Millennium Witch

After getting her food, she found a quiet corner to sit down, her smile immediately vanished, and she began to think.

In her interactions with the cafeteria worker, Dr. Tebbsa, and the staff she met along the way, she felt that the people here were all normal and friendly.

This made her have some doubts about her "human experimentation hypothesis".

After all, if it were really about conducting human experiments, there would be no need to treat these orphans so well, with single rooms, visual terminals, and a large activity room, and with such a gentle attitude... Wouldn't it be better to just lock them up and provide them with some basic water and food? It would also save on the budget.

However, we cannot rule out the possibility that Dr. Tebera and the others were kept in the dark. But if she has a chance to leave and survives, she can look for clues in the ruins of the base...

Thinking of this, another thought suddenly popped into Yvette's mind—what if this dream is eternal?

Will she be trapped here for the rest of her life?

but……

Going out means being trapped, coming in means being trapped too. Between two evils, choose the lesser. Staying in this dream seems a little better?

……

Over the next few days, Yvette spent most of her time in the computer lab, learning Black Tide language and constantly using the AI ​​programs there to gather information about this world and find ways to survive after leaving the dream.

But the AI's response made her heart sink to the bottom.

Even in the wild, it would be manageable; she could simply survive in the wilderness. But she's in a metal base from which she can't escape. A place where even cockroaches and rats can't survive—where is she supposed to find food?

Although the Magic Light Vine is beautiful, it is full of toxic alkaloids. Even if you are not poisoned by eating it, you will die from intestinal obstruction because the cellulose is difficult to digest. It is not suitable as an emergency food.

In summary, the only way to survive is to stay in this dream and never leave!

After realizing this, Yvette suddenly found it somewhat amusing.

If the protagonist in a normal novel were trapped in such a bizarre dream, they would definitely try their best to escape. But she not only didn't want to leave, she also tried to stay in the dream a little longer...

Obito is right.

What's wrong with a world of illusions!

Thus, Yvette spent six months in her dreams, caught between a conflicting mindset of striving to survive and despairing to die.

Late that night, as she watched the walls gradually disappear, Yvette knew that she was finally going to leave.

To be honest, after staying in the dream for so long, she thought this place was permanent, and she would never be able to get out unless she starved to death in the real world.

Now it seems that this is not the case; it's just that the dream lasted a bit longer.

With mixed feelings, she changed into the white dress she had come in. After an anxious wait, when all the scenes disappeared, what appeared before Yvette was deep darkness.

She slowly opened her eyes and saw the tenth basement level of the ruins filled with magic light vines.

She finally woke up.

But unlike before entering, the surrounding fog had disappeared, as if it had never existed.

Yes, just like the AI ​​said, magic also follows the law of conservation of energy. The dissipation of the mist means that the energy has been used up...

As for what this fog actually is, the AI ​​program in the dream offered a reasonable conjecture: it's a magical energy field formed when the spirits and memories of a large number of deceased individuals, before they could dissipate, intertwined for some reason. It also cited information about cults researching necromancy to demonstrate its feasibility.

Considering that this place had indeed suffered a great disaster and many people had died, Yvette decided to accept this explanation for the time being.

Then, she stood up, patted her skirt, and feeling that she was in relatively good physical condition, she decided to look for recyclable items on this floor.

Suddenly, a small discovery made her abruptly stop in her tracks.

If I remember correctly, before entering the dream, she was only wearing a white dress and nothing else. But now, she has underwear, white stockings, and clean little leather shoes—all of which she was wearing in the dream!

Who changed her clothes?

But to obtain it so perfectly, could it really be something she brought from her dream?

Yvette's heart pounded. There were two possibilities: one was that a mysterious person was hiding here, able to see into her dreams and secretly dress her in extra clothes while she was asleep—but that was obviously absurd and could be ruled out almost instantly.

Secondly, this dream may not be just a dream; it may be a special way of time travel. She used this dream to actually go back to the past and bring something back with her!

Damn it, I should have brought some tools!

Yvette was filled with regret, and then after a while, she suddenly realized something. She immediately took off her pantyhose and began to examine the soles of her feet—she had been walking barefoot before entering the dream, and her feet were covered in a lot of gray and black dirt. On the first day before entering the dream, she had been thinking about this and had made a point of washing her toes clean before going to sleep.

