novelraw Chapter 3: Sea of Darkness - (3)
Chapter 3: Sea of Darkness - (3)
The surgery concluded, and Kui Xin was wheeled out by the doctor and nurses.
The rolling bed automatically glided over the metal floor, while the soft blue lighting from the corridor ceiling imparted an ethereal atmosphere.
After turning a corner, a seamless metal door opened, and Kui Xin, along with her bed, was pushed into a capsule-shaped recovery tank.
By this time, the lead surgeon had changed out of his surgical attire and donned a white coat. On the outside of his coat hung an identification badge that read, “Huang Cunliang, Head of Medical Office.”
Dr. Huang inserted an IV line into Kui Xin’s hand, closed the glass lid of the recovery tank, and said to her, “Rest well. Your wound is expected to heal within twelve hours. If you feel any discomfort, press the green call button on your right-hand side. I have a patient to attend, so I’ll be off now.”
Kui Xin silently nodded.
The doctor and nurses departed from Kui Xin’s room.
Lying in the recovery tank, Kui Xin observed the built-in display showing various vital signs.
The medical equipment beeped incessantly, and the electrocardiogram fluctuated continuously, with her heart rate maintaining between 80 to 110 beats per minute. Her blood pressure was low, indicating mild anemia.
All her physiological data were displayed on the screen.“Crimson Earth” leaned towards a cyberpunk worldview, so the technology in this world was significantly more advanced than that of Kui Xin’s real-world era. The recovery tank, brimming with futuristic elements, seemed far beyond what Earth’s technological level could produce.
Despite sustaining such severe injuries, the doctor informed her that her wounds would heal within twelve hours—a level of medical advancement unattainable on Earth.
The promotional tagline for “Crimson Earth” was “Experience a Second World that truly exists.”
Entering the game essentially opened the gateway to another realm.
This slogan wasn’t exaggerated at all; Kui Xin had genuinely been transported across the world. She wondered if the other ten thousand players who participated in the Closed Beta alongside her experienced similar transmigration, assuming new identities and lives distinct from their reality.
Kui Xin was highly adaptable, resilient like a wild weed, and capable of taking care of herself even without parental presence. Now, having entered an entirely new environment that was foreign to her, she remained optimistic. Although her in-game persona is complex and fraught with danger, she believed she still managed to start with a relatively stable footing.
As her current status was that of a patient—an inexperienced security officer injured during a field operation while on probation—she was safe during her recovery period. This allowed her to temporarily avoid some trouble. Moreover, since her injury was to the head, feigning amnesia might be cliché, but it could prove useful.
This provided Kui Xin with ample buffer time.
The question of why she crossed over is indeed too profound; Kui Xin lacked the ability to delve deeply into its origins.
Facing her now was a pressing issue: how to survive.
Those six pieces of advice were deeply ingrained in Kui Xin’s mind:
“First, treat the game world as if it were real.”
“Second, do not reveal your player identity to anyone.”
“Third, do not disclose any game content to others.”
“Fourth, you have only one life; death offers no resurrection.”
“Fifth, once you choose to start the game, you face two paths: ‘completing the game’ or ‘character death.'”
“Sixth, everything comes at a cost.”
Points four and five can be considered together, both emphasizing the consequences of “death.” The phrase “you have only one life” is likely not meant jokingly.
If considering the game world as the Second World, then the reality where players reside could be called the First World. If one dies in the Second World, would they also perish in the First World?
For anyone, the cost of death is unbearable. Kui Xin felt the weight—pressure to survive.
Kui Xin had twelve hours allocated for her recovery.
After these twelve hours, she would have to exit the recovery tank and directly interact with the inhabitants of the Second World.
Given her complex identities, she might need to frequently deal with a resistance organization called “Mechanical Dawn,” striving to climb the ranks within the Investigation Department to gain trust and become a competent double agent, secretly passing on intelligence while concealing her true identity…
Kui Xin gained some buffer time, but it had an explosive start right from the beginning.
Every step must be taken with the utmost caution, like walking on thin ice. A single misstep could lead to a Bad Ending (BE).
She wonders if any other player has been equally unlucky?
The recovery tank was operational, scanning her body with wave after wave of blue light as healing agents were infused into her veins. Kui Xin felt a tingling sensation on her scalp; her wounds were rapidly healing.
“Ch-check the panel?” Kui Xin tentatively thought to herself.
The game system responded to Kui Xin, and the light screen unfolded once more, displaying familiar text.
She skipped over the basic identity settings she had reviewed multiple times and examined another section:
[Basic Attributes]
Name: Kui Xin
Class: Depriver
Superhuman Abilities: [Not Acquired]
Innate Talents: [Performative Persona] Your acting skills are exceptional, enabling you to deceive most people. [Life Resilience] You possess tenacious vitality, akin to a cockroach’s endurance. [Danger Evasion] You can keenly detect and avoid dangers around you. [Rapid Learning] Your aptitude allows for accelerated mastery of any skill.
Her class is a Depriver? What exactly does being a Depriver entail?
The system promptly provided clarification: “A Depriver is a profession that gains power by hunting and depriving special ability users of their superhuman abilities.”
Gaining supernatural powers through killing special ability users? By eliminating someone with extraordinary capabilities, would their powers then transfer to themselves?
Kui Xin’s heart jolted, causing her heart rate displayed on the rehabilitation tank’s monitor to rapidly spike.
“Heart rate abnormal, heart rate abnormal…” The rehabilitation tank emitted beeping alarm sounds.
