«The Creator is actually very afraid of death»
When He Fang first started gaming, he suffered from severe 3D motion sickness. Just two hours of play would leave him with a splitting headache for half a day. Yet, even then, he still loved it.
Motion sickness could be improved through training, and He Fang had constantly pushed himself to adapt to the game environment. By now, he had almost completely overcome it.
“Ruins Without Restart” was an extremely immersive game, one that easily made people dizzy. He Fang had already adjusted to it, but he never expected his old symptoms to return so suddenly.
For a moment, he considered logging out.
But if he disappeared, the NPCs might be unable to locate him. Worse, they could send even more NPCs in to search for him. If they all got lost in the Nightmare Beast Forest, they could end up permanently trapped here, sacrificed to this abyss.
He Fang frowned tightly. The more he thought about it, the dizzier and more nauseous he became. The discomfort from his first real flight experience was now crashing down on him all at once. He pinched the bridge of his nose, trying to steady himself.
“This sucks,” he murmured under his breath.
In the end, he made a decision—self-destruction.
In the game, self-destruction was essentially a form of in-game “suicide”, commonly used when a player got stuck in a bugged location. By dying, they would respawn at a revival point. If He Fang self-destructed now, he could instantly recreate his character, re-enter the game, and notify Zhu Yan that he was safe.
He pulled up the plane’s self-destruct function. A single explosion would wipe out both him and the aircraft. The cost of this plane was astronomical, but at this point, he had no choice.
However, just as he was about to confirm the command, his fingers suddenly froze.
He was inside the sensory simulation pod.
If he died…
It would hurt.
He Fang withdrew his hand, staring at his fingers. The cold touch of the controls still lingered on his skin.
Everything here was too real. Every sensory detail, every sensation—indistinguishable from reality.
If he quit now out of fear of pain, the next time he logged in, he would likely respawn mid-air, plummeting straight to his death upon reentry.
But if he stayed and died manually, the pain would be unbearable.
All of a sudden, panic set in.
If he kept waiting, he might risk losing NPCs, but he didn’t dare to face death.
No, that wasn’t right. It was just dying in a game; it wouldn’t leave any psychological scars.
It would be just a moment… only a moment…
He Fang’s finger returned to the self-destruct button.
After all, he wouldn’t really die…
He Fang didn’t know how many visions of death and fear flashed through his mind. He even imagined himself splintering apart as he fell from the sky, sarcastically thinking that after the plane exploded, he’d probably be reduced to ashes.
It wasn’t that bad. It was just an ordinary game.
They had set up an air wall, so there wouldn’t be any strange elements like an intergalactic war or world-ending catastrophe.
So… it wasn’t that horrible.
He Fang forced himself to calm down, closed his eyes, and prepared to press the confirm button.
Suddenly, his hand was grabbed.
When a large, cool hand seized his arm, He Fang, who had been completely focused on awaiting death, was startled and screamed. Was his arm already gone?
No, no, that wasn’t right. He hadn’t pressed the button yet. Could it be… a ghost?
At that moment, He Fang’s mind raced, and his hair almost stood on end in pure terror.
He struggled and screamed. He was terrified of ghosts. He was terrible at horror games. An hour-long chapter in a horror game would take him 27 hours to finish because he couldn’t bring himself to move. Was this a ghost? Was it after his life?!
Was “Ruins Without Restart” not a sci-fi game but a horror game instead?
At the peak of his panic, He Fang shut his eyes and began wildly swinging his arms, clearly in a state of complete fear.
Suddenly, there was a sharp slap.
A crisp, clear sound.
He Fang froze.
That sound… it sounded like a slap.
Slowly, He Fang opened his eyes. His face was pale and his pupils were completely black. In that instant, he was paralyzed with terror.
But as his senses returned, He Fang suddenly recognized the person in front of him.
“Chong Xiao?!”
He Fang was stunned. Why was Chong Xiao here?
