Cyber ​​God: Abyss Walker

"What happened? You're alright as long as you're alive. I can already smell blood. Let the doctor treat you."

Wang Yu walked to the row of small houses located on the coast and came to the entrance of one of them. Next to the entrance, there was a very simple-looking shop without even a sign. The space inside was cramped and narrow, with a large number of disassembled parts neatly piled together. A short, hunched figure was busy inside and greeted Wang Yu familiarly when he saw him.

"No need, just wash it when you get back."

He waved his hand to indicate that he didn't need to find the "doctor" the other party mentioned. The word "doctor" did not refer to a profession, but rather to the person living on the fourth floor of the six-story building where Wang Yu was. No one knew his name, but everyone called him Doctor. This was definitely not his real name, after all, Old Fish Head was not called Old Fish Head.

Old Fish Head was the shop owner who had greeted Wang Yu earlier. His shop was converted from the abandoned elevator in this small building. The first and second floors were shops, and the upper floors were his studio and residence. Only when he turned around did the reason why he was called Old Fish Head become clear.

The other's face could be described as ferocious and ugly, with only a small portion of human features. Its eyes bulged outwards, and thin scales were irregularly distributed in various areas. At the junction of its chin and neck, it had underdeveloped gills. At first glance, one might think that this creature, which could communicate normally, was a pure fish-man.

"Alright, as long as you think it's okay. Did you bring anything back from the 'cemetery' this time? If you have enough parts, I still have some good ones among the junk in my shop that can be repaired."

Old Fish Head shook his ferocious head and chatted casually with Wang Yu, who was using his pupils to verify his identity and open the door.

"No, but there are some things I need to discuss with you later, and we should gain something from that."

The gate opened, and Wang Yu walked into the building. Thinking about the metal box of Tianzhou Group located in the No. 13 pit cemetery, he mentioned it to Old Fish Head.

"Sounds like a great job, I'll wait and see."

Old Fishhead nodded solemnly, his demeanor and personality completely at odds with his ferocious appearance. Indeed, even though he had become like this, he was still the only craftsman within the "kennel" area.

The nearshore area is unsafe, a fact acknowledged in the abandoned city. This is why Old Fish Head has become what he is now, and why Wang Yu has a certain relationship with the other party.

Dense fog can suddenly rise up near the coast at any time, and when the fog rises, some things that are very dangerous to individual residents will climb up and launch indiscriminate attacks on normal residents. Generally speaking, these are the fishmen that Wang Yu mentioned earlier.

Having just been implanted with a bomb collar and knowing nothing about this world, Wang Yu happened to wander aimlessly to this place and encountered an old fish head whose head was being bitten by fishmen. Using his body, Wang Yu killed several fishmen that crawled up from the near sea and rescued the unfortunate shop owner.

Therefore, Wang Yu was introduced to a place to stay in Quanshe by the other party.

At the time, Old Fish Head was just a slightly overweight man transitioning from middle age to old age. However, after being bitten on the head by the fish-man, a large amount of unknown toxins invaded his body. Faced with extensive ulceration and abscesses, the resident on the fourth floor, whom everyone called the doctor, performed surgery on Old Fish Head, enabling him to resist the toxins and thus transforming him into what he is now.

Old Fish Head is no longer entirely human; his ability to resist toxins comes from some of the characteristics of the fish-man within his body. That was also the first time Wang Yu witnessed the power of the doctor.

The gate at the entrance of the small building was closed, and Wang Yu climbed up to the sixth floor where he lived. The environment inside the building was surprisingly good, except that it was a bit damp. The layout of the corridors and residents was similar to that of apartment buildings in the 21st century on Earth. However, the circular staircase had a large gap in the middle, and looking down from the railing felt like peering into a deep well.

Without stopping, Wang Yu only became somewhat familiar with Old Fish Head, the doctor, and the kennel owner. He had no intention of getting to know the other residents yet. Arriving at the door of his home in the abandoned city, he went through the same pupil verification process and entered.

"Welcome back."

The electronic butler's voice came out intermittently, automatically turning on the lights in the house for Wang Yu. However, nearly half of the light bulbs were not lit, as they had all been damaged due to years of disrepair. For him, who was struggling to even stay alive, he had no interest in repairing these things.

"Thanks."

"It's a pleasure to serve you. You're welcome."

Hearing the electronic butler's reply of thanks, Wang Yu's lips curled into a rare smile, a departure from his usual indifference. This rare display of kindness in this utterly awful world came from emotionless machinery; it was rather amusing.

