Bryce staggered to his feet.
"Ugh... it hurts." Bryce's head throbbed painfully, as if the blazing sunlight had pounded him mercilessly before he woke up.
"Did I pass out?" This wasn't the first time Bryce had fainted. Sometimes, from sheer exhaustion, he would doze off in front of his computer.
As his eyes gradually adjusted to the bright light, Bryce realized something was amiss.
He found himself in a lush forest, where sunlight filtered through layers of leaves, casting dappled patches on the ground—and perhaps on his face too. High above, many birds were chirping happily.
"This... the sensation and sound are so realistic, I can even faintly smell the earthy scent. I get it…" Bryce mumbled, his brain working hard to draw a conclusion.
"I get it. I'm dreaming." Bryce concluded logically. "Lucid dreaming is the highest level of dreaming, where one can experience everything while retaining awareness. As long as the stimulus isn't too intense, one can stay in the dream indefinitely. In other words, lucid dreaming is like the ultimate mode in my world, combining survival mode with creative mode…"
The more Bryce thought about it, the more excited he became. He never expected his long-desired lucid dream to come so suddenly.
"Flap, flap—"
Bryce's thoughts were abruptly interrupted by the sound of birds flapping their wings. He looked up to see hundreds of birds seemingly fleeing from something, flying away in a panic.
Bryce's curiosity was piqued. He was about to turn and see what was happening behind him—
"Whoosh—!"
Bryce heard a massive buzzing sound from behind, like an ant hearing an elephant snoring loudly—if ants had ears. At the same time, he felt a hot wind hitting his back.
A sense of foreboding swept over him.
"What's there to fear in a lucid dream?" Bryce reassured himself and turned around.
The moment he turned, he was stunned, as if turned into a statue. Perhaps this scene was too grand, even in a dream, to his mind.
It was an enormous red dragon. Its entire body was covered in crimson scales, with a horn on its forehead that seemed to pierce the sky. Shimmering and sharp spines extended from its neck to its tail, and its wings cast a shadow large enough to cover mountains. The buzzing sound came from its breath, and the hot wind was the warm air exhaled from its nostrils.
Bryce had never seen such an imposing dragon, even compared to VR movie dragons, this one was far superior.
Bryce was deeply shocked. He even forgot to move his arms or legs, though it might also be that he was simply scared stiff.
Then, the red dragon spoke loudly.
"#￥%&&#?"
"Wha… what?" Bryce's brain was still lagging. The dragon seemed to be speaking to him, but he couldn't be sure. It was too big.
Next, the dragon opened its abyssal maw, deep and unfathomable. Bryce had reason to believe that if swallowed, it would feel like passing through a black hole.
As it turned out, Bryce's mind was not as sharp as the flock of fleeing birds. In an instant, a red light enveloped the forest.
"Ahhhhh!!!"
Bryce turned to ashes.
...
It seemed like just a moment, or maybe a long, long time.
"Ah—damn—" Bryce reopened his eyes and quickly shut them again, re-adjusting to the blinding sunlight.
"The human brain is truly remarkable, simulating all these sensory experiences so realistically. I don't want to have such a dream again…" Bryce gasped, still terrified.
"Splash—splash—"
"That sound…" Bryce was suddenly startled.
As his eyes adjusted to the light, Bryce sat up.
In front of him was the vast ocean, stretching endlessly. The tide rhythmically washed over the beach, the waves crashing and foaming.
He was soaking wet, covered in fine sand and seawater.
Bryce stood up, carefully examining and feeling his skin. There were no burn marks. But his throbbing head told him that something had indeed happened.
He lightly picked up some fine sand and rubbed it between his fingers. It felt incredibly real, just like the real thing.
"This hallucination is too realistic." An indescribable unease rose within him.
Bryce had never seen the sea in person. Now, he gazed at the ocean, seeing nothing but an expanse of blue.
He realized he was on an island. It was a very, very small island, with nothing on it. No trees, no grass, no animals, just sand and shells gleaming in the water puddles.
"This is unbelievable, what on earth is…"
"Splash!"
A huge sea serpent suddenly emerged. Bryce hadn't even had time to see it clearly before his vision went black, his neck tightened, and he fell into darkness once more.
...
This time felt better, not as long and not as painful. He opened his eyes again to find himself lying on his back.
Clearly, this was another place.
"Damn… ugh—so cold!" Bryce jumped up in a shiver. He had been lying on thick snow.
Quickly surveying his surroundings, he seemed to be in a snowy mountain range. Snow covered everything, the temperature was extremely low, and water froze instantly.
Without bothering to think about anything else, his survival instinct made him hug himself, looking around for shelter from the cold.
"What are those down there? They look so creepy." Bryce had thought of heading to a nearby grove but saw some green, eerie creatures.
"Heavens, I don't want to die again. What did I do to deserve this!" Bryce muttered in despair, shivering as he moved in the opposite direction of the creatures.
After trekking about dozens of meters, he found a cave. He rushed into it and sat down near the entrance.
Although deeper inside might be warmer, he didn't want to go too far. It was pitch black in there, and he feared encountering something else.
The cold wind howled at the entrance, and Bryce watched his breath turn into mist and float away, taking his warmth with it.
"It's over, it's all over." Bryce watched helplessly as his body curled up, growing colder, with no way to stop it.
Suddenly, a thought crossed his mind: "I've died so many times and haven't woken up. Maybe this world is real. I can never go back."
He suddenly felt a sharp pain in his body, which quickly faded. He knew the pain was still there, but he was too cold to feel it.
At that moment, a few lines of text appeared in his mind.
[New module detected: Status Information Display]
[New module detected: Hwyla (Here's What You're Looking At)]
[Health: 16/20]
[Status: Hypothermia, Weak]
Bryce stared blankly at these lines, understanding immediately. His mind was a whirlwind of emotions, with countless memories from his past life flashing by. He closed his eyes slowly, accepting his fate.
"Alright, come on. Let me see what this is all about. Let me see what kind of world this is!" Bryce roared, his voice filled with pain, regret, anger, attachment, and fear, echoing in the cave until it slowly dissipated.
When Bryce stood up again, his eyes were filled with determination.
Oh, and his health bar was at 4/20.
"Plop, plop—"
Just then, a few meters away at the cave entrance, came a strange sound, like a giant piece of chewing gum being stepped on.
What he saw next was perhaps the cutest scene of the day.
A crystal-blue slime, jelly-like and adorable, hopped in. The slime was about the size of a basketball, transparent, with two sparkling black eyes.
Bryce focused on the little creature, and a few lines of information appeared in his mind.
[Creature: Ice Slime]
[Health: 10/10]
"Such an interesting little guy," Bryce thought, smiling. "So cute, I bet if I punched it, it would cry for a long time."
The Ice Slime continued hopping towards him.
"Hello, little guy." Bryce extended his frostbitten hand.
The Ice Slime obediently jumped onto his hand. In the next second, Bryce was enveloped in a layer of blue light, instantly becoming an ice sculpture.
[Status: Hypothermia, Frozen]
[Health: 3/20]
[Health: 2/20]
[Health: 1/20]
Bryce, unable to move within the ice, watched in shock as his health slowly drained from the freezing damage.
And so, he died again.