Chapter 145
This time, after Alisio entered, Ye Bai didn’t hesitate any longer. She signaled Ottofis to follow and stepped directly into the rift.
A sensation of traversing washed over her, and soon, Ye Bai felt as if she had broken through an invisible barrier.
In the next moment, her surroundings brightened, and a cool breeze brushed against her face, bringing with it the scent of seawater, a stark contrast to the hellish environment she had just left behind.
Immediately, Ye Bai received a system notification:
【You are affected by an unknown force...】
Ye Bai was taken aback and quickly checked her personal information. She noticed a new buff labeled "Unknown Aura Influence," but the system provided no further description of its effects.
Glancing up at the seemingly oblivious demon ahead, Ye Bai scrutinized her personal panel. Whether it was a positive or negative buff, it always had an impact on her stats.
Before long, she discovered the anomaly brought on by the buff: her stamina was depleting at a rate several times faster than before.
**Chapter 104**
Ye Bai checked her other panel information and quickly confirmed that aside from the rapid decline in stamina, the "Unknown Aura" buff had no other immediate effects.
Turning back, she saw that the rift she had come through had indeed vanished.
That rift was a one-way passage, a result of the demon's peculiar nature and the binding effect of its true name. It allowed Alisio to traverse easily, while Ye Bai would need to find another rift here to leave, and there was no guarantee she would return to the same layer of hell.
Seeing this, Ye Bai furrowed her brow and opened her backpack. When she saw that the Source Water Drops inside were still usable, she felt a bit more at ease.
If worse came to worst, she could use the Source Water Drops to leave the divine realm. As long as she wasn’t in combat, the drops could be used.
Of course, using the Source Water Drops was a last resort, as returning to her territory meant she would have to wait for the Source Well to recharge before she could come back.
“See? I told you it’s safe here,” Alisio said, observing Ye Bai’s expression closely.
Ye Bai ignored him and instead scanned her surroundings, taking a closer look at the environment.
Before her lay a desolate island, the ground beneath her feet was different from the black earth of hell; it was grayish-white, resembling fossilized material. In the distance, the deep blue sea stretched endlessly, while a gloomy sky loomed overhead.
Like the sky she had seen in the divine realm, this space covered by the deep sea was eerily silent, a stark contrast to the vibrant life of the myriad worlds.
The island appeared to be quite large, at least beyond her immediate view, and Ye Bai found herself near the edge by the water.
In a flash, Alisio vanished.
Ye Bai then turned to the paper figure and Ottofis beside her and asked, “Do you sense anything unusual?”
“Unusual?” The paper figure looked surprised, clearly not feeling anything out of the ordinary.
However, Ottofis nodded and opened its mouth, making a gesture towards Ye Bai.
This was the same gesture it made when asking for bread.
At that moment, the paper figure suddenly realized through ‘information’ that something was amiss: “A mysterious force has infected you. It seems to only affect corporeal beings, which is why I and that demon are unaffected…”
Instinctively, Ye Bai reached into her backpack and pulled out a piece of bread for Ottofis.
However, Ottofis didn’t eagerly devour it as usual. Instead, it shook its head and took a step back.
Ye Bai was puzzled, but the paper figure quickly reacted to Ottofis’s actions: “I see now, this force... is hunger!”
“Hunger?” Ye Bai was taken aback, and as she connected this with the stamina loss from the buff, she quickly understood.
As a player, Ye Bai wouldn’t physically feel hunger in the game. Even in the Star Network, where various food experiences could be simulated, it only satisfied her mental cravings; she wouldn’t experience the physiological signals of hunger like in reality.
Thus, this influence on Ye Bai manifested as a rapid depletion of stamina on her panel, reminding her that she needed to eat to replenish her stamina. No wonder it was labeled ‘hunger.’
There were only three ways to restore stamina: sleep, level up, or eat.
Clearly, there were no conditions for a restful sleep here, and the recovery effect of sleeping in the ‘wild’ was minimal, barely keeping up with the rapid stamina loss; leveling up, combined with the experience gained from defeating the transformation golems and exploring the divine realm, would only allow her to reach level 43, which was far from sufficient.
The only reliable solution was to eat.
Ye Bai opened her backpack and found she had four and a half sets of buttered bread.
Since these were refined mid-level foods, normally, two buttered breads would suffice to replenish her stamina for a game day. She had brought so many sets primarily for Ottofis as snacks, which had seemed more than enough, but now it felt scarce.
Ye Bai then tried moving forward, and as she suspected, her already fast-depleting stamina dropped even quicker with movement. When she stopped, the decline slowed down again.
It seemed this ‘hunger’ effect amplified the stamina consumption required for her activities.
If that was the case, to function normally here, Ye Bai needed to find food supplies urgently.
It was worth noting that she wasn’t the only one affected; Ottofis was too. Although it was a magical donkey and had never shown interest in eating grass or other donkey fare, that didn’t justify letting it go hungry. The mysterious force affected all corporeal beings indiscriminately.
After some thought, Ye Bai decided to explore the island first to see if she could gather any information.
“Alisio Bal Croni…”
Ye Bai summoned the demon once more. With Alisio’s expression of “I knew it,” she had it float ahead to scout while she and Ottofis followed behind.
The island was eerily quiet; all Ye Bai could hear was the sound of the waves, and there were no plants in sight, just the same grayish-white rock layers as the ground.
Ye Bai’s path was a classic ‘spiral’ pattern, gradually moving inward from the edge where she stood.
After nearly completing a circle, Ye Bai estimated the island’s diameter to be about a kilometer, forming a relatively regular circular shape. The terrain rose higher as she approached the center, culminating in a small peak.
During this exploration, Ye Bai encountered no other creatures on the island, only fragments of shells washed ashore by the sea.
This place showed no signs of terrestrial life, unlike the lairs of the hellish lords where horned demons might gather seafood.
Having found nothing of value on the outskirts, Ye Bai decided to change her route and head toward the small peak in the island's center.
Halfway there, she suddenly halted.
Before her stood a cracked stone tablet, inscribed with a special script featuring many circular strokes.
Ye Bai immediately recognized it as one of the many languages, specifically the Deep Sea Language, that had transformed the paper figure not long ago!
Undoubtedly, the presence of the Deep Sea Language indicated the activity of the Deep Sea Tribe, one of the six major races.
Similar to the diverse array of hellish creatures, the Deep Sea Tribe comprises various species, including the well-known merfolk, frogmen, and various large sea monsters—all intelligent beings of the deep sea. They also possess their own civilization and oceanic magic.
Typically, only powerful members of the Deep Sea Tribe would use and leave behind the Deep Sea Language.
Ye Bai loved discovering various ruins; these were ready sources of experience points!
As she approached to examine it, a system notification chimed in:
【You have discovered ‘Traces of the Deep Sea Tribe,’ gaining 20 historical experience points and 200,000 experience points.】
【You have gained 2 points in ‘Deep Sea Language’ proficiency.】
Like the ancient dragon race, the structures inscribed with magical texts were not ordinary constructions of the Deep Sea Tribe.
Table of Contents
