The agony that had engulfed her body gradually receded.
At first, the pain was tolerable, like needle pricks or tooth bites, requiring only a modicum of endurance. However, before long, the intensity of the pain surged to a level Su Mei couldn't bear. This caused her to lose consciousness, drifting in and out of endless darkness until she just awoke.
She had a weird dream. In the dream, an immensely large eyeball hung high in the sky, gazing upon her.
This colossal eye had a bright yellow backdrop, with a pitch-black pupil resembling an arc on a yellow convex lens, like the eyes of reptiles, no emotions at all.
For some reason, Su Mei felt a vague sense of familiarity with it, as though she had seen it before. She wabbled her hazy memory but couldn't find an answer. As the pain dissipated, the contours of the giant eye began to blur and weaken. Eventually, it fragmented into many colored pieces and recombined to form the image of reality.
Su Mei's reactions were always quick, and this time is no exception. She blankly opened her eyes, beholding the scene before her, and her entire body trembled.
She found herself standing at the center of an enormous, intricately ornate pattern. This pattern was extremely complex and painted with a dark crimson pigment, resembling dried bloodstains. It faintly shimmered, adding to its splendor.
This was an exceptionally large and spacious stone hall, almost like a small plaza. The blood-red pattern extended outward, covering the majority of the room's floor, exuding an air of mysticism. From very close to the edges of the pattern, there were numerous monster corpses arranged.
The corpses had all been drained of blood, shriveled into a mass, appearing both pitiful and horrifying. They varied in shape and size, completely devoid of any human traits.
Su Mei covered her mouth with her hand, attempting to suppress an involuntary gag reflex. Thankfully, these were not human corpses; otherwise, her nausea would have been much worse.
What was worse, at the other end of the hall, countless brilliant lights and shadows floated, composed of various luminous and mysterious runes. She heard curses coming from that direction, so she widened her eyes and strained to see, barely making out the presence of two beings.
One of them was entirely crimson, clad in sturdy and exquisite dark gold armor, standing as tall as two Yao Ming combined. It resembled a Western demon, with large goat horns on its head and flames constantly spewing from its mouth. Beneath its skin, it seemed as if embers were smoldering, emitting a faint glow with every movement. The bulging muscles were astonishing, resembling a pile of burning charcoal.
The other one was... in a long black robe? It floated like a ghost, appearing and disappearing within the runes, exuding an indescribable sense of malevolence.
Su Mei could vouch that neither of these beings was using any Earthly language. Yet, she could understand them, and her familiarity with it was almost on par with her mother tongue. In the instant she looked towards them, a deep, hoarse voice thundered by that demo, " Shameless, you surface creature!"
The second voice was even more awful, akin to nails scraping against a chalkboard, but its rhetoric was much more elaborate, "You despicable goat-headed oaf! A heart as black as coal, you pompous little lord who thinks yourself great!"
Su Mei maintained her hand over mouth, staring dumbfounded at them. The surrounding environment felt all too real, and her senses—smell and touch—were eager to convince her: this was not a dream but the real world.
Suddenly, she began to think, what if this was not a dream? There was no other explanation. She was certain she had crossed into another world, commonly known as "transmigration," and unluckily stumbled upon a gruesome scene.
The blood-red pattern beneath her feet and the constantly shifting runes in the hall were clear and vivid, beyond any special effects of video games. At the same time, she keenly sensed that these things included an unmistakable aura of danger. Coupled with the overwhelming scent of sulfur and blood, the entire hall felt like a powder keg ready to explode, threatening to obliterate her.
In Su Mei's twenty-two years of life, her greatest achievement had been winning scholarships each year, not facing life-and-death situations on the battlefield. Confronted with such a terrifying threat, she hesitated for less than a second between "fight or flee" before choosing to run.
Regardless of what those two beings were, they were definitely not human. Since they were engaged in combat, there was no better time to run. Of course, it was the only choice she had. In the transmigration novels she had read, the protagonists usually had time and the opportunity to hide, adapt to their surroundings, and learn the names and backgrounds of the people around them. As for her, she had the unfortunate luck of finding herself in a world filled with corpses the moment she crossed over. Running was her only option.
However, just as she took her first step, she realized something wasn't quite right underfoot. The dark red lines suddenly brightened and went into action, gripping her body tightly, holding her from leaving. She felt a sense of terror as she struggled, but she saw many fine threads rising from the pattern, clinging to her legs like clinging vines on a tree.
If she had remained calm and examined them carefully, she might have noticed that these fine threads were not physical but made up of a vast number of tiny symbols. However, her panic continued to rise, and all she knew was to struggle desperately, almost on the verge of tears.
Perhaps the gods of this world noticed her. Just as fine beads of sweat formed on Su Mei's forehead, the two brawling creatures went into a sudden transformation. The runes surrounding them turned into an infinite, blinding white light that engulfed the entire room. However, when the intense light touched the blood-red pattern, it encountered a invisible barrier, firmly held at bay on the outside.
At the same time, the blood-red pattern endured a powerful impact, resulting in loose and blurry areas, making it appear difficult to sustain. The most immediate effect was that the force pulling at Su Mei weakened significantly.
Su Mei dared not stare directly into the bright light. She immediately covered her eyes with her bag and only dared to remove it after a while. The next moment, her heart nearly stopped from the shock, for something even more terrifying stood before her.
The figure in the black robe had actually floated into the interior of the pattern, stopping less than half a meter away from her, facing her directly. She could see clearly that beneath the black hood, there was no face, only darkness. Within that darkness, two faintly burning blood-red flames glowed, replacing what one might consider ordinary eyes.
Apart from this, the black robe itself emitted an intensely chilling aura, seemingly beckoning death.
Su Mei couldn't see its expression, but she knew all too well that it was grinning. Her face turned deathly pale in an instant, and she couldn't care about fleeing or the fate of the golden-armored Yao Ming lookalike. Then, she did something that every victim would do.
"Help! Somebody save me!"