here?"

"Wait, I remember hearing this voice when I first arrived in this world. When was that?"

Soon, Lu Chen recalled that when that bowl of hot soup cleared the cold, sinister energy from his body, this mechanical voice had sounded.

At the time, however, Lu Chen had passed out from exhaustion and hadn't heard it clearly. Now that the voice had sounded again, he finally remembered.

"This is the system's voice. I remember that the system logs can be viewed!"

As Lu Chen focused his thoughts, a virtual screen promptly appeared in his mind, displaying several familiar system logs.

How could he not be familiar with them? He was the one who had stayed up all night creating those logs.

System Notification: Host has killed a White Wanderer-level Evil Soul and gained two hundred Experience Points.

System Notification: Host has sufficient Experience Points to upgrade. Yes/No to upgrade?