Chapter 1: Opening My Eyes and Encountering an Initial Kill
Open your eyes... Close your eyes... Open your eyes...
The place he was in was pitch black, as if it had been painted with heavy ink, with faint rustling sounds barely audible. Ji Mingran lay motionless on the ground, only mechanically issuing commands to himself, slowly repeating the action of blinking.
After repeated attempts, she finally became certain that she was not seeing things.
Ji Mingran paused for a moment, then closed her eyes. Although she had never seen the real thing, she had seen it thousands of times in holographic videos and wouldn't mistake it.
The rustling sound in my ears was the soft rustling of branches and leaves; the shadowy outlines of varying thicknesses and intertwined shapes originated from the overlapping branches of the dense forest.
This is a dense forest.
But in a desolate post-apocalyptic world, where would such a large forest be found?
Not only was the environment off, but my physical condition was also terrible. I was in pain, easily chilled, and my muscles were sluggish and difficult to control. My limbs and chest ached terribly, and every breath was torture. But no matter how much pain I was in, it was nothing compared to the tearing sensation in my head, as if it were about to explode.
Her consciousness became clouded and turbulent, yet the pain kept her alert.
"Waaah...waaah..." A muffled sound drifted from afar, a mixture of weeping and laughter, eerily mournful. A cool breeze brushed against my shoulders and neck. My body couldn't bear the cold and began to tremble uncontrollably.
Ji Mingran tried his best to control his body to reduce shaking and remain still.
What exactly happened?
"Where are you? Where are you?"
What is it?
The place where he was lying was open on all sides and some distance from the nearest bushes. If that thing got close, it would definitely be seen at a glance.
Ji Mingran took a very light breath, opened his eyes and looked to his left. There was a thicket of bushes that could conceal his figure.
She took a deep breath and raised her hand, a sharp pain shooting through her limbs and bones. Her head buzzed, as if she were being bombarded a thousand times. Cold sweat poured down her face. Ji Mingran bit her lower lip tightly, enduring the pain to keep herself from making a sound.
Ji Mingran mustered her strength and crawled up from the ground, disappearing silently and nimbly into the bushes like a cat. She gently pulled her hands further in, curling herself into a ball, using the bushes to completely conceal herself.
A wave of intense pain surged through her again. She had been so focused on hiding that she had barely managed to ignore the pain. Now that she had stopped, the pain doubled.
Ji Mingran frowned and closed her eyes. It's alright, she's always been used to pain.
As she moved, she used strange noises to conceal her movements, and the monster did not notice her. However, the situation remained unfavorable for her, and she needed to quickly recall how she had ended up in this predicament.
This is not her body.
Having survived thirty years of apocalyptic devastation, her physical abilities had evolved to their peak. But now, this body was not only short, fragile, and powerless, but most importantly, it was the body of a child.
Could the colossal mutant possess psychic abilities, capable of creating illusions? Is the source of the strange noise a mutant form of an illusion? Is she within the illusion?
Ji Mingran silently knelt down on one knee, assuming an ambush stance.
No matter what it is, it's never wrong to kill it.
As he gradually became more accustomed to the pain, Ji Mingran peered out through the gaps in the branches and leaves in front of him.
Directly opposite is also dense forest and shrubs, with thick, forked branches that seem to block the way. To the right and slightly ahead, however, overgrown weeds and piles of fallen leaves and broken branches suggest a passage. As for the left...
Hmm? No, that's not right.
Realizing that he had almost missed something, Ji Mingran quickly turned his gaze back to what was in front of him.
As darkness descended, a cold wind blew softly, causing the dense branches and leaves to rustle and tremble, revealing tiny gaps between them.
A pair of dark eyes were coldly staring at her through the gaps in the foliage.
They may not be enemies.
Ji Mingran forced the body to raise its eyes and look directly at the other person. She supported herself with her left hand on the ground, while her right hand quietly gripped the sharpest and thickest branch in the bush. The eerie and shrill sound continued to echo in her ears, and the cold wind kept falling on her back through the gaps in the branches and leaves, making her feel chilly.
The other person was clearly aware that they had been discovered, but their unusually dark and bright eyes remained completely unmoved as they stared at her silently.
They stared at each other for a long time, face to face, but there was no movement from the other side. Ji Mingran remained patiently on guard, the pain repeatedly assaulting his brain. But no matter how much it hurt, once the pain receptors became numbed, it wouldn't hinder his movements.
"Come out quickly!"
"Come out now, let me kill you."
"I need to find you."
