Dreams are always illusory and bizarre, yet they are closely related to people's memories: what they want, what they can't get, what they miss, what they suffer from, what they fear… The brain is like a chef with no cooking skills, stuffing them all into a pot and stewing them into the form of a dream.
It doesn't care if it's salty or bland, bitter or sweet, or if it even used green onions, ginger, or garlic.
And at this moment, Neva was having a strange dream.
In her dream, she had turned back into a human, returning to a comfortable and ordinary daily life.
Everything about surviving in the cave seemed to have never happened.
Her former friend waved her arms at her.
She was on a bustling street, with a wide road beside her, surrounded by tall steel jungles, and those familiar yet blurry GG slogans.
She stood there blankly, like a puppet on strings.
Then she walked towards the waving figure.
Her steps were slow, her legs heavy like unbending iron pillars, as if she would never reach the figure.
The figure seemed to lose patience and walked towards her.
For some reason, she felt a hint of unease. Neva looked up at the crimson sky.
She couldn't help but wonder:
Is the sky red?
As if intentionally letting her notice, the red sky tore open, extending blood-like threads.
The threads quickly covered the entire world—buildings, ground, crowds, everywhere were the threads, like monsters shedding their disguise, as if the end of the world had arrived.
Those threads pierced through Neva's body, feeling like she was enduring the punishment of a thousand cuts.
She felt pain, unbearable pain, real pain.
At this moment, she saw the familiar void in her body, that eerie black heart.
The figure in the distance was not her acquaintance, but a standing "ant"… In reality, Neva was awakened by the nightmare.
She was still a white insect, and this was still the tree hollow she occupied.
But what was different was that she had some strange red patterns on her body, and a real, intense pain as if being cut by blades.
She desperately gritted her teeth, enduring the tearing sensation in her body, appearing utterly bewildered.
She just slept, how did it turn out like this?
Looking at the strange red patterns on her body, she suddenly felt an urge to dig them out, as if digging them out would lessen the pain.
She shook her head vigorously, wanting to get rid of this terrifying thought.
But this thought was not suppressed; instead, it grew stronger, and even her limbs seemed to lose control, wanting to act on their own.
Undoubtedly, these red patterns were behind it. These Red Stripe Infestations were like the red threads in her nightmare, as if they had their own life, their own will, glowing with an eerie crimson.
What exactly is this thing?
Neva glanced at her status panel and found that under "Special Status," which was [Misfortune], an additional piece of information had appeared.
[Red Stripe Infestation]?
"What is this? Is it some kind of ability?"
Wait, she seemed to have seen this ability somewhere.
She concentrated, trying hard to recall, and finally remembered.
It was that Red-Striped Ant from yesterday! This was its ability. Is it some kind of toxin? But she didn't eat that Red-Striped Ant at all, how did she get infected?
Neva couldn't understand. Could it be airborne?
Suddenly, the crystal heart's voice echoed in Neva's mind.
Red Stripe Infestation, a unique ability of the Red-Striped Ant, categorized under the "Pain System," a curse type. After a creature is eroded, red patterns identical to those of the Red-Striped Ant will gradually appear on its body, accompanied by intense pain.
As time progresses, the pain will become increasingly severe. After reaching a certain degree, the damage will directly affect the soul body.
Creatures affected by the ability will experience slight hallucinations and eventually die from the madness and self-harm brought on by pain, or have their will crushed by the pain.
Source of infection: The host consumed Abyssal Worm carcasses contaminated with Red-Striped Ant blood.
It was just a normal meal, who would have thought such a situation would occur?
Neva was on the verge of tears.
But now, regretting it was useless.
"Is there no solution?"
Based on the host's current strength and environment, there is no solution. The Red Stripe Infestation will last for about one day. It is tolerable until the Red Stripe Infestation disappears.
Neva almost fainted from anger.
Tolerable until the Red Stripe Infestation disappears? Easy to say, if it could truly be endured, how could it cause death?
