A dank sweetness clung to the morning mist inside the cave as Chen Yuan awoke, every muscle aching. The stone he'd used as a pillow had left his shoulder blade sore. Rubbing his eyes, he sat up and checked the system display—mental corruption remained at 5%, experience 15/100, energy points 3.
"Still grinding half a day just to level up," he muttered, tugging at his crumpled hemp robe stained by last night's berry juice. "Other systems hand out god‑tier gear from the start; mine won't even give me a map. Feels like I'm in a real‑life horror game."
The dew‑heavy vines drooped at the cave mouth. Pushing aside leaves, he brushed something sticky—a severed tentacle, dark purple with suction cups, still writhing. The system flashed a warning:
[Chaos energy residue detected. Recommend using a Spirit‑Purifying Talisman immediately.]
"A Spirit‑Purifier? My newbie gift only had Stanching Talismans—no purifiers." He recoiled as the tentacle shriveled to powder in the sunlight. "Everything's locked behind unlocks; they don't even cover basic sanitation."
He pulled out the wild berries, noting in dawn light that fine hairs on their skin formed spiral glyphs—some ancient script. After a moment's hesitation, he bit one. Sour juice mingled with earthiness, worse than last night's fruit, but at least it soothed his burning stomach.
"Wish I could redeem a Toxicology Compendium." He wiped his mouth and eyed a narrow fissure deeper in the cave, where dripping water whispered. Cautiously, he approached. At his fingertips the damp stone triggered a red alert:
[Refinable target detected: Cave Parasite (Strength 0.2)]
[Warning: This creature controls hosts via neurotoxin. Direct contact will add +10% mental corruption.]
"Weaker than yesterday's beast—but more corrupting?" Chen Yuan quirked an eyebrow at the system's inconsistent metrics. On the wet wall clung a translucent sac housing a dead arthropod.
He lit a Stanching Talisman with his Blood‑Death Seal, channeling qi‑blood into the talisman's sigils. The paper glowed faintly red and fluttered into the fissure. Upon contact, the sac screamed in high‑pitched shrieks; dark patterns proliferated under its once‑clear membrane.
[Refinement underway]
Sharp needles of pain stabbed his temples—memories of the parasite flooded in: damp rock, struggling prey, the thrill of dissolving flesh with toxin. He bit his tongue, blood numbing his panic, and watched as his corruption rose to 7%.
[Refinement successful]
He gained 8 experience, energy points stayed at 3. Gasping against the wall, he realized the parasite's slime was burning his palm. Rinsing with cave water, he saw the black tracery vanish, leaving faint red lines like withered spider‑lilies.
"Never touching that goo again." He wrapped his hand, only to hear a branch snap outside. Pressing to the cave mouth, he peered through vines at a creature the size of a hunting dog twenty meters away—its body woven from dead leaves and rotwood, but its head a human skull with two slender tentacles writhing in its eye sockets.
"A plant‑type Cthulhu entity?" He ran a system scan: strength 0.4, slightly above his base 0.3 but below his augmented. Recalling the parasite's corruption, he moved toward his crude perimeter—a circle of sticks laid last night in a basic Bagua formation.
When the leaf‑bone beast stepped onto the sticks, a pale red mist rose around it and its movements staggered. Seizing the moment, Chen Yuan burst forth, his palm ringed with blood‑doom claws striking the skull. At the touch, the system prompted:
[Special core detected: Chaos Bone Seed. Recommend absorbing as priority.]
As the seed cracked, a flood of information surged into his mind—visions of a ritual burying corpses in the rotten forest, arcane words fusing plant and bone into a guardian. He felt the chill of soil seeping into bone.
[Mental corruption +2%]
Alarmed at 9%, he ran Blood‑Death Seal to clear toxins, only one Stanching Talisman left. Purifiers cost 10 energy—he had 3.
"Should have redeemed the Calm‑Mind Technique first." He kicked away the beast's remains. The rotwood disintegrated, leaving the faintly glowing Chaos Bone Seed. He stored it in system space; the interface confirmed:
[Special material stored. Usable for basic artifact forging.]
"Storage function too? Should've said earlier—I lugged soggy berries all night."
