Chapter 278: True Mode |
[Enter 'True Mode'?]
[Yes/No?]
[Player K8107 has joined the queue.]
[You are currently playing: Solo Mode (True)]
[Selection complete, teleporting...]
[Deducting Community Time, current deduction amount: 720 hours.]
[Remaining stay time: 720 hours.]
[This mode does not provide a script synopsis. Please explore on your own.]
Accompanied by a flash of white light, when Bai Mu could see clearly again, he was no longer in his Community room.
The bed frame was made of rough logs pieced together. A layer of animal skin was laid over the hay, and he could feel the residual stubble underneath him.
The first sensation he felt upon opening his eyes was cold—so cold that he couldn't help but shudder.
This was to be expected; he wasn't wearing any warm clothing. And judging from the blizzard blowing in through the hole in the roof, the temperature nearby was around minus ten degrees Celsius, or even lower.
"So cold..." The air he exhaled turned into white mist.
"Such primitive housing... Is it a very ancient era? But... what's going on with that?"
Bai Mu sat up from the bed and looked up at the ceiling.
The roof made of thatch and wooden boards had been torn open from above by some force, revealing an irregular gap.
The blizzard was pouring in through this hole, and large snowflakes swirled down, appearing exceptionally clear in the dim light of the room. Bai Mu's eyes quickly swept across the simple and crude room to gather information about his surroundings.
Facing the bed was a thick wooden table. The tabletop was pieced together with a few wide wooden planks, the edges irregular and still bearing traces of bark. On the table was a coarse pottery bowl placed upside down. He supported himself on the edge of the bed, stood up, and grabbed the pottery bowl to observe it. Next to the bowl was a shallow wooden plate containing a few dark, black lumps that looked like frozen hard black bread.
He picked them up and tapped them lightly on the tabletop, producing a crisp thumping sound. This thing was hard enough to be used as a brick. If someone with bad teeth took a bite, their front teeth would probably snap right out.
"In True Mode, even the item description function is gone?"
No explanation resembling a 'game item' appeared before Bai Mu's eyes. However, judging from the surrounding environment, it was obvious that this looked like a house from the Middle Ages.
He looked up again at the big hole in the roof. To say that the blizzard had torn it open would be... somewhat too ferocious. Moreover, he smelled the scent of blood in the freezing air, putting him on high alert.
He took out a Guard Mushroom and controlled the Walrider's hand to raise it to a high place. However, the vast expanse of white snow obscured the mushroom's vision. He could only roughly discern that he was currently in a human village, with an endless snowfield in the distance.
Almost every visible roof, including the one on the house he was in, had a corner torn open.
He squatted down slightly and looked under the table. A wooden chair was overturned on the ground, with one of its crossbars broken. The break was very fresh and hadn't oxidized or discolored, indicating that this wooden chair had broken not long ago.
On the ground near the window, there was a pool of dark stains.
It was blood, already frozen into an irregular shape, the edges splattered like a blooming dark red flower.
The wind poured in from all directions, piercing through Bai Mu's thin clothes. He felt his body growing stiff and suddenly remembered he had a down jacket he got from a draw in his inventory. He took it out and put it on, immediately feeling much warmer.
"As expected, hoping the Paradise would throw players into a safe and comfortable place is just daydreaming."
Bai Mu took out the Flaming Sword and cautiously approached the doorway, keeping an eye on the 'Mobile Guard's vision at all times.
Everything he saw was reminding him that this place was very dangerous.
If he died here, those 720 hours of Community Time wouldn't be refunded.
Wasting a full 30 days of Community Time would be too much of a loss. At the very least, he had hoped to train 'Cotton Palm' to max level in True Mode. But it was so quiet outside that only the sound of the blizzard could be heard. After lying low at the door for a few minutes, he heard nothing. To avoid wasting Mana, he had to stick the Guard Mushroom onto a slightly further wall and then retracted the Walrider's hand.
Wearing the down jacket, he still felt very cold. There was actually some firewood in the house that could be burned, but he didn't use a fire talisman to light it for warmth. When the situation was unknown, any action that might expose himself was very dangerous. This was a lesson he had learned over a long time.
Actually, if he could find a corpse nearby, he could use 'Corpse Raising' to go out and explore.
But the problem was, he unexpectedly couldn't find a single corpse.
"This can't go on; I should go out and take a look," Bai Mu thought to himself.
The greyish-white sky outside pressed down low. The sun couldn't be seen, making it impossible to tell whether it was early morning or dusk.
He took a step forward, but a muffled thud came from under his foot—not the 'poof' of stepping into snow, but the sound of kicking something hard. It was a face.
A ghastly pale face, half-exposed from under the snow. The eyes were wide open, the pupils covered with a layer of grayish-white ice.
Its mouth was wide open, as if still shouting something before dying. There was a hideous wound on its neck, the flesh and skin rolled outward, the edges presenting an abnormal charred blackness.
Honestly, having this thing suddenly appear before his eyes was still very horrifying. But Bai Mu had long been accustomed to corpses. He noticed that he had stepped on a face, or rather, a human head. Although there was blood near the head, the body and limbs were all missing.
It looked as if it had been eaten by wild beasts.
Just at that moment, Bai Mu heard footsteps coming from behind him.
It was a short figure, a little girl. She looked at Bai Mu with numb eyes, her mouth open as if she was saying something, and she slowly approached him.
She walked over slowly, while Bai Mu watched her silently.
Looking at the little girl, Bai Mu didn't feel any pity in his heart. In such cold weather, she was actually only wearing a hemp garment. As she walked, there was no stiffness at all, as if the low temperature had no effect on her.
Moreover, even though this little girl looked harmless to humans and animals, Bai Mu still smelled the lingering, heavy scent of blood on her. However, he didn't attack immediately. He was observing this thing's movement pattern. She repeatedly made sounds in a language Bai Mu had never heard, babbling as if she was crying, yet there was no crying expression on her face.
Finally, after getting close enough, she revealed her intention to attack and suddenly lunged at Bai Mu.
However, Bai Mu was well-prepared. He instantly used Quick Draw and shot her in the head.