The Second Day

The hole in the thatched door was no bigger than a grain of rice, yet Bai Yi felt as if all the malice in the world were pouring through it.

As though he had discovered the pursuit of his life, the supreme truth, a fanatical expression appeared on his face.

The instant he saw It, Bai Yi felt as though he had arrived in heaven, where time had stopped flowing.

Heaven's vault was woven from countless stars, every ray of light a pure existence untouched by corruption.

The light here was not dazzling, but like liquid compassion, gently soaking through every inch of space.

Crystal-like rivers wound and flowed, reflecting radiance beyond color. Glorious hymns echoed by his ears; everything was beautiful and enchanting.

[Warning! Warning! Warning!]

[Directly gazing upon an "Unseeable"-class entity, Sanity -100]

[Steel Spine Will activated. Sanity locked at 1/100]

The voice in his ears was like thunder, and Bai Yi abruptly woke.

What heaven? All he saw was blood-red.

A gigantic ball of flesh floated in the distant void, its surface covered in vein-like patterns.

Those patterns writhed like living things, with dark green fluid flowing through every "blood vessel."

Even more terrifying, the flesh ball's surface was covered in countless cracks—those were not wounds at all, but tens of thousands of chewing mouths.

Those mouths continuously howled, producing grating shrieks. Then his perspective shifted, and more than half of the flesh ball was gone. The missing portion was uneven and jagged, as though it had been bitten off.

Suddenly, the flesh ball's cries became even more miserable. A chunk of Its flesh vanished without warning, leaving only a jagged crater.

Chunks of flesh filled the surrounding void. Bai Yi felt as though his eyes were about to explode, but he could not control his body at all.

[0]

[Expulsion successful!]

The next second, Bai Yi's vision switched back to the shelter.

"Bleurgh—"

His stomach convulsed violently, and the bitter taste of bile surged into his throat.

Before Bai Yi could even feel happy, excruciating pain shot through his entire body like an electric current.

He staggered backward, his lower back striking the wooden table with a dull thud.

His spine made the sound of metal grinding. Several sharply defined vertebrae bulged beneath his skin, as if a steel blade were pushing upward from his tailbone.

He curled up on the floor, his nails digging deep into his palms, yet not a drop of blood flowed out. Every capillary in his body contracted, and his skin took on a strange bluish-gray color.

"Hah... hah..."

Every breath felt like swallowing shards of glass. Bai Yi had never imagined that so-called immense pain could be this terrifying.

He used the last of his strength to turn over, and then the whole world fell into darkness.

When Bai Yi regained consciousness amid the agony, dawn was already breaking.

He found that he was still curled up, the clothes on his back soaked through with cold sweat and clinging tightly to his hardened spine.

"Cough... cough cough!"

The moment he tried to move, tearing pain shot from his tailbone straight to the crown of his head. Bai Yi clenched his lower lip hard, and the taste of blood spread through his mouth.

His spine seemed to have been cast from molten steel. Every breath brought phantom pain, as though metal were burning his internal organs.

[Sanity recovering: 30/100]

The information panel in his mind told him that it was finally over.

Bai Yi laboriously raised his head and discovered that the entire room was covered in scratch marks. Dark red tissue remained in those grooves of varying depth, as if something barbed had repeatedly scraped across them.

When his gaze shifted to the tabletop, Bai Yi's pupils abruptly constricted. Five indented fingerprints remained on the stone axe's wooden handle, with flakes of shed skin still clinging to the edges.

"Was that me?"

He tremblingly raised his right hand and found wood splinters embedded beneath his nails. A delayed wave of terror surged into his heart.

What kind of struggle had his body gone through during those dozen or so hours of unconsciousness?

But then he burst out laughing. "I survived. I survived! I won't die. I have to live!"

It was not until the first morning light appeared that Bai Yi could barely stand while supporting himself against the wall. He checked the log and found that it was already the second day.

Bai Yi noticed a dim crimson glow flickering in the pile of thatch by the door. He found a wooden stick and used it to poke the thatch aside.

A thumbnail-sized piece of flesh lay there, with some bone fragments stuck to it.

"This was from yesterday..."

He wrapped the bone fragments in thatch, but the instant he touched them, he heard murmurs. The sound was like tens of millions of people whispering in his ears at once.

[You see endlessly proliferating flesh and bone. Sanity -8]

[Sanity 22/100]

Needle-like pain surged through his mind again, but it was not severe.

Bai Yi was startled and nearly dropped it. Only after stuffing the thing into the storage chest did the strange whispers disappear.

"Such a tiny piece of meat takes up thirty units?"

Bai Yi said in surprise. Though he did not know what it was for, his intuition told him it was something good.

"Mm—this pain... It looks like I'll need to keep my Sanity above thirty from now on."

"Grrr..."

When you come across ads asking things like "Are you a real person?", there is no need to pay attention to them. Just close them. Do not scan codes or send text messages!

