Feeling restless with nothing to do inside the fast-food restaurant, Ye Qingfeng wandered out onto the street. As he passed by a narrow alley, he spotted a black cat grooming itself.
"Whose little kitty is this~?"
But in an empty alley, who would answer his question?
Can you believe it, folks? Found a kitty with no owner in sight.
With a mischievous grin, Ye Qingfeng slowly crept toward the cat. Once confident he was within catching range, he pounced.
"Meow~"
The black cat watched the two-legged creature lunging toward it without a hint of panic. It leaped lightly, landing perfectly on Ye Qingfeng's back, then pushed off forcefully with its hind legs—swapping their positions in an instant.
Already off-balance from the missed pounce, the added push from the cat sent Ye Qingfeng stumbling uncontrollably forward, about to crash into the wall. He instinctively closed his eyes.
"Huh? No pain?"
Ye Qingfeng slowly opened his eyes to an entirely unfamiliar scene.
Where is this? Wasn't I just in an alley a moment ago?
Rail tracks, a platform, train carriages... this place looks a bit like a train station...
[Ding! This is the Hollow, dummy~]
'Huh? No more auto-piloting today?'
Ye Qingfeng's first surprise was the System's reappearance, not the fact that he'd suddenly entered a Hollow.
After all, besides being quite active during his first few days after transmigrating, it had started auto-piloting about a week later—right when Nicole began frantically taking on trivial commissions. Its reasoning was:
[Ha? You expect this System to watch the Host do boring commissions every day?? I'd rather sleep more.]
After hearing the emotionless mechanical voice for so long, this soft yet fierce tone was oddly nostalgic...
Hollows, as I recall, are invisible spaces that appear out of nowhere in reality and expand at a certain rate.
That's roughly it. I think Nicole also mentioned that these places have monsters called Ethereals. And because Hollows contain Ether, staying too long can turn humans into Ethereals.
...So Ethereals were originally humans?
That means the main threats in Hollows are Ethereal attacks, the risk of turning into an Ethereal from prolonged exposure.
While he stood there lost in thought, two Ethereals—gray bodies with green heads—gradually approached from behind.
"Who's there?!"
Perhaps too absorbed in his thoughts, Ye Qingfeng hadn't noticed the approaching footsteps. But when the two Ethereals closed within about three meters, his heart began racing uncontrollably. Almost instinctively, he spun around and leaped backward in rapid retreat.
[Ding! Ethereal Variant: Tyrfang]
[Oho! Finally, some action! Wow! They're charging!]
The two Ethereals rushed madly toward Ye Qingfeng.
"Charging straight at me like that? Looks like I'm being underestimated."
Ye Qingfeng cautiously retreated in small steps, his gaze fixed firmly on the two Ethereals barreling toward him.
[Go! Beat 'em up! You can do it, Host!]
"Better safe than sorry! Run!"
Without a moment's hesitation, Ye Qingfeng spun around and sprinted away. As he fled, he pulled two daggers from his pocket, glancing back repeatedly to track the Ethereals' positions.
[So lame...]
"Quiet. These two Ethereals are sticking too close."
Seeing he couldn't shake them off easily, Ye Qingfeng raised his daggers, aimed as best he could, and hurled them with full force at the Ethereals' heads.
The daggers shot toward the Ethereals at high speed. Unfortunately, his aim was off: one whizzed past an Ethereal, while the other struck a bit too low, embedding itself in its chest.
The struck Ethereal paused for just a moment before resuming its frenzied pursuit.
I'm done for! These monsters are like rabid dogs!
[Host, you have Close Quarters Combat mastery. They're just the lowest-tier Ethereals. As a transmigrator with the world's cutest System, could you try not to be so embarrassing...]
"Easy for you to say! Didn't you see they feel no pain?"
Seeing the distance between him and the two Ethereals wasn't increasing much, Ye Qingfeng stopped holding back and sprinted forward with all his might.
"You expect me to fight them empty-handed?"
[That could work too...]
"? What good does it do you if I'm done for?"
He was already nearly out of breath from running so hard, and now this: That could work too?!
He almost choked on his own breath. Fortunately, after all that frantic running, he finally managed to lose the two Ethereals.
Finally able to rest, Ye Qingfeng leaned against a nearby train car, gasping for air. The two Ethereals were still within sight, wandering aimlessly in the distance.
No way... Once I get out of this place, I'm definitely asking Nicole to get me a proper weapon. This is just too humiliating...
I wonder how the others are doing. Could they have ended up in this Hollow too?
"Alright, rested enough. Time to find a way out of this damn place."
After catching his breath for a while, Ye Qingfeng finally steadied himself. He began wandering through the Hollow like a leisurely old man.
Where's the exit? Where's the exit?
Not a trace of tension showed on him. Was he just thick-skinned? Or was he overly confident because of his 80% Ether adaptation?
Of course, it could also be that he hadn't yet grasped the severity of the situation. Only after witnessing a living person transform into an Ethereal before his eyes would he truly understand the horror of Hollows...
"Ahem... This is Anby Demara, official employee of the all-purpose agency Cunning Hares. Due to an accident, I have fallen into an associated Hollow."
"I am not carrying a Fissure Beacons, nor do I have a proxy assisting me. The probability of being lost in this Hollow is 96.4%."
As Ye Qingfeng wandered, a strangely familiar voice suddenly reached his ears.
That sounds like Anby! There's hope!
Following the direction of the voice, Ye Qingfeng indeed spotted Anby's figure. He could hardly contain his excitement—what could be more thrilling than running into someone you know in a place like this?
He immediately jogged toward Anby.
"The terrain here is complex. If I do not carefully judge my next actions, my chances of rescue will decrease by 37.5%."
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