The house is actually quite large, but most of it is empty, with only the bedroom and the toilet having some furniture or similar items.

Wang Yu first returned to his bedroom and placed the booklet and the seal representing the members of the Hai Chao Gang on his wooden bed. Then, he took out his only standard storage box from a hidden compartment under the bed and took the box to the bathroom.

After activating the smart rinsing mode, it took Wang Yu about thirty seconds to wash away the blood and foul-smelling filth from his body in the waterproof room. He walked to the sink, wiped the fog off the mirror, and revealed his all-too-familiar face.

The person in the mirror is both himself and not himself. To be precise, the body he is in now is probably a character he created in a role-playing game, and it is very likely that the two hundred-sided dice in his consciousness are a matching item.

Carefully opening the storage box, he took out the contents: a mobile phone, very new, with an ordinary design, a typical brand smartphone from the early 2020s. He had brought it with him when he came to this world, but it didn't contain anything from his own phone, because it wasn't his; it was something that came with the character setting he created.

He turned on the phone, but of course there was no signal. He was grateful that this thing was considered electronic waste in the ruins and couldn't compare to personal terminals or auxiliary chips. The gang members who kidnapped him didn't even glance at it, which is why he was able to keep this very valuable thing to him.

He opened a document containing a table recording various data about his car's card, which is now his physical body. The data was presented visually using values ​​from 0 to 100. This was something he had hurriedly recorded after moving into the kennel to prevent himself from forgetting it.

Wang Yu allocates a certain number of points to various character attributes and adds corresponding extra skills based on these attributes. When playing tabletop role-playing games, he adheres to a "car card" principle: be able to run, jump, fight, and escape. In short, you must be physically fit; everything else is secondary.

Therefore, the three attributes of strength, agility, and constitution are all close to 90, which is close to the human ability limit of 100. The five attributes of physique, appearance, education, luck, and willpower are 50, which is the human median. What is more noteworthy is that the rather special attribute of inspiration is only 30 for this character.

This brought many benefits. A strong physique gave him the basic means to survive in this dangerous world where he had no idea what to do, and he also established a special connection with the doctor on the fourth floor, which we'll discuss later.

Because his current consciousness clearly belongs to him, Wang Yu, rather than the body of this person who looks like him, he doesn't need to discuss luck, an attribute he can't yet understand. At least his inspiration attribute of 30 hasn't made him stupid, and his education attribute of 50 hasn't made him gain or lose any knowledge. But do these attributes really have no impact on him? Wang Yu thinks it's not necessarily true.

Following his usual practice in tabletop role-playing games, Wang Yu added skills to his character cards. The four attributes of Fighting, Dexterity, Scouting, and Mechanical Repair were all extremely high at 90 points. However, the knowledge attributes corresponding to these character cards did not add extra knowledge to Wang Yu's mind. Instead, after verification, he confirmed that they were converted into the learning ability of the corresponding skills.

Because of the four skills with extremely high attributes in the character card, Wang Yu showed terrifying talent in learning mechanical repair and combat skills. A basic mechanical repair book he got from Old Fish Head was enough for Wang Yu to make rough transformers and charging cables by hand. This was the reason why he dared to use his phone continuously, since there were no chargers compatible with this thing in the abandoned city.

Of course, with his limited abilities, he couldn't even grasp the tip of the iceberg of what Old Fish Head possessed. This unknown craftsman was likely from Xindu...

However, to be able to complete such a production in less than five days of self-study is already an absurd talent. Similarly, this also shows that the two attributes of education and inspiration, which do not yet show any effect on his consciousness, are probably still hiding their effects, but Wang Yu has not yet discovered them.

"Live on, live freely!"

Raising his hand to his reflection in the mirror, Wang Yu spoke seriously. Only after seeing his reflection make the same gesture did he reveal a cruel and ugly smile. The pain and suffering inflicted by the Hai Chao Gang had turned into a burning anger that he suppressed in his chest. He was too weak; he couldn't do anything at all. He had already done his best to survive. As for revenge, he would have to endure it for now.

"I need to see a doctor about this parasite. He might have a solution. As long as this thing is growing in my brain, I won't have any peace of mind."

Looking at his head through the mirror, Wang Yu seemed to see through his skull and into the parasite that was devouring his brain. He could vaguely sense that this disgusting worm was growing, and its existence was probably more than just ensuring that Wang Yu would not betray him.

