[Code Vision Remaining Time: 04:58]
Time is life. Watching the beating red countdown in the top right corner of my vision, my pace involuntarily quickened.
The corridor to the backyard wasn't long, but under Code Vision, it looked exceptionally eerie.
The paintings on the walls were no longer blurry images but patches of missing [Texture_Missing] purple blocks. The dust stains on the floor were labeled [Bio_Hazard].
Clearly, before this hotel was abandoned, something very bad happened here.
Reaching the end of the corridor, a rusty iron door blocked the way.
The door handle was wrapped in a few red code lines, displaying [Locked (Rusted)].
"Open up!"
I didn't have time to look for a key (or lubricant), so I swung the hammer in my hand and smashed it hard onto the rusty lock.
Clang! Clang!
Two loud bangs. Rust flew everywhere.
[Structure_Broken]
As the system notified me that the lock structure was destroyed, I kicked the iron door hard.
Creak—
Accompanied by a harsh metal grinding sound, this long-sealed door was forced open a crack by my kick.
A gust of wind mixed with the smell of machine oil, rot, and a strange sweet fishy scent instantly poured in, blowing so hard I couldn't keep my eyes open.
Squinting, I pushed the door open and walked out.
Then, I stopped in my tracks, shocked by the scene before me.
This wasn't the backyard garden I imagined, nor was it an ordinary garbage dump. It was a Graveyard. A massive Data Graveyard belonging to the Heavens and Myriad Worlds.
Appearing before me was an endless hill of ruins. It was piled high with all sorts of inconceivable things, as if a mischievous giant had crumbled the wreckage of countless worlds and thrown them here.
On my left, I saw a World War II heavy tank broken in two, with a half-broken crystal magic staff still flickering with faint light stuck in its cannon barrel. [Object: Tiger_Tank (Wreckage)] [Object: Archmage_Staff (Broken)]
On my right, there was a small mountain made of countless old computer monitors. And at the top of this electronic waste mountain hung a giant Western dragon skull still dripping with green slime. [Object: Frost_Dragon_Skull]
A shattered mecha arm hugging half a piece of ancient porcelain; laser gun barrels twisted together with rusty farm shovels; a magic book burning with eternal flame crushed under a scrapped washing machine.
Absurd. Disordered. But with a weird magnificence.
This is the recycling bin of the Main God Space. All eliminated dungeons, all deleted data, all the relics of losers eventually gather here.
I looked up at the sky.
There was no sun, no moon, only a patch of gray static noise. But right in the center of that firmament hung a massive, spherical object.
It was an "Eyeball". Or rather, a giant, shattered mechanical eyeball.
It occupied half the sky. The pupil part was a pitch-black hollow, surrounded by countless broken thick cables hanging down into the clouds like dead tentacles.
In Code Vision, its label was red, the font terrifyingly large:
[System_Eye: The_Observer] [Status: DESTROYED] [Connection: Lost]
"The Main God's Eye... is broken?"
I felt an inexplicable chill. Even the "God's Eye" monitoring this world was blind; no wonder this place had become a lawless zone, no wonder those Bugs and monsters ran so rampant.
Hiss—
A faint sound, like a pressure cooker leaking air, interrupted my shock.
I looked down. From under a discarded circuit board less than two meters from my feet, a rat drilled out.
No, that wasn't an ordinary rat.
It was the size of a house cat, its body hairless but covered in a layer of rusty metal casing. Its eyes were two small light bulbs glowing red, and its tail was a broken data cable snapping in the air.
[Monster: Data_Rat] [Level: 1] [Threat: Low] [Status: Aggressive]
It saw me. Those two red bulbs flashed, and it let out a sharp electronic screech. Pushing off with its hind legs, it actually shot toward my ankle like a bullet!
"Get lost!"
Although surprised, my reaction wasn't slow. The fire axe in my hand swung down instinctively.
Clang!
A crisp sound of metal impact.
The axe blade hit the rat's back, sending up a string of dazzling sparks. This thing really was made of metal! It numbed my wrist.
The rat was smashed flat by my direct hit. Its body collapsed like a crushed soda can; there was no blood, but a burst of blue electric sparks exploded out.
[Target_Eliminated] [Recyclable Value: 0.5 Point]
"0.5 Points?"
Looking at that lump of scrap metal, I felt assured. The creatures here were essentially products of materialized data. They were metal, they were code, and they were also resources.
Since they can be killed, they aren't scary.
I glanced at the countdown in the top right corner.
[Code Vision Remaining Time: 02:15]
Time is running out. I can't get tangled up with rats here.
I must find something that will let me survive in this massive junkyard while my left eye isn't blind yet.
"Scan! Full power scan!"
Enduring the increasingly intense stinging pain in my left eye, I began to turn my head quickly, scanning the surrounding ruins like a radar.
Massive amounts of green data frames popped up frantically in my vision.
[Junk] [Junk] [Junk] [Broken_Chair] [Scrap_Metal]
Most of it was useless trash.
"Hurry... Hurry... Give me something useful!"
Hunger struck again, my stomach cramping.
Just as the countdown jumped to 00:45.
My gaze pierced through a pile of messy tires and broken rebar, locking onto a silver metal box half-buried in the dirt fifty meters ahead.
Above that box hovered a tempting yellow cursor:
[Item: Alchemist_Supply_Box] [Status: Damaged but Unopened] [Content: Detectable Organic Reactions]
Organic reactions! That means edible stuff or potions!
"Found it!"
My eyes lit up. Ignoring the sharp metal shards under my feet, I raised my axe and charged towards it.
This was my hope for survival.