The last time He Fang saw Chong Xiao, he was still wearing a black police uniform. But now, he had changed into military attire. Even in the color-drained Nightmare Beast Forest, He Fang could almost see the deep green of that uniform. He was impeccably dressed, his military cap pressed low, messy strands of hair covering his eyes. He looked like a cold and aloof heartthrob that warned strangers to stay away.
He Fang had always thought that if Zhu Yan was cold, then Chong Xiao was downright icy. Just one glance at him felt like being chilled to the bone.
Chong Xiao’s pitch-black eyes locked onto him. If they had been at eye level, He Fang might have been intimidated. But now, things were different. In this pitch-dark place, having someone to talk to gave him courage—even if that someone was Chong Xiao, who barely spoke to him.
“You… why are you here? Didn’t I say no one was allowed to follow me?” But it’s really great that you’re here.
Feeling guilty, He Fang sneaked a few glances at Chong Xiao’s face, particularly at the spot where he had slapped him before. To his surprise, there wasn’t a single mark.
His words didn’t match his true feelings—Chong Xiao’s presence gave him a huge boost of confidence. Knowing that there was someone else with him made He Fang feel a renewed sense of responsibility toward his people.
Chong Xiao said nothing, but the way his dark eyes stared at He Fang gave him an overwhelming sense of presence. Suddenly, He Fang felt much better. Before he could dwell on that, he checked Chong Xiao’s status. Hmm… Loyalty: 598. Not a point more, not a point less. But at least it was over 100, so he probably wouldn’t stab him in the back.
“If you’d told me earlier, I wouldn’t have decided to self-destruct. I don’t want you to die,” He Fang muttered to himself. Talking helped ease the pressure, even if Chong Xiao completely ignored him. “I’ll think of a way to get you out of here.”
“Since this is just an experiment, there’s no food storage in the cabin. We won’t be able to eat anything.” He Fang spoke as he smiled. As he talked, his mind gradually settled, growing clearer as he began thinking of ways to escape.
“Did they sneak you in? Not telling me is really unfair.”
From the start, He Fang had refused to let NPCs follow him to avoid unexpected incidents. But he hadn’t expected these NPCs to be so determined, even going behind his back. Was it mandatory to bring an NPC for this mission?
He Fang paced in circles in front of Chong Xiao, muttering to himself. Throughout it all, Chong Xiao remained silent. The only thing that moved was his pupils, which followed He Fang’s every motion.
“Even though this was an accident, I’ve realized that trying to cross the Nightmare Beast Forest by plane is impossible. We need to find a way to travel through it properly.” He Fang began maneuvering the aircraft to descend. “Maybe we can figure something out.”
Since this was an experimental aircraft, there was only one of it. If a new plane had to be built outside, it would take time. That meant He Fang had to find a way out before then—before any NPCs entered and got themselves killed.
This game was a standard base-building game. No matter how strange the aircraft was, it didn’t change its core mechanics. And the foundation of any base-building game was the ground.
Finally, He Fang could see the ground. Everything in the Nightmare Beast Forest was visible to him, yet he dared not get too close, instead choosing to hover above.
He carefully observed the terrain, trying to identify which one of them was the Revival Nightmare Plant.
He Fang had never seen a Revival Nightmare Plant before, but Min Zhizhou had mentioned it multiple times.
The Revival Nightmare Plant was a conglomerate that gathered all Nightmare Beast Seeds back together, meaning it should have a certain mass.
Due to humanity’s fear of Nightmare Beasts, there was no clear understanding of the Revival Nightmare Plant.
“If the Revival Nightmare Plant is a collection of Nightmare Beast Seeds, then the number of seeds in any given area should vary. Since the people outside the city haven’t found a pattern in the plant’s distribution and rely entirely on experience to identify it, we can make a bold assumption,” He Fang said, looking at Chong Xiao. He seemed to be discussing with him, but in reality, he was just thinking out loud. “For example… areas with more seeds should have a higher concentration of Revival Nightmare Plants.”
And the places with the most seeds were where life had been most active—most likely, the city center.
He Fang still remembered that the newly expanded area had originally been a city. Based on the ruins and the items unearthed from them, it seemed to have been an important district.
