It was just a dream.
Gao Hai understood what had happened in this moment.
He had not left the [Blood Vessel].
After discovering the fork, he had been unable to retreat immediately and was seized by the core Obsession Item within the [Blood Vessel], dragged into the fork.
From that moment, he had been trapped in an inescapable dead end.
The reason he had been able to continue acting afterward—crawling out of the [Blood Vessel], passing through the Great Cliff and Great Slide with Chika Fujiwara, and even reaching the final step of escaping the Red Nut Gray Hole, successfully sending them out of the instance—was because he had been dreaming.
A dream.
Gao Hai understood this core obsession, the bizarre manifestation of ability hidden in the [Blood Vessel].
It would drag players who entered the [Blood Vessel] and violated the rules into it, but... it would not kill the player. After pulling the player into the immobile cavern area, it not only refrained from killing them there but even granted them a dream. In this dream, the player would emerge unscathed from the [Blood Vessel] and continue their actions. As long as the player remained within the Red Nut Gray Hole's bounds and was not killed by other anomalies, the dream would not end. The dreaming player would act like a normal one, able to use and consume their Obsession Items and various tools normally—of course, consuming their own possessions, not conjuring new ones from thin air.
However, if these dreaming players truly reached the exit, the place where they could escape the Red Nut Gray Hole, the dream would end. The player would return to this cramped cavern, back to being immovably trapped.
Just like now, just like what Gao Hai was experiencing at this moment.
"Urgh..."
Breathing was difficult.
His chest was squeezed from the front, back, left, and right all at once.
Intense pain compressed his breaths. Gao Hai could feel that at least four of his ribs were broken; the space was so narrow it had directly snapped his bones. The broken bones further pressed on his lungs, turning every breath into torment.
His arms could barely move; his upper arms were jammed by the low rock walls, with only his forearms and above having slight room to maneuver.
He could barely lift his head, but it was essentially completely stuck, with a stone even pressing against his throat, further obstructing his breathing.
"Urgh... hoo..."
His chest and abdomen were completely pinned, unable to budge even a second.
His legs were similarly immobile, jammed by stones.
These rock walls were like a coffin tailor-made for Gao Hai, trapping him utterly in place, unable to move an inch.
In the boundless darkness, he could only hear his own labored breathing.
And that faint sound of a drop falling.
Drip—
Another drop of foul-smelling liquid fell on his head.
Gao Hai arduously lifted his head, looking upward.
In the darkness, he could see nothing.
But he knew something existed above.
In this spot where he was jammed head-up in the cavern, above him, something had always been there, silently, right before him.
He extended his only barely movable arm, reaching forward as far as possible.
He touched dry skin and viscous liquid.
Nose... mouth... eyes... hair...
A person.
Someone head-down, just like him, jammed in the cavern.
No... not right...
The power of the Blessing gave Gao Hai its response in this moment.
That was not a person.
That was an anomaly.
And that was the core Obsession Item, the second one existing in the Red Nut Gray Hole after the bloodstained white dress.
This thing was now right before him, less than half a meter away.
Hey, what the hell is this situation?
Gao Hai was stunned for a good while, even adjusting his mindset briefly, prepared to be killed on the spot and enjoy a new grotesque death.
But nothing happened.
He waited a while, and still, nothing occurred.
The instance's core obsession, the most terrifying and bizarre existence in the Red Nut Gray Hole, now lay utterly motionless like a real corpse. No matter how Gao Hai poked its face, it did not react, showing none of the ferocity and horror expected of a core obsession.
So, what was going on?
Gao Hai could not comprehend this thing at all.
Regardless, Maki and the others had now successfully been sent out.
Now, only he remained here.
He needed to figure out how to escape this.
Gao Hai took a deep breath, trying to move, but found he could not budge no matter what—no way to shift even slightly; he was completely stuck.
Was this anomaly's killing method simply jamming people here until they starved or thirsted to death?
This thought sent a chill through Gao Hai.
No, he had to do something.
"Hoo..."
In his labored breathing, Gao Hai pulled the scalpel from his watch.
The scalpel that could easily cut anything, theoretically capable of slicing these rock walls.
Clang!
After the crisp sound, Gao Hai found it had bounced off the rock wall.
Could not cut it—why not?
Was this cavern before him formed by the anomaly's power?
Gao Hai began to feel faintly uneasy.
He then tried using the scalpel to cut his clothes, creating a flaw in his [explorer] identity, failing to role-play perfectly, to see if that brought a different effect. Though he managed to slice one sleeve after struggling, he remained stuck in place, with nothing happening during the process.
Gao Hai began to realize the current situation might be even more terrifying than anticipated.
He stowed the scalpel, took out the Blood Scissors, tried destroying the rock wall again—failure.
Tried using scalpel and scissors on the anomalous corpse jammed above him—also failure; the blades sank into it like cutting slime, feeling only soft give, bouncing back.
After brief hesitation, Gao Hai took out the faceless head, intending to let it kill him to end this loop. But he could not retrieve it; the jamming area was too narrow, the head would not fit. This was the first time Gao Hai discovered that this damn watch had terrain detection—if the environment could not accommodate the item he wanted to retrieve, it refused, preventing withdrawal.
This broken thing even had terrain judgment?
