Chapter 2: Courting Death
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The mountain road beneath the Gemini Shelter.
On the dilapidated road, cracked and covered with yellow earth, lay a corpse, eyes wide open in eternal unrest, collapsed beside the guardrail.
He wore a shelter uniform stained with blood.
A rusty iron shard protruded from his throat.
The wound pierced by the shard was large.
The blood inside had ceased to flow.
The corpse remained motionless, skin pale and grayish.
In this wasteland world,
the dead were the least conspicuous, the most insignificant things.
Like weeds, they were scattered everywhere along the roadside.
It had to be said that although Xu Wang had not been in this world long, in some ways, he had integrated quite well.
More than twenty-three hours had passed since Xu Wang had stabbed himself to death.
During that time, Xu Wang had remained in this half-dead, half-alive state.
Without a doubt,
in terms of physical condition,
he was as dead as dead could be.
Yet his mind remained remarkably active.
He could even vividly feel the pain and suffocation just before death.
The sensation of blood trickling drop by drop from his body, his brain growing dull, and his whole body turning icy cold was unbearable.
He experienced the process of his own death with clarity.
Finally, it was this experience that calmed Xu Wang’s once frenzied mind after acquiring his "golden finger"—his special ability.
Only then could he finally settle down and think clearly.
He was dead again...
No mistake.
But this time, the flashing text did not appear.
He received no death reward.
Nor did he cross over to another world.
This indicated that to activate the golden finger, some other condition must be met.
It reminded Xu Wang that his immediate priority was to understand the fundamental workings of this ability.
Otherwise, next time he might just end up lying dead in the same spot, wasting time for no reason.
Xu Wang carefully compared his three deaths.
The first was from being thrown down the mountain by raiders.
The second was crushed under a fishing boat pushed by a Godzilla-like creature.
The third was suicide, stabbing himself with the iron shard.
The first two were murders.
Only the third was suicide...
Xu Wang guessed that perhaps only deaths caused by others could trigger the golden finger.
But he would have to conduct further experiments to be sure.
Although there was no text prompt this time,
he still retained mental activity, much like in previous resurrections.
From this, it seemed he was still capable of revival.
Finally, at the twenty-fourth hour after death,
Xu Wang’s corpse suddenly began to regain color.
The iron shard was pushed out of his throat.
The large wound sprouted flesh rapidly, healing at an incredible speed!
“Gah!”
Like a drowning man who had just come ashore, Xu Wang suddenly opened his eyes and took a deep breath of the hot, dry air!
He was alive again!
Lowering his head quickly, he glanced at the personal terminal strapped to his left wrist.
“June 17th...”
He remembered that when he first arrived in this world, it seemed to be June 15th.
Recollecting the time he had spent lying dead, Xu Wang finally understood how long it took to revive after each death.
Twenty-four hours!
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He had died twice in total, exactly two days had passed.
Xu Wang’s resurrection appeared to begin counting from the moment of death.
At the twenty-four-hour mark after death, no matter how badly the corpse was damaged, it could rapidly heal.
That was powerful!
Still, Xu Wang needed to be somewhat cautious and try not to let enemies take control of his corpse.
Being immortal didn’t mean he couldn’t be restrained.
If his movement was restricted, things could become troublesome.
Just being sunk in cement underwater was enough to give Xu Wang a headache.
But there was no need to be overly careful.
As long as the secret of his cross-world travel and death rewards remained hidden,
that was Xu Wang’s strongest trump card in this wasteland.
Even if he was truly sunk in cement,
given enough time, he could break free and come out on his own.
After all, being sunk in cement didn’t count as suicide.
It should still trigger the golden finger continuously, allowing constant cross-world travel.
Eh?!
Thinking of this, Xu Wang was suddenly filled with excitement.
This actually sounded quite promising!
He suddenly wanted to find an enemy and have himself sunk in cement!
His reckless, self-destructive impulse stirred again!
“I’ll try that when the time comes. For now, I need to get back to the shelter.”
Xu Wang slapped his face hard, forcing himself to calm down.
He still had things to deal with.
Looking up, Xu Wang turned his gaze toward the cliff’s summit nearby.
