Post-Apocalyptic Survival Modpack

Chapter 20, Section 20: Sleeping in Hell is Not Recommended

"Cough...cough..."

"It's so hot, so suffocating, ouch—where am I?"

“This is hell.”

Swah——

Wang Ji's figure suddenly appeared.

Looking at the portal he had closed behind him, he knew the situation on the other side was definitely not good.

Wang Ji casually dismantled the door as well.

"Hell, are we dead?"

Ian looked left and right and said, "I've heard that hell is where you go after you die. Look at these scarlet rocks and scorching lava, the skeletons in the distance, and the strong smell of sulfur in the air. Are we about to be attacked by evil spirits with weapons?"

woo-

Just then, a chilling cry rang out.

Wang Ji looked up and saw that an old friend had appeared on the feed.

"what is that?"

"Ghost."

A fireball engulfed in flames shot towards them with a roar, but Wang Ji, expressionless, deflected it back the way it came, killing the evil spirit.

"It's still a demon that can breathe fireballs."

Ryder muttered something.

"Don't worry, it's still very safe here—relative to the other side of the door."

Wang Ji put down his workbench, conjured two iron swords and two sets of iron armor on the spot, and said, "Quickly try them on to see if you can wear them."

Ian and Ryder exchanged a glance. Although they were full of doubts, they still tried as Wang Ji had suggested.

"This sword... is perfect. There is no more perfect iron sword in the world."

Ryder received the weapon and immediately gave his assessment.

It's so standard that you can't think of any other name for it besides 'Iron Sword'.

Thinking to himself, Ryder looked at the two sets of iron armor that Wang Ji had conjured up and chose one to try on.

Surprisingly, the armor was quite easy to put on; it was very smooth, like putting on clothes. You could slip it on and get in. And despite having no special structure, it was surprisingly stable once you put it on.

The style of this suit of armor is very ordinary, but it is standard enough, including its protective capabilities.

Furthermore, it is highly flexible, lightweight, and hardly restricts movement when worn.

It's just like a piece of clothing.

Ryder gave it a very high rating:

"Its defensive capabilities are no less than those of the armor worn by servants in noble estates, and it is barely usable."

Wang Ji turned his head, looking somewhat surprised.

"Is it barely usable?"

"Well, it's normal that you don't know, Wang Ji. Every piece of armor worn by the Imperial regular army is enchanted and forged from magic steel. It's difficult for sharp swords or blunt weapons like axes and hammers to harm the wearer."

"As for magical attacks, they can also block a small amount."

"So strong?"

Wang Ji was somewhat tempted.

I don't know which is harder, the Nether Steel or the Nether Alloy Armor, but in any case, I absolutely must get my hands on the crafting recipe for Felsteel.

"I don't think now is the time to talk about these things."

At this moment, Ian, who had also donned armor, interjected, "What should we do next, Wang Ji? We know nothing about this place."

Ryder chimed in, “Me too. I’ve never heard of a place like this before. It looks like an undiscovered new dimension.”

If some knowledgeable people heard this, they would probably open their eyes wide immediately.

That's a whole new dimension.

However, neither of the two people present had the knowledge to discuss this, nor were they in the mood to discuss it.

At this moment, Ian and Ryder looked at Wang Ji together, waiting for his decision, clearly regarding Wang Ji as their pillar of support.

After today's series of events, the two can no longer regard Wang Ji as a simple, clueless seven-year-old child.

A person's maturity has nothing to do with their age, but rather with their experiences.

This child... has really suffered.

"Just follow me."

Wang Ji waved his hand, signaling the two not to stray too far from each other.

"Don't worry too much. Although I call this place 'Hell,' that's just my personal habit. It also has another name: 'The Underworld.'"

"It's not particularly dangerous here, but occasionally you'll see evil spirits floating in the sky that breathe fire, mutated corpses with rotting flesh and weapons, skeletons that move and attack, and blazing beings that are engulfed in flames and can launch multiple fireballs..."

"By the way, something you need to be especially careful about is that when you pass through the blue forest, there will be a kind of thin, tall black ghost called 'Endermen'. They usually don't show hostility, but never make eye contact with them, or they will teleport over and attack you immediately."

"You call this 'not too dangerous'?"

The two people behind him were somewhat at a loss for words.

