【Killed “Paper Man.” General EXP +6】
【You have broken free of the hallucination. Occultism EXP +1】
【Occultism lv0→lv1】
【“In a world filled with filth, the eyes are a curse.”】
【Tip: Knowledge is a double-edged sword. Beware of contamination.】
……
【Rusty Two-Handed Sword】
Zhou Kai’s gaze moved away from the sword hilt stuck in the ground not far away.
Huff, huff…
He gasped for breath, lying on his side in the damp, icy mud.
In his hand, he was still clutching the tender shoots that had saved his life.
The oil lamp he had thought already extinguished was now standing steadily not far away, stubbornly burning with a tiny flame.
Zhou Kai pulled out an ugly smile, struggled to his feet, and picked up the oil lamp.
The hallucination shattered. The grand hall disappeared, replaced by the smell of earth rushing at him.
The real basement was not large, only about thirty square meters, low-ceilinged and damp.
At its center was a square pool built from bricks and tiles, filled with black soil and some rotting blades of grass.
A few broken clay jars were scattered in the corner, along with a small pitch-black hole that led to who knew where.
Looking at that small hole, Zhou Kai felt a chill in his heart. He had the constant feeling that this was not a place to stay for long.
He decided to make it quick—finish exploring, then go back up immediately.
In the brick pool, Zhou Kai found a notebook with only a few pages written in it.
The pages had gone damp, soft and wrinkled to the touch, but the ink was eerily clear, as if it had just been written.
【Clean soil is hard to obtain. Even underground has been contaminated by insect eggs… This is the last clean soil.】
【If I put it here, it should be able to block the filth beneath the ground.】
【A miraculous plant. It does not need light.】
【But… the nursery won’t hold out much longer.】
“Nursery?”
Zhou Kai’s eyes lit up, and he thoughtfully looked toward the grass shoots he had just stuffed back into his pocket.
“Could they be planted here?”
Zhou Kai carefully buried the grass shoots one by one into the soil of the nursery.
Suddenly, a chat box popped up above the nursery as well.
【The Moonlight Orchid is growing vigorously.】
【The aura she emits will dispel despair within a certain range.】
Zhou Kai laughed, his mood better than it had ever been.
This trip to the basement had not been in vain. This thing was absolutely the same as the fireplace—a special building!
“So this seed is called Moonlight Orchid… I wonder what it’ll look like once it grows.”
Zhou Kai stared at those few spots of tender green and took a deep breath.
Looking at his own panel, a whimsical idea suddenly surfaced in his mind.
“Since you saved my life, let’s invest a little and see what happens.”
Zhou Kai focused his will on the tender shoots, and a small plus sign appeared.
Sure enough, this point-allocation panel was far more flexible than he had imagined!
Zhou Kai could not help growing curious…
Those people who, like him, had been dragged into the Nightmare World—if they obtained proof of identity, could they also activate a panel?
Was this thing his exclusive golden finger?
Of course, now was not the time to ponder that.
Because a new dialogue box suddenly popped up above the nursery.
【Lacking fertilizer.】
Zhou Kai’s heart sank.
A special building was great, but only if he could afford to raise it.
This thing’s fertilizer was most likely monster corpses too…
After hesitating for a moment, he picked up a wad of rotten paper from the ground, tore off a small piece, and buried it in the soil.
Then he took out most of the remaining seeds in his pocket as well and sowed them together.
Afterward, he silently chose the Moonlight Orchid’s upgrade direction.
【The Moonlight Orchid’s growth will consume less fertilizer.】
【You have paid 2 General EXP.】
Standing beside the Moonlight Orchid nursery, Zhou Kai could sense a positive boost similar to the fireplace’s, only because the plants were still too frail, the feeling was faint and indistinct.
“I’ll come see you again in a bit.”
Zhou Kai shook his head, carrying the oil lamp and axe as he walked toward the black hole in the corner.
That place gave him a very bad feeling. It would be best to find something to block it up.
Zhou Kai moved the broken clay jars and miscellaneous objects in the corner to the mouth of the hole one by one, then threw them down.
The opening slanted downward, as if something had once burrowed out from inside, or crawled in.
That thought made him very uncomfortable, but fortunately the opening was not large, so blocking it was fairly convenient.
