Fog

Fog

Looking down at the fine metal grating beneath his feet, covered in rust, Li You plopped down to rest and assess his current situation.

First, he could not swim and did not dare enter the water. Second, he was currently in the body of a little girl; even if he could get into the water, there was no way he could make it to the other side. More importantly, there was no shore on the opposite side at all. Even if he swam across, he would have to start rock climbing, and the cliff face above even curved inward... All things considered, this place was practically a natural prison. There was no way out by water.

Was he really going to be trapped here until he died?

Li You stared blankly for a while, feeling that his future was utterly bleak. He might as well jump into the water and start over already.

Not long afterward, a white bird passing overhead suddenly caught his attention.

The bird was huge, roughly the size of a pelican, though it looked more like a seagull. It plunged sharply into the lake and, moments later, surfaced with a fish clamped in its beak. It looked remarkably nimble.

Watching its lively movements gave Li You a little encouragement and inspiration. There were fish in the lake, so perhaps he could find a way to catch some and solve his food problem.

But the very next second, just as he thought that might work, an even larger shadow quietly emerged beneath the water.

It was a fish. An enormous fish, at least five or six meters long—calling it a water monster would not have been an exaggeration. Its purplish-red body burst out of the water, throwing up a violent spray.

Li You watched in astonishment, instinctively assuming it was a case of a mantis stalking a cicada while an oriole waited behind. But then an unimaginable sight appeared—the large fish's head suddenly split apart, forming a four-petaled, chrysanthemum-shaped maw. At its center were three embedded rings of teeth, their turbine-like shape far more terrifying than a meat grinder. It crushed the white bird in a single bite, then rolled over and dove back into the water as if it had never appeared.

Li You stood frozen on the metal platform, the optimism he had just found vanishing in an instant.

What the hell was that thing?!

If he had seen correctly, that fish's head had split open, right? That lamprey-like thing in the middle was its mouth, right?

Was that really a fish? Even in another world, that thing looked way too abnormal!

It looked like it had grown up drinking nuclear wastewater!

Wait... Could the horrible scene of bones scattered throughout this underwater facility have something to do with the terrifying Fish Monsters in the lake?

The image of the Fish Monster's splitting head replayed over and over in his mind. Li You suddenly felt that the Water Platform was not as safe as it had seemed. He got to his feet, intending to move farther from the platform's edge, when he suddenly noticed a line appearing in the center of the lake. It stretched steadily forward, parting the water in rippling waves on either side.

It was the fish!

That fish was coming over!

What cut through the surface was the Fish Monster's dorsal fin, but when it drew closer, it looked more like a fleshy, crown-like fold.

It moved incredibly fast. Before Li You could react, it burst from the water and crashed heavily onto the platform. Even the Water Platform, as large as a soccer field, trembled slightly.

"Fuck!!"

Only then did Li You finally get a clear look at it. It was not actually a purplish-red fish. Most of its scales had fallen away, exposing writhing flesh and tumors beneath, giving it that color. Its pectoral fins had mutated into two short appendages with hooked claws. Its eyeballs were grayish-white and cloudy, hanging outside their sockets by thin strands of flesh, as though they might fall at any moment. Countless tiny tentacles writhed inside the sockets like swaying sea anemones.

If he had not seen it with his own eyes, Li You would never have believed that such a horrifying fish could exist in the world.

It was too bizarre, too disgusting, too grotesque!

But now was not the time to judge its appearance. He sprinted toward the side-door tunnel leading into the underwater facility as if launched from a catapult, then turned around and slammed the door shut behind him—thankfully, the door here was not broken, and its simple mechanical lock still worked.

After locking the door, Li You rushed down to the first basement level. Soon, violent impacts sounded from above and behind him. Clearly, the Fish Monster had failed to catch its prey and was venting its anger on the metal door.

He stood trembling in the emergency passage on the first basement level and listened for a while. Only after the sounds gradually died down, with no sign of the door being forced open, did he finally let out a long breath. It felt as though he had just escaped death's door.

Now, looking around at the silent, eerie darkness, he suddenly found it much more pleasant.

In any case, he was absolutely not going back outside! There were no roads out there, only a whole lake full of monsters. He did not want to get ambushed by a water monster someday when he let his guard down. That was far too terrifying.

Of course, there might be monsters inside the facility too. But based on Li You's observations and deductions, this place had been destroyed for at least several decades. Many sheets of paper had become so brittle that they crumbled to dust at the slightest touch. Even if there had once been monsters here, they had either starved to death or left. No matter what, it had to be safer than the Water Platform.

Besides, before he transmigrated, the original owner had been able to remain in this facility all along, which was proof of its safety in another sense...

Well, the original owner might not have been ordinary either. But Li You could not tell what exactly was unusual about her for now.

Then Li You followed the spiral stairs in the emergency passage back down. Unlike when he had gone up, he briefly checked the interiors of the other floors as he descended. He found nothing of value, but he did not spot any potential danger either.

A few minutes later, he returned to the ninth basement level.

But the stairs did not end there.

With a trace of hope, he continued downward and arrived at the entrance to the tenth basement level.

After cautiously peeking around from the entrance for a while, the sight before him startled Li You slightly. "Huh...?"

Like the floor above, this level was overgrown with glowing vines. But unlike above, white mist filled the entire floor, making everything inside appear hazy and indistinct.

Why was there fog?

He became alert, picked up an unidentified hard fragment from the ground, and tossed it into the mist.

The next second, a crisp clatter against the metal floor echoed through the room. Li You pricked up his ears and listened carefully, but apart from the echoes, there was no movement at all. Everything was steeped in deathly silence.

After hesitating for a moment, he turned his gaze toward the bottom of the stairwell. That was the path to the eleventh basement level, but a sealed metal door blocked his descent.

At the same time, he noticed a large number of dry bones scattered across the stairwell before the metal door. There were at least eight or nine intact human skulls alone, and distinct claw marks covered the walls.

Li You could not help picturing the scene in his mind—monsters had poured in endlessly from outside, forcing the people in the base to flee deeper into the underwater facility. Some people, in order to survive, had shut the emergency passage and left everyone else outside...

What a terrifying and tragic thing. Fortunately, it had all happened many years ago... he thought. Then he silently turned around, hesitated briefly, and walked directly into the fog.

Contrary to what he had imagined, there was nothing particularly strange about the mist after entering it. It was neither damp nor cold.

Li You slowly made his way through it for a while when a wave of drowsiness suddenly rose within him.

Is this... because I'm too tired... or because of the fog...? The question surfaced in his mind. Then he dropped to his knees, leaned against the main stem of a thick glowing vine, and fell into a deep sleep.