The two pairs of eyes in the bushes gazed at each other silently, remaining motionless in perfect harmony, as if they were facing nothing more than an inanimate object, or as if they themselves were inanimate objects.
Hehehe.
After saying that last sentence, the voice disappeared, the wind stopped blowing, and the forest returned to silence, falling into a deathly stillness.
It's coming.
Ji Mingran lowered his body, concealed his face, and focused his attention, remaining alert to any movement around him.
The other person seemed to have also sensed something was wrong and completely disappeared into the darkness. The gaze that had been fixed on her face finally vanished.
The deep blackness, carrying a sense of tranquility, seeped into the dense forest. Ji Mingran was completely focused, his attention so intense that his temples throbbed.
Suddenly, a strong wind swept through the trees, flattening large swathes of leaves, and a ghostly figure appeared in front of him in the blink of an eye, bursting out a sharp and sinister voice: "You're here!"
What it held in its claws was something that had been secretly watching her...
Humans?!
How is that possible? Are there other people alive in the world besides her?
Ji Ming's Brain-Burning
Full of flaws, this is an illusion created by a colossal mutant.
The "person" opposite seemed to be already badly injured, with blood splattering from its body. It struggled desperately, but could not break free from the mutated creature's grip no matter what it did.
The mutant, watching the dying struggle of the "person" before it, derives immense satisfaction and crazed, laughing maniacally, "Good blood, the more the better." With that, it raises its other hand to stab.
Now!
Ji Mingran rushed forward, and in the instant the shapeshifter turned its head to look back upon hearing the sound, he threw out soil with his left hand. Black soil and dust filled the air, hitting the crimson bulging eyes squarely.
Its scarlet eyes swung wildly uncontrollably, its gaping maw with sharp fangs was terrifying; it was indeed a species she had never seen before. Without pausing, she took another step forward, her left foot kicking the mutated creature's chest, while her right hand raised a branch to strike its carotid artery.
Her extreme physical discomfort reduced her combat effectiveness to almost nothing, so she could only rely on her years of combat experience to launch surprise attacks.
"Click".
The cracking sound did not originate from the mutant's chest.
A sharp, intense pain shot through his lower limbs; the left foot that had struck the mutant was now powerless and twisted backward in a bizarre posture.
The black hole on the distorted face stared at her silently, and then, a sinister smile slowly appeared on the scarlet mouth, thick saliva dripped down, and countless tentacles wriggled out of the mouth at the same time.
A skeletal hand gripped her left ankle tightly.
The sharp, excruciating pain of the comminuted fracture exploded in his brain instantly, and the pain transmitted through his nerves made Ji Mingran's heart sink.
This mutated ghost was incredibly weak, but its body was even more vulnerable than she had imagined.
Ji Mingran instantly withdrew his stance to defend. Even though dozens of ways to dodge flashed through his mind, his body was still unable to dodge in time and he was grabbed by a claw and lifted into the air.
"They've really fallen to the lowest possible level," Ji Mingran chuckled silently. "Trash."
"What did you say?" The mutated creature's voice was rough and unpleasant. It suddenly flung away the "person" in its other claw, and with both claws tightly gripping Ji Mingran's neck, it lifted her into the air.
Ji Mingran instinctively reached out with both hands to grab the withered claws that were choking his neck, trying to pull them away, but in the struggle he was cut by the mutated creature's sharp, long nails, and blood splattered down.
“I said…I,” she struggled to speak, staring intently at the mutated creature, a mocking smile playing on her lips, “and you too.”
It's all garbage.
"You little bastard, die first!" the mutant roared, tightening its grip even more. She was being choked until she couldn't breathe, her eyes rolled back, and her brain was nearly shut down due to lack of oxygen.
She fought a desperate battle alone against a colossal mutant that was as tall as a mountain. When the giant's hand came down, she only needed to withstand the attack for half a second to charge up her energy before she could defeat the giant.
However, the protective shield on his body shattered.
In an instant, the eyeball on the severed half of his head recorded the last scene before he died.
His other half of his head hung precariously from his gruesome body, his brains, blood, and organs spilled all over the ground.
She was crushed.
The sudden and gruesome deaths sent chills down Ji Mingran's spine.
A mixture of resentment and anger filled his chest.
He died on the tattered protective shield he had picked up.
Just before defeating the final boss?
I don't believe it! This must be an illusion created by a giant shapeshifter, intended to destroy her will.
Ji Mingran glared angrily at the mutated creature in front of her. It was the dead end in the illusion. Killing it would allow her to escape the illusion. She had to get out and destroy that giant mutated creature!