His stomach growled with hunger. Only then did Bai Yi realize that he had not eaten anything during the day and night since arriving here.

"I need to go out and find something to eat. If I stay in the shelter, even with the newbie protection period, I won't survive more than two days."

Bai Yi moved his body and found that there was basically nothing wrong with it anymore. He picked up his axe, then paused before leaving and took the log with him as well.

Bai Yi looked around. White fog enveloped the entire world like solidified milk. Unidentified fluffy particles floated in the mist, and trees ten meters away were reduced to twisted silhouettes.

"The visibility is terrible. I hope everything goes well."

He encouraged himself and walked into the fog.

Bai Yi did not walk quickly. He remained alert to every movement around him, but the surroundings were too quiet. There was not even the sound of wind.

Just like that, Bai Yi made a circuit several hundred meters around the shelter without finding any food.

This made him somewhat anxious. Food was not too big a problem; going hungry for two days would be manageable, at most leaving him a little weak.

But water was an urgent problem. He had not had a drink in nearly two days, and he had to find a water source today.

Feeling that his body was already slightly dehydrated and thinking of his talent, Bai Yi gritted his teeth and decided to explore farther away.

He walked in one direction, occasionally leaving markers around him.

At last, luck smiled on him. Bai Yi heard the sound of running water. He quickened his pace toward it and found a small stream.

Bai Yi tasted it first. After confirming it was fresh water, he finally replenished his water supply.

Afterward, he searched along the stream for a while. He found no living animals, but he did find some wild fruit and an animal carcass.

It was a rabbit. The body was relatively intact, but it had already decayed. Gray fur covered dark green mold, and translucent maggots crawled out from its rotting eye sockets.

[Discovered a minor source of contamination (rabbit carcass). Sanity -1]

[Wild fruit discovered. Non-toxic. Edible.]

Between the fruit and the rabbit, Bai Yi decisively chose the fruit. After replenishing his food supply, he picked a large pile of wild fruit and held it in his arms, intending to take it back.

Before leaving, he thought it over and still picked up the rabbit by its ears and brought it back with him.

During this process, Bai Yi discovered that when he held the log, he could inspect item information and even dismantle animal carcasses.

However, he could not open the forum or plaza, nor could he directly place items into the shelter's storage chest.

After returning to the shelter, Bai Yi had no intention of going out again. The log showed that it was already afternoon, though he did not know the exact time.

However, Bai Yi took some time to browse the forum. One featured post explained that daytime lasted eight hours.

He did not have time to read closely, because there was not much time left. He was already a day behind everyone else and had to hurry to catch up so he would not be eliminated.

For the remaining time, Bai Yi began chopping trees to gather wood. He tried dismantling them directly with the log, but there was no response. Only felled trees could be dismantled.

"They really won't let me exploit even the tiniest loophole. They guard against gentlemen too."

Bai Yi grumbled indignantly.

The amount of wood obtained from a tree depended on its size. Bai Yi worked all afternoon and chopped twenty-five units of wood.

Seeing that night was approaching and that he still had not gathered enough wood for the upgrade, Bai Yi glanced at the panel. [Sanity 50/100] The next second, he gave a low shout:

"Steel Spine Will, activate!"

His spine suddenly made the sound of turning gears. Bai Yi felt electricity course along his bones, and his muscles swelled at a visible rate.

[Steel Spine Will activated. Sanity -40. Current Sanity: 10/100. Gain a 2.5x enhancement.]

[Warning! Your Sanity is below 30. You have fallen into madness. You have fallen into cognitive distortion.]

[Immune.]

Pain originating from his soul swept over him, but compared to last night, it was not too severe. At the very least, Bai Yi could barely endure it.

Bai Yi raised his hand, and even an ordinary stone axe whistled through the air when he swung it.

Crack!

A pine tree as thick as a bowl snapped in response. Bai Yi looked at the clean break, then felt the stamina he had expended, and his breathing gradually became rapid.

He tried chopping continuously. Every swing was truly a critical hit.

In just three minutes, Bai Yi gathered twenty units of wood. He could feel that this was not even his limit—the axe was what restricted him.

Afterward, Bai Yi did not continue chopping trees. Instead, he checked his attribute panel.

[Bai Yi: Healthy]

[Age: 30]

[Strength: 7.5/3]

[Spirit: 9]

[Constitution: 7.5/3]

[Sanity: 10/100]

After testing it, Bai Yi once again marveled at the power of his talent. His strength, speed, and neural reaction speed had all been greatly enhanced.

At the same time, he understood why there was no agility stat. With a forceful kick from his legs, his entire body shot forward seven or eight meters in an instant.

Sudden stops, sharp turns, instantaneous acceleration, and the like were all unbelievably fast. At the same time, his constitution of 7.5 allowed Bai Yi to perform these difficult movements with ease.

Ten minutes later, Bai Yi returned to the shelter in satisfaction. Next came the main event.

[Shelter upgrade requirements met. Upgrade?]

"Yes!"