Volume 2. Game Update in Progress
However, no matter what, time wouldn’t stop, and the permanent quest had finally arrived.
To avoid dragging my family into this, I decided to go into the mountains on the day of the mission and try it out.
The day before, I trembled as I held my phone.
On that very night, I took advantage of the darkness and headed straight for the back mountain.
After running for more than four hours and passing two mountain peaks, I finally stopped.
Once I confirmed through satellite that the nearest village was still two kilometers away, I sat casually on a big rock.
In the night-time forest, chilling winds blew.
In the sky, the bright moon cast a layer of silver frost over the dark forest.
The star-filled sky was countless beyond counting.
Between the withered yellow trees, strange cries occasionally echoed.
Something seemed to be crawling across the snow-covered ground, making rustling noises.
Sitting alone here was, honestly, pretty scary.
Fortunately, there weren’t any insects around me—after all, it was winter, and there weren’t many bugs.
There were some small animals, but none dared approach me.
I had prepared a lot before coming.
I picked up my backpack and took out the tablet, which was loaded with movies.
I just sat on that big rock, not caring about the thick snow beneath me.
I sat there, watching movies and eating sunflower seeds while waiting for the sound from my phone.
Time... unknowingly reached midnight.
Distant dark clouds had, at some point, spread overhead.
The starlight dimmed, and the moonlight quietly hid away.
The whole forest instantly turned eerie and gloomy.
Of course, I noticed all of this.
I didn’t know whether the APP deliberately created this atmosphere, but honestly, I started to feel nervous inside.
My attention was no longer on the tablet.
I kept glancing around, always feeling like something was watching me.
But no matter how I looked, I couldn’t see anything.
Instinctively, I pulled the Evil Spirit Form out of my body.
But... unlike the physical body, the Evil Spirit Form didn’t feel like it was being watched.
It seemed I was being overly paranoid.
I glanced down at my phone—
The time had already reached 11:00.
Logically, 11:00 should be close to 00:00, the time the game starts.
But why hadn’t the game started yet?
I frowned slightly.
Just as I was thinking that, suddenly, my phone gave a “ding dong” notification sound.
My hand involuntarily shook.
At the same time, the Evil Spirit Form suddenly sensed a gaze locking onto me from behind!!
The moment I felt that gaze, the Evil Spirit Form whipped around!
A goat head...
Only a few dozen meters away from me, stood silently in the dark forest.
Most of its body was hidden in the shadows of the trees.
Only those bright green goat eyes stared fixedly at me.
“How the hell is it you again, you damn delivery freak!!”
Seeing this familiar old friend, the first thing I said was to max out my sarcasm stat!
However, in the face of my maxed-out sarcasm, the goat head didn’t move at all and just kept staring at me.
That made me, who had already flung my tablet away, freeze.
It... wasn’t coming at me?
Instinctively... I recalled something.
Then I slowly lowered my head and saw... the prompt on my phone.
【Congratulations to the player for successfully triggering the hidden quest. Your kindness led you to choose to stay away from people, thus fulfilling the special condition to trigger the hidden quest—The strange affection is so heavy and focused. In your last permanent quest, you and the Goat-headed Monster bit into each other. It has developed indescribable emotions toward you and longs to once again clash with your soul and flesh!】
【Quest Rules: Within the limited time, engage in deadly combat with the monster in front of you. Survive by any means necessary.】
【Time Limit: 00:10:00】
【Countdown: 00:59:59.】
Looking at the unbelievable quest rules on my phone, I lifted my head to look at the Goat-headed Monster gazing at me “affectionately.”
I couldn’t help but let out a soul-wrenching exclamation.
“I... fuck...”
...
That night, the forest echoed with the terrifying sounds that startled countless living beings.
Two entities that were neither human nor object, indescribably strange, tore into each other in the forest.
The painful, crazed screams lasted a full ten minutes!
God knows how I survived...
By the time the Evil Spirit Form returned to my body, it could barely maintain a human shape.
Only the left arm was somewhat intact; the other three limbs had all been eaten by the Goat-headed Monster.
And the Goat-headed Monster... had permanently disappeared.
It could never again greet me face to face.
It could never again deliver packages to me.
It... would forever remain in my heart.
I didn’t know why this was happening… but one thing I was certain of—
In the APP’s perspective, I probably no longer counted as a normal human.
It no longer recognized me as a regular human being.
Otherwise, it would never issue such a game.
No one… could face a monster head-on.
No one…
Only monsters could fight monsters.
And I… had already become a monster.
---
I didn’t even know how I made it back home.
The Goat-headed Monster’s soul was filled with chaotic memories.
It had devoured the souls of at least a hundred people.
That massive flood of memories almost shattered my consciousness.
Barely holding on to my awareness, instinct drove me to start cleansing the memories in my mind.
After that, my body went completely out of control for an entire month.
The Evil Spirit Form couldn’t leave my body but could sense everything around me.
The physical body was uncontrollable, lying limp on the bed.
Gong Lianyu was shocked and rushed back the very next day.
Liu Wanqian nearly went insane—he almost beat up the doctor.
The Liu family’s old master and madam also came back in a hurry.
I knew all of this, but I couldn’t respond.
The family hired a female doctor.
I was placed in my room, with an oxygen tube in my nose and a feeding tube down my throat.
But no matter what was fed to me, my body would vomit it back up.
In the end, there was no choice but to remove the feeding tube and sustain me with IV drips.
At the same time, my body seemed to enter a kind of dormant state.
Even normal physiological functions began to drop gradually.
Of course, the female doctor wanted to insert a catheter for urination.
But that didn’t happen in the end, because neither the B-mode ultrasound nor the color Doppler could detect any active metabolism.
My body’s metabolic rate had dropped to the extreme edge of life.
Scientifically speaking, this body could die at any moment.
I was quite relieved.
If they had actually put in a catheter, I probably would’ve died of shame.
I didn’t get c-ed when I was a man, nor did I get c-ed as a woman.
If I got violated by a plastic tube, I swear I’d wake up just to kill myself!
Just like that… a whole month passed.
‘Thump-thump~ thump-thump~’
I began to feel the beating of my heart.
Accompanied by a faint warmth, a stream of heat spread from the heart to the rest of the body.
And with that, my physical senses returned.
There was no sign of weakness in my body—
On the contrary, I felt a burst of energy, like I was ready to go clubbing right away.
“Hoo…”
Letting out a long breath, I raised my hand and pulled out the oxygen tube.
I opened my eyes.