“I hope this hole doesn’t lead to some damned place.”
“Early the morning after tomorrow, I’ll have to spend the night in this house. I don’t want to be stretched too thin.”
“Having to deal with attacks from aboveground and underground at the same time? Spare me.”
But he also knew that if something really crawled out of that hole, then forget a few broken jars—even sealing it shut with cement would be useless.
Filling it in was only to buy himself some peace of mind.
If he wanted to resolve the hidden danger underground, he would still have to rely on this patch of Moonlight Orchids.
“But before that night arrives, how far can the Moonlight Orchids grow?”
Zhou Kai completely filled the opening, even stomping on it heavily several times with his foot.
He returned once more to the nursery, well aware that aboveground and underground were equally important.
So he simply buried all the remaining scraps of paper in the soil.
“Anyway, a bit of torn paper probably wouldn’t burn for long. I might as well leave it for you as fertilizer.”
His smile carried a hint of poverty-stricken helplessness.
After pulling the two-handed sword out of the soil beside the nursery, Zhou Kai planned to bring it up to the first floor.
As he turned and walked up the stairs, a new dialogue box popped up from the nursery behind him in the distance.
【The painting tainted with ill omen dissolves beneath the roots of the sacred flowers.】
【You have received a gift from the Moonlight Orchid.】
【Status obtained: Clear Mind.】
Zhou Kai’s steps abruptly halted.
His gaze drifted to his personal panel.
【Character: Zhou Kai】
【Status: Corrosion, Clear Mind】
【Skills: Mixed Martial Arts lv2 (3/25), Light Footwork lv2 (5/25), Occultism lv1 (0/15)】
【Items: Residence Certificate, Bloodstained Hatchet, Rusted Chef’s Knife, Morning Star Notes, Moonlight Orchid Seeds (Plump), Oil Lamp About to Run Dry, Rusty Two-Handed Sword】
【General EXP: 7】
“Clear Mind?”
Zhou Kai focused his consciousness on this new status, and a secondary page unfolded.
【Status: Clear Mind】
【Effect: While in the current state, you will not easily enter hallucinations. Sensory acuity is increased. Learning efficiency is moderately increased.】
【Duration: 36h】
“Hm?!”
“I made a profit!”
Although the nursery did not directly grant EXP, it granted a buff state!
The help this thing provided was no less than the fireplace. In certain specific situations, it might even be more useful than the fireplace!
A duration of 36 hours meant he could bring this buff back to reality…
With this, Zhou Kai’s confidence in the Nightmare conscription the day after tomorrow instantly surged.
“And different plants might even give different gifts…”
……
Returning to the first floor, the warm glow of the fireplace dispelled the chill brought by the basement.
Zhou Kai’s condition rapidly recovered under the firelight.
With the support of “Clear Mind,” the things he had recently studied and practiced flashed through his mind at high speed, like a movie on fast-forward.
Zhou Kai suddenly felt a strange sense of déjà vu.
It was as if someone had poured a bucket of ice water over his head, washing every stray thought and every trace of fatigue in his mind completely clean.
The world had never been so clear.
“Perfect. Let’s try this.”
Zhou Kai leaned the axe against the wall and gripped the heavy two-handed sword with both hands.
He recalled the instructional video that Shining Diram had shared and began practicing.
The greatsword no longer felt heavy. The techniques in his memory were no longer scattered fragments, but a river surging without end.
He did not even think. His body had already begun moving on its own.
Every turn, every slash, was as precise as if he had rehearsed them hundreds or thousands of times.
Ten minutes later, a complete set of sword techniques had been performed.
Subtitles drifted past Zhou Kai’s eyes.
【You review the movements in your memory.】
【You have obtained the skill: Soraka Swordsmanship.】
【You have completed a precise practice session. Soraka Swordsmanship EXP +1】
【Soraka Swordsmanship lv0→lv1】
The two-handed sword, weighing three kilograms, instantly became as light as nothing in his hands.
Zhou Kai knew it had not suddenly become lighter. Rather, his own strength had grown.
Compared with Mixed Martial Arts, which strengthened bodily coordination and agility more, Soraka Swordsmanship, as a greatsword art, had brought him an improvement he could sense after only rising by one level.