In the span of mere seconds, over a hundred people were slaughtered, their bodies grotesquely fused into the monstrous creature.
"Help..."
"Somebody, please save me..."
Some of those melded with the monster could still speak, their voices wavering from within its grotesque form.
Ye Shu felt a jolt of shock. For a moment, she couldn't even tell if these people were still alive, or merely puppets under the monster's control.
"Ugh..."
"Why is this happening? Wasn’t this just a simple mining mini-game?"
"I don't want to be here. I want to go home. Is this the true nature of this so-called survival game?"
"Run! That monster isn't full yet—if we don't get out now, we're as good as food!"
The amassed crowd scattered in a blind panic, scrambling to flee. All their previous arrogance evaporated.
Ye Shu, however, did not choose to leave. Instead, she kept her gaze fixed on the white lantern hanging on the wall of the squat hut nearby.
She couldn’t shake the feeling—that lantern was not just some simple decoration.
When the towering mass of flesh finished its grisly feast, it slunk back to where it came from, once again twisting itself into its original, human-like disguise. Aside from that utterly distorted face, it looked no different than any ordinary human on Blue Star.
Another half hour passed.
From deep within the catacombs, the system's alert chimed through the silence.
[Ding! Exchange time begins now. It will last for six hours. Players, please exchange items promptly and depart on time. Cave wraiths despise those who flout the rules!]
It was now 6:00 pm.
Did this time hold some special significance?
She was certain all the food had already been bought up by the other players...
Ye Shu leapt down from the wall, approaching the squat hut. The creature hiding beneath the oversized robe clearly hadn't expected anyone to linger right under its nose.
"Heh heh..."
"Exchange."
Ye Shu pulled out ten ordinary mineral crystals and three low-grade ones, pointing her finger at the lantern on the wall.
"Exchange not supported until the designated time," the monster rasped, its hoarse, grating voice filling the room. From beneath the robe, a pair of pitch-black eyes bored greedily into Ye Shu’s face.
Feeling the weight of that predatory gaze, Ye Shu didn't hesitate. She drew a peachwood sword and pressed its blade against the monster’s neck.
"Will you exchange or not? You decide."
"And tell me—the lantern, what's it really for?"
She simply couldn't believe a paper lantern was meant for mere ornamentation; there had to be another purpose.
"Exchange immediately. The lantern dispels evil, wards off ghosts."
The monster buckled under the pressure of the peachwood sword, barely able to breathe as it confessed meekly.
It had lingered in these depths for who-knows-how-long, but this was the first time it had been threatened by a lowliest miner.
Ye Shu was all too aware of the malice simmering within the monster’s gaze, yet for now she could not act on it.
Ten regular mineral crystals earned her five lanterns; four low-grade crystals got her two low-grade lanterns.
"Warding off what evil? Are there other monsters like you lurking around?"
The monster nodded vaguely.
"Speak honestly, or I’ll kill you right now."
After some menacing persuasion, Ye Shu learned that the inner world offered two exchange periods each day, both strictly time-limited.
Packing the lanterns into her storage, Ye Shu returned to her previous post and resumed mining.
On average, she could open eight or nine tunnels an hour, yielding five crystals. Compared to other players, her speed was downright impressive.
Just before midnight, Ye Shu finally unearthed her first intermediate mineral crystal.
……
12:00 am.
[Do you want to fuse and upgrade regular mineral crystals? Ten grade-0 crystals can be fused into one low-grade crystal.]
[Yes.]
Ye Shu was still gloating over her newly upgraded crystal when she suddenly sensed a gaze upon her.
She turned toward the base of the wall—and shuddered.
At some point, a ghost had materialized in the corner. Its body was swollen and pale, its eye sockets empty pits, staring straight at her as thick droplets of inky black liquid dripped to the ground, filling the air with a rank, fetid stench.
Under the dim light, Ye Shu felt as if the air itself thickened, suffocating.
What in the world was this thing?
When did it arrive?
She didn’t notice it at all...
"Go, Pikachu!"
Without hesitation, Ye Shu summoned Da Piaoliang from her storage and lobbed him straight at the bizarre entity.
"Awwooo... What’s going on? Wasn’t I just in my master’s tiny space?"
Da Piaoliang blinked his emerald eyes in bafflement.
Locking eyes with the ghostly being across from him, a flash of disdain crossed Da Piaoliang’s gaze. He unsheathed his claws, as if intending to shred the cave ghost to pieces.
Ye Shu: "...Tiny...space?"
Was it really so tiny?
She’d spent a considerable number of points expanding her storage to 12 square meters—about the size of a small room, thank you very much!
Yet Da Piaoliang failed.
Instead, he passed cleanly through the cave ghost—didn’t just touch it, but moved right through its body.
"Whaaat!? How’s that possible? I didn’t even scratch it! This can’t be..."
Da Piaoliang stared at his pristine claws, then looked incredulously at the ghost a meter away.
Ye Shu was equally stunned.
In these dungeon copies, so long as Da Piaoliang avoided certain people, he was almost invincible. But this time, he couldn’t even touch the creature?
Ye Shu did not want to believe it.
But the truth was undeniable.
"Awoo... Master, this thing is even weirder than I am! We should run while we have the chance!"
A wise man knows when to retreat.
If you can't win, you run.
Da Piaoliang leapt onto Ye Shu's shoulder, sniffing his own tiger claws with disgust—somehow, he could still smell that awful stench, like rotting sewer water.
The ghost loomed at the cave entrance...
With no way out, Ye Shu began inching backward, gripping her iron shovel as she started chipping away at the soil behind her.
"Crash—"
The wall broke open, and without a second thought, Ye Shu dove into the freshly dug tunnel. As she turned, she caught a clear glimpse of the ghost’s face—it was grinning at her, the rasp of its voice like phlegm in its throat, yet echoing unmistakably through her mind.
"Hee-hee..."
An unexplainable chill swept over her, goosebumps erupting across her skin, her entire body wracked with uncontrollable shivers.
Da Piaoliang, usually at ease on her shoulder, had all his black fur bristling at the malicious laughter, leaping to the ground with an animalistic snarl.
Ye Shu had never before seen Da Piaoliang so shaken.
And in that fleeting moment, she noticed—the thing had no feet.
This was nothing like the "strange entities" she’d faced. Perhaps, it truly was a ghost.
Forced to flee, Ye Shu seethed with frustration. She slipped on her cinnabar bead bracelet—a talisman that had accompanied her throughout her survival journey and was said to expel evil spirits. Hopefully, it would have some effect on the ghost.
Ye Shu retraced her path.
But the ghost was gone. Only a foul, ashen-black puddle remained where it had stood.
[Ding! The Survival Game System is now online.]
[Midnight in the inner world is perilous. Players, keep your wits about you. If you encounter it and lack a lantern, do not engage. Never make eye contact with a cave wraith—or you may attract its attention!]
[The first day is a grace period for new players; cave creatures will not attack humans.]
[Please keep your Sanity (SAN) value above 40 at all times. Each day, this will naturally recover. Should it fall below 30, you shall lose your sanity!]
[Survive in the inner world for thirty days!]
It really was a ghost.
Would the peachwood sword work?
If that failed, her only recourse would be to follow the rules—redeem a lantern each day to survive.
On her status page, Ye Shu noticed a new SAN value had been added. Hers showed 90 for now.