Jian Huai dies unexpectedly and finds himself in a wilderness. The trees here are a strange black, the flames are green, and the plants and animals look bizarre. Night and day each have a strict time limit.
Just as he is about to despair, he hears a "ding" in his mind. A mechanical voice says, "Welcome, player, to the Sea of Consciousness. The System has detected that you have been confirmed dead in your original timeline. If you fail to survive in the Sea of Consciousness, the world's will shall erase you. Good luck!"
"Hey, hey! What do you mean?!" Jian Huai is completely baffled, but the electronic voice never responds again.
Suddenly, a panel appears in front of him, showing his current location, health, and supplies: 0.
A huge, billboard-sized zero.
Jian Huai: ...
That's a pretty insulting thing to emphasize.
"Nightfall is approaching. Please take shelter nearby."
"Do not wander in the Sea of Consciousness!"
"Do not wander in the Sea of Consciousness!"
The glaring red warnings are alarming. Jian Huai has no time to think and quickly finds a nearby tree hollow to hide in. As soon as he gets inside, he discovers a backpack.
"Ding! Basic backpack found. You have earned 10 points. Your exchange shop is now unlocked!"
Jian Huai has no time to deal with the bizarre alert, because through the cracks in the tree hollow he sees a black bear as big as a small mountain passing by his hiding place. And that bear has two heads!!
*
Jian Huai accepts the reality that he can't hunt, and spends his time searching everywhere for edible plants to fill his stomach, starving until his vision blurs.
Then one day, deep in the forest, he comes across a campfire with meat roasting over it, fat sizzling and popping.
As Jian Huai wonders whether this is a hallucination before his death or a trap laid just for him, someone jumps down from a nearby tree.
"Hungry? Go ahead and eat."
Jian Huai: "!! You're alive?"
Qi Nan grins, showing a mouthful of bright white teeth. "No, I'm already dead. But I didn't expect this Sea of Consciousness could connect players either."
Jian Huai: "..."
From then on, they team up to hunt. Jian Huai discovers that the so-called rules can't restrain Qi Nan at all. The guy can hunt two-headed bears and bisect bone crocodiles.
Jian Huai stares in amazement.
Good grief, he's practically a superhero.
Life becomes quite pleasant. By the time they realize it, they've made it to the edge of the forest, built a little house and a yard, and raised chickens, ducks, and sheep. They no longer have to worry about having enough to eat.
There's just one strange thing...
Jian Huai opens his eyes at night and, sure enough, feels a blaze of warmth behind him. He grits his teeth. Does this guy have to sleep right next to him when there's a perfectly good bed?!
Theme: Living in harmony with nature
