Senses

Looking at the iron gate before him, nearly four meters tall, with spike uprights arranged along its top.

Climbing over it would inevitably take a considerable amount of time.

If a living corpse caught up to him during the climb, he'd be completely cornered with no chance of survival.

[Quickly relocate]

Graveyard Plot 4 had a larger footprint than the other plots.

With its chaotic grave mounds, uneven terrain, and varying elevations, there was still some room to maneuver.

He adjusted the kerosene lamp's flame to its lowest setting.

After a short sprint, Yi Chen relied on his memory to reach a high slope area that offered good concealment.

Various large tombstones stood here, and his lean frame could just barely hide behind an arched stele.

He pressed his ear to the ground.

For now, he heard no unusual sounds, confirming the living corpse hadn't followed him yet.

He leaned against the tombstone, curling up to sit.

The cold stone against his back actually brought Yi Chen some comfort.

Huff~ Huff~

As he caught his breath, he recalled the strange events that had just occurred.

'Who closed the door?

And it was locked from the outside with an iron chain... If I had to guess, it was most likely the work of the "Organization" mentioned in the manual.

Because of the mistakes made by this body's original owner [William], the Organization should have sent someone to monitor the cemetery to prevent bigger errors.

When they discovered I was in Graveyard Plot 4, trying to make amends, they locked the gate through some means.

This would more directly and quickly lead to one of two outcomes.

One, either I survive the crisis and perfectly handle the corpse reanimation incident.

Two, either I get killed, and they handle the problem themselves.'

Yi Chen didn't dwell on this issue for long, quickly shifting to another—the "warning sound" that had just saved him.

'That voice was almost the same as the thanks I heard in Graveyard Plot 6. Could it be...'

Just as Yi Chen was pondering, Rustle~ Rustle~

A faint sound of loosening soil came.

The grave mound in front of him stirred, as if something was about to crawl out.

"This... I was just borrowing your tombstone to hide, I meant no offense!"

Yi Chen instinctively thought his rude behavior had disturbed the grave's occupant.

As he explained, He slowly stood up, holding the hand axe in front of him.

But then.

From the soil came that familiar, strange voice again:

"Don't stand up. If 'That Guy' finds you now, things will get very troublesome..."

With the falling soil, A bizarre mouth emerged from the grave mound.

Two rows of white, neat teeth were strikingly visible, and far too dense.

The number of teeth was estimated to be more than twice that of a normal human.

The entity didn't seem to intend to reveal its full form, only showing this mouth.

Just then, The white teeth opened about 90° vertically.

The inner walls of the mouth were pitch black, with no tongue structure visible... It was like a dark abyss, staring into it for too long gave one the feeling of being pulled in.

Deep within the mouth, Something was rising.

By the faint light of the kerosene lamp, a spherical outline could vaguely be seen.

Finally, A black-pupiled, white-bodied eyeball came to rest between the teeth, staring straight at Yi Chen.

Perhaps because he had already seen a living corpse beyond reason, The strange sight of the "Tooth Eye" before him did not frighten Yi Chen.

His intuition told him that this guy might not be dangerous, perhaps even "relatively friendly."

"Were you from Graveyard Plot 6?"

After Yi Chen's tentative inquiry, from deep within the mouth, by some unknown means, the strange sound like a blend of multiple voices emerged again:

"That's right, I'm a resident of the Pet Zone... I happened to develop [Self-Awareness] recently, and accidentally collapsed the tombstone while piecing together my body.

I didn't expect a [Laborer] like you, working the Lowest Level odd jobs, to take the initiative to help repair it.

Moreover, even the 'time period' of your appearance is problematic, which made me very curious, so I followed to take a look.

Now I understand... it turns out you've offended a Mutant from the [Burial Zone] because of a mistake."

This speech contained many terms with unclear meanings, which Yi Chen could barely grasp.

"Pet Zone and Burial Zone refer to Graveyard Plots 6 and 4, respectively?"

"Correct... The graveyard is like a factory, with different plots serving as workshops for various functions, regularly producing something of value.

The most troublesome are the Desecration Zone (2) and the Burial Zone (4).

As for more information, telling you now would be pointless.

All you need to do now is eliminate this corpse Mutant."

"Will you help?"

Yi Chen posed the most critical question. If he could gain assistance from another "graveyard resident," his survival rate would greatly increase.

"I can't provide substantial help.

After all, my position in the graveyard is just a 'pet,' I can't deal with such a Mutant."

As he spoke, the eyeball held in the mouth rolled once.

"However~ since you helped repair the tombstone, I'm willing to offer some assistance on the level of [Senses]."

"Senses?"

Rustle~ The mound of earth loosened further, and an arm covered in black fur shot out abruptly.

With the arm's support, the black sphere broke free from the soil, revealing its true form.

Its legs spread in a figure-eight, standing 'domineeringly' atop the Grave Mound.

This stance seemed to flaunt its [Physique].

'Ah, this...'

The terrifying image Yi Chen had conjured in his mind shattered instantly, and he also understood why this guy came from the Pet Zone.

This fluffy black ball of flesh was only about the size of two palms.

Its limbs were about as thick as a cat's, slightly longer, its paws split into three parts, like three fingers, seemingly with a similar effect to paw pads.

After this little creature finished showing off its body, it leaped with both legs, landing steadily on Yi Chen's shoulder.

Then a strange thing happened, Crackle crackle~

Its slender legs actually disassembled into countless thinner black blood vessels.

The tips were as sharp as needles, piercing through his clothes, embedding into his flesh, 'installing' this fluffy body onto his shoulder as an external tissue.

Beyond the blood vessel connections, it also performed nerve grafting, directly linking to Yi Chen's Brain Tissue.

Buzz!

When the installation was complete, Yi Chen felt his [Vision] change.

The entire visual frame stretched and widened, and a small window appeared on the right side, displaying the visual feed provided by the Flesh Ball Eye.

As the flesh ball rotated on his shoulder, the full 360° view of the cemetery unfolded before his eyes.

This kind of 'split-screen' vision might be hard for most people to adapt to... but Yi Chen felt no discomfort at all—instead, he wore an expression of ecstatic joy.

Most importantly, when the flesh ball and Yi Chen's eyes focused together on what lay straight ahead, the small window merged with the main field of vision.

The visual image became even clearer, to the point where even the fungal spores floating in the air could be seen in perfect detail.

This was the so-called [Senses] assistance, serving as Yi Chen's "Second Eye."

Likewise, due to the neural connection, the small flesh ball could communicate directly with Yi Chen through consciousness, offering timely danger warnings.