Over the next hours, he advanced cautiously through the rotwood. The system flagged three more small creatures (around 0.3 strength), but each refinement pushed corruption to 11%, triggering:
[Corruption over critical threshold. Take Spirit‑Purifier or risk auditory hallucinations.]
"Threshold was 10%, so why alarm at 11%?" He wiped sweat as shadows flickered at the edge of his vision. "System, clarify your numbers—if I go mad, nobody's refunding me."
Stopping refinements, he hunted for Spirit‑Purifying Herb. Drawing on fragment memories, he found its three‑lobed silver‑veined leaves in a damp leaf‑litter trench—near a poison vine whose barbed tendrils snapped like man‑eating flytraps.
"Nature here's savage." Probing with a stick, he harvested three herbs and stored them. Immediately the purifier recipe lit up:
[3 Spirit‑Purifying Herbs + 1 Pure Water → 1 Spirit‑Purifier Pill (clears 5% corruption)]
"Gotta craft too?" he chuckled, "Other systems give starter alchemy sets; mine's pure DIY. Should've taken that ethnobotany elective."
At dusk he returned to the cave and mixed his ingredients: herbs pounded on a stone slab, moistened with stream water, then heat‑refined through Blood‑Death Seal's flame. The green liquid thickened into a fingernail‑sized dark‑green pill flecked with silver.
[Spirit‑Purifier crafted successfully. Clears 5% corruption; 12‑hour cooldown.]
Swallowing it, a minty cool washed his throat and the shadows at his vision's edge vanished. Corruption dropped from 11% to 6%. Finally, relief.
Footsteps echoed outside—two figures in tattered ritual robes passed, torches in hand. Their cassocks bore writhing tentacle embroidery and bone‑amulets; one wore a living snake with a human‑faced head around his neck. The snake hissed unintelligibly, the robed man nodding as if it spoke words.
"One league ahead is the abandoned mill," one rasped. "Last time's goat sacrifice should have hatched by now."
"Hope the fusion succeeds," the other lifted his robe to reveal scales along his arm. "The High Priest says the new blood pool opens soon. We need qualified offerings."
Chen Yuan's spine chilled. He recalled museum lore: these cultists gain power by fusing monster parts, losing their humanity. His refinement was absorption, converting monstrous energy wholly. When they passed, he drew a quiet breath.
His chest still warmed where he'd refined. In the system's cultivation menu, the Corpse‑Toxin Scripture required 10 points; he had 5.
"Need more refinements, but keep corruption in check." He counted cave herbs—only two left. "Tomorrow I'll scout that mill for supplies—but stay clear of those cultists. If they sense my difference, they'll sacrifice me as heresy."
Night fell. Deep in the cave he lit a small fire, leaning against the wall and staring at his system bar: 45/100 XP, 55 to next level. Qi‑Refinement had nine layers, each exponentially harder; his progress was snail‑paced.
"Others level by slaughter; I level by near‑death." Sparks flickered onto the red scars on his palm, stinging. "Better than those cultists—they gouge out eyes for each rank. My only cost is a splitting headache."
Recalling the bone beast and parasite, he understood the world's danger lay not just in monsters but in corrupted humans. Victim and victimizer alike, they blurred the line of humanity under chaos's sway.
"Maybe I should thank my luck. This system's magic‑path legacy means I stay human, free to choose when to absorb energy." He watched his shadow flicker against stone as if tentacles brushed its edges—a constant reminder that any misstep meant irrevocable ruin.
When the first star appeared at the cave mouth, he began circulating the Blood‑Death Seal again. Internal warmth clashed with the night's chill. He didn't know what tomorrow would bring, but for now he was alive, armed with a system—and a glimmer of hope to survive in the Cthulhu World.
"Keep going, Chen Yuan," he whispered to the darkness. "Tomorrow—survive, refine, level up, then—"
The system blinked open:
[First material gathering complete. Unlocked: Basic Alchemy (can craft Spirit‑Purifiers and Qi‑Blood Pills).]
"At last." He exhaled a soft laugh and snuffed out the fire. "Turns out just surviving has its perks. Here's to not biting my tongue next time to stay sane."
Outside, the rotwood forest rumbled in the night. A distant tremor hinted at some large creature passing—but deep in meditation, Chen Yuan slept, the pale glow of his system reflecting on his calm face. In this world of unknowns, he was carving out his own path as a magic‑path cultivator.