Illimitable Until Death - Chapter 3

When the information about the copy world was finished, Fang Li felt as if he had been suddenly thrown into mid-air, and his vision became distorted and spinning.

There was no time to be astonished, as Fang Li was immediately hit by a wave of dizziness, swaying violently from the vertigo.

That feeling was truly unpleasant, as if he had spun around in one spot a hundred times, leaving his mind in a state of chaos.

When this sensation finally subsided, Fang Li felt as if he had descended from mid-air and regained a solid footing. Then, little by little, the spinning and distorted vision gradually returned to normal.

It was only at this moment that Fang Li realized his current location—a very old-fashioned house.

The house appeared to be Japanese-style, lacking tatami mats but with wooden planks covering the floor.

In the middle of the planks, there was a small coal stove.

The coal burned slowly, and above it hung an iron pot with boiling water, exuding a strong sense of life from the Edo period.

Unfortunately, Fang Li couldn’t experience any of this sense of life.

It wasn’t because Fang Li had any deficiency in perceiving the aspects of life.

The reason was simple.

Within Fang Li’s field of vision, everything was divided by crooked and twisted lines.

Lines that resembled cracks, like scribbles made by a child.

They were on the walls.

They were on the floor.

They were on the ceiling.

Even the burning coal stove and the iron pot filled with boiling water were covered in those lines.

“Mm…”

Fang Li immediately let out a groan, feeling nauseous.

In this very moment, in Fang Li’s field of vision, the entire world seemed like a haphazardly assembled defective product, as if it could break down at any moment.

Under such circumstances, how would an ordinary person feel?

It’s quite simple.

Just imagine yourself inside an elevator hanging hundreds of meters above the ground, and that elevator is gradually collapsing before your eyes, reducing your foothold bit by bit. You’re on the verge of falling, and now amplify that situation by thousands, even tens of thousands of times.

That feeling of the world being on the verge of breaking, where everything and everyone will cease to exist in front of you, and the sensation that you, too, could crumble along with the world in the next second—it only takes a little imagination to drive a person mad.

And now, Fang Li is living in such a dilapidated world, as if all it takes is a gentle touch of those lines for the world to crumble.

“No wonder Ryougi Shiki and Tohno Shiki couldn’t bear this situation.”

After all, who would want to live in a shabby world where it can break down with just a touch?

Even someone standing on the edge of a cliff would feel immense fear, let alone standing in a world that could collapse at any moment.

That illusion is enough to torment a sane person into madness.

“What’s funny is that I feel nothing at all.”

A world that could collapse at any time?

Doesn’t matter.

Because if such a thing were to happen, it would simply mean that the world itself has reached its end, death itself.

— “Death.”

Only in the face of this concept does Fang Li fail to generate any emotions.

Even if it’s the world that dies, it’s the same.

However, looking at this fragmented and shattered world, as if it has been haphazardly pieced together, truly makes one feel uncomfortable.

“Since it’s a Innate skill, I should be able to do it, right?”

With this thought in mind, Fang Li slightly closed his eyes, and only one idea occupied his mind.

“Shut these eyes ‘closed’.”

Only Ryougi Shiki and Tohno Shiki possessed the Mystic Eyes of Death Perception.

However, their situations were completely different.

After a period of adaptation and guidance from others, Ryougi Shiki could freely activate her Mystic Eyes of Death Perception through sheer willpower.

Tohno Shiki, on the other hand, had no choice but to rely on an item called the Mystic Eye Killer to suppress the activation of his Mystic Eyes.

Now, Fang Li was doing something similar to what Ryougi Shiki did.

The result was pleasing.

When Fang Li opened his eyes again, the world before him had returned to its original state.

Without needing to look, Fang Li knew that the pair of ice-blue Mystic Eyes, which symbolized “death,” had vanished, and his eyes had reverted to their original darkness.

“It seems that my Mystic Eyes of Death Perception are more similar in nature to Ryougi Shiki’s, unlike Tohno Shiki’s.”

Just as this thought emerged in Fang Li’s mind, the door suddenly pushed open.

“What are you, an outsider, still doing here?”

Two men dressed in samurai attire, with samurai swords at their waists, entered from outside the door.

“—!”

Fang Li immediately tensed his body.

But the two samurai acted as if they hadn’t seen anything and stared at Fang Li.

“I didn’t expect you to have the time to laze around here.”

“Aren’t you going to guard the city gate? Don’t you want to eat?”

To ensure that the Main God’s Envoy entry into the copy world wouldn’t be too abrupt, the Main God’s Dimension always prepared the most basic identity for the Main God’s Envoy upon entering the copy world.

Of course, it was just a basic identity, such as a resident of a certain city or an employee of a certain company.

This time, the Main God’s Dimension prepared the identity of an outsider who wandered into this place. Since there was no guarantee of food and shelter, the samurai took advantage of it, offering work in exchange for three meals a day.

And clearly, today’s task was guarding the city gate.

“Guard the city gate?” Fang Li raised an eyebrow and remained silent for a moment before speaking again. “So, does that mean we might encounter Kabane?”

One sentence changed the atmosphere around them.

The expressions of the two samurai stiffened for a moment, and then, the gaze they directed at Fang Li became somewhat menacing.

That reaction could only bring to mind one situation.

It was the hysteria displayed by someone pushed to the edge of a cliff, facing a desperate situation.

One can easily imagine the level of stimulation the term “Kabane” provided these samurai.

So, Fang Li began to retrieve the memories of this world in his mind.

————”K?tetsuj? no Kabaneri” (“Kabaneri of the Iron Fortress”).

This is a world set in an island nation after the 1860s.

In this era, the Industrial Revolution had already begun and gradually influenced the world, causing countries worldwide to transition into the modern age under the waves of industrialization.

However, it was precisely at this time that a peculiar creature emerged.

————The Kabane.

These were bloodthirsty monsters that suddenly revived from what should have been dead humans, turning into violent creatures.

In short, they were a kind of existence similar to zombies.

However, these monsters were different from ordinary zombies.

They possessed extraordinary physical abilities and exceptional regenerative powers. As long as their hearts weren’t pierced, they wouldn’t die.

But their hearts were protected by a membrane.

This membrane was as hard as steel and not easily pierced.

In this situation, these nearly immortal creatures, driven by their immense ferocity and an insatiable thirst for blood, attacked the entire human world.

Once bitten by them, one would become infected and gradually transform into the same kind of monster.

Humans referred to these creatures as ———— Kabane.

To counter the threat of the Kabane, the shogunate ruling the island nation constructed steel fortresses called “stations” in various locations to protect the remaining humans.

Now, the place where Fang Li was located was the Aragane Station mentioned in Main Quest 2, which was also the fortress that appeared at the beginning of the original work.

However, this did not make Fang Li feel at ease at all.

Because anyone who has read the original work knows that Aragane Station would soon be invaded and fall to the Kabane.

At that time, Fang Li would also face a group of man-eating monsters and engage in battle with them.

Thinking of this, Fang Li touched the dagger at his waist, and a hint of icy blue gleamed in his pair of dark eyes.

“Immortal monsters, huh?”

Trying to confront creatures like these with an ordinary dagger was simply wishful thinking, wasn’t it?

But…

“Whether they’re truly immortal or not, let me confirm it with these eyes…”