Volume One, Chapter Three: Who Am I, Where Am I?

The sun gradually sank into the sea.

With the rise and fall of the waves, Lin Yuyu’s old, rickety boat began to rock slowly back and forth on the water.

The gentle swaying made Lin Yuyu drowsy.

In a hazy daze, she thought she saw the original owner waving at her, or perhaps it was just a dream—she dreamed the original owner was holding a bunch of colorful bubbles, frantically stuffing them into her mind.

She also saw some bubbles brushing past her head, falling into the sea and dissolving into the water, disappearing without a trace.

The scene was vague and somewhat poetic, but at that moment, all she felt was a splitting headache, leaving no room to appreciate the beauty around her.

Before long, Lin Yuyu’s eyes darkened, and she fell into a deep, unconscious sleep.

After she completely lost consciousness, her memories and the original owner’s memories began to play a chaotic tug-of-war in her mind—pushing, shoving, vying for dominance, occasionally knocking fragments of each other out of her consciousness.

This only made her feverish head burn hotter.

Just as her mind was about to be overwhelmed, the two sides ceased their struggle, shook hands, and merged together.

By the time they nearly fused, dawn was breaking. The little boat had been carried by the waves to the shore and was stranded on the beach.

When Lin Yuyu woke again, the sun was already blazing high in the sky.

She instinctively sat up.

Looking around, she felt utterly lost, her mind filled with only one thought: Who am I? Where am I? What am I doing here?

Oh, I am Lin Youyu—no, Lin Yuyu—wait, that doesn’t seem right either...

But time was not on her side; she couldn’t afford to ponder. The burning skin under the sun constantly reminded her:

Stop fooling around. Find somewhere to take shelter.

Grabbing a sea fish from the boat—she had no idea how it got there—Lin Yuyu disembarked and dashed into the protective forest by the shore, heading toward a nearby cave under the shade of the trees.

As soon as she stepped into the cave, the heat on her body lessened considerably.

Surveying the cave carefully, she found no signs of human habitation or any other creatures living there.

It appeared to be a natural, unclaimed cave.

Relieved by this thought, Lin Yuyu finally allowed herself to relax.

The cave, neither too deep nor too shallow, was quite dark. In one corner, a pool of clear water shimmered faintly. Approaching it, she noticed a cool mist rising, making it look refreshing and thirst-quenching.

Exactly what she desperately needed.

Since waking, she had felt sticky and uncomfortable all over. The sea breeze had also blown fine sand onto her skin.

Having a place to wash and soak was a blessing.

She set down the fish, cautiously dipped her hand into the water, and, sensing nothing unusual, scooped up a handful to drink. It was colorless and tasteless—just ordinary clear water.

Then she stood up and slowly waded into the pool.

The shallow water reached just above her calves but relieved much of her body’s pain.

If only she could immerse herself fully—it would surely be more soothing...

After a moment’s thought, Lin Yuyu settled herself by the pool’s edge, submerging all but her neck in the cool water.

Soaking there for a while, her stomach began to growl.

She had no choice but to get up and attend to her hunger.

Just as she stepped out of the cave with the fish in hand, she immediately retreated back inside.

Lin Yuyu sighed helplessly: Given the circumstances, I’ll have to make do.

Using the pool water she had just bathed in, she quickly cleaned the sea fish. Then, tearing open its skin with her hands, she began eating the flesh raw.

Not because of any strange preference or craving for raw food, but because the outside environment was so terrible.

The blackened, foul-smelling seawater, the beach littered with garbage, and the protective forest all suggested that the fish would become contaminated and stink if taken out of the cave.

Rather than cooking with that filthy water or blackened wood, she figured it might be more hygienic to eat it raw.

After barely satisfying her hunger and cleaning up her traces, Lin Yuyu set off under the scorching sun.

While soaking in the water earlier, fragments of survival knowledge about the wasteland and memories of the original owner flashed through her mind.

Firstly, the wasteland’s midday brought scorching heat and intense radiation, making travel inadvisable; wild mutated creatures became active at night, so one shouldn’t linger outdoors then either.

Only morning and evening were suitable times to venture out.

Secondly, the giant number “9-22” she had seen upon landing was not meaningless graffiti but the designation of this island.

Lin Youyu’s home lay in the northeast highlands of the 9-22 island’s safe zone, quite a distance from her current location.

If she waited until evening to travel, she would have to spend the night exposed in the wilderness.

Along the way, Lin Yuyu also realized something:

Despite baking in the sun for so long, according to the original owner’s memories, she should have experienced symptoms like weakness in her limbs, chest tightness, dizziness, nausea.

Yet now, apart from feeling a bit warm and sunburned, she had no such symptoms.

Thus, this body was apparently immune to heatstroke and radiation.

While the islanders feared illness and never wandered outside at midday, this was perfect for her to travel without worrying about being discovered for her anomalies.

Deciding to act immediately, Lin Yuyu combined the directions from the signs she’d seen with her vague memories, and after walking and resting intermittently, she finally reached the safe zone before nightfall.

However...

Could someone explain why such a large safe zone was so chaotically planned?

Entering the 9-22 safe zone for the first time, Lin Yuyu was dizzy from the tangled, disorderly streets and alleys and only found the original owner’s apartment building late into the night.

Also, despite enduring the sun all day without issue, Lin Yuyu now felt nauseous and dizzy from the filthy, disorderly streets.

Her steps grew heavy.

So, dragging her weary feet, Lin Yuyu climbed the stairs to her apartment in the dead of night.

The soft “tap—tap—tap” of footsteps suddenly echoed in the quiet corridor.

Though faint, the sound woke Lu Qingyu, who had been sleeping soundly inside his room.

At that moment, Lu Qingyu suddenly thought that the houses in the southern district were no different from those in the western district.

Though, in fact, the southern district’s residences were far better than the slums of the western district, in Lu Qingyu’s mind:

The southern district’s houses were old, dilapidated, and shabby, with poor soundproofing.

Not even a peephole on the door.

Everything was terrible!

He silently resolved: I’ll move out at dawn!

Feeling somewhat annoyed, Lu Qingyu padded barefoot to the door, expressionless as he stared at it.

The footsteps in the corridor grew closer, seemingly deliberately approaching his door, then stopped outside it.

“Heh—”

Who was causing trouble at this hour again?

Looking for death.

In an instant, several tentacles appeared behind Lu Qingyu, their sharp tips aimed defiantly at the door, ready to ambush whoever came in unawares.

“Is it a human? Or one of our own kind?”

Lu Qingyu murmured, tilting his head.

No matter human or kin, whoever disturbed his peaceful sleep would be killed!

His room, number 313, was located deep in the corridor. A few apartments further inside had been vacated months ago.

The tenant opposite, in 314, who had long coveted his body, was killed by Lu Qingyu a few days ago out of sheer frustration.

He fed the remains to wild dogs beyond the safe zone.

They would never harass him again.

The little girl next door had been missing for several days, likely murdered, perhaps without a trace remaining.

So Lu Qingyu was certain whoever was outside was looking for him.

But the fluctuating aura was hard to read—sometimes strong, sometimes weak.

As Lu Qingyu braced himself, the door outside suddenly creaked open and then shut.

It seemed a neighbor’s door had been opened and closed.

Lu Qingyu: So, they weren’t after me after all?