Curse Reply: I'm going to fight the Myriad Corpse Immortal, the highest level one!

"Become a great master to challenge Su Nuo, or become a top-tier expert to elbow the Myriad Corpse Immortals?"

Xia Jie paused slightly while scrolling through the post, then smirked: "Becoming a great supernatural being is certainly cool, but that's the mindset of a loser! Of course, I'd rather become a top-tier sorcerer and cosplay as a speed bump in the War of Cause and Effect!"

The next instant, a flash of white light appeared, and Xia Jie's body vanished from the room, leaving only the phone lying on the ground, stubbornly emitting light...

Outside the boundless world.

Xia Jie was currently located in a pure white space that no detector could find.

"I see, I understand now."

Xia Jie lay sprawled on the pure white ground, her brain receiving the information transmitted from the space.

It only took him a few seconds to accept the wonderful fact that he was bound to the challenge space, where he could challenge powerful beings from all over the world, and could infinitely reload saves and start over, with rewards calculated based on each death.

"I never imagined I, Xia Jie, would one day become a cheat code! A future where I can roam freely across the heavens and rule over all ages is beckoning me!"

"I'm sorry, Mother Earth, I don't miss you at all right now. I don't yearn for the old days; at this moment, I only feel incredibly content."

Xia Jie closed her eyes, fully enjoying the moment.

Having escaped the tedious reality of struggling for money, nothing could hold his heart back after he was an orphan.

"Are you there, Space?"

"exist."

An emotionless, mechanical voice echoed in Xia Jie's mind.

"Bring up my challenge projects and personal panel."

This space does not have a control panel; it is currently displaying challenge items for you.

Before he finished speaking, a light screen appeared in front of Xia Jie.

Current Challenges:

【Dessert - Death Returns】

[Main Course - The Corpse Immortal of Ten Thousand Industries]

"...Space, if I enter the Death and Annihilation Return Journey now, will you grant me great supernatural powers?"

Xia Jie recalled his boastful words before entering the space and decisively abandoned his strong-willed mindset. If he could gain great supernatural power, he would be willing to challenge Su Nuo!

"No, the host will become a swimmer in the Death Returns as an ordinary person. To become a great supernatural being, the host needs to work hard on their own."

"Then I'll go fight Wanye, can you give me top-tier strength?" Xia Jie sat up, still wanting to try her best.

"Please make your own efforts, host. Apart from basic functions such as returning from death, this space will not provide any assistance other than 'language proficiency' and 'integration into the worldview.'"

The mechanical voice in Xia Jie's mind was devoid of any emotional fluctuation; it simply stated its own rules.

"Okay, then."

Xia Jie took a deep breath. Since she couldn't be a useless person, then...

He shouted, "Challenge the Space! I challenge the Myriad Corpse Immortals, now, immediately! Let me see just how delicious this main course is!"

Okay, the challenge has ended. The results screen has been displayed for you.

"???"

Hearing the space's reply, Xia Jie was a little confused. He hadn't even entered the arena yet, so what did it mean that the challenge was over?

"Could it be?"

Thinking of something, Xia Jie immediately looked at the settlement screen:

[Main Course: The Corpse Immortal of Ten Thousand Industries]

Number of rollbacks: 1

[Cause of death: Punishment under the law of causality.]

[Evaluation: As an illogical external cause and effect, you were completely erased by the law of causality the moment you arrived.]

[Reward: Trace amount of causal resistance.]

"Wait, buddy, you're killing friendly forces too? Let's do it again!"

Challenge complete. The results screen has been displayed for you.

"Again! Keep stacking causal resistance!"

The challenge has ended...

"Try again, you'll get used to it!"

Pick—again—pick—again—pick—

After repeating this process thousands of times, Xia Jie collapsed to the ground to check the settlement rewards, her expression somewhat strained.

[Main Course: The Corpse Immortal of Ten Thousand Industries]

Number of rollbacks: 6751

[Cause of death: Punishment under the powerful law of causality.]

