The strange man's facial features twitched. His swollen eyes glowed green, leaving only the whites as they stared fixedly at Zhou Kai.
The brutal, chilling expression reminded Zhou Kai of the zombie movies he had watched before.
This thing was no better than a zombie.
The standoff lasted only an instant. The strange man suddenly exerted force and lunged at Zhou Kai, reeking of rotting organs and ammonia.
Drool flecked with pus sprayed from its torn, enormous mouth. The bones in its hands stretched grotesquely, forming claws like those of some hairless feral 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 couldn't fight it?
Zhou Kai sidestepped the strange man's clumsy straight-line charge and watched it struggle after getting wedged between the door panel and a crack in the floor.
His eyes gleamed frighteningly in the lamplight.
"I can fight it!"
This thing was far less threatening than its hideous appearance suggested.
Compared with that Hairy Monster that barely looked human, and that silent Chain-Hammer Armored Soldier, this half-human, half-beast monster was surprisingly... weak.
It seemed as though its cerebellum had never developed properly. Like a Walking Corpse, all its movements were stiff and rigid.
Zhou Kai gripped the axe in his hand without the slightest 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 brought it down viciously on 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 slightly off. His first swing did not strike the head directly and instead buried itself deep in the creature's shoulder.
But that was close enough.
Its scapula and collarbone were severed by the blow. The axe blade continued onward, cutting through several ribs before finally stopping.
The resentment of dying four times, the terror of narrowly escaping death, and all the anger he had nowhere to vent.
They were all poured into that one swing.
The strange man instantly stopped struggling.
But Zhou Kai did not stop attacking.
He planted one foot on the strange man's chest and exerted force, wrenching the axe embedded in bone free with a wet pop.
Warm black blood splashed all over him.
As for whether the black blood was dangerous, he had no mood to think about that right now.
There was something he urgently needed to verify.
Then, without hesitation, he chopped several more times at that bizarre head. Only when the entire head had been completely separated from the body did he stop, panting heavily.
Zhou Kai's stamina was nearly depleted...
And his "roommate" had clearly stopped moving as well.
"Wait... even finishing it off like this isn't enough?"
But after taking only two breaths, his expression suddenly changed.
Several tentacles emerged from the shattered head, while its body split open directly along the wound where it had been cleaved apart.
A mass of red-and-purple unknown tissue, shaped like a squid's heart, pulsed as it crawled out of the strange man's chest cavity.
Zhou Kai snorted coldly. First, he stomped the twitching tentacles into pulp, then raised the axe again and chopped down.
As long as you can still move, don't fucking think about entering phase two in front of me!
Zhou Kai went completely all out, hacking desperately with the axe.
When his strength ran out and he could no longer swing the axe.
He drew the Chef Knife from behind his waist, threw himself forward, and frantically sliced and stabbed at the writhing mass of tissue.
The "squid-like tissue" was quickly cut into chunks. The vitality that had just begun to form within the monster also rapidly faded, eventually vanishing completely.
Covered in blood and filth, Zhou Kai fell backward onto the floor. At last, the information he had been waiting for appeared in his vision.
[You killed "Failed Experiment" and obtained Universal Experience Points *3] [You killed "Diablo Parasite (Larva)" and obtained Universal Experience Points *5]
"Just as I thought."
"Eight experience points... I wonder if it was worth it."
Zhou Kai rested for quite a while before he finally climbed to his feet, panting heavily, and headed for the fireplace to return to reality.
But just then, under the oil lamp's illumination, something reflecting an unusual gleam caught his attention.
Two steps away from where the strange man had rushed 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 chest, then silently thought beside the fireplace, "Leave."
[You have left the Nightmare, but be careful. 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 roughly twenty-square-meter rental apartment whose décor and furnishings were appallingly simple.
Whoosh!
Like a puppet trapped in a loop, Zhou Kai lay stiffly on the bed for quite some time before suddenly sitting upright.
His heart pounded wildly, and his vision repeatedly went dark.
The exhaustion and injuries from the Nightmare World had been carried back intact...
Of course, so had the rewards.
Zhou Kai looked at his 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 Points: 8] [Erosion Progress: 4/9] (Please avoid death!)
He had already thrown away the homemade chain axe, but all his other gains were still there.
He smiled in satisfaction, only then belatedly feeling a tearing pain shoot through his back.
"The injuries and exhaustion came back with me."
"But no matter what, it's still better than dying!"
Zhou Kai raised an eyebrow. Nothing unusual could be seen on his pale face.
He was still wearing the clothes he had gone to sleep in. The wound remained, but there was no trace of filthy blood or rainwater on him.
It seemed that what he inherited from his experiences in the Nightmare World had undergone some kind of filtering.
That was truly a good thing...
At the very least, he did not need to worry about bringing anything disgusting back into reality.
He was not in a hurry to inspect the book for now. Instead, he quickly tore 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 coat to keep others from noticing his injuries.
For some 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 the storage slot in his panel and carefully flipped through it.
Compared to its exquisite binding, the paper was rough and cheap... perfectly in line with the papermaking standards of ancient Western times.
The writing inside consisted of two mixed languages.
One appeared to be ancient Latin, which few people used nowadays. The other was completely incomprehensible.
Zhou Kai knew a little ancient Latin, so he could make out the large title on the title page.
[Morning Star's Exploration Journal from 1921 in the (crossed out) (stained) region]
"Hm? It's an old book, but what it recorded isn't from ancient times."
"Some of the words were crossed out? Was it Helenbeckberg?"
Zhou Kai frowned in thought and continued reading.
He could not understand the text on some of the inner pages and inserts at all, but the Latin portions were much easier.
He read until dawn, and he actually managed to glean something from it.
[You have comprehended important knowledge.] [You have obtained the skill: Light Footwork] [You have come into contact with occult knowledge.] [You have obtained the skill: Occultism] [Hint: Please beware of contamination]
Before you continue