“And right now, we are in the eastern outskirts, while the newly expanded area is positioned…” He Fang pulled up a rough map on the aircraft’s screen and studied it carefully.
In his efforts to build a new city, he had gathered a wealth of information, including detailed records on urban planning. If this city had followed standard planning principles, then the area they were in now was likely an industrial zone.
Industrial areas had lower foot traffic, whereas the closer one got to the city center, the higher the population density—and the greater the number of Revival Nightmare Plants.
“Let’s take a bold guess.” He Fang marked several small points on the map. “If we can find a pattern in the distribution of the Revival Nightmare Plants and mark them roughly, we can estimate a route back into the city. What do you think?”
He lifted his gaze and met Chong Xiao’s unwavering stare. That cold, indifferent man.
“What do you think, Chong Xiao?” He Fang asked again, hoping for some encouragement from his NPC.
Chong Xiao didn’t say a word. He remained leaning against the side as if too lazy to move, like a statue. However, the pitch-black pupils that had once seemed lifeless now carried a trace of emotion.
That slight change in expression was already enough to encourage He Fang. When there were no options left, any idea was worth trying.
He Fang felt a little uneasy. He wasn’t sure if his thinking was correct—ultimately, it was just a sudden, spur-of-the-moment idea. But from Chong Xiao, he saw no “suggestion”, no “denial”, no “consideration”. It was as if all the decision-making had been left entirely to him.
It was almost as if…
No matter what he did, the other person would support him.
That thought alone was already a huge source of support for He Fang.
He lowered the aircraft to a certain altitude, allowing him to see the ground more clearly. Narrowing his eyes slightly, he murmured, “I think I understand why they call them seeds or plants now.”
The entire Nightmare Beast Forest resembled a massive tangle of charred, withered branches woven together, forming an enormous, lifeless woodland. If one followed these branches carefully, one would see that they all extended toward a central trunk—like a colossal, dead tree devoid of life.
If not for the all-consuming darkness and the complete absence of leaves bursting with vitality, this place might have looked like a primeval jungle.
He Fang attempted to use the aircraft’s scanning function to analyze the density of the Nightmare Beast Forest. Since the Revival Nightmare Plant was a fusion of all the scattered seeds, its density should be different from the rest.
But as he examined the data, his brows furrowed.
The entire forest appeared uniform—there were no distinguishable differences. Even the buried ruins of the city beneath the forest remained undetectable.
“It seems Nightmare Beast Seeds aren’t entirely useless to us. They just can’t parasitize us,” He Fang muttered, feeling frustrated. “But if that’s the case, how am I supposed to identify the Revival Nightmare Plant?”
He wanted to determine its distribution, but he was completely out of ideas. Min Zhizhou’s knowledge of the Revival Nightmare Plant had been built entirely on intuition and experience as a mercenary—things that couldn’t be taught.
He Fang frowned deeply. “Uh… Chong Xiao, do you have any good ideas?”
All intelligence about Nightmare Beast Seeds was shared among the upper levels of the city. Chong Xiao should know something.
But when he looked at him, he found Chong Xiao’s dark eyes staring straight at him. In this pitch-black world, He Fang suddenly had the illusion that this man wasn’t looking at him at all.
Feeling a little awkward, He Fang scratched his head. “Never mind, I’ll figure it out myself.”
For some reason, he found himself feeling an odd sense of fear toward this NPC. It was like being a socially anxious person forced to sit in a room with someone even more uncommunicative—an unspoken form of torment.
Just as He Fang was about to give up, Chong Xiao moved.
Startled, He Fang tensed up immediately.
He had almost never seen Chong Xiao move. The man always remained eerily still, yet his presence was overwhelmingly strong.
He Fang suddenly recalled the icy hand that had grabbed his wrist before, and a chill ran down his spine. Instinctively, he opened Chong Xiao’s status screen, checking his loyalty value for reassurance.
However, instead of approaching He Fang, Chong Xiao walked straight to the cabin door and reached out to pull it open.
