Chapter Four: The Original World

The group found themselves in the courtyard of a villa. The sky was pitch black. Dim lights offered scant illumination. The air was thick with the stench of decay and ruin.

“What is that smell? It’s awful.”

“It’s the scent of death,” replied Xu Han, the mortician, wrinkling his nose. “There are corpses here—a lot of them.”

From the distance came faint, guttural howls.

Zhu Xiaoyong, overweight and nervous, began to tremble.

“Not corpses,” said the guide, Mu Bai, a cigarette with stark contrast to his skin clamped between his lips. He spoke in a low, slightly menacing voice, “Zombies.”

“Resident Evil?” scoffed Tang Tianjie, sounding unimpressed.

“This is not Resident Evil! I told you already: there are no anime, movies, games, or fictional worlds in the Inner World.” Mu Bai’s black lips parted, revealing a flash of white teeth. The cigarette hung askew at the corner of his mouth, lending him an oddly comical air.

“And don’t look down on the zombie world,” he added. “This is a Level 1 zombie-type horror world, selected by the upper echelon of Modulators. It’s considered the most suitable for newcomers to hone their skills in the Inner World.”

“The guide is right,” agreed Chu Qingfeng, the psychologist, nodding. “Even if we have talents that let us break human limits, at our core, we’re ordinary people—untried in battle, unfamiliar with danger.”

“Suppose, instead of a Level 1 zombie world, we entered a Level 1 martial arts world or a Level 1 fantasy world. The apparent dangers might be much the same, but in every world, the greatest threat is never what’s on the surface. It’s—” Chu Qingfeng’s gaze swept over the group, “the human heart.”

“But zombies have no hearts,” he concluded.

Hearing this, Yan Luo’s fingers twitched. He thought of his destiny trait: the Heartless Puppet.

“When zombies spot humans, they simply lunge with outstretched arms and gaping mouths, but because their flesh is decayed or stiff, their movements are sluggish, their steps slow. Unless you run into a mutated zombie like those in Left 4 Dead, a lone zombie poses little threat to an ordinary person.”

“As long as you don’t foolishly wade into a horde, the greatest danger is viral infection. If you’re scratched or bitten by a zombie, you’ll mutate into one… Guide, what if someone gets infected?”

Mu Bai, now the focus of Chu Qingfeng’s attention, replied coolly, “Don’t worry. There’s a window between infection and viral outbreak. As long as you have bio-energy, the Dreamspace can heal any wound, dispel any infection or curse. The virus is not a concern.”

“Good. With the greatest threat removed, the zombie world holds profound significance for newcomers.”

“Courage in the face of monstrous danger, experience in combat, adaptation to revolting scenes—if the Inner World offers all sorts of challenges, then a first trial in the zombie world is the perfect and most comprehensive training ground. That’s all I have to say.”

A round of applause followed.

Mu Bai, the guide, clapped. “Excellent! You may be the most promising newcomer I’ve seen yet. I look forward to your growth. At this stage, everyone’s abilities are roughly equal—a clever mind is the greatest guarantee of survival. In this Level 1 zombie world, you’re sure to make it.”

The praise made Chu Qingfeng’s expression waver slightly. He forced a smile, though inwardly he was muttering:

“He’s setting up a death flag for me!”

As a psychologist, Chu Qingfeng knew that taking the initiative in public was risky but also brought opportunity. By demonstrating his value and ability, he could claim an early leadership role in the group, so he’d deliberately acted bold.

He’d showcased analysis, logic, and reasoning—leaving a deep impression on his “teammates.” But he hadn’t expected the guide to set him up with a flag.

“It’s fine,” he reassured himself, tamping down his unease. “This is only a Level 1 Inner World, and we’re facing mere zombies. With a guide here, how dangerous could it be? I won’t die that easily.”

“All right, rookies!” Mu Bai ground out his cigarette and tossed it aside. His expression turned cold—though, given his obsidian skin, it was hard to read.

“Listen up!”

He sneered, “Don’t expect anything from me! I’ll give you some pointers, tell you what you need to know about adventuring in the Inner World—but! Even if someone gets bitten to death by a zombie right under my nose, I will not lift a finger to save them.”