Ignoring the pain, Ji Mingran gripped the mutant's claws tightly with both hands, simultaneously arching his body with his abdominal muscles and kicking the mutant's face hard with his right leg.
Caught off guard, the mutant was stepped on in the face, screamed in fury, and struck Ji Mingran's right foot with a claw.
The excruciating pain relentlessly assaulted Ji Mingran's brain. In her dazed state, her only thought was to attack. With the last of her strength, she hurled her lower limbs at the mutated creature.
Enraged, the mutant didn't dodge but instead met the attack head-on, its five fingers forming claws as it stabbed at the body that was being flung at it.
He had no choice but to endure it. Ji Mingran gritted his teeth, continuing his actions to attract the mutated creature's full attention.
"Aaaaaah, who is it?!" In the next instant, the mutated creature's sharp roar echoed through the forest.
Ji Mingran lowered his head.
A sword blade pierced through the mutant's body, leaving only the hilt on its back. On the hilt, a pair of fair and strong hands were attached.
It's the "person" who was arrested earlier.
She was lifted into the air, facing the "person," and saw it draw its sword and rush towards her. Logically, she was the only target in the illusion, but since she was completely under its control, it had no reason to attack her anymore.
She bet it was heading towards the mutant, so she cooperated to attract the mutant's attention.
She won her bet.
The mutated creature, its eyes blazing with fury, recklessly flung Ji Mingran away, knocking the longsword off its body. The "person" didn't have time to retrieve the sword; it simply flipped over and sped towards the left-hand path that Ji Mingran had previously spotted.
"You deserve to die!" the mutant roared as it chased after it at full speed.
The moment she was thrown into the air, the wind lashed fiercely against Ji Mingran's face. Her mind cleared slightly from the excruciating pain, and she used the momentum to flip and roll in the air, avoiding her injured leg and landing softly.
There was no time to delve into the reasons why the illusory objects attacked each other; two against one was always better than one against one. Ji Mingran took a deep breath, enduring the overwhelming pain from his severe injuries from head to toe, and staggered as he picked up his longsword and followed closely behind along the path.
As expected, the nearby jungle seemed to have been affected by the fierce battle. Large numbers of trees collapsed, and broken branches and fallen leaves covered the ground. The "person" was pinned down by the mutated creature that had fallen into a berserk state, unable to move, and it was unclear whether he was dead or alive.
Having been ambushed twice, the mutant was enraged to the point of madness. It gritted its teeth and screamed, "You little bastard, I'm not just going to suck your blood, I'm going to eat you!" With that, it opened its mouth wide, revealing its beast-like sharp teeth, and began to bite at the "person's" head.
An opportunity! Ji Mingran, unable to bear the excruciating pain of broken bones, leaped with the speed of a 100-meter sprint, raised his sword high, and with a fierce leap, the sharp blade pierced straight into the back of the mutant's head as easily as cutting through tofu.
"Aaaaaah!"
Caught off guard, the mutant was attacked again, and the combined assault finally took its toll. It swayed slightly, nearly tumbling to the ground, but quickly regained its footing, stomping on the "person" and turning to strike Ji Mingran with a claw: "None of you will escape! Die together!"
Ji Mingran drew his sword and leaned back, barely dodging the mutated creature's attack. However, his body couldn't stop the momentum and he fell heavily to the ground, feeling dizzy and his vision went black.
The mutant's foot slammed down on her body, and it roared shrilly, "I'll kill you all now!" Then it lunged forward and bit down hard on Ji Mingran's neck.
Come on! Ji Mingran thrust his sword straight in.
The sharp blade pierced the mutant's right eye and exited from the back of its head.
After being stabbed twice in the brain, the mutant let out a deafening howl and collapsed.
The screams assaulted Ji Mingran's eardrums and brain. She struggled to get up, expressionless, and gripped the sword with both hands, stabbing it repeatedly until the increasingly miserable howls gradually stopped.
A faint smile appeared on her bloodstained face.
Okay, she's dead. She can go out now.
Ji Mingran sat down, exhausted, and slowly turned his head, his eyes fixed on the "person" figure lying to the side.
Although she didn't know why it helped her, in any case, the shapeshifter was dead, everything would return to normal, the forest scene would disappear, "it" would disappear, and her body would return.
After getting out, they still had to fight. Ji Mingran gripped the mud with both hands, gritted his teeth and struggled to get up, but his head suddenly felt heavy.
Her eyes rolled back and she fainted.
A note from the author:
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