Shelters 91 and 92 were just up there.
He had to go back and see.
Although he had been a resident of the shelter for less than an hour,
Xu Wang knew well that to survive in the wasteland,
shelter technology was indispensable.
Moreover, those raiders—who had inexplicably lost his wife and even killed him once—
Xu Wang’s small-mindedness would never let him forgive them so easily!
This grudge must be avenged!
He set off, walking up the winding mountain road.
Xu Wang was full of passion!
He planned to return to the shelter and give those raiders a thorough beating.
Then have the residents of the shelter cling to him like a father figure!
But it wasn’t long before his enthusiasm faded.
He wilted like an eggplant struck by frost...
He was simply too hungry!
Thirsty, hot, and ravenous!
On reflection, including his resurrection time, Xu Wang had gone two whole days without a drop of water!
No one could feel well after such a long fast.
Glancing around,
he found himself halfway up an unnamed mountain.
The surrounding trees were all dry and yellow.
This was not a good sign.
Given his current state,
if he starved to death, it certainly wouldn’t count as murder or accidental death.
He would receive no rewards.
And after resurrection, he might be starved to death again, wasting time all over again!
He had to think of another way!
At that moment, Xu Wang heard rustling in the woods beside the road.
Turning his head, he saw a skin-dried, partially rotting, black-brown radiation deer.
The deer seemed to have noticed Xu Wang but remained cautious.
It stood steadily on the slope, tilting its head as it gnawed on a dead tree trunk as thick as a human arm.
From the “crackling” sound, its teeth were strong.
This was a blessing when he was starving.
Xu Wang hadn’t expected any living creatures in such a godforsaken place.
Though the radiation deer looked completely inedible with its decay,
Xu Wang didn’t care; his goal wasn’t food.
He crouched low.
Stepping over the roadside guardrail, he slowly climbed the hill.
The deer kept its eyes on Xu Wang, chewing the tree trunk leisurely, showing no intention to flee.
It recognized these two-legged beasts.
They had never attacked it, so there was no need to run.
The deer was also curious about Xu Wang’s intention and waited for the approaching two-legged creature.
Finally, Xu Wang got close to the deer.
A sunny smile spread across his face.
Then, to the deer’s stunned gaze,
Xu Wang suddenly sprang up!
He leapt onto the deer, grabbing its front legs tightly with both hands!
“Woof! Woof! Woof!”
The deer was startled, making barking sounds like a dog!
It kicked hard, trying to break free from Xu Wang.
But Xu Wang held on fiercely, laughing madly, shouting:
“Either you kill me or I eat you! Hahaha!”
He then bent down and bit into one of the deer’s front legs, tearing off a chunk of rotten flesh!
On Xu Wang’s left-hand personal terminal, the Geiger counter began to blare an intense warning.
The radiation level on this deer was severely excessive.
Not to mention eating it,
even hugging it was extremely dangerous for an ordinary human.
No wonder this seemingly defenseless radiation deer made no defense against Xu Wang.
It never expected to draw the attention of a death-defying lunatic today!
“Woof! Woof! Woof!”
The deer didn’t understand Xu Wang’s words.
But it was truly frightened!
In its frantic struggle, the deer and Xu Wang tumbled down the slope, crashing heavily against the roadside guardrail!
Xu Wang was in terrible pain.
But he couldn’t let go of this long-sought creature.
He continued to hold the deer tightly, tearing away at its rotten flesh.
The deer, no matter how dumb, was provoked.
Realizing escape was futile, it lowered its head and began to fiercely bite at Xu Wang on the ground!
The deer’s bite was terrifying.
Xu Wang’s flesh and bones shattered with each bite!
The pain nearly made him lose consciousness.
Fortunately, after finally breaking free, the deer delivered a powerful bite to Xu Wang’s head!
“Crack!”
Half of Xu Wang’s skull collapsed.
His vision darkened, and he slipped back into death’s embrace.
The deer, as if disgusted by some vile thing,
quickly fled after killing Xu Wang.
It desperately wanted to distance itself from this unlucky man!
At the same time,
the familiar flashing text
reappeared before Xu Wang’s “eyes.”
[Beginning traversal...]