Chapter 28: Hunger

Falling, thrown up, then falling again, endlessly repeating this process in an extreme of cold and void, thoughts churned into a mess, chaotic perceptions stabbing incessantly in the mind like sharp knives, until consciousness nearly severed, a sensation of sudden release from the brink of drowning finally surged, waking Yu Sheng from that infinite, cold, dark fall.

He sat up abruptly on the bed, then lost his balance entirely, his body tilting as if to fall to the floor, only grabbing the edge of the bedside table at the last moment to barely support himself, feeling the world spin dizzily in his head.

The sharp, continuous throbbing made him even suspect his brain was truly boiling.

But fortunately, this feeling didn't last long; once he truly woke up, those unbearable sensations in his mind faded just like that dream, leaving only a few unpleasant impressions.

Yu Sheng sat on the edge of the bed, breathing a few times, then looked up at the window, seeing the sunset gradually approaching the rooftops of the distant city district, the sky darkening bit by bit.

"... A whole day has passed..." he muttered somewhat surprised, holding the bedside table to stand up, first pouring a glass of water at the table and gulping it down, then patting his face, trying to regain some spirit from that not-so-peaceful sleep, before leaving the bedroom to go to the first floor.

"I really didn't expect your 'sudden awakening' to be this miserable," as soon as he arrived at the dining room, Yu Sheng complained to the oil painting on the table, "I thought at most I'd feel dizzy or my heart would thump for a bit, good heavens, I opened my eyes and almost vomited last year's New Year's Eve dinner..."

After he finished complaining, Erin didn't immediately respond with a string of beeps as usual; instead, she was very quiet. Yu Sheng immediately sensed something was wrong, turned his head to look at the oil painting on the table, and saw Erin slumped in the chair covered with a red velvet blanket as if malfunctioned, hugging a teddy bear with vacant eyes staring diagonally upward, occasionally rolling her eyeballs, followed by standing up to dry heave.

Yu Sheng: "... How did your 'sudden awakening' manage to make yourself this miserable too?"

Erin looked up at him, and just as she was about to speak, a wave of nausea hit her again—however, as a doll sealed for who knows how many years, let alone New Year's Eve dinner, she didn't even have sour water in her stomach (in fact, Yu Sheng even suspected she didn't have a stomach at all), so she could only lean against the edge of the chair in great distress, gagging as if her head would shake off in the next second.

After a long time, this unlucky doll finally recovered, looked up at Yu Sheng, and spoke with breath like a dying person: "It wasn't me who 'woke' us two up; it was you."

Yu Sheng: "... Huh?"

"Your last scream scared that fox awake; I didn't even react in time!" Erin looked utterly aggrieved and indignant, "Why did you shout so loud!"

Yu Sheng listened, a bit stunned, but finally understood the other's meaning, and awkwardly scratched his head: "I didn't know. I just wanted to remind Hu Li; I felt her state was very dangerous."

"Then your feeling was actually quite right," Erin said, then "ugh" and leaned against the edge of the chair again, dry-heaving twice before catching her breath, looking at Yu Sheng with a bad temper, "Alright, the good news is you successfully woke that fox up before she sank deeper; although when she woke up, she 'ejected' us two along the way, she should be able to stay awake for a while herself."

Yu Sheng walked over, pulled out the chair beside the dining table, and sat opposite Erin, his expression gradually becoming serious: "Then what's the bad news?"

Erin didn't speak for a moment, and only after a few seconds of silence did she nod lightly: "You should have guessed it too—she won't last long."

Yu Sheng frowned, saying nothing.

Yes, he had indeed felt it; he felt it while trapped in the valley, that hunger and madness buried deep in Hu Li's heart, constantly eroding like some kind of growing evil thing; although at first he didn't know what it was, during the final confrontation with that flesh monster, he detected that this "hunger" was not as simple as it appeared on the surface.

And the scene he saw just now deep in the dream only helped him grasp Hu Li's situation more accurately.

"If you want to help that fox, you'd better take action as soon as possible," Erin said from the side, "The thing seducing her is trying to turn her into some kind of... 'fodder'; killing people isn't its goal, 'madness in hunger' is what it wants—that fox's will is so resilient that she could resist until now, which is incredible, but the longer she holds on, the greater the 'nutrients' she can provide when the 'transformation' occurs... things will be troublesome, very, very troublesome."