[Evaluation: As an anomaly that cannot be witnessed, you were completely erased by causality the moment you descended upon the battlefield of all things; only the myriad things were aware of your existence.]

[Reward: Minor causal resistance.]

"You're ruthless, Causality! Just wait until I get stronger and see if I don't beat you up!" Slightly on the verge of collapse, Xia Jie rolled over on the ground. Once her flushed face returned to normal, she propped herself up and shouted into the space:

"Hey, Space, couldn't you just hide my causal anomaly and let me descend into the Battlefield of Myriad Realms normally? How am I supposed to enjoy my main course if you keep doing this?"

"Please figure out a solution yourself, host."

"Damn! I guess I'll have dessert first. Challenge the space, send me to the Death Annihilation Return Tour, preferably the Sendai Barrier. If Eto can do a one-versus-four in Sendai, there's no reason why I can't."

This space does not provide a fixed-location arrival service; the host's arrival location will be completely random.

"Okay, elephant vs. house or something is fine too. I'm not picky about food, just send me in."

"no problem."

The next second, Xia Jie appeared on an unfamiliar street.

A cool night breeze caressed his skin, carrying the fresh smell of blood into Xia Jie's nostrils. A chilling aura, almost an illusion, enveloped his entire body, making him stiffen.

"Hello there, I'm Golden Beetle. Congratulations on becoming a swimmer and participating in the Death Swim! ...Oh dear, isn't it a bit premature?"

Beside the headless corpse, a small golden beetle with white wings and an arrow-shaped tail, its appearance ugly yet cute, awkwardly poked Xia Jie's head, which had rolled to the ground, with its tail.

In its field of vision, there was a ferocious being invisible to ordinary people—a "mantis-shaped cursed spirit".

It was slowly retracting its sharp forelimbs.

Nighttime is the domain of cursed spirits. Xia Jie, who had descended upon the night, ran into a mantis cursed spirit active in the street and, unsurprisingly, lost her head.

That's roughly the gist of it.

"Huh? How did I die?"

As her consciousness gradually faded, Xia Jie finally saw a faint, indistinct figure:

With scythe-like forelimbs, a twisted, purplish-red shell, long, fleshy wings sewn from human skin, and a deformed human head that looked like it had been forcibly flattened into a mantis's head, it was looking at Xia Jie with a mocking expression, as if enjoying Xia Jie's confusion, fear, and pain at this moment.

"So that's how it is, it's a cursed spirit."

As he lay dying, Xia Jie finally caught sight of his killer and slowly closed his eyes. He figured that if he could just reload a few more times to accumulate rewards, he'd definitely find the cursed spirit and take revenge once he became stronger.

—or so?

With her last bit of strength, Xia Jie suddenly opened her eyes wide, her mind becoming more active than ever before.

Why not kill it now?

"If Zenji Naoya can become a cursed spirit after death, why can't I? Is it because I'm just an ordinary person who hasn't mastered cursed power, or because the attack that killed me contained cursed power?"

"No! The essence of cursed power is negative emotion, and the essence of cursed spirits is accumulated curses. I have as much of both as I want now!"

"And the causal resistance I've accumulated through thousands of deaths is by no means useless. Decapitation is the cause, death is the effect. Attacks imbued with cursed power are the cause, the inability to transform into a cursed spirit is the effect."

"As long as I resist these two causes and effects, I can fight again!"

"I can do it, I fucking can definitely do it!"

"Therefore I curse you, I curse you with all my heart, you cursed spirit! I will kill you, right now, right here!"

His bloodshot eyes widened to their limit, deeply etching the image of the cursed spirit into his soul, before suddenly dissipating and completely losing their luster.

"Sigh... He's dead already? I thought someone who dared to enter the barrier after the Death and Annihilation Return event started would be some kind of expert."

The little golden beetle wagged its tail and disappeared with a bang.

Warm blood flowed from the severed neck, and within the newly dead head, an ominous curse was taking shape.