He Fang was startled. “What are you doing?!”
Even with the door open, there was no wind inside the Nightmare Beast Forest. Chong Xiao’s tall figure stood at the entrance, making the doorway—which had seemed quite high to He Fang before—feel narrow in comparison.
His dark eyes glanced at He Fang lightly, and then, without hesitation, he leaped.
“Ahhh—Chong Xiao?!!!”
He Fang was utterly shocked. Even though the aircraft had already descended to a certain height, it was still at least 150 meters above the ground! Jumping from this height—wouldn’t he be smashed to death?!
He Fang rushed to the cabin door as fast as he could. He watched, wide-eyed, as that lean figure plunged into the vast expanse of the Nightmare Beast Forest below.
He squinted, barely managing to make out Chong Xiao’s silhouette.
Was he seeing things?
Chong Xiao was… standing?
“Chong Xiao!” He Fang shouted at the top of his lungs. “Chong Xiao, are you okay? Chong Xiao?!”
The distance between them was simply too great.
He Fang strained his eyes, but he still couldn’t see clearly. Frustrated, he maneuvered the aircraft 50 meters lower, bringing it to a height of 100 meters.
Now, he could finally see Chong Xiao clearly.
He looked completely fine, standing firmly in place—as if he hadn’t just taken a death-defying leap. He seemed to be observing something.
“Chong Xiao?!” He Fang called out again, starting to wonder if the other man simply couldn’t hear him.
Chong Xiao seemed to lift his head slightly. He reached out, pressing down on the brim of his military cap, then pulled a long weapon from his waist.
It was the same black baton he always carried—a standard-issue police baton, completely plain, without any embellishments. Clearly, he had brought it with him when he transferred to the Armed Forces Department. However, his baton was noticeably longer than those used by regular officers. It looked cumbersome, but in Chong Xiao’s hands, the solid weapon seemed as light as a toy.
He Fang watched in astonishment as Chong Xiao strode toward one of the ‘trees’. In his grasp, the long baton sliced through the air like a sharpened blade, brutally cleaving the thick, gnarled trunk of the Nightmare Beast Forest’s ‘tree’ clean in half.
His movements were swift. Not only that but within just two or three strikes, he had completely severed the tree into multiple chunks.
He Fang was dumbfounded.
H-He just… chopped down a tree with his bare hands?
Was this some kind of new ability? But he was sure his city had excavators for this kind of job…
He Fang stared as Chong Xiao moved forward like a one-man wrecking crew, destroying everything in his path. For a moment, he wondered—had Chong Xiao given up hope and started lashing out in frustration?
But just as He Fang was feeling lost, something changed.
Unlike the previous ‘trees’ that had been reduced to blackened fragments when cut down, one of them crumbled into dust instead.
He Fang’s eyes widened as he suddenly realized—
It was a Revival Nightmare Plant!
Chong Xiao immediately took a few steps back, avoiding the black dust-like Nightmare Beast seeds that burst forth upon its destruction. Countless seeds spilled out of the shattered plant, scattering like compressed grains of sand suddenly unleashed.
Chong Xiao gave his baton a casual flick, shaking off the residue, then looked up at He Fang.
“I—I’ll record it right away!” He Fang quickly snapped back to attention, both impressed by Chong Xiao’s quick thinking and his decisiveness.
Without wasting a second, He Fang logged the coordinates of the first Revival Nightmare Plant.
“Chong Xiao, done!”
Hearing this, Chong Xiao raised his baton once more and continued his methodical destruction, searching for more Revival Nightmare Plants.
He Fang maneuvered the aircraft to stay close, meticulously recording the coordinates of each plant uncovered by Chong Xiao’s strikes.
Gradually, a clearer section of the map took shape in He Fang’s hands. If he could gather enough data—enough coordinates for the Revival Nightmare Plants—he could analyze the pattern and finally determine a path back into the city!
![Flying Dust [Fei Chen]](https://www.freenovels.net/wp-content/uploads/2022/03/9k.png "Flying Dust [Fei Chen]")
