NOVEL NEXT Chapter 25: Setback (1)
Chapter 25: Setback (1)
An hour and fifty-one minutes, or rather, two hours, was not long for Yu Hong.
While adding firewood, he patiently waited.
Unknowingly, the number of black bugs outside began to decrease, and faint light started to shine through the ventilation holes.
Morning arrived.
He slowly walked to the back of the door and opened the observation window.
Outside, the forest was shrouded in a hazy gray mist, unclear and indistinct. The sunlight illuminated the mist, turning everything into a dull gray-white.
Suddenly, Yu Hong smelled a pungent odor and involuntarily took two steps back, frowning slightly.
He glanced at the enhanced medicine behind him; there were still a few minutes left.
Not in a hurry, he calmly sat and waited.
Before long, the numbers on the surface of the black soil dropped to zero.
Its entire body twisted and blurred for less than a second, then quickly returned to clarity.
Once clear, the original soil had turned into six black capsules, lined up together.
The back of the capsules had writing: Antidiarrheal medicine, usage: one capsule at a time, once a day. Side effects: abdominal pain, constipation, stomach discomfort.
Yu Hong’s expression brightened, and he quickly ran over to pick up the medicine. He took out one capsule and put it in his mouth, then grabbed the filtered boiled water and drank it, swallowing the pill with a few gulps.
After taking the medicine, he felt much calmer.
The enhanced black imprint ability had never failed. Since it had marked the pill as an antidiarrheal, it would definitely be safe.
The medicine hadn’t taken effect yet, so Yu Hong, with nothing else to do, began using the remaining wood to make a new water filtration cup.
As long as it was roughly made, the enhancement would perfect it.
He also took a protein bar and popped it into his mouth.
This bar claimed to replace a full day’s worth of nutrition, and he wanted to give it a try.
While working with the saw, he casually turned on the radio.
The radio was set up and hadn’t been tampered with.
Once switched on, a voice emerged, an interview format.
“.The major disaster in Youyun City in the past two years has not been an isolated case. According to the statistics of the National News Agency, since the appearance of the Black Disaster, special disasters have been increasing nationwide. The casualties caused by strange shadow creatures and blood tide monsters have not been particularly severe. They only caused considerable damage in the early stages of the Black Disaster. But in the more stable environments later, it was the more dangerous Evil Shadows that led to the sharp rise in casualties.”
“The Evil Shadows are not afraid of ordinary glowing stones, move extremely fast, and have strong infectivity. Although their appearance is rare, they cause far more harm once they appear than the previous two monsters. The recent disaster in Youyun caused over six hundred casualties, comparable to the early case in Frika, Charle Town.”
“Indeed, Professor Han, do you have any advice for us?” the radio host asked.
“Advice? There is only one: Try to reach larger Hope City outposts. They have better weapons, stronger protection, and a single person cannot find a way to combat the Evil Shadows. Thank you.”
“Okay, by the way, you previously mentioned that the Silver Tower Joint Research Institute is about to release a survival manual for defending against the Blood Tide and strange shadow monsters. Do you know if this is true or not?”
“I’ve heard of it, but I’m not sure whether it’s true. However, the environment outside the cities is getting worse. Blood Tide and strange shadow creatures are increasing, and the night is growing longer. The demand for lighting is rising. Personally, I think Silver Tower has an obligation to release such a manual.”
“Lastly, a listener asked: In large gathering places, when danger strikes, more people die and the risk of being affected is higher. Just like the Bokov incident from a year ago or the Music Box incident five months ago, both led to mass casualties. There are even more incidents happening in various corners that haven’t been reported. What is your opinion on these concerns?”
“I must warn you about these incidents. Investigations show that they were all caused by Evil Shadows. Their high infectivity allows them to spread rapidly through any contact with their mediums. This is the key to their large-scale casualties.
As for the Evil Shadows, aside from isolating and dispersing the mediums, we have no effective means of driving them away.”
“How about high-concentration Luminous stone bombs?”
“No, the danger of Evil Shadows lies in their ability to recover extremely fast once dispersed, without any harm. So, once encountered, it is crucial to leave swiftly. With more Evil Shadow incidents outside, various Hope Cities are becoming stricter in their checks for people entering. I advise all survivors outside to enter the cities’ bunkers as soon as possible. Otherwise, they may face difficulties entering and a lack of supplies.”
The program ended with a thank-you message as the professor left the broadcast room, and the station played soothing music.
Yu Hong sat on the bench, engrossed in listening.
He hadn’t expected that even the seemingly safe Hope City outposts were facing such great dangers.
