Life Dungeon Game

He looked up at the dazzling stars in the sky. "These stars are so beautiful. It looks like tomorrow will be another good day."

"It's the same every day, I've seen it too many times,"

The driver took a drag of his cigarette. "Even if it's pretty, it's still just so-so."

"You've only had a few good days, and you're already like this,"

The prospector glanced at the driver and sneered, "Two years ago, you were still digging in underground mines. You couldn't even see the sun, let alone the stars."

"Aren't you also mining underground?"

The driver retorted with a laugh, "I was ten meters underground, but you were fifty meters underground. You probably couldn't even see the sun's shadow."

"Damn it, my life is more important, so of course I have to dig deeper."

The prospector chuckled, took another drag of his cigarette, and glanced up at the hazy, snow-covered plains under the night sky.

The outlines of the mountains intertwine with the light and shadow of the stars.

"Things are gradually getting better."

The driver shielded his cigarette from the smoke, following the explorer's gaze as he looked at the surrounding snowfield and stars, a slight smile playing on his lips.

He sighed.

"yes,"

The prospector flicked off his cigarette ash, which was then blown into the snow by the cool breeze. He turned to the driver beside him and said, "After working this night shift, you're off tomorrow? Where are you planning to go, kid? To work shifts at the mine and collect your allowance?"

"Of course I'm going back to Rock City,"

The driver rolled his eyes at the prospector, thick ash falling from his cigarette. "I'm not like you, I don't have a wife and kids, it's the same wherever I am."

"Hey, I forgot you're an old man,"

The prospector stubbed out his cigarette. "People who are married are different, aren't they?"

He interlaced his fingers behind his head, supporting the back of his head, and walked towards the driver's cab of the tracked vehicle. "Aren't you going to bring something back for your sister-in-law and the others? The strawberry-flavored steak that Nolanca Group released a couple of days ago is really delicious. I suggest you buy some and try it."

"Strawberry-flavored steak?"

The driver was stunned. "What the hell is that? How can it smell normal?"

"I don't know if it's proper or not, but it tastes pretty good to me."

The prospector jumped into the vehicle, sat in the driver's seat, and gripped the window with his calloused hands.

"Speaking of which, why don't you bring a box of strawberries back with you? I heard that the flavor of fresh strawberries is made up of hundreds of volatile substances, a mixture of various flavors. Anyway, it's not the same as strawberry-flavored cookies or ice cream. It tastes completely different."

"strawberry?"

The driver, who was getting into the truck, suddenly widened his eyes. "Our branch mine has this? Is this something we can afford?"

"Yes, it's supposedly some kind of greenhouse technology from Nolanca. Anyway, the caravans that came to buy ore brought some back. The price is a bit higher, but not too high."

The prospector thought for a moment, "A small box costs about ten federal dollars. It tastes really good; your daughter will definitely like it."

"So cheap?"

The driver paused slightly, "I remember seeing a small cake decorated with half a fresh strawberry near the mining group's building a few years ago, and it cost forty-eight federal dollars."

“Back then, I only earned a little over a thousand federal dollars after a month of mining. My wife had even less money. After paying rent, food, and credit card interest, we were penniless and even owed the bank a little. We could only watch our daughter staring blankly at the shop window.”

He smiled and said, "I always thought that only the bigwigs in the mining group could afford to enjoy this kind of fruit."

Fresh fruit and synthetic grains are not the same thing at all. The Federation has very few native ingredients, and they are usually very expensive. Strawberries are even more delicate, which makes strawberries in the Federation always very expensive.

"The mining group is long gone. Now you can save at least ten federal dollars a day. If you're frugal, you can save thirty or forty. And that's just yours; it doesn't even include your wife's earnings from the Nolanca factory."

The prospector chuckled, "If he were still selling it for forty-eight now, you could afford it too."

"Times really are changing,"

The driver chuckled, his rough hands gripping the steering wheel. "You're right, buy some for your daughter to try."

He started the vehicle, turned it around, and glanced at the prospector beside him, "Why don't you buy some to try?"

I've tried it.

ah,"

The prospector shrugged. "Otherwise, how would I know the price?"

He looked up at the silent night outside the window again. "The scenery in this wilderness is truly beautiful."

"The dangers in this wilderness are quite formidable,"

The driver, with his hands on the steering wheel, said, “The security personnel cleared out all the strange beasts around here a long time ago, which is why we can safely explore here. If you walk a few more steps forward, you will leave the range of the exploration team’s cannons, and then you will have nothing to do with the beautiful scenery.”

“You old rascal, you’re really good at ruining the mood,”

The prospector looked away. "Want to go out for a late-night snack later? It seems like synthetic flour and synthetic meat have gone down in price again recently, and other food items have gone down in price too."

"Why has it dropped again?"

