When Ling Yuanyun opened his eyes, everything before him was blurry.
His nostrils were filled with a sharp, salty stench of rot, like seawater-soaked rust and seaweed fermenting together.
Instinctively, he tried to push himself up, only to find his palm resting on a damp, moldy metal plate. A sticky, slippery sensation brushed his fingertips.
"What the hell... Where am I?"
He muttered under his breath, his voice so hoarse it barely sounded like his own.
A buzzing filled his ears, as though a swarm of bees were flying around inside his head.
A low rumble came from somewhere in the distance, like some kind of giant beast roaring.
He struggled to focus his eyes and finally saw that he was lying in the ruins of a derelict research station. Half the ceiling had collapsed, and sunlight slanted through the opening, illuminating scattered instrument wreckage and mottled bloodstains across the floor.
"This isn't some game level, is it?"
He rubbed his temples, his mind in utter chaos.
"I remember calibrating a quantum stabilizer in the lab... How did I open my eyes and end up in an apocalypse survival scenario?"
As soon as the words left his mouth, a shrill, piercing screech sounded outside the door, followed by the sound of metal being torn apart.
Ling Yuanyun whipped around and saw a twisted, deformed mechanical creature clawing at the doorframe with jagged talons. Its body was made of countless metal parts welded together, its joints grinding and creaking, and its crimson electronic eyes were fixed on him.
"What the hell is that thing?!"
He rolled into a corner, failed to get back on his feet, and nearly slipped into a pile of broken glass.
The monster seemed to notice his movement and suddenly lunged at him,
Not bad, keep up the good work