‘Well, it makes sense. The more people, the more danger draws towards them. If I were a strange shadow monster, I’d go to places with more people to find food.’
Snapping back to reality, he sighed lightly.
Standing up, he placed a rough wooden cup on the ground and, as usual, wrapped charcoal in cloth to block the cup’s mouth.
He pressed down on it and activated the enhancement.
The countdown numbers appeared: 3 hours and 2 minutes.
“Huh? Why is the time longer?” Yu Hong remembered that the last time the enhancement took only two and a half hours.
He looked at the new cup he had made. It was very rough—just a square wooden bowl hacked out with an axe, with a messy hole carved in the middle with a chisel.
It was much worse than the finely crafted wooden cup he made the first time.
‘Could it be that the craftsmanship is affecting the time?’ he wondered.
He made a mental note of this.
After resting for a while, feeling better, he began enhancing the water filtration cup. Then, he cleaned up the cave, throwing out the garbage and changing into the new clothes he’d found, before going outside to gather more firewood and collect water from puddles.
After finishing these tasks, three hours had passed.
The cup was enhanced, and there was no noticeable difference from the last one.
He tested it out, and indeed, it worked well.
That day, he didn’t run around much, instead staying near the cave, gathering firewood.
The dry firewood had been soaked by the rain, but it was still good for small crafting projects.
Another three hours passed, and Yu Hong enhanced another filtration cup.
With two now, he paused and decided not to continue, instead picking up his tool kit.
This kit, assembled by the little stutterer, included a saw, axe, chisel, shovel, screwdriver, and more—quite comprehensive.
Yu Hong decided to enhance it properly for future use; if it broke, it would be troublesome to fix it later.
Inside the cave, he placed all the tools together, bundled them in a piece of rag, and then pressed his hand on the cloth.
“Enhance tool kit, focus: reinforcement.”
A black line flashed, and the countdown immediately appeared: 1 hour and 12 minutes.
A short time.
Yu Hong withdrew his hand, deep in thought.
“Looks like this enhancement is closely related to my requirements. The more difficult the requirement, the greater the time difference. There’s also something about the level of completeness; I’m not sure how low the minimum requirement is.”
He calculated in his mind, then found a place to sit and rest.
The antidiarrheal medicine was very effective; for six hours, he didn’t have any problems and felt no discomfort.
The remaining medicine could be saved for future use or exchanged at a crucial moment.
As the afternoon passed, Yu Hong decided to take a break. After familiarizing himself with the environment, he returned to the shelter and prepared to sleep early.
He couldn’t sleep at night, so he planned to use the advanced physical training method to exercise his body.
Before sleeping, he couldn’t let the enhancement time go to waste, so he checked the status of the tool kit.
When he reached the corner of the cave, Yu Hong was momentarily stunned.
The once scattered and broken tools were now all fixed in place by a black metal rack.
Each tool looked brand new, no longer showing any wear or damage.
Moreover, the surfaces of the tools seemed to have a layer of unknown black substance attached, making them thicker and sturdier.
“Wow… impressive. Just one hour?” Yu Hong couldn’t help but exclaim, picking up a saw.
The saw’s teeth, which had previously been broken in some places, were now fully intact, sharper than before.
Impressed again, he began to look for the next item to enhance.
Now, in the cave, food, water, and tools were guaranteed for the time being.
The only remaining issue was the place to rest.
His gaze fell on the thick, smelly quilt.
‘Let’s enhance this too. If it can be turned into something resistant to mold, lightweight, and easy to clean, that would be great.’
With that thought, he crouched in front of the gray-white quilt the little stutterer had given him and extended his hand.
“Enhance bedding, focus: anti-mold, pest control, more lightweight and easier to clean.”
His requirements flashed in his mind.
The black line from the imprint on his hand flashed out and entered the quilt.
The countdown appeared: 10 hours and 14 minutes.
“Ten hours?!” Yu Hong was surprised. But then, he realized that the extra requirements and the larger size of the bedding might be the cause.
Ten hours—from now until morning—he could wait.
He made up his mind and sat down to rest. As the countdown on the quilt began to move, Yu Hong started jogging in place, continuing his physical exercises.
He kept his breathing steady, focusing his mind, and coordinating with his muscles.
It was a challenge to synchronize all three.
He kept trying and repeating, occasionally stopping to add firewood, as time continued to pass.
By the later hours of the night, he gradually found the rhythm of coordination.
As he jogged, he began to hear faint water sounds.
The sound was initially soft.
But over time, it grew louder and louder, eventually overtaking even the sound of the black bugs outside.
(End of Chapter)