His final attempt was the Rescue Team Badge. He could not pin it to his chest now, so he tried his sleeve—no effect. Gao Hai gritted his teeth, piercing his flesh with the pin on his wrist; this summoned the rescue uniform successfully. Though his physique greatly enhanced, Gao Hai still could not move, utterly unable to break free. Moreover, he could not summon a rescue member; it seemed the previous one had been eliminated, needing time to regenerate for summoning.
Pity—the prior rescue member had been intercepted before reaching the Gentle Slope, and he himself had ended up here due to the [dream awakening], unable to retry.
Drip—
Gao Hai blinked, barely moving his head, but the drop still hit his forehead, wetting it further.
That seemed to be blood, flowing from the thing jammed on his head.
He had to do something.
Could not stay jammed like this.
Gao Hai struggled again, but no matter how he exerted himself, he could not move even a fraction.
"Hoo... urgh..."
His mind grew dizzy again, stars bursting in his vision.
Gao Hai knew he had fallen into hypoxia again, but he no longer cared; the current state made him realize a very terrifying possibility. For that, even death was preferable to breaking free.
But it was useless.
Exhausting all his strength brought no change.
After reaching extreme hypoxia, Gao Hai fainted directly. After who-knows-how-many hours, he awoke again, dazed for a while before realizing he was still immovably stuck.
Hunger gnawed at his stomach.
Gao Hai did not know how long since he had eaten, but clearly, after the intense struggle, his stamina had depleted significantly, producing hunger.
But in this state, he could not eat; he could not even retrieve food.
His throat was parched.
After prolonged exertion, thirst had set in.
But Gao Hai similarly could not replenish fluids.
Now, he could only endure hunger and thirst, continuing to think of escape methods.
Conclusion: none.
He was completely jammed here; with his own power alone, escape was impossible no matter what.
The Obsession Items in hand similarly could not help solve the dilemma; the only potentially effective Rescue Team Badge had no effect.
Perhaps suicide was the only option.
Realizing this, Gao Hai felt utter helplessness.
In this state, biting his tongue? But in fact, biting one's tongue did not kill; those who died from it usually suffocated from blood entering the airway. The process was extremely painful; unless desperate, Gao Hai did not want such self-torment.
Shouting "I am human" was similar—that excessively painful death, Gao Hai truly did not want to endure. His willpower was strong, but he was no masochist or psychopath; he really did not want to encounter such a thing again.
However, perhaps he could use the Rescue Team Badge. Though its pollution lessened, prolonged wear would still convert him. Wearing it continuously might allow death via transformation into an anomaly, freeing him.
The badge pinned through his flesh remained; Gao Hai let it pierce his skin. Though painful, under the Blessing's enhancement, it was bearable. Continuing should allow suicide this way.
Thinking this, a bitter smile escaped Gao Hai's lips.
He had just said to conserve rewind uses, tackling low-difficulty instances as much as possible, yet now faced inevitable death.
But at least, after this ends, he would know what to do. After all, this thing lurked in the [Blood Vessel] fork; avoiding the [Blood Vessel] and escaping via other clothes and identities would bypass it. The only current issue was enduring this period.
Drip—
As Gao Hai pondered with head lowered, another drop fell on him.
Unclear how the corpse above died or why it dripped blood on him nonstop. Unavoidable, Gao Hai simply closed his eyes, trying to hypnotize himself to sleep, enduring via this method.
Eyes closed, eyes opened.
Consciousness blurred then cleared again.
No dreams.
After the [dream] ended, Gao Hai dreamed no more.
Unclear how much time had passed.
But certain: he had not been converted into an anomaly, not even trending that way.
What?
Gao Hai widened his eyes.
The Rescue Team Badge's power was suppressed.
After just a nap, the Obsession Item he had continuously worn had its effect suppressed; even the rescue uniform manifesting on him vanished directly.
Because this was a core obsession-influenced area, Obsession Item powers were inhibited?!
"I... am human..."
After brief hesitation, Gao Hai slowly uttered this.
His voice sounded hoarse, perhaps from worsening thirst.
The white dress did not appear.
The white dress that should have instantly emerged to kill him after these words showed no reaction. Though Gao Hai still felt its gaze, it acted as if rules malfunctioned, making no move to kill him.
Wrong.
Something was wrong.
The ominous premonition in his heart grew stronger.
Taking a deep breath, Gao Hai gritted his teeth, nearly biting his tongue off completely.
Blood spread in his mouth.
Enduring the agony, Gao Hai began breathing, forcing the surging blood straight into his throat.
Very painful.
Unable to breathe.
Pain nearly unbearable.
But he still did not die.
"Cough... urgh... urgh..."
Even after over ten minutes unable to breathe.
Even with blood nearly filling his lungs.
Gao Hai still did not die.
He understood this trapping anomaly's other power—or rather, its method of torment.
Its power lay not in killing or torturing.
Its power protected people.
Protected those trapped in this narrow rock fissure.
Letting these trapped ones.
Never die.
Drip—
Another drop of foul liquid fell on Gao Hai's forehead, on the head of Gao Hai suffering unbearable agony from over ten minutes of suffocation.
And that corpse merely continued its silence.
Just like in the past, no different in that endless time, continuing its silence.
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