"Hunger"

Falling, being thrown up, and then falling again, endlessly repeating this process in extreme cold and emptiness. His thoughts were churned into a mess, his chaotic senses like sharp knives gouging at his mind, until his consciousness was almost interrupted. It was then that a feeling of being suddenly freed from the brink of drowning washed over him, waking Yu Sheng from that cold, dark, infinite fall.

He abruptly sat up in bed, but lost his balance, his body tilting and nearly falling to the ground. At the last moment, he grabbed the edge of the nightstand with his hand, managing to steady himself, feeling like the world was spinning in his head.

The sharp, persistent throbbing made him even suspect his brain was truly boiling.

But fortunately, the sensation didn't last long. Once he truly came to his senses, the unbearable feelings in his mind faded away like the dream, leaving only a few unpleasant impressions.

Yu Sheng sat on the edge of the bed, catching his breath. He looked out the window and saw the setting sun gradually approaching the rooftops of the distant city, the sky slowly darkening.

"...The whole day has passed..." he muttered in surprise. Leaning on the nightstand, he got up and went to the table, pouring a glass of water and chugging it down. Then, he patted his face, trying to shake off some of the grogginess from his restless sleep, and left the bedroom for the first floor.

"I really didn't expect your 'sudden awakening' to be this miserable," Yu Sheng complained to the oil painting on the dining table as soon as he arrived. "I thought it would at most make me dizzy or my heart race a bit. But good heavens, when I opened my eyes, I almost threw up last year's New Year's Eve dinner..."

After he finished complaining, Eileen didn't immediately respond with her usual beeps. Instead, she was unusually quiet. Yu Sheng felt something was off, and turned to look at the oil painting on the table. He saw Eileen slumped in the chair covered with the red velvet blanket, as if she had malfunctioned. She was holding a plush bear, staring blankly upwards, her eyeballs occasionally moving, followed by her getting up and dry heaving.

Yu Sheng: "...How did your 'sudden awakening' make you this miserable too?"

Eileen looked up at him. Just as she was about to speak, she felt nauseous again—however, as a doll sealed for who knows how many years, she hadn't even had sour water in her stomach, let alone a New Year's Eve dinner (in fact, Yu Sheng even suspected she didn't have a stomach). So, she could only lean over the edge of the chair, feeling incredibly unwell, heaving as if her head would fall off at any moment.

After a long while, the unfortunate doll recovered. She looked up at Yu Sheng, her voice weak as if at death's door: "It wasn't me who 'woke' us up, it was you."

Yu Sheng: "...Huh?"

"Your final shout scared that fox awake. I didn't even react!" Eileen said, her face filled with grief and indignation. "Why did you shout so loudly!"

Yu Sheng was a bit stunned, but he understood what she meant and awkwardly scratched his head. "I don't know. I just wanted to remind Huli. I felt like her state was very dangerous."

"Your feeling was quite right," Eileen said, then "cough" and slumped over the edge of the chair again. After a couple of dry heaves, she recovered and looked at Yu Sheng speechlessly. "Alright, the good news is you successfully woke up the fox before she got any deeper. Although she 'bounced' us both out when she woke up, she should be able to stay conscious for a while herself."

Yu Sheng walked over, pulled out a chair by the dining table, and sat down opposite Eileen, his expression gradually becoming serious. "What's the bad news?"

Eileen didn't speak for a moment. After a few seconds of silence, she nodded slightly. "You probably guessed it too—she can't hold on for much longer."

Yu Sheng frowned, saying nothing.

Yes, he had indeed felt it. When he was trapped in the valley, he had felt it. That hunger and madness buried deep in Huli's heart, like some kind of growing evil that kept eroding her. Although he didn't know what it was at first, during his last confrontation with that flesh-and-blood monster, he had realized that the "hunger" wasn't as simple as it appeared.

And what he saw in the depths of his dream just now only allowed him to grasp Huli's situation more accurately.

