Underworld Player Chapter 71 - The Fallen

"Fallen One?" Bai Zhi swept his gaze over the fleshy sprouts on Lin He's left wrist and frowned.

"Or you could say 'one of the Fallen'. Doesn't matter what you use. As you can see, I am no longer human," Lin He explained.

Lin He seemed to sag with exhaustion as he looked at the sprouts on his wrist, and he promptly sat down on the bone-paved path.

"I was once like you, a Player brought here by the bus to be tested, but I couldn't collect the bus fare in time, and was forced to stay here for seven days.

Bai Zhi narrowed his eyes. "Does your body mutate when you spend too long in here?"

"You're a Player too, right? Bring up your Attributes panel—you should see that your Sanity is lower than before, and slowly decreasing."

Lin He's was speaking in an emotionless monotone.

"It costs Sanity to stay here, and when normal people lose all of their Sanity, they turn into monsters... just like you saw happen to Zheng YaoWen."

When Bai Zhi brought up his Attributes panel, a quick glance at his Sanity showed that, as always, the value was '???'. Bai Zhi contemplated it in silence, then closed the panel once more. "...You're right, it has dropped a ton."

"To survive, I ate the food here, and..." Lin He raised his left hand. "This place is far more insidious than you can imagine. What you've seen so far is only the tip of the iceberg. Even now, I can feel it slowly eroding my humanity, subtly changing the way I think. It won't be long before I become completely corrupted.

"But you haven't yet."

Bai Zhi fixed Lin He with a piercing gaze.

"So you got some extra things sprouting from your arm, so what? Once you're out of here—" Bai Zhi frowned, struck by a thought. "Unless... you can't leave?"

"...No, I can. Provided I kill you first," said Lin He grimly as he looked at his left hand.

"Of course, I'm keenly aware that I've become a mutant. To allow me to return to human society would be a bad idea, because there's a high chance I will kill those who I once wanted to protect, by my own hand."

Lin He raised his head.

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