Chapter Twenty-One: Returning from the Dead

As the twisted abomination died, the terrifying survival world of the Inner Realm began to dissolve; the kaleidoscopic, illusory glow faded, and the sky and earth continued to collapse—a process that would take some time. Xu Han silently gathered the scattered remains of Wang Dongwei from the ground, as though attempting to piece them together into a corpse.

"Give it up. He's too broken," Li Changxin said coldly, looking at the shattered body with disgust. She had crashed against the wall earlier, breaking some ribs, but after spitting up blood a few times, she managed to recover.

"I am an undertaker," Xu Han replied, continuing his work.

"Hey, what's wrong with you? Brother Wang died saving you!" Zhu Xiaoyong wailed, tears streaming down his face. This overweight recluse was emotionally fragile, but unfortunately, his grief was not intense enough for Yan Luo to absorb through the Heartless Doll.

"Who told him to save me? Cut the nonsense, or I'll kill you too," Li Changxin threatened, her eyes flashing with viciousness.

The group fell silent once more. Xu Han collected Wang Dongwei’s remains and laid them out, then left to search the nearby buildings for needle and thread. When he returned, he began stitching the pieces together, and—true to his reputation as an undertaker who had surpassed human limits—he managed to roughly sew them into a human shape.

He then fetched a bucket of water and washed the blood and grime from the corpse.

"Uncle... uncle..." Yatari Kotori sobbed bitterly beside him.

Zhu Xiaoyong hugged his head in despair.

Yan Luo received a prompt from the Heartless Doll.

You have felt intense emotion:
Grief +2
Sadness +2

Grief and sadness were close in meaning, though grief carried a heavier sense of pain. Yan Luo absorbed the grief radiating from the chuunibyou girl and the sadness from the overweight recluse; both emotions were strong.

Emotions lacking intensity could not be absorbed by the Heartless Doll.

You have felt intense emotion:
Sadness +2

Yan Luo turned and saw Li Changxin curled up in the corner, occasionally coughing up blood. Her gaze was fixed on the corpse, vacant and lost. Sensing someone watching her, she turned her head aside and snorted coldly, "He brought it on himself. No one else is to blame."

"Black coffin."

Xu Han summoned a black wooden coffin using his talent. He solemnly and meticulously placed the body inside, then knelt beside it.

"Death is a doorway. It does not mean the end of life, but rather passing through to another stage, another journey."

"May you be treated gently by the world in your next life."

Having finished his eulogy, Xu Han closed the lid, sealing the corpse from view.

"Sadly, there isn't time to prepare the bodies of Tang Tianjie, Li Zang'ai, or the Guide," he said with a forlorn sigh.

"Hahahaha, hahahahahahaha..."

Chu Qingfeng suddenly burst into wild laughter.

You have felt intense emotion:
Ecstasy +5

"I survived! I actually survived!" Missing his right leg, he raised both hands high, overwhelmed with joy.

When the twisted abomination appeared, he had been certain he would die—how could he escape with one leg? Xu Han and Yan Luo hadn’t abandoned him, and the boss had been defeated! He had already fallen into despair, recalling the death flag Mu Bai had set for him upon entering this world.

A broken leg, the death flag, all combined—and he still hadn’t died!

Everyone stared in astonishment at Chu Qingfeng, who laughed like a madman.

"Ecstasy?"

After crafting the Persona Mask, the Heartless Doll had stored up 2 points of grief, 4 points of sadness, and 5 points of ecstasy.

Grief and sadness were expected, but ecstasy was a positive emotion.

Release, insight.

"Hahahaha, hahahahahahaha..."

Yan Luo began to laugh wildly.

"It worked! It actually worked!" Hands on hips, Yan Luo laughed up at the sky.

The Heartless Doll’s Destiny Talent was level 1, and crafting a Persona Mask always carried a risk of failure. Strictly speaking, blending three emotions could easily fail—but it had succeeded! And the mask, combining fear, disgust, and madness, had resulted in Nightmare.

Nightmare, related to the undead and demons, possessed formidable resistance to mental and elemental attacks—enabling him to withstand psychic power, brainwave currents, and the madness emotion, which had transformed into hellfire, flames that could consume everything! Using Nightmare’s Breath, a wide-area skill, he incinerated the boss.

Otherwise, he would have stood no chance against the Brain-Eater.

Most importantly, his life and spirit sources could not support the transformation for long; the Guide had destroyed the Brain-Eater’s claw and tooth, Li Changxin had used Yatari Kotori’s fantasy-projected weapon to break the Brain-Eater’s eye.

"Hahaha..."

Yan Luo was jubilant.

Everyone—including Chu Qingfeng, who had just been laughing in ecstasy—froze, staring at Yan Luo with expressions as if they’d seen a ghost, as he burst out laughing like a lunatic.

Amid his laughter, the Inner Realm—sky, earth, buildings—all continued to collapse. When the world finally shattered, the group found themselves in a black void, instantly teleported away. This was not a return to the Surface World through a portal, but rather a dragging into the Dream Space.

A prompt sounded in Yan Luo’s consciousness:

"Task complete. Settling rewards now."

"Main quest completed: 1000 bio-energy, 1 gene point."

This was the fixed reward for a level 1 newcomer world.

"Extra bonus: 20 bio-energy."

This was the additional gain from actions within the world—excluding the final twisted abomination, Yan Luo had only killed some regular zombies, not even the mutated zombie mini-boss.

"Defeated F-grade twisted abomination: 4000 bio-energy, 4 gene points."

This was four times the main quest reward!

Yan Luo was surprised to find he hadn’t received any titles. The program explained: the Biochemical Aggregate had not been defeated solely by him, so he could not obtain a rare title comparable to "World Breaker."

"Inner Realm Team Defeat Bonus: 1000 bio-energy."

A total of 6020 bio-energy and 5 gene points!

For a level 1 world tuner, this was a staggering reward! Most newcomers only received the main quest’s 1000 energy and 1 gene point; 6000 bio-energy would make anyone envious, and five gene points were a windfall.

Gene points were non-tradable and could directly enhance one’s strength.

The group found themselves in a sealed room.

"Heal me!" Chu Qingfeng shouted. A sphere of white light descended upon him, enveloping his body. Within it, his missing right leg regenerated—the scene was as shocking and cinematic as a Hollywood special effect.

"Me too," Li Changxin and Zhu Xiaoyong both had injuries.

Two more beams of light descended.

Of course, healing wounds and even limb regeneration required payment in bio-energy—the heavier the injury, the more costly the restoration.

After spending 500 points, Chu Qingfeng’s right leg was restored. He stood up and moved around, feeling no different from before. Relieved, he sighed.

"The Guide is dead, what a pity."

"Wang Dongwei is gone, too."

Tang Tianjie and Li Zang'ai had been quietly eliminated by him, but for this psychologist, failed survivors made excellent backup pawns; besides, Wang Dongwei had sacrificed himself in an act of kindness. Such people were a loss.

"The dead are gone. The living must mourn," Xu Han said with a sigh.

At that moment, Yatari Kotori suddenly shrieked in terror, pointing to a corner of the room where a coffin stood.

A black coffin.

The coffin in which Wang Dongwei had been laid to rest.

"Knock, knock, knock, knock..."

Something was beating against the coffin.

Under their gaze, the lid slowly pushed open—and a hand shot out.

"He’s come back to life! Brother Wang is back from the dead!" Zhu Xiaoyong screamed in terror as a figure sat up from the coffin.