Leo opened his eyes and was met first with vines entwined around the ceiling, emitting a bluish glow, spreading across most of the walls in the room, making it look like the interior of some giant plant.
He sat up from the bed in a daze, looking around blankly for a while before recalling that he had been riding an electric bike delivering food. Then, at a turn, a massive truck had appeared out of nowhere...
Uh, does this mean I've been transported to another world?
No, it could also be that I've been in a coma for a long time and have been moved here... I need to confirm my situation first!
Above him, the fluorescent vines—whether plant or man-made—were dim, barely allowing him to discern the outlines of the furniture. To check for injuries on his body, Leo jumped off the bed. Not finding any slippers, he went barefoot to the glowing wall, beginning to examine himself for any wounds.
But…
This check was alarming; once he checked, he realized something was seriously wrong!
How had his hands become so small? Why were his arms and legs so thin? Had I gotten shorter? What the hell is this white dress, who dressed me in girls' clothing?
Wait, this can't be... As a chilling possibility dawned on him, Leo suddenly reached down, and when he felt, he gasped sharply.
It was gone!
Really gone!
So he really had been transported, and to the body of a little girl!
The shock of this realization left Leo's mind blank for a moment. He plopped back down on the small bed beside him, and only after a long while did he notice the footprints on the ground. It seemed the floor here was covered with a thick layer of dust; stepping on it felt like stepping in snow, with clear imprints visible.
How could it be this dirty... Has this room not been cleaned in ages?
He couldn't help but frown, looking for something to wipe his feet with, before suddenly his pupils contracted as he realized something—wait, this thick dust indicates that no one has lived here in at least several weeks. Why was the original owner lying in a place like this?
Then he scrutinized the room again, noticing that there were no signs of movement between the open doorway and the bed. This meant that before he had crossed over, the original owner had been lying in bed without getting up for at least several weeks, perhaps even months!
So…
Had he really crossed over into a dead person's body?
But why was the body not decayed? Was it also due to the nature of the crossover?
Since he didn't inherit the original owner's memories, Leo could only make some simple guesses, then shifted his attention to the most eye-catching vines in the room.
By now, he had discovered that these vines were creeping in from outside the room, and they had covered many areas of the ceiling, walls, and floor.
This made him dismiss the idea that it was mere atmospheric lighting… What kind of atmospheric light would be so extravagant and realistic? Could this actually be a type of luminescent plant?
However, since he was here now, anything was possible...
Taking a deep breath, Leo got off the bed and opened the room's closet but found nothing useful. He then left the room and stepped outside.
Outside was a curved corridor, wide and long, branching into several narrower paths. Leo cautiously advanced along the wide path until, a few minutes later, the space opened up before him.
At that moment, he entered a vast and spacious circular area, resembling the central hall on this floor of the building. Above the hall was a dome, with countless vines cascading down from the central ventilation shaft, forming a light waterfall over 20 meters high, like a giant cold-glow jellyfish, enveloping the entire space in a stunning yet eerie atmosphere.
Leo was momentarily stunned by the sight, then began to observe everything in the hall.
He noticed the floor was littered with debris—decaying fabric fibers, shattered glassware, overturned or broken sofas and tables, and a considerable number of human or animal bones scattered in all corners, present in fragmented form.
Clearly, something catastrophic had occurred here, leaving the scene in such disarray and littered with skeletal remains.
Staring at the human skeletal remains for a moment, Leo's eyelids twitched. He hurriedly took a few deep breaths, forcing himself to calm down. This was the first time in his life he'd seen human bones, and combined with the eerie, enclosed, and lonely environment, it felt utterly like a horror movie, making him anxious.
After calming down for several minutes and managing to regain some composure, Leo furrowed his brow, and a small question arose in his mind.
Regardless of the disaster, incident, or accident, it should have been long enough for police or military to come and handle it, right? At least to collect the bodies of the dead.
Why did it seem like this place was completely abandoned?
Had it never been discovered by the outside world?
But there isn't even a window here. It's either completely sealed or underground, perhaps it truly is some kind of illegal hidden facility...
He thought this as he looked down, using the relatively bright bluish glow to try to find some clues.
Unfortunately, most of the papers on the ground had severely decayed and turned a deep brown color. A few hardcover books, likely made with high-quality, durable acid-free paper, remained relatively intact, but he couldn't read a single word.
This was the downside of crossing over without inheriting memories; he had essentially become illiterate... he thought helplessly, then set down the books and wandered around the hall, picking up a long, metallic object.
It looked like a slender, sci-fi-styled gun, with a white exterior and a barrel and body that featured numerous complex engravings, exquisite in detail. Considering it felt very sturdy, resembling some special plastic, Leo decided to keep it as a "bat" for self-defense.
After wandering for about ten minutes, Leo finally found an abandoned elevator shaft in one corner of the hall, along with an entrance to a safety passage beside it.
So he immediately walked in.
To be honest, he should have been more cautious, at least testing whether there were any unknown threats in the stairwell. But the environment here was quite unsettling, like a claustrophobic underground tomb; even with the fluorescent vines providing light, he didn't want to stay in this spooky place for another second.
He climbed the metal stairs layer by layer, trying to control the force of his footsteps so they wouldn't be too loud. He felt like he was walking in a horror movie world, and at any moment, terrifying monsters might jump out from the entrances to the other floors, lunging at him.
He chose to go up because he figured this place had no windows and felt more like it was underground. But even if he chose poorly, the top floor might have a rooftop or something, allowing him to gain a high vantage point to survey the area.
He kept climbing the stairs without interest in exploring the interiors of any intermediate floors. After climbing eight floors, Leo finally reached the ninth floor, which was also the last.
Gripping the "bat" tightly, he cautiously stepped onto the floor, and by the faint glow of the fluorescent vines, he saw a wide corridor.
On either side of the corridor were some rooms or branching passages, at the end of which was a huge metal door, next to a small door that was ajar, emanating a hint of light.
That's... sunlight?
Feeling the moving air, he instinctively quickened his pace, reaching the entrance of the small door and pulling it open, revealing a staircase tunnel leading upward. Looking up, he saw the tunnel's exit had become a bright point, golden light pouring in, making the scene before him seem like a stairway to heaven—beautiful and sacred.
Finally, he could leave this place!
His heart surged with excitement as he jogged forward, rushing through the illuminated doorway.
However, the next moment, once his eyes adjusted to the surrounding light, he was astonished to discover that outside was not land but a small platform supported over the water.
Looking around, the platform was surrounded by deep, dark lake water, which seemed to drop hundreds of meters, stretching at least two or three kilometers away. At the far end of the lake, there was no shore, only looming, smooth rock walls towering and sealing this vast lake completely within.
In an instant, Leo stood frozen in place, his mind filled with only one thought.
How do I get out of here?