Into the Abyss

Where had this come from?

With some time to spare, Lu Ren racked his brains and finally remembered what had happened two days ago. As he fell into this place through a passage resembling an underwater environment, it had felt as though someone had suddenly struck the back of his head with a club. Before passing out, he vaguely heard a heap of messages: the system had loaded successfully, information was loading... current progress...

"Biometric Data Monitoring Panel?"

Just as he was trying to dig deeper into his memories, the three mouths of the nearly charred Lana'ye suddenly let out agonized howls.

"Lu Ren... Lu Ren, I'm in so much pain! Come save me, save me! When you skipped class back then, wasn't I the one who covered for you? Have you forgotten?!"

That was Wang Gang's voice. Back in college, Wang Gang had been forthright and generous, and he had indeed looked after Lu Ren quite a bit.

Lu Ren could not help sighing. Wang Gang's image had completely collapsed in his eyes just now, and the guy had even badmouthed him behind his back, saying he might be gay and flirted with him every day... Complete nonsense!!

No amount of shouting would help now. Especially when the voice came from a monster made of human bodies—if he felt moved by it, he would truly be a little psychologically twisted.

Seeing that Lu Ren remained unmoved, Lana'ye switched to another voice, crisp and pleasant, yet especially grating.

"Lu Ren, Lu Ren! Come save me! I'm begging you! Didn't you used to like me? I'll say yes, okay? As long as you save me, I'll do anything!!"

The voice was seductive, the tone resentful, like a deeply secluded woman who had gone ten years without affection.

Lu Ren had once liked Zhang Qingya, but he had been fairly rational. Once he discovered that Zhang Qingya was a full-blown manipulative bitch who was juggling eight men at once with the ease of walking on level ground, his heart had become as cold as if he had spent ten years gutting fish in Da Ruifa. What was there to do?

Seeing that Lu Ren was not buying it, yet another voice emerged.

"Lu Ren, have you forgotten the days we drove supercars together? I took you cruising, took you out to pick up girls!!"

Lu Ren picked at his ear. Luo Zixuan's voice was still as grating as ever. As a rich second-generation heir, he spent his days indulging in pleasure, believing money could buy anything. Most importantly, Zhang Qingya had been swept away by the piles and piles of cash he threw around.

After Luo Zixuan was seduced by Zhang Qingya during college, his outlook rapidly changed, turning him into the sort of person described above. Their relationship had gone from initially friendly to the current lukewarm state.

Well, overall, it was that green-tea bitch Zhang Qingya manipulating things from the middle. Lu Ren had slammed on the brakes and cut his losses the moment he realized the girl he had been simping for was a scheming bitch. Even Wang Gang had been utterly bewitched by her.

Once it realized Lu Ren was unmoved, Lana'ye could not help letting out a roar. Wrapped in blazing flames, it rolled straight toward him.

It was trying to perish together with him?!

Having long prepared to flee, Lu Ren did not panic in the slightest. Already quietly retreating, he immediately turned and sprinted into the dense forest, scrambling and tumbling deeper inside.

After racing along for less than three minutes, Lu Ren was breathing like a bellows. He felt as though his chest was about to explode.

As someone from modern society who rarely exercised, maintaining a full sprint for three minutes under such circumstances was already being sustained by a fierce will to survive.

Ding, you continued running. Your Agility Proficiency +1.

Ding, you continued running. Your Physique Proficiency +1.

The only thing comforting Lu Ren was that as the proficiency notifications kept appearing in his mind, a warm current seemed to flow through his body, easing his fatigue to a certain extent and giving him the strength to maintain his speed.

The proficiency notifications seemed to provide immediate feedback to his body during the strengthening process of physical training.

Semi-datafication!?

But no matter how much he improved, it was fundamentally impossible to achieve a qualitative change in such a short time. Years of work had already left his physique in a subhealthy state.

At this moment, Lu Ren paid no attention at all to the notifications appearing in his mind. Without blinking, he stared fixedly ahead, not daring to make a single mistake.

Lana'ye rolled madly after him. Trees and bushes snapped one after another beneath its reckless charge, but they also greatly slowed its pursuit.

With branches snapping behind him, heat waves at his back, and Lana'ye's howls ringing out, Lu Ren never looked back. Once he confirmed that the slime Lana'ye secreted was flammable, he knew Lana'ye would definitely be burned alive in the end—but before that...

Suddenly, the forest opened up ahead. What entered Lu Ren's sight was a sheer cliff, only seven or eight meters away.

This was the place!!

Without hesitating in the slightest, Lu Ren used both hands and feet to roll and scramble to one side.

After charging out of the forest, the utterly enraged, flame-scorched Lana'ye saw the dark abyss that seemed capable of swallowing everything.

However, it could no longer stop its momentum. It shot four or five meters beyond the cliff's edge, its seven or eight limbs flailing wildly as it desperately tried to grab onto something along the precipice. But even if two more people were added to its body, there was no way it could reach anything from four or five meters away.

"You're so cruel, so cruel!!!"

"Lu Ren, you're so cruel!!!"

Amid venomous howls, Lana'ye fell straight into the abyss until it disappeared from sight.

Hearing no sound of impact, Lu Ren took a deep breath and steadied himself. His propped-up body finally collapsed onto the ground as he gulped down air.

Ding, Lana'ye fell off the cliff while enthusiastically pursuing you. It was killed by ripples formed by the spatial intersection point below the cliff. At the critical moment, Lana'ye split itself to preserve itself. You received Lana'ye's heartfelt greetings and its praise. All your physical attributes +1.

Ding, you have gained the attention of an evil god. It is attempting to speak with you. Accept?

Screw accepting that!

His entire body ached from the sudden increase in attributes, and strange whispers had begun sounding in his ears. Lu Ren hurriedly shouted, "Reject!! Block it for me!!!"

Only after the notification sounds finally fell silent did Lu Ren, now with a line of thought, begin pondering the string of messages that had appeared in his mind.

Proficiency?

A system!

At that thought, Lu Ren's back no longer hurt and his legs no longer ached. He furtively glanced left and right, and only after confirming there was no danger did he quickly turn and head into the forest. He returned to the spot where he had first fallen into this space, opened the abandoned car, and climbed inside.

This was the car Lu Ren, Luo Zixuan, and the other two had been riding in together. When they passed through the tunnel, they had suddenly arrived here, and then the car had completely died. No matter what they did, they could not get it started again.