The driver was somewhat puzzled, "It's been lowered several times over the past six months, hasn't it?"

"I heard that the Nolanca Group has increased its grain production significantly; there's always a reason,"

The prospector shrugged. "A price reduction will suffice."

"Good."

The driver touched the steering wheel and hummed a little tune.

"Hey, you say it,"

The prospector turned back again, glancing at the mountains beneath the stars. "What lies deep within this wilderness?"

"how could I know?"

The driver shook his head. "Strange beasts? Monsters? There can't possibly be a god protecting us, can there?"

"Who can say for sure?"

The explorer looked away and sat down in his chair. "Perhaps a god who has been protecting us is sleeping among those mountains."

The windows of the tracked vehicle were slowly rolled up, and the sound of their conversation gradually faded into the quiet night.

A pair of cold eyes emerged from the deep darkness of the night.

A pure white tiger with crystal-clear skin slowly emerged from the snowfield, bathed in the glow of the stars and moon.

It watched the tracked vehicle disappear into the distance, then slowly lowered its body, making a starting motion.

"Wow-wow-"

Just then, several sharp cries emerged from the darkness.

Immediately afterwards, streaks of jet-black crows flew swiftly through the starlight and headed into the distance.

The tiger raised its head, glanced at the crows flying overhead, and then at the direction the crows had flown.

Immediately afterward, it felt a jolt in its heart, and its body involuntarily tensed up, as if something extremely terrifying was awakening in the mountains.

Without hesitation, it leaped out and fled in the direction the crow had flown, turning into a phantom as it escaped.

A sharp sound echoed in the silent night, and the birds and beasts in the mountains seemed to be driven away by an invisible pressure, frantically fleeing in all directions.

Some wild beasts and strange creatures that could not escape, or were not fast enough, instinctively crawled on the ground and buried their heads in the snow.

An invisible and distorted pressure covered the majestic mountain peaks.

In the heart of these mountains, in a sunken valley, stands a towering building covered in snow, seemingly cut off at the top, with only the upper half remaining, nestled between cliffs and rocks.

Thick snow covered the building's surface, and from above, a huge vertical 'wound' running through the entire building was faintly visible.

Many of the building's windows were broken, but there wasn't a single patch of greenery. Similarly, the area around the building was devoid of any vegetation, save for faint, dark red wisps.

The soil was covered by a thin layer of snow.

Under the starlight, this massive building, even though it was only half-built, still stood a hundred meters tall and trembled slightly.

Snowflakes cascaded down the building like an avalanche, and the starlight in the sky seemed to be distorted by some strange force, spreading along the edge of the building.

In the vertical shaft that runs through the entire building, a pair of scarlet eyes suddenly opened.

"Wow-wow-"

The sharp cries echoed across the sky and the earth, and layers upon layers of crows, like dark clouds, blotted out the sun as they fled into the distance.

In the surrounding mountains, ferocious beasts trembled and lay prostrate on the ground, burying their bodies in the snow.

······

However, those inside the building cannot see these things.

The moment Heo opened his eyes, all he felt was endless madness and distortion.

An rage that seemed to originate from the deepest depths of hell constantly filled his heart.

A thirst for life, a thirst for blood, a thirst for sacrifice, a thirst for slaughter...

An endless stream of thoughts almost completely overwhelmed his mind, preventing him from uttering even the slightest thought.

His two eyes seemed to be in two separate spaces, seeing completely different scenes.

On one side are dark, dilapidated high-rise buildings, and on the other side are hills covered with twisted jungles.

The scenes on both sides overlapped, twisting his mind along with those frantic thoughts.

He tried to close one eye, but what he saw was still the 'image of both eyes,' as if the image did not appear through his eyes but directly in his mind.

He gritted his teeth, enduring the onslaught of waves of frantic thoughts. He didn't know how long it took before he gradually adapted to the impact and was able to use some of his 'rationality' to think amidst the chaos.

At the same time, despite these crazy desires, he began to slowly try to take control of his 'body'.

He first confirmed the current situation.

He now appears to be in the 'shaft' of a dilapidated building, with countless tentacles extending from his lower body into the depths of the building, 'lifting' his entire body into the air.

In his upper body, there was a huge 'hole' that covered almost his entire chest and most of his upper body. Countless tiny buds were trying to grow a new body in this hole, but no matter how hard they tried, they could not repair the hole.

A strange and twisted force was 'maintaining' this void, and through this void, it was holding back the power of those twisted and insane wills to some extent, preventing this body from being completely dominated by those twisted wills.

These strange forces created a kind of 'sealing' effect, forming a certain balance within He'ao's body.

This balance prevented the body from being 'taken away' by that twisted and insane force, allowing He Ao, as the body's 'owner,' to still maintain some control over the body upon his return.