Chapter 28: Hunger
This novel is translated and hosted on Bcatranslation.
Yu Sheng was falling—plummeting downward, then tossed upward, only to fall again. It was an endless cycle, a dark, cold emptiness that seemed to go on forever. His thoughts were muddled, and chaotic sensations stabbed at his mind like sharp knives. Just when he felt like his consciousness would snap, something pulled him back—as if he was being rescued from drowning. With a jolt, Yu Sheng woke up from that infinite, icy darkness.
He sat up abruptly in bed, but the sudden movement threw him off balance. His body tilted, almost sending him tumbling to the floor. At the last moment, he grabbed the edge of the bedside table, barely managing to steady himself as his head swam.
A sharp, persistent throbbing pounded in his head, making him wonder if his brain was boiling. But thankfully, the sensation didn’t last long. As he began to fully wake up, the unbearable pressure faded, leaving only a lingering, unpleasant memory—like a bad dream.
Yu Sheng sat at the edge of the bed, taking several deep breaths. He glanced out the window, noticing that the sun was sinking toward the rooftops of the distant city. The sky was slowly growing darker.
“An entire day has passed…” he muttered in surprise. Using the bedside table for support, he stood up and made his way to the desk. He poured himself a glass of water, gulping it down before giving his face a few light slaps to shake off the lingering fatigue. He left the bedroom and headed downstairs.
As soon as he entered the dining room, Yu Sheng began to complain to the oil painting on the table. “I never thought ‘abrupt awakening’ would feel this awful. I figured I’d just be a bit dizzy or have my heart race for a while. But, man, when I opened my eyes, I almost threw up last year’s New Year’s dinner…”
He finished venting, but Irene, the figure in the painting, didn’t respond with her usual snarky remarks. Instead, she was unusually quiet. Sensing something was off, Yu Sheng turned to look at the painting. Irene was slumped in her chair, wrapped in a red velvet blanket, hugging a teddy bear and staring blankly upward. Occasionally, her eyes shifted, and she would stand up to retch.
Yu Sheng raised an eyebrow. “How did your ‘abrupt awakening’ end up making you feel so awful too?”
Irene glanced at him. Just as she was about to speak, another wave of nausea hit her. As a doll sealed who knew how many years ago, she didn’t even have stomach acid, let alone New Year’s dinner. (Yu Sheng doubted she even had a stomach.) So she could only lean over the chair, dry heaving as if her head might fall off any second.
After what felt like an eternity, Irene finally caught her breath. She looked up at Yu Sheng, her voice weak. “It wasn’t me who ‘woke’ us up—it was you.”
“Uh… what?” Yu Sheng was puzzled.
“You scared that fox awake with your last shout. I didn’t even have time to react!” Irene looked aggrieved. “Why did you have to yell so loudly?”
Yu Sheng blinked, but quickly understood what she meant. Scratching his head awkwardly, he said, “I didn’t know. I just wanted to warn Foxy. I felt her state was dangerous.”
“Well, your instincts were spot on,” Irene said, before leaning over to gag again. After dry heaving a couple more times, she caught her breath and gave Yu Sheng an exasperated look. “Fine. The good news is you managed to wake that fox before she sank any deeper. Though she ended up ‘bouncing’ the two of us out when she woke up, she should be clear-headed for a while.”
Yu Sheng walked over and pulled out a chair opposite Irene at the dining table. His expression grew serious. “And the bad news?”
Irene was quiet for a moment. After a few seconds, she nodded slightly. “You probably guessed it—she can’t hold on much longer.”
Yu Sheng frowned but remained silent. He had sensed it, trapped in that valley. The deep-seated hunger and madness buried within Foxy felt like a parasite spreading, something festering beneath the surface. During their final confrontation with that flesh-and-blood monster, he realized that this ‘hunger’ wasn’t as simple as it seemed.
What he had witnessed in the depths of the dream gave him a clearer understanding of Foxy’s situation.
“If you want to help that fox, you’d better act quickly,” Irene said, her voice softer. “Something is luring her, trying to turn her into some kind of… ‘nourishment.’ It doesn’t aim to kill; it wants the madness born from hunger. The fact that she’s held out this long shows incredible willpower, but the longer she resists, the more… ‘nutrients’ she’ll provide when the ‘transformation’ occurs. Things will get troublesome—very, very troublesome.”