If her feet are still clean, it means she did indeed experience a physical transmigration; otherwise, it's still a dream.

A few seconds later, in the dim blue light, Yvette's delicate eyebrows furrowed slightly—they were still dirty; she hadn't physically transmigrated.

Where did the extra clothes she was wearing come from?

Could someone else really be hiding here? Some kind of ghost or evil spirit? Were the dreams she experienced actually just illusions created by an evil spirit?

Thinking of this, Yvette felt a chill rise from the bottom of her heart, and the surrounding scene became terrifying, as if countless eyes were secretly watching her in the darkness.

Fortunately, as someone who values ​​logical thinking, she was quick to adjust, and within a few deep breaths, she dismissed this low-probability event.

Of course, the main reason is that she knows very well that the worst thing to do in this situation is to scare herself.

Don't let yourself develop mental health issues before external factors even appear; otherwise, the false will become true.

So, after searching the entire tenth basement level without finding any clues, Yvette could only attribute this anomaly to the strange dream fog.

And after that...

Returning to the ninth basement level where she had lived for half a year in her dream, Yvette couldn't help but grin and show a helpless expression as she looked at the magic vines in the lobby.

It feels numb when you squeeze it, so I've set it up!

If I starve, I'll just start over!

Chapter 6 Waiting to Die

Despite saying she was waiting to die, after lying on the ground for a while, Yvette, having nothing else to do, obediently got up and began exploring the other floors, hoping to find some canned food with a long enough shelf life to prolong her life.

During this process, she also figured out the characteristics of each floor by using the various textual information left on each floor and combining it with her exploration in the dream.

First are the negative tenth floor and the negative nineth floor.

In the dream, the project responsible for treating the genetic diseases of the orphanage children like Yvette is called "Project Metamorphosis," and the drug they take is tentatively named "Metamorphosis Potion Type II."

The tenth and ninth underground floors are the experimental floors for the Metamorphosis Project and the living quarters for the relevant personnel, respectively.

Next are the eighth and seventh negative layers, called the "Active Rune Lab".

Yvette's understanding of the so-called "active rune sets" was limited to the AI's descriptions.

According to the information it provides, Active Rune Sets is not only Black Tower Pharma's core business, but also the fundamental reason why it is one of the eight super companies.

Once the user injects the rune potion into their body, they can become a powerful spellcaster in just a few minutes. Not only will their magic power increase significantly, but they can also instantly unleash the magic pre-set in the rune potion, making them a superhuman in no time.

Even when introducing meditation to Yvette, the AI ​​used the Active Rune Set as a reference – the level that meditation takes more than seven years to reach, while the lowest level of Active Rune Set only takes 4.6 minutes – showing how exaggerated the difference is.

but……

So many years have passed, and even if there are still some residual active rune group medicines in the two laboratories on the seventh and eighth basement levels, they must have expired.

Therefore, although it sounded tempting, it did not actually provide Yvette with any substantial gains, except for a small amount of readable paper materials.

Then there are the sixth, fifth, and fourth basement levels.

The sixth basement level was the same living area as the ninth basement level, nothing special. The warehouse for storing supplies was also empty, which disappointed Yvette.

Negative five and negative four are the rune and elixir laboratories.

This drug, similar to a gene-optimizing solution from science fiction, has effects including, but not limited to, maintaining youthfulness, increasing strength, optimizing metabolism, and regrowth of hair loss... It is Black Tower Pharmaceuticals' second most important business.

As for the drugs launched by the Metamorphosis Project, they are neither active rune sets nor rune elixirs, but rather classified as "magic potions," and it is precisely this classification that belongs to drugs in the traditional sense.

Keep going up.

The third negative layer is the experimental animal breeding layer;

The second basement level is the living area for regular staff;

The basement level is the inspection level, where the qualifications of people entering and leaving are verified.

So, after spending nearly 10 hours painstakingly checking all the floors, Yvette had to face the fact that she had gained nothing but scrap metal that had once been high-end magical equipment.

Of course, she also tried to pry open the metal bars of the ventilation duct to see if she could climb out. But the bars were welded too tightly, and a five or six-year-old girl like her simply couldn't budge them, so she had to give up.

Finally, exhausted, Yvette lay on the ground covered with magical vines, feeling the hunger in her stomach, and couldn't help but let out a long, desperate sigh.