After turning off the bathroom light, Wang Yu returned to his bedroom with his phone, lay down on the less-than-comfortable bed, and took out the booklet about the rituals he had experienced and those great beings, flipping through it to read.

He certainly wanted to see a doctor to treat the parasites right now, but to get help from a doctor, he would have to wait until both hundred-faced dice recovered so he could use his abilities again. Besides, he was already extremely tired, both physically and mentally, and desperately needed rest.

"Knowledge about those things is not something safe or only beneficial. There is a reason why it is kept secret. Don't share this poison that you keep to yourself with the people you care about. You can't turn back now, but they can't."

This is what Wang Yu saw when he opened the first page. Rather than a book, it was more like someone's notes, lacking rigorous descriptions and only expressing personal thoughts.

Frowning as he looked down, Wang Yu noticed that several pages had been torn out, making the writing somewhat disjointed and only allowing him to read parts he could understand.

"Since you are already reading, it means that you must be someone who has established a connection with those beings through the ritualists, those indescribable great beings lurking in the shadows beneath the world we live in. Our knowledge of them is extremely limited, and our only understanding is limited to summarizing the laws, and we don't even know about..."

The rest of the text was swallowed up by a hole in the paper, so Wang Yu only read a sentence that he thought was somewhat nonsense. But there was nothing he could do but skip the torn pages and read the rest of the text.

"Hmm, is this... a ritual?"

Wang Yu looked at the contents of the booklet and was slightly taken aback. The contents recorded here did not fit the cyberpunk and "high-tech" nature of the abandoned city. Instead, they seemed to be some fabricated Taoist magic that Wang Yu had seen on Earth.

But considering the rituals and anomalies I've personally experienced, perhaps these supernatural phenomena, combined with cyberpunk technology, are the science of this world.

Scanning the text in the booklet, one could see descriptions of something called magic, with its usage and effects clearly explained.

Spell Name: Hungry Blood

Corresponding to the great existence: the sea of ​​blood.

Ritual materials: more than 500 ml of the blood of a sorcerer, and three adult male corpses that have been dead for no more than seven days.

Ritual Method: Spread blood evenly on the bodies of three corpses, continuously chant the names of the corresponding great beings, and pray in your mind that they will infuse their power into the blood. During this time, you must keep your eyes closed and rely on your mind to perceive the existence of the three corpses until the blood has completely devoured the corpses, leaving behind the blood containing the power of the great beings. The ritual is then considered successful.

Effect: Applying residual blood to your weapon will cause it to cut through the flesh of your enemies as they attack, drawing their blood and taking their lives to heal your wounds and replenish your stamina. Note that this blood must never be used on firearms.

Possible failures: The Great Being may not respond, or the sorcerer may be consumed along with the mutated blood containing the power of the Blood Sea. Performing rituals in areas of abnormal activity can increase the chances of the Great Being responding to the ritual, but it will also increase the possibility of the ritual mutating.

Looking at the first incantation, Wang Yu seemed to recall something. The chaotic and distorted scenes he had seen when his consciousness was affected by the ritual, including one of the images of mountains of corpses and seas of blood, could they correspond to the great existence mentioned in this booklet: the Sea of ​​Blood? Unfortunately, no one could provide Wang Yu with an answer to his guess; it could only remain a guess.

"Thinking about it carefully, the reason why that mutant's bone blade could pierce the steel wall was actually because it first transformed the steel into flesh and blood, and then returned to its original shape after piercing it. These spells do indeed have considerable power. Are the so-called sorcerers referring to people like me who survive through rituals?"

Wang Yu muttered to himself. What he needed to do now was to become stronger quickly. If these spells could truly grant him some ability to protect himself, he would never refuse, even if they concealed great dangers…

"Ugh, damn it, is looking at this stuff going to affect me!?"

A sudden wave of dizziness interrupted Wang Yu's thoughts. He hadn't felt it before, but as soon as he stopped reading, an indescribable feeling of nausea and vomiting began to appear. It was completely inexplicable. Since he hadn't done anything else, this discomfort must have come from the booklet containing the spells.

"Poison... does it refer to this kind of knowledge...?"

Barely suppressing the urge to vomit, Wang Yu put down the booklet, leaned back on the bed, closed his eyes, and used the weariness of his body and mind to fight against the uncomfortable feeling.

"Housekeeper, please turn off the light."

"Okay... I'll follow your instructions."

The electronic butler turned off the bedroom light for Wang Yu, and he gradually drifted off to sleep, feeling uncomfortable, tired, and hungry.