But then I thought that Wang Ji was able to know these things, probably through repeated explorations, and that process must have been accompanied by a lot of risks.

After giving instructions on the dangers and characteristics of Hell, Wang Ji compared the location of the capital city in reality with that of Hell and slowly approached the location of the temporary base he remembered building a few days ago.

Along the way, we crossed lava lakes, walked through eerie and crimson forests, and traversed basalt deltas. We also took down a fortress and looted some treasure chests.

"What is that?" This was the question the two asked most often during this period.

Wang Ji would also offer a casual explanation.

In his view, these were all commonplace things, things he was tired of seeing, but for the other two, it was a different story.

“Interdimensional inhabitants,” that’s what Ryder called the piglins.

"Flame demons and hellish undead," Ian called the monsters in the fortress.

But they soon had no time to think about these things.

With Wang Ji leading the way, they encountered no dangers along the way and traveled safely.

However, the environment of hell is still too extreme for ordinary people; it is a huge threat to survival.

After traveling for about a day, both Ian and Ryder showed signs of illness, and their bodies were clearly not quite right.

Temperature imbalance, dizziness, dry heaving, shortness of breath...

In addition, Wang Ji didn't bring much water, only two buckets, which was far from enough.

Loss occurs faster than replenishment.

The two of them were tortured in the manor dungeon for a month and were still full of energy, but after walking through hell for a little over a day, they were already on the verge of collapse.

Fortunately, this torment is finally coming to an end.

As Wang Ji dug through the Hell Rock once again, his eyes lit up. He finally saw the familiar Hell Gate and the matchbox-shaped hut next to it.

"Here we are, right there."

Wang Ji breathed a sigh of relief, and the two people behind him felt a sense of redemption, as if they had finally made it through.

Upon entering the cabin, Ian and Ryder collapsed to the ground, gasping for breath.

Ryder asked, "Is it safe here? Is there water?"

Wang Ji replied, "There's one on the other side of the door. Wait a moment, I'll go take a look. If there's no danger, we'll leave Hell."

"Great."

Ian sighed, "I really want to lie in bed and take a nap right now."

Wang Ji suddenly stopped in his tracks.

"sleep?"

"That's not a good word in hell."

Ryder asked curiously, "What do you mean? Does something terrible happen when you sleep in this world?"

Wang Ji nodded, then shook his head.

The two were somewhat confused.

Wang Ji said:

"Actually, I'm not too sure, since I haven't tried it myself, but I've read some records before. When someone tried to do this, the moment they got into bed to try to fall asleep, an explosion would occur, powerful enough to destroy the house."

"I'm not sure if this rule, which is unique to hell, is still in effect, but I'm not willing to take the risk of testing it until it can safely withstand an explosion."

Ian, who was resting against the scorching hot wall, suddenly opened his eyes and got up.

"Then I'd better not go to sleep yet."

Swah——

Without saying anything more, Wang Ji stepped into the portal, his figure vanishing instantly, arriving at the other side of the portal, in a desolate basement two days' journey from the capital.

After confirming that they were safe, he brought them back.

"For the first time, I felt that normal air and temperature were such a luxury."

"Let's rest here for a bit."

Wang Ji filled two bottles with water from a clear puddle on the ground and handed them to the two men.

The two of them gulped down their drinks, finishing them in one go.

Once their abnormal symptoms subsided, the two began to take in their surroundings.

A flat basement with a few torches for lighting, some square furnaces, a wooden box, a wooden workbench, and a square water pit along the wall.

This child has a bit of OCD.

Ryder thought to himself.

However, this place does seem secluded enough, and for some reason, it even feels a bit cozy.

"Sleeping here won't cause an explosion, right?"

"No, this is the mortal world, unaffected by hell, and it should be considered safe. There's practically no one passing by here."

pat.

As Wang Ji spoke, he took out a pickaxe, dug out a piece of the Hell Gate, and violently closed it to prevent anything from emerging from inside.

"Alright, next..."

After finishing this task, Wang Ji turned around and found that the two of them had collapsed on the ground, exhausted and asleep, looking almost completely unprepared.

The words Wang Ji wanted to say got stuck in his throat.

"You really trust me enough."

He shook his head.

Okay, I'll rest for now.

(End of this chapter)