Yu Sheng listened with a face as still as water, supplementing the situation he had grasped so far based on Erin's description, but suddenly he sensed something, looked up, and stared at the picture frame opposite him.

"Erin," he said with a serious face, "Do you... know something? About the situation in that valley, and the things inside the valley?"

Erin hesitated for a moment, first shaking her head, but then immediately nodded lightly. "I don't remember most things, including exactly what happened in that valley, I don't remember, but the situation that fox encountered, I seem to have some impression; I must have seen data on this before."

As she spoke, she frowned and paused briefly, as if trying to search for useful content from her fragmented and incomplete memories.

"... Entity-Hunger, I think that's the name," Erin said while recalling, "It is an entity with clear malice and high danger level; it generates in a blocked area where the environment is toxic and hunger spreads; it itself has strong aggression, but what's more dangerous is its 'influence'; people affected by this entity will fall into terrible hunger, and their willpower will be severely tested; I don't remember the specific victim incidents, I only remember in my impression... it was very dangerous, harmed many people, and what's even worse is..."

Erin stopped, looking up into Yu Sheng's eyes.

"Hunger turns people into beasts, simultaneously devouring dignity and life; most people probably can't withstand it, and those who fall will become part of Entity-Hunger, endlessly."

Listening to Erin's narration, the expression on Yu Sheng's face gradually tightened, a heavy sense of oppression pressing on his heart, and just at this moment, he suddenly thought of another thing—

During the clash with that flesh monster, the impulse to eat in his heart!

Could he himself have already been affected by "Hunger"?!

Yu Sheng's heart tightened, and he immediately spoke quickly: "Wait, then what are the main 'symptoms' after being affected by 'Hunger'?"

Erin looked at him with a strange expression: "... Of course it's 'Hunger'."

"I don't mean that, I mean..." Yu Sheng quickly waved his hands, then organized his words, "For example, when I saw that monster, I really wanted to take a bite, even thought it tasted pretty good; I even stir-fried two dishes after coming back; could this reaction also be affected by 'Hunger'?"

Erin's expression visibly became a bit dull; she immediately thought of the "local specialties" Yu Sheng brought back, and that four-dish-and-one-soup meal full of color, aroma, and taste.

!.

"Right, right, you even ate..." the Young Lady doll muttered, but then suddenly realized, and her tone changed, "No! That's definitely not it! The influence of 'Entity-Hunger' makes you go mad from hunger and gnaw on others, not make you gnaw on it! It seduces people into madness not by using itself as bait!"

Erin's outburst startled Yu Sheng, but he immediately understood the logic—although hunger and appetite are closely related, in the "Otherworld" and "Entities" based on strict rules, these are two clearly distinct definitions, especially when an entity possesses active malice, its influence must operate strictly according to its rules.

To put it plainly, if Yu Sheng had really been affected by "Hunger" while in that valley, he should have gnawed on Hu Li—not on that monster which was the source of the seduction.

Of course, when he first gnawed on that monster, there was some reluctance involved; let's not mention that.

Thinking this, Yu Sheng sighed in relief, confirming he had not been eroded by that strange entity, and he also recalled that after finishing his meal before sleep, he indeed felt a normal sense of fullness; instantly feeling greatly reassured, he let out a long breath: "That's good, looks like I'm still quite normal."

Hearing this, Erin was stunned for a moment, and beeped softly: "No, I think the fact that you could feel appetite towards that thing is already abnormal..."

Yu Sheng waved his hands indifferently, then immediately changed the topic: "So, that monster with a very abstract appearance but good taste is 'Entity-Hunger', right? Killing it will let Hu Li break free from the influence—I know entities can't be completely killed; I mean temporarily taking it out."

"Actually... I'm not sure either," Erin's answer was somewhat hesitant, "'Hunger' belongs to a relatively special entity; the monster you saw is its 'manifestation', but according to my understanding, the true 'Hunger' actually permeates that entire valley. Do you understand what I mean? What you saw was just its 'tentacles' coming out to forage and sense the situation; its true form... as the name suggests, is the omnipresent hunger in the valley."

Listening, Yu Sheng's expression gradually became a bit dull.

Yes, he understood.

"Damn, a rule-based system?!"

(End of Chapter)