“This is only a Level 1 zombie world. If you end up doomed in a world as simple as this, what will you do in worlds with massive wars, apocalyptic disasters, or supernatural horrors? Better to die now, at the outset, than to suffer through endless pain only to die later!”

“W-what? You’re not going to protect us?” Zhu Xiaoyong’s voice quavered.

Mu Bai’s head snapped around, his eyes flashing with a cold light. “I’d love to shove a Desert Eagle in your mouth and—bang!—blow the brains out of a waste like you.”

“Fat idiot, what do you take me for? A babysitter? In the Inner World, if you don’t think about how to survive on your own and rely on others instead—what if I were a Modulator from the evil faction, or a corrupted soul-polluted fallen one? You’d already be a pile of rotten meat.”

He narrowed his eyes, his gaze chilling. “A single Inner World can have transition points in different places in the Outer World. That means even if you enter alone, you might encounter other Modulators. They could be allies—or enemies. The only one you can truly trust, the only one you can truly rely on, is yourself!”

“If you pin your hopes on others, they can abandon you at any time.”

“So struggle, fight to survive! Rookies!” Mu Bai gave a cold laugh, then his figure vanished into the void.

“I will not interfere with any of your actions. Don’t harbor even the slightest hope. You’d best forget I exist, and focus wholeheartedly on facing all the dangers and enemies of the Inner World. Also, remember this: everyone has their own destiny trait.”

“A destiny trait can be upgraded. Cherish your initial ability.”

Mu Bai’s own trait was on display now—when he’d wished upon the Seed of Hope, he hadn’t dared to wish for white skin, only to lose the hated color he had. The destiny trait he gained was “Phasing.” At first, it only let him lighten his skin. Upgraded, it granted invisibility. Upgraded again, it let his body become a phased energy form, immune to physical attack.

It was a formidable power.

Now, he was invisible.

The guide’s sudden disappearance, coupled with the strangeness of the zombie world, would have been a crushing psychological blow to ordinary people. But none here were truly ordinary. Aside from the one lost in his own adolescent delusions and the cowardly fat man, most remained calm.

Even Wang Dongwei, a failed transcender of human limits, had grown resilient after repeated failures and could endure almost anything.

Of them all, Yan Luo was the most composed.

Tang Tianjie, handsome and lucky, was the first to move. He strode across and pushed open the courtyard gate. After the psychologist Chu Qingfeng had stepped forward to assert himself and vie for group leadership, Tang felt he too had to take action.

The decaying iron gate creaked slowly open.

The world beyond was suddenly exposed to their eyes.

Streetlamps lined both sides of the road, casting sickly white or dim yellow beams over the shadowy town. A few broken bulbs flickered and spat sparks. Under collapsed walls and rubble, abandoned cars lay rusting. Dark red bloodstains and shards of broken glass littered the pavement outside the buildings.

A reeking, fetid wind swept tattered newspapers along the street, and pallid, vacant-eyed zombies wandered the town.

The screech of the opening gate caught the attention of a nearby zombie—a white man, his body smeared with dried, dark blood. His deathly pale face was mottled with livid patches, his chin caked with scraps of flesh. A swollen, mutated nerve hung from a bulging eyeball, dangling from its rotten socket.

It was a scene far beyond what any ordinary person from the real world could imagine.

A nauseating, sweetly rancid mixture of blood and decay saturated the air.

This was the Inner World—the Level 1 Zombie World.

At that moment, Yan Luo’s Heartless Puppet trait registered a flood of intense emotions radiating from the others:

Fear.

Fear +1.

Fear +1.

Fear +1.

Madness +1.

. . .

His face calm, Yan Luo turned slightly to glance at a discordant figure—the one radiating the strongest “madness” was the cute girl who had tried to break human limits: Li Changxin. Her eyes were threaded with fine red veins.

Just then, the guide’s voice rang out: “If your emotional fluctuations exceed 80 points, you may lose your reason. Negative emotions pollute the soul. At 80% soul pollution, your personality will shatter; at 100%, it will collapse completely, and you’ll fall into utter corruption!”

“So, no matter what you face, your first priority—control your emotions!”