Yu Sheng listened, his face growing more grim. He filled in the gaps mentally, piecing together what Irene described and what he already knew. Suddenly, he sensed something and looked directly at the painting.
“Irene,” he said seriously, “do you… know something? About that valley and what’s in it?”
Irene hesitated for a moment, first shaking her head, then giving a slight nod. “I don’t remember most things, including what’s really going on with that valley. But the situation the fox is experiencing—I seem to recall something about it. I think I’ve read related materials before.”
She paused, frowning as if trying to dredge up useful information from her fragmented, incomplete memories.
“An entity called ‘Hunger’—I think that’s its name,” Irene said slowly. “It’s a highly dangerous entity, with clear malicious intent. It manifests in sealed-off areas where the environment becomes toxic and hunger spreads. It has strong offensive capabilities, but what’s more dangerous is its ‘influence.’ Those targeted by this entity fall into terrifying hunger, and their willpower is severely tested. I can’t recall specific incidents, but I remember… it’s very dangerous, has harmed many people, and what’s worse…”
Irene stopped, lifting her gaze to meet Yu Sheng’s eyes.
“Hunger turns people into beasts, devouring both dignity and life. Most people can’t withstand it. And those who fall become part of the entity itself—endlessly and ceaselessly hungry.”
As Irene spoke, Yu Sheng’s expression grew taut, a heavy weight pressing on his heart. Another thought struck him—the urge to eat that he had felt when confronting the flesh-and-blood monster!
Could it be that he was already affected by ‘Hunger’?!
His heart skipped a beat. He quickly asked, “Wait, what are the main ‘symptoms’ of being influenced by ‘Hunger’?”
Irene gave him a strange look. “Well, ‘hunger,’ of course.”
“No, that’s not what I mean,” Yu Sheng said, waving his hand hastily. He reorganized his thoughts. “For example, when I saw that monster, I had this intense desire to take a bite out of it—even thought it might taste good. Then I came back and cooked a couple of dishes. Could that mean I’ve been affected by ‘Hunger’?”
Irene’s expression visibly froze. She immediately thought of the ‘local specialties’ Yu Sheng had brought back, and that meal of four dishes and a soup.
“That’s right, you even ate…” she muttered. But then she snapped back to attention, her tone changing. “No, of course not! The influence of the ‘Hunger’ entity makes you starve to the point of going crazy and attacking others—not make you want to eat it! It doesn’t lure people into madness by offering itself as bait!”
Irene’s outburst startled Yu Sheng, but he quickly understood her point. Hunger and appetite might be related, but in realms governed by strict rules—like ‘Otherworlds’ and ‘Entities’—these were distinctly different definitions. Especially with an entity holding active malicious intent, its influence would operate strictly by its own rules.
Simply put, if Yu Sheng had indeed been affected by ‘Hunger,’ he should’ve been trying to bite Foxy—not the monster.
Realizing this, Yu Sheng breathed a sigh of relief. Confirming he hadn’t been corrupted by that bizarre entity, he recalled that after eating, he felt normal. This reassured him greatly. Exhaling deeply, he said, “That’s good. Looks like I’m still pretty normal.”
Irene looked at him, muttering under her breath, “No, I think the fact that you had an appetite for that thing is already not normal…”
Yu Sheng waved her comment aside and quickly changed the subject. “So, that weird-looking but surprisingly tasty monster is ‘Hunger,’ right? If we eliminate it, Foxy can break free from its influence. I know entities can’t be completely destroyed, but I’m talking about defeating it temporarily.”
“Actually… I’m not sure,” Irene replied hesitantly. ‘Hunger’ is a rather special entity. The monster you saw is its ‘manifestation,’ but from what I understand, the real ‘Hunger’ permeates the entire valley. Do you get what I mean? What you saw was just its ‘tentacle’ reaching out to sense what’s happening. Its main form—as the name implies—is the omnipresent hunger in the valley.”
Yu Sheng’s expression turned blank. Yes, he understood.
“Wait, so it’s a… rule-based entity?!”