Totem

Click.

Amidst the ruins, a young boy struggled to squeeze into the gaps between the steel bars. His face was covered in blood from flying debris as the building collapsed, and one hand hung limply behind his back.

He finally managed to squeeze into an empty space, but the small space was not enough to fit the boy's body. He huddled up in a cramped and aggrieved manner, his body covered in bruises from being poked by the hard, protruding material around him.

How could this be?

How so.

The boy, like a chick that had found its nest, wept uncontrollably, tears streaming down his face, obscuring his vision but unable to hide the fear and grief in his eyes.

Outside the dilapidated house, an empty can was kicked over by something and rolled a long way.

The boy held his breath, widened his eyes, and stared through the crack at the outside.

His location was not safe; there were too many gaps, and crawling in would only be self-deception. He knew this, which made him even more desperate.

The footsteps carried far in the open space, gradually approaching.

A flash of light appeared at the doorway, revealing a tall, slender figure.

The boy trembled and covered his mouth, praying that the person who came wouldn't notice him.

However, things didn't go as planned. The tall figure looked around and quickly locked onto him. She walked over unhurriedly and stood at the gap.

"Little Curly?"

The questioning voice startled the boy awake. He vaguely wondered, "Why does this voice sound so familiar?"

They even call him Little Curly...

The boy squinted, trying to see clearly, but the person's face was somewhat indistinct.

"It really is you." The man squatted down, placing his hand on the steel bar. "Why are you cowering here? Did someone hit you?"

Her calm tone was completely different from what the boy had imagined; it was as if, amidst countless acts of malice, a touch of gentle kindness had suddenly appeared.

The boy suddenly recognized him. "It's you! The one from the carriage!"

"Hmm." Yu Xing looked at the curly-haired little boy and sighed.

Having learned of the change of events from Carlos, Yu Xing began to focus his attention on other things in this instance.

This time, not caring about alerting the enemy, he fully unleashed his senses and, following the sprawling root system of the plants, finally found the very conspicuous entity hidden within the instance.

There is something that is excluded from this world, yet is held captive by a medium and forced to remain in this world.

That thing possessed immense energy, causing unease and anxiety, but it was buried very deep, so Yu Xing hadn't paid much attention to it before.

However, ever since he discovered that the number of players entering the base was decreasing rather than increasing, he began to speculate that so many acquaintances were entering this instance, perhaps not for the main storyline, but for something else.

The only thing that could make Zhao Yijiu willingly leave with the Lingren is something very important and extra.

Following her senses, Yu Xing arrived at a newly formed ruin. There were signs of a fight on the ruin, as well as a familiar aura.

He never expected that the medium he was looking for would be... the talkative Little Curly guy he had met in the train carriage when he first opened his eyes.

"Bang!"

The steel bar on the Little Curly's head was easily deformed by Yu Xing, pulled out, and made a loud noise when it was thrown aside.

Little Curly felt a chill run down his spine. He glared at Yu Xing and asked, "You're also doing this for... that thing?"

"What thing?" Yu Xing pulled him out of his little hole, held him in her hand, and examined him for a moment. "He really got hit."

The Little Curly had many obvious bruises on his face, clearly from being beaten up, and looked really pitiful.

"Hey, Little Curly, how many people were looking for you just now?"

"... Just, just two." The Little Curly hesitated for two seconds, then suddenly hugged Yu Xing's waist tightly, "Waaah--"

"The base has been taken over by the virus! I saw the female commander give the secretary some inappropriate orders, and they even caught me eavesdropping! I barely managed to escape, and now I'm hiding all over the city!" Little Curly wailed, crying his heart out. "Amy didn't escape, she's dead! She's dead! My Amy, waaaaaah... How am I supposed to live alone, waaaaah..."

Tears stained his clothes. Yu Xing patted the Little Curly's head, offering no words of comfort, and asked directly, "Where did those two people who came looking for you go?"

"... Can't you care about me for once?" Little Curly was even more upset. After all, he was still a child and had been frightened too much. Now that he finally had someone he barely knew, he wanted to be comforted a little more.

They arrived at Base 51 full of joy, thinking they could continue to live a peaceful life, only to find that Base 51 was simply a replica of Base Fifty-Two, overrun by a virus.

He fled in terror, his only companion... who was also the one he had just fallen for, died right before his eyes, shot dead without mercy by those people.

He then went into the city alone and almost starved to death. Fortunately, he found a supermarket that still had food left. His only stroke of luck was that, for some reason, he was never infected by the virus.

He ate expired food, thinking that this would be his life forever.

Today, two people found him. One of them looked gentle, but he suddenly attacked him, demanding that he hand over the "entrance."

Little Curly was terrified; "the entrance" was his biggest secret.

"You know where they went." Yu Xing, carrying the Little Curly, remained expressionless, neither fierce nor gentle. "I have to find them. Tell me, how?"

The Little Curly's eyes darkened, and he released his grip on Yu Xing.

"Well, since you're already like this, do whatever you want," he said sullenly, taking off his shirt.

Then he turned around.

Right behind the Little Curly, a mysterious and complex totem was clearly painted.

"Back at Base Fifty-Two, a stranger tattooed this on my back. He told me not to tell anyone, saying that if anyone found out, I would definitely die." He slumped to the ground, exhausted. "It doesn't matter whether I live or die. Those two people saw my tattoo and disappeared. You try it."

The totem was very impactful. The moment it came into view, Yu Xing felt a sense of disorientation and vaguely saw a dark corridor.

He smiled; the entrance to what everyone was searching for really was on Little Curly.

"Thank you." Yu Xing ruffled the Little Curly's hair.

These indigenous people each have their own destiny, but Little Curly's destiny has clearly been interfered with.

The so-called mysterious person placed something that didn't belong to this world on Little Curly, turning Little Curly into a medium. When these predictors arrive, Little Curly will have no way to escape.

If the predictor who comes looking for Little Curly is a bit ruthless, Little Curly really won't survive.

Tsk, a mysterious person... was he sent by the Absurdity System?

Yu Xing withdrew her mental energy, refusing to resist the attraction brought by the totem, and allowed herself to be drawn into the vortex.

The surrounding space distorted silently, the ruins gradually faded, and slowly transformed into a cold and enclosed corridor.

Yu Xing exhaled, and a white mist immediately condensed in the air.

"Ring ring..."

The wind chimes rang out with a clear, crisp sound, and the yellow talismans fluttered in the breeze.

He shook his head and steadied himself by leaning against the wall.

From the moment I stepped into the corridor, my connection with the Yugi world of the vengeful spirits' apocalypse was severed.

Suddenly, the bracelet flashed. Yu Xing had almost forgotten about it. When he opened it, he found that the system had sent him several messages.

[You have entered a special scene]

[You have triggered the special side quest: The Yin Yang Corridor]

Keep walking; nothing is surprising here.

[Mission: Obtain the qualification to enter Yin Yang City]

[Successful mission will grant follow-up prompts; failure will have no penalty and will result in immediate return to the real world.]