Kui Xin immediately took deep breaths to steady her heartbeat. After about ten seconds, the rehabilitation tank’s alarm ceased.
Just as she was about to ponder deeply on this brutal profession of Deprivers, the lights in her room suddenly went out.
The metal door opened, and someone entered her ward.
Kui Xin turned her head, looking through the transparent glass at the doorway.
Dr. Huang, wiping his glasses, slowly approached and tapped on the glass enclosure with a smile. “How are you feeling now?”
Kui Xin was about to say, “I think I’ve lost my memory.”
However, Dr. Huang’s next action interrupted Kui Xin before she could utter those words.
He lifted the lid of the rehabilitation tank, retrieved a blue chip from his wristwatch, placed it into Kui Xin’s hand, and whispered, “This is something the organization entrusted me to deliver to you.”
Kui Xin, bewildered, thought, What? What organization? Which organization? Be clearer!
She sensed something amiss—could the seemingly kind and approachable Dr. Huang also be hiding a traitorous identity like herself?
Dr. Huang nodded at Kui Xin. “My clearance level is not high, so I do not have access to your mission details. For any future actions, if assistance is needed, please inform me. I will do my utmost to cooperate.”
Kui Xin, unsure how to react, could only expressionlessly gaze at him.
“Here’s another document containing information about the person you’re currently impersonating. Please review it carefully; some small habits are hardest to copy and easiest to break. Fortunately, the individual you’re replacing is a recent intern who isn’t well-acquainted with everyone, making the substitution less challenging.” Dr. Huang then produced a black chip and a silver-white bracelet. “This contains the organization’s communicator; those above will contact you through this device.”
“… Uh-huh,” Kui Xin responded indifferently.
Knowing that more words might lead to more mistakes, she decided not to speak further.
“Your sacrifices truly are immense,” Dr. Huang sighed lamentably. “To convincingly fake injuries, you even took a blow to the head and voluntarily underwent mechanical augmentation surgery… You don’t need to worry; the organization has already taken care of her. Her genetic information and life trajectory have been fully altered as well. From now on, you are ‘Kui Xin,’ the patrol security officer of the Field Operations Team’s Seventh Squad.”
Upon hearing these words, a clearer picture instantly formed in Kui Xin’s mind.
The name “Kui Xin” also belonged to an intern security officer within the Investigation Department, but this “Security Officer Kui Xin” was rather unfortunate—she got replaced by a Mechanical Dawn spy and subsequently eliminated. Meanwhile, the real Kui Xin transformed into the spy who usurped “Security Officer Kui Xin”… It’s all so convoluted!
“The Investigation Department has more than one awakened individual; the heads of each team and department possess superhuman abilities. The capabilities of these awakened ones vary greatly, encompassing just about everything,” Dr. Huang said. “There’s a rumor within the Investigation Department that the leader of the Criminal Investigation Unit has the ability ‘Lie Detection.’ Please be extremely cautious.”
Kui Xin tersely replied, “Understood.”
“For the sake of dawn.” Dr. Huang looked at Kui Xin with a meaningful gaze.
This phrase… Why does it sound so much like a comrade’s declaration?
Quickly catching on, Kui Xin echoed him, “For the sake of dawn.”
Dr. Huang nodded, filled with melancholy. “Take care of yourself; I must rush to my next surgery… Hah, when I first joined here, I didn’t anticipate such exhausting work.”
Kui Xin stared after his departing figure until he left.
A strong survival instinct took over Kui Xin’s mind, as danger lurked right beside her.
What kind of organization is Mechanical Dawn? They could effortlessly eliminate someone and replace their existence without hesitation; it doesn’t seem like they’re composed of benevolent individuals at all. What is the purpose of infiltrating the Investigation Department with an undercover agent? What is the ultimate goal of the resistance army?
Most importantly, Kui Xin was uncertain whether she could still leave the Second World and return to the First World. If she were forever trapped here, what would she do?
Kui Xin took repeated deep breaths to lower her heart rate, avoiding another abnormal heartbeat alarm from the rehabilitation tank.
Her gaze fixated on the word “Depriver.”
If there was anything she could rely on, it was undoubtedly the abilities of the Depriver. This terrifying power may be her only hope.
With her unique status, she felt like she was walking a tightrope—deviating left or right meant plunging into an abyss, and moving forward or backward carried the risk of falling to the depths. What troubled Kui Xin most was that she had no opportunity to retreat.
No informant can gracefully exit after accomplishing their mission. If she betrayed the Mechanical Dawn Organization, would there be any favorable outcome? And if she betrayed the Investigation Department, the consequences would be even worse, considering she also held the identity of a top-priority wanted person.
The price of death made Kui Xin exceedingly cautious. Her solitary life thus far had taught her to protect and fortify herself.
After pondering for a very long time, she ultimately decided to treat this extraordinary journey through space and time as a game—a real game, one that cannot be lost, with life at stake.
She had to complete this game, reach the end, avoid all Bad Endings (BEs), and strive for a Happy Ending (HE)… no matter what methods she employed.
Author’s note:
The protagonist this time is Chaotic Neutral—neither inherently good nor evil. Emotionally, she possesses human qualities, so her character and approach to situations will gradually evolve over time. However, what makes her frightening is that, despite knowing the world is real and NPCs are living people, she still chooses to view it as a game. Not just for the sake of completion but also for survival itself.
In short, a journey from normalcy to becoming deranged?