In the dream, she had already made a great deal of effort. In addition to actively learning about the language and information of the other world, she also provided her situation to the AI ​​so that it could give her advice.

But insufficient conditions are insufficient conditions.

Within this enormous metal cage, apart from the magical vines that feed on magical elements, no other creature can survive. The only way to survive is to fish from the water platform, but the lake is infested with fish monsters…

No matter which way you go, you're headed for death.

Thinking of this, Yvette closed her eyes dejectedly and decided to take a nap first.

This time, she was truly prepared to die.

……

I don't know how long I slept.

Upon waking, Yvette looked at the shimmering ceiling made of magic vines and silently calculated the time since she had traveled through time.

The fact that she didn't starve to death or grow her hair during the six months of real dreams means that only a very short time had passed in reality.

But excluding that period, she has definitely been in the present for more than 24 hours.

For such a long time, I didn't feel weak or tired at all; I was still full of energy and vitality, at most a little hungry...

Is this the resilience of young bodies? With such strong recovery ability, wouldn't they be invincible for crowdsourcing?

She muttered to herself, then stood up and, driven by her survival instinct, began a second investigation of the ruined base.

The result was unchanged; it remained a dead end.

But there was something different about Yvette; she sensed something unusual about herself.

At this point, at least 36 hours had passed since she crossed over.

Under normal circumstances, a child who is still developing would experience dizziness and tremors due to hypoglycemia after 36 hours without food. She might also experience dry mouth and thirst due to dehydration, drowsiness, lethargy, or lack of energy. At the very least, she should be starving and hungry.

But the current situation is that she is still in good spirits, has recovered her strength, and only feels a normal "mild hunger".

What is the reason for this?

What kind of ultimate hunger-resistant king was the original owner?

Upon noticing this anomaly, a spark suddenly ignited deep within Yvette's numb heart. But instead of immediately popping champagne to celebrate, she waited anxiously, constantly sensing the changes in her body.

During this agonizing ordeal, an unknown amount of time passed—perhaps twenty or thirty hours, or perhaps several days.

Incredibly, Yvette discovered that her bodily functions were still perfectly normal!

She had normal energy, no dizziness, no dehydration, and apart from a slight feeling of hunger, she was otherwise in perfect condition—

Lively and energetic!

Therefore, she could finally be 99% certain that the original owner was indeed not an ordinary person. Her ability to wake up in bed as a child 300 years later, when everyone else had turned into skeletons, was not due to time travel, but because she was inherently different!

"This is even more outrageous than I expected..." Yvette muttered to herself. In her estimation, the original owner's most likely identity was a hibernator who survived the apocalypse using some of the equipment here, and then, not long after waking up, was possessed by her soul.

But now it seems the original owner may have gone into hibernation, but didn't need any external equipment at all; his body alone could have survived for 300 years until after the apocalypse...

What is her identity?

Chapter 7 The Cultivation of a Dharma Master

With the biggest survival crisis resolved, Yvette, who had been anxious, suddenly relaxed. She felt more at peace than ever before, and even time seemed to have become less valuable.

In fact, considering that the original owner was an ageless monster who had lived for at least three hundred years, time was probably the least important thing to her.

Of course, this is on the premise that she can truly live without aging or dying, and that it's not just about being able to withstand hunger.

Yvette found a metal chair that hadn't fallen apart yet and sat down. Looking at the pile of bones left by an unknown, mysterious monster on the ground, she fell into thought.

"Based on the clues provided by the dream, the original owner should indeed be a patient of the Metamorphosis Project, which can be confirmed by many details of those six months of life..."

"Later, the original owner possessed the characteristics of what appeared to be immortality. Does this mean that the original owner's special abilities originated from the Metamorphosis Project, or some experimental projects of Black Tower Medicine?"

"What's puzzling is that over such a long period of time, even with meditation, one should have accumulated considerable magical power. Why is it that, apart from being ageless and resistant to hunger, the original owner was just like an ordinary person in every other aspect?"

"Could it be because of the limitations of the experiment, fearing that the original owner would escape control, that the original owner was deliberately prevented from gaining power, and then the apocalypse suddenly broke out, the base was destroyed, and that's how things unexpectedly turned out the way they are now..."

Completely baffled and unable to gather any relevant clues, Yvette could only maintain this conclusion for the time being.