125. Welcome to the world of the deranged!

Following the disheveled man’s pointing finger, Chen Shang cast his gaze toward the sky.

At that very moment, he found himself unable to look away. A colossal black hole seemed to have manifested in the heavens, as if intent on pulling not just his gaze, but his very eyeballs into its abyss.

"Damn it... it appears the moment it senses movement... I actually forgot..." The disheveled man muttered frantically, his eyes growing increasingly terror-stricken. "It’s all your fault... if you hadn't started a fight with me, it wouldn't have noticed me!"

Under normal circumstances, Chen Shang would have cursed and taken a chainsaw to this lunatic, sending him to an early grave. But at this moment, he lacked the heart for it.

His pupils constricted, and a bone-chilling cold flowed like water, invading his limbs and bones.

Without him realizing, the once-brilliant starry sky seemed to have been draped in a veil of ash-gray clouds, swirling at high speed around a central point. And at the very heart of this vortex of mist, a colossal monster was spiraling.

If the monsters Chen Shang had encountered before could be described with terms like "zombies" or "ghouls," then the entity he beheld now defied any description other than the word "monster." Through the screen of ash-like clouds, Chen Shang could barely discern its twisted form and the massive, slowly writhing thorny tentacles.

The monster opened a single, breathtakingly enormous, turbid yellow eye, staring silently at Chen Shang. From that moment on, Chen Shang felt as if his brain were being pierced by countless needles; whispers that threatened to shatter his soul echoed in his ears.

Chen Shang could sense that the monster held no malice toward him; there was only pure curiosity in its gaze. It was akin to a child seeing an ant crawl by and deciding to crush it.

Yet, this very realization left him feeling as though he were suffocating. Time around him had stopped, and his gaze was locked onto the creature, unable to move away.

[You have witnessed a scene so terrifying it borders on despair. Perform a Sanity Check.]
[1d100 = ???, subtract the rolled number from your Sanity.]

Compared to the previous Willpower tests and 1d6 Sanity checks, this was a desperate 1d100 Sanity roll. In the worst-case scenario, he would lose 100 points of Sanity instantly.

"No... I can't fall here..." Chen Shang took a deep breath, relying on the residual calming hormones in his system to maintain consciousness, silently chanting a number in his mind:

—One! It has to be one!

As he focused his intent, the black die appeared out of thin air and was cast.

But at that moment, his dice-rolling glove suddenly emitted fine sparks of electricity, seizing up as if the machine had overloaded. The die tumbled across the ground and finally landed on the number "34."

—Damn it, why did the glove have to fail at a time like this?!

***

Chen Shang’s expression froze.

His brain felt as though it had been tossed into a cement mixer. He collapsed to his knees in terror, his Sanity value plummeting from 54 to 10.

"Insane... it's all insane... why is something like this in my game..."

[Due to a significant drop in Sanity, a "Madness Check" is now being performed.]

At the same time, the system provided an explanation:
[A "Madness Check" is a check for aftereffects triggered when your Sanity drops significantly. One of thirty potential symptoms will be randomly assigned to you, including, but not limited to, cannibalism, mania, autophagia, paranoia, etc...]

But Chen Shang had no mind to consider such things; his brain was entirely occupied by sharp pain and fear.

[Performing check... Check complete. The symptom you have acquired is...]

Before the system could finish, the sky suddenly turned pitch black, followed by a thunderous boom.

A massive, pillar-like pitch-black thorny tentacle descended from the heavens, tearing through the clouds and pressing down toward Chen Shang’s position.

Chen Shang could not tell if the tentacle was a hallucination or real, for his mind was filled only with pallor and powerlessness. He could no longer think of resistance; the sensation of terror occupied his entire being, as if it were tearing every inch of his flesh to shreds.

As the tentacle was about to crush him, his [Crisis Sense] activated. But it was all in vain; he could only watch his own death from a slowed perspective.

BOOM—!

The massive tentacle slammed down, carving a giant crater into the desert, and Chen Shang was crushed into oblivion without exception.

As his body was pulverized, the "Collapse Core" installed in his heart developed a web of cracks, showing signs of shattering into pieces. This broken mechanical core suddenly flickered with a dark red light, and a thread of crimson energy leaked through the cracks, surging into his heart.

"..."

The black curtain before him was pulled back by his eyelids. What came into view was the pitch-black night sky and stars filling the heavens.

He did not know how much time had passed. Chen Shang opened his eyes. A soft, delicate sensation came from the back of his head, as if he were resting on a velvet pillow.

"What happened..." Chen Shang clutched his aching forehead, trying to rise from the ground, but feeling a wave of exhaustion, he lay back down.

"Planner! You're finally awake!" Chen Shang heard a slightly hoarse female voice; it sounded like White Fox.

Only then did he realize he was being cradled in White Fox's arms; the velvet pillow was her soft abdomen. His body was intact, without a single trace of injury.

Chu Jianlai rested his sword on the ground and crouched down, saying to Chen Shang:

"Mr. Chen, you disappeared from the entrance of this bar five hours ago and suddenly reappeared two hours ago. However, you were in a deep coma when you emerged, so I had White Fox let you rest for a while."

Hearing this, Chen Shang squinted and scanned his surroundings.

This was indeed the Waste Refining District. The abandoned bar with its roof torn off not far away was the portal through which he had traveled to the other world.

—So, I escaped from that hellhole?

"Is that what he meant by 'only death can set you free'?" Chen Shang slapped his palm, suddenly enlightened.

He took a quick look at himself and found that all his equipment had been destroyed; the dice-rolling glove was a pile of mechanical debris, and even his clothes were rags. Only the Tarot glasses he always wore on his head remained unscathed, never leaving his side.

After resting in White Fox's arms for a few minutes, Chen Shang finally regained enough sensation in his limbs to stand up unsteadily.

Yet, the trauma to his spirit lingered; his brain remained foggy. He found it difficult to recall what had happened in the other world, as even a slight attempt to think about it triggered fear and sharp pain in his mind.

"What time is it?" Chen Shang asked, taking a deep breath.

"One in the morning," Chu Jianlai replied. "Your sister called, and I have already briefed her on the general situation."

"You told her I went to another world?" Chen Shang frowned.

"Of course not. I told her you were studying at a classmate's house and fell asleep from exhaustion," Chu Jianlai replied.

"That's good." Chen Shang nodded, licking his pale, bluish lips.

"Planner, a few beasts tried to attack us earlier, but I killed them all!" White Fox interjected joyfully, her ears twitching as if she were a dog expecting praise from its master.

Chen Shang cast a casual glance and sure enough, saw several mangled jackal carcasses nearby.

"Thank you..." Chen Shang was about to offer a casual word of thanks, but his smile froze on his face.

His complexion turned deathly pale, as if he were witnessing an extremely horrifying sight. He saw several infants, covered in fresh blood, sitting around the jackal's carcass, chewing on its flesh in small bites.

"Is... is there someone over there?" Chen Shang blurted out instinctively.