"If you want to help that fox, you'd better act quickly," Eileen said from the side. "The one who's been bewitching her is trying to turn her into some kind of... 'nourishment.' Killing isn't its goal; 'madness in hunger' is what it wants. That fox's willpower is so tenacious that she's been able to resist until now, which is incredible. But the longer she holds on, the more 'nutrients' she can provide when the 'transformation' happens... It will be very troublesome, very, very troublesome."

Yu Sheng listened with a grim expression, supplementing his current understanding with Eileen's description. But suddenly, he sensed something and looked up at the picture frame opposite him.

"Eileen," he said seriously, "do... do you know something? About the situation in the valley, and the things in the valley?"

Eileen hesitated, first shaking her head, but then gently nodding.

"I don't remember most things, including what the valley is all about. But the situation the fox is in... I seem to have some impression. I think I've seen information about this before."

She paused, frowning, as if trying to search her fragmented memories for useful content.

"...Entity-Hunger, I think that's its name," Eileen recalled as she spoke. "It's an entity with clear malice and high danger. It is generated in sealed areas where the environment is toxic and hunger spreads. It itself is very aggressive, but its 'influence' is more dangerous. Those who are noticed by this entity fall into terrible hunger, and their willpower is severely tested. I don't remember specific victim incidents; I only remember... it's very dangerous and has harmed many people. And what's worse..."

Eileen stopped and looked into Yu Sheng's eyes.

"Hunger turns people into beasts, while also devouring dignity and life. Most people probably can't withstand it, and those who fall also become part of Entity-Hunger, endlessly."

Listening to Eileen's account, Yu Sheng's expression gradually tensed, a heavy sense of oppression weighing on his heart. At that moment, he suddenly remembered something else—

The urge to eat that had surged within him when he fought that flesh-and-blood monster!

Had he also been affected by "Hunger"?!

Yu Sheng's heart tightened, and he quickly asked, "Wait, what are the main 'symptoms' after being affected by 'Hunger'?"

Eileen gave him a strange look. "...Of course, it's 'hunger'."

"That's not what I mean. I mean..." Yu Sheng quickly waved his hand and rephrased. "Like when I saw that monster, I really wanted to take a bite, and even thought that thing tasted pretty good. Is this reaction also an influence of 'Hunger'?"

Eileen's expression visibly became a little dazed. Her first thought went to the "local specialties" Yu Sheng had brought back, and the appetizing four dishes and one soup.

"Right, right, you ate it too..." the doll mumbled, but then suddenly realized something, and her tone changed. "No! Of course not! The influence of 'Entity-Hunger' is to make you go crazy with hunger and gnaw on others, not to gnaw on it! It doesn't bewitch people into madness by using itself as bait!"

Eileen's sudden exclamation startled Yu Sheng, but he immediately understood the logic—hunger and appetite are closely related, but when it comes to "Otherworld" and "Entities" based on strict rules, these are clearly defined separate paths. Especially when an entity possesses active malice, its influence will strictly operate according to its rules.

To put it plainly, if Yu Sheng had indeed been affected by "Hunger" in that valley, he should have gnawed on Huli—not on the monster that was the source of the bewitchment.

Of course, he was somewhat reluctant the first time he gnawed on that monster, but that's beside the point.

Thinking this, Yu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief, confirming that he had not been corrupted by that strange entity. He also recalled that he had felt normal satiety after eating before bed, which greatly reassured him. He let out a long breath, "That's good. It seems I'm quite normal."

Eileen blinked at his words and whispered, "No, I think it's already abnormal for you to have an appetite for that thing..."

Yu Sheng waved his hand dismissively and moved on to the next topic. "So, that monster with a very abstract appearance but good taste is 'Entity-Hunger', right? Getting rid of it will free Huli from its influence—I know entities can't be completely killed, I mean temporarily defeating it."

"Actually... I'm not sure," Eileen's answer was hesitant. "'Hunger' is a rather special entity. The monster you saw is its 'manifestation,' but as I understand it, the real 'Hunger' is actually diffused throughout the entire valley. Do you understand what I mean? What you saw was just its 'tentacle' coming out to forage and sense the situation. Its true form... as the name suggests, is the omnipresent hunger in the valley."

Yu Sheng listened, his expression gradually becoming blank.

Yes, he understood.

"Damn it, the rule system?!"