Should she still be grateful that the Red Stripe Infestation only lasts for one day?
"So what is my probability of survival?"
She asked with a nervous heart.
Red Stripe Infestation, proficiency 4, analysis... The probability of death for an F-grade Low-grade Life Form infected is infinitely close to 100%. The probability of death for a sentient Civilization creature infected is close to 97%.
Note: Willpower strength will affect the final outcome.
What? This basically means she's doomed!
Should she start preparing for her funeral? Perhaps she should find a good spot, dig a hole, and bury herself while she can still move?
Looking at the "critical illness notice" issued by the crystal heart, Neva felt extremely distressed, both psychologically and physically.
Although she was currently a Low-grade Life Form, she possessed a human soul. So, her mortality rate should be calculated based on the standard for sentient Civilization creatures, right?
Therefore, her probability of death should be 97%?
Actually, it was pretty much the same. Whether it was 100% or 97%, there wasn't much difference; a 3% gap was practically a joke.
But it was better than having no hope at all, right? At least it gave her some thought.
Neva inadvertently glanced at the sky outside the tree hollow.
Although it was still night, a faint glimmer of light had already appeared on the horizon.
And the effect of the Red Stripe Infestation would persist until sunset, or even longer… Neva curled up at the edge of the tree hollow, the excruciating pain stimulating every nerve.
She could faintly feel the pain intensifying little by little, her eight limbs twitching involuntarily.
She seemed to see the hallucinations the heart spoke of, those red patterns like rotten, disgusting venomous snakes.
She wanted to claw them, tear them to shreds!
At this moment, she felt her thoughts being enveloped by a chaotic haze, as if she had truly turned into a beast that had lost its mind.
Reason stumbled forward in the storm of pain, preventing her from doing things that would harm herself.
She pressed her uncontrollable limbs beneath her, preventing them from piercing her body.
Time passed bit by bit, and the pain also changed; the sensation of being cut by sharp objects turned into being gnawed by countless ants.
Unable to bear it, Neva laboriously looked up at the scene outside the tree hollow.
The morning sunlight entered the tree hollow, falling upon Neva, but she felt no warmth at all.
She had thought a long time had passed, but found that it flowed so slowly.
This must be what it feels like to live through a year in a day… Neva's body curled into a ball, her limbs twisted and deformed unnaturally, and her mouthparts were pierced by her fangs from biting too hard, oozing drops of blood.
Under extreme pressure, it is easy for people to doubt their persistence, feel confused, or even become groundlessly suspicious and give up.
Neva was in this situation now. She began to doubt herself, wondering if there was any meaning in persevering like this, and what good would survival do, if it was just to continue struggling as an insect in the forest… And this strange heart, why didn't it warn her about the danger in the Abyssal Worm's corpse… After suspecting the crystal heart, she even imagined many conspiracies.
Those questions she usually didn't want to ponder now surfaced one by one.
Where did the crystal heart come from, and what was its purpose in becoming her heart?
Why did it possess an ability like [Misfortune]?
It called her a host, did that mean it had previously resided in other Life Clan, acting as their hearts… "Hiss, what am I thinking?"
Neva gritted her teeth.
At this time, she absolutely could not give in to despair; random suspicions were completely unhelpful to her situation.
Actually, she knew she couldn't blame the crystal heart. It only answered her questions when she asked them, so it naturally wouldn't give her a warning when she swallowed the Abyssal Worm; it had no such obligation.
These thoughts were just being unreasonable.
Speaking of which, if it weren't for its existence, she would have died on the very first day of her rebirth.
What reason did she have to ask it to do more for her?
Even if the so-called "host" wasn't a good designation.
The pain seemed to reach a certain critical point. Neva's consciousness plunged into darkness at that moment, but then a notification from her heart pulled her back from the darkness to reality.
Reached specified conditions, gained ability "Pain Endurance".