First Kill, Strange Book

The strange man's facial features twitched. His swollen eyes glowed blue, leaving only whites as he stared fixedly at Zhou Kai.

The vicious, chilling expression reminded Zhou Kai of zombie movies he had watched before.

This thing was not much better than a zombie.

The standoff lasted only an instant before the strange man suddenly lunged at Zhou Kai, carrying a foul stench of rotten organs and ammonia.

Drool flecked with pus sprayed from its torn, enormous mouth. The bones in its hands stretched unnaturally, forming claws like those of some hairless, rabid dog.

Zhou Kai understood at a glance that he absolutely could not let this thing touch him.

He was still afflicted with the "Wound Infection" debuff. If this thing scratched him again, he would probably rot on the spot.

But did that mean he could not fight it?

Zhou Kai sidestepped the strange man's clumsy straight-line charge and watched it struggle after getting wedged in a crack in the floor along with the door panel.

His eyes gleamed frighteningly in the lamplight.

"Can fight!"

This thing was nowhere near as threatening as it looked.

Compared to the Hairy Monster, whose Human Form was impossible to make out, and the silent Chain-Hammer Armored Soldier, this half-human, half-beast monster was surprisingly... weak.

It seemed as though its cerebellum had never properly developed. Like a Walking Corpse, all its movements were stiff and rigid.

Zhou Kai gripped the axe in his hand without a moment's hesitation. Strike while it was down and finish it off.

He swung his arm wide, raised the coldly gleaming axe blade high with all his strength, and hacked it down at that deformed oversized head as if smashing a rotten watermelon.

Crack!

The crisp sound of shattering bone echoed through the room.

Zhou Kai was not used to using this thing, so his aim was a little off. The first blow did not strike the skull directly, instead burying itself deep in the creature's shoulder.

But that was close enough.

The axe severed its shoulder blade and collarbone, then continued downward, cutting through several ribs before finally stopping.

The resentment of dying four times, the terror of narrowly escaping death, and the rage with nowhere to vent.

All of it went into that one strike.

The strange man instantly stopped struggling.

But Zhou Kai did not stop attacking.

He planted one foot on the strange man's chest and yanked hard, pulling the axe embedded in its bones free with a wet pop.

Warm black blood splattered all over him.

As for whether the black blood was dangerous, he had no mood to think about that now.

There was something he urgently needed to confirm.

Without hesitation, he hacked at that bizarre head several more times, only stopping in ragged breaths once the head had been completely separated from the body.

Zhou Kai's stamina was nearly depleted...

And his "roommate" had clearly stopped moving as well.

"Wait... even finishing it off like this doesn't work?"

But after taking only two breaths, his expression abruptly changed.

Several tentacles emerged from the shattered head, while its body split open right along the cleaved wound.

A mass of unknown red-and-purple tissue, shaped like a squid's heart and throbbing all over, crawled out from the strange man's chest cavity.

Zhou Kai snorted coldly. He first crushed the twitching tentacles beneath his foot, then raised the axe again and chopped down.

As long as you can still move, don't fucking think about entering your second phase in front of me!

Zhou Kai went all out, hacking desperately with the axe.

When his strength ran dry and he could no longer swing it,

he drew the Chef Knife from the back of his waist, threw himself forward, and began wildly slicing and stabbing at the writhing mass of tissue.

The "squid-like tissue" was soon chopped into fragments. The Vitality that had just been born within the monster's body rapidly ebbed away before vanishing completely.

Covered in blood and grime, Zhou Kai fell backward and collapsed onto the floor. At last, the information he had been eagerly awaiting refreshed before his eyes.

[Killed "Failed Experiment," gained Universal Experience ×3]

[Killed "Diablo Parasite (Larval)," gained Universal Experience ×5]

"Just as I thought."

"Eight experience points... I wonder if that was worth it."

Zhou Kai rested for quite a while before finally hauling himself up with heavy breaths, preparing to walk to the Fireplace and return to reality.

But at that moment, under the light of the Oil Lamp, something reflecting an unusual glimmer caught his attention.

Two steps away from where the strange man had burst out of the study lay a notebook the size of two palms.

Its cover was made of leather and brass, inlaid with mother-of-pearl and agate. It looked exceptionally exquisite.

Zhou Kai walked over, picked it up, tucked it into his clothes, then silently recited by the Fireplace, "Release."

[You have left the Nightmare, but beware: despair has marked you.]

[You must still enter the Nightmare. However, this time, you may choose to enter voluntarily at midnight each night, or be forced to enter no later than seven days from now.]

Inside a rental apartment of roughly twenty square meters, with decor and furnishings so simple it was almost outrageous.

Huff!

Zhou Kai lay stiffly on the bed like a puppet trapped in a looping nightmare for a long while before suddenly sitting upright.

His heart pounded wildly, and waves of darkness clouded his vision.

The fatigue and injuries from the Nightmare World had been carried back intact...

Of course, so had the rewards.

Zhou Kai looked at his status panel.

[Character: Zhou Kai]

[Status: Fatigued, Weak, Wound Infection, Erosion]

[Skills: None]

[Items: Residence Permit, Blood-Stained Axe, Rusted Chef Knife, Strange Book]

[Universal Experience: 8]

[Erosion Progress: 4/9] (Please avoid death!)

He had thrown away the improvised chain axe, but all his other gains were still there.

He smiled in satisfaction, only then belatedly feeling a tearing pain in his back.

"The injuries and fatigue came back with me."

"But no matter what, it's better than being dead!"

Zhou Kai raised an eyebrow, though nothing unusual showed on his pale face.

He was still wearing the clothes he had gone to sleep in. The wounds remained, yet there was no trace of filthy blood or rainwater on him.

It seemed that the inheritance of his Nightmare World experiences had undergone some kind of filtering.

That truly was a good thing...

At least he did not need to worry about bringing anything disgusting back into reality.

He was not in a hurry to examine the book for now. Instead, he quickly stripped off the bedsheet soaked in cold sweat and dragged a first-aid kit out from beneath the bed.

He disinfected and bandaged himself in front of the mirror.

Zhou Kai put on a loose, thick shirt to keep others from noticing his injuries.

For some vague, indescribable reason, he had no intention of going to the hospital.

"I can't let my sister know I'm hurt, or she'll worry again."

After changing to a fresh bedsheet, Zhou Kai retrieved the mysterious book from his inventory slot and began carefully reading through it.

Compared with its exquisite binding, the paper was rough and cheap... entirely in line with the papermaking standards of ancient Western times.

The text recorded inside was written in two mixed languages.

One seemed to be ancient Latin, which few people still used nowadays. The other was completely incomprehensible.

Zhou Kai knew a little ancient Latin, enough to understand the large title on the title page.

[Morning Star's Exploration Journal from 1921 in the (crossed out) (stained) region]

"Hm? An old book, but its contents aren't ancient."

"Some words were crossed out? Was it Helenbeckberg?"

Zhou Kai frowned in thought and continued struggling through it.

He could not understand the text on some inner pages and inserts at all, but the Latin portions were much easier.

He kept at it until dawn and actually managed to learn something.

[You have comprehended important knowledge.]

[You have gained the skill: Light Footwork]

[You have encountered occult knowledge.]

[You have gained the skill: Occultism]

[Hint: Please beware of contamination.]