**Volume One: Desperate Situation · Struggle for Survival**
**Chapter 001: Data Stream and Crimson Snow**
**[Tianyuan Calendar Year -3 · Deep Winter · Early Morning]**
When Ning DuGu opened his eyes, he didn't see the sky.
He saw green.
Translucent, pulsating, eerie green.
The green wove into complex grids on his retinas, like the display of some precision instrument. Numbers jumped. Symbols flickered. A cold, robotic system voice rang directly in the depths of his mind:
**[Tianyuan Eye System: Forced Activation]**
**[Host Vital Signs: Critical]**
**[Initiating Environment Scan...]**
Ning DuGu wanted to move.
He couldn't.
Not *couldn't* move. *Dared* not move.
Because he saw the data—the cold numbers pulsing in the depths of his vision, mixed with crimson blood and green light:
**[HP: 3/100]**
**[Left Tibia: Shattered]**
**[Core Temperature: 34.8°C (Falling)]**
**[Blood Loss (Estimated): 1400ml]**
**[Infection Risk: 92%]**
**[Starvation State: 72 hours]**
Three days.
He had lain here among the dead for three whole days.
The system's scan expanded slowly. A radius of One *zhang*. Two. Three. Like some invisible sonar spreading in the dark. The pit's full shape materialized in the green grid:
**[Corpse Count: 147]**
**[Ambient Temperature: -12°C]**
**[Wind: Northwest, 17 knots]**
**[Scanning for Usable Resources...]**
Ning DuGu's breaths were shallow.
Each breath made his lung capacity curve fluctuate wildly on the system interface. A red line, trembling at the edge of the safe threshold.
He remembered.
He remembered he wasn't from this world.
Three days ago, he was Ning Xuan, an algorithm engineer in 2023, working overtime at a Beijing game company. The code before him twisted. His monitor erupted in blinding white light. And then...
This place.
The corpse pit.
Outside Liangzhou City. A Khitan slaughter yard.
**[Environment Scan Complete]**
**[Resource List Generated:]**
- **Usable Corpses: 147**
- **Intact Bone Fragments: 872**
- **Metal Debris (Arrowheads, Blade Shards): 67**
- **Cloth (Marginally Intact): 23 pieces**
- **Uncoagulated Blood: ~800ml (Contaminated. Not Potable)**
- **Nearest Heat Source: Northwest, 412 meters**
Ning DuGu's pupils contracted slightly.
The system even labeled if blood was drinkable?
This wasn't a game.
This was something... colder.
The wind howled, carrying rot and ice crystals. In the top-right corner of his vision, a number ticked down slowly:
**[Core Temp: 34.7°C → 34.6°C → 34.5°C]**
**[Estimated Time to Hypothermic Death: 127 minutes]**
Two hours.
If he didn't act, he had two hours left.
Ning DuGu closed his eyes.
Not surrender.
Calculation.
In the depths of the green data stream, at the system's lowest layer, he saw a flickering prompt:
**[New Host Trial: Survive until the death timer expires.]**
**[Reward: Unlock Basic Function Modules]**
**[Failure Penalty: None]**
**[Note: You have died once. Cherish this opportunity.]**
Cherish.
The corner of Ning DuGu's mouth twitched. A laugh or a curse? He didn't know.
He moved.
Starting with his right index finger. The nearly numb digit bent slowly. The system displayed its skeletal trajectory in real time. Every muscle contraction became a number:
**[Right Index Finger Mobility: 12%]**
**[Calorie Expenditure: 0.003 kcal]**
Good.
It worked.
Then the palm. Wrist. Arm... Ning DuGu puppeteered his own dying body with clinical precision.
**[Muscle Activity Recovering...]**
**[HP: 3 → 4]**
Four HP.
It cost him precious energy reserves. A new warning popped up:
**[Warning: Starvation at Dangerous Threshold]**
**[Recommended Immediate Caloric Intake: Minimum 300 kcal]**
300 kcal.
A bowl of rice. Or two eggs. Or...
Ning DuGu's gaze fell on a nearby corpse.
A young soldier, maybe twenty. His face frozen in terror. Three arrow wounds in his chest, now purplish-black ice.
The system's scan auto-focused:
**[Target: Human Corpse (Male. Estimated Time of Death: 68 hours)]**
**[Muscle Tissue: Frozen. Approx. 8kg Protein]**
**[Viscera: Partial Decay. Consumption Not Advised.]**
**[Clothing: Padded Cotton Jacket. 40% Damaged. 60% Insulation Remaining.]**
Ning DuGu stared for three seconds.
Then, a prompt box he never expected appeared in the center of his vision:
**[Loading Morality Assessment Module...]**
**[Host Activity Detected: Potential 'Corpse Resource Utilization']**
**[This activity may trigger moral conflict.]**
**[Activate morality constraint protocols?]**
**[A. Activate (Behavior Restricted. Humanity Preserved.)]**
**[B. Postpone (Survival Priority. Morality Deferred.)]**
**[C. Permanently Disable (Pure Logic Mode)]**
Ning DuGu froze.
The wind still roared. His temperature still fell. Death timer: 119 minutes.
And the system was asking if he wanted to stay human.
Ning DuGu drew in a lungful of bitingly cold air. He answered in his mind.
"Postpone."
**[Choice Confirmed: Morality Module Postponed.]**
**[Current Mode: Survival Priority]**
**[Note: This choice will be recorded in the Host Behavior Archive.]**
The green interface flashed. The morality module icon greyed out.
Ning DuGu reached out. Stiff. Slow. He grasped the corpse's collar.
He didn't eat it.
He stripped it.
The padded jacket peeled off in layers. His motions were rough, mechanical. The system rated his efficiency:
**[Garment Stripping: Progress 37%... 58%... Complete]**
**[Acquired: Padded Cotton Jacket ×1 (40% Damaged)]**
**[Recommended Wear Method: Inside Out (Bloodstains Inward. Reduces Heat Loss)]**
Inside out.
Bloodstains inward.
Ning DuGu looked at the jacket, still holding the corpse's cold. No emotion flickered.
He put it on.
**[Core Temp: 34.5°C → 34.6°C → 34.8°C]**
**[Insulation Efficiency: +18%]**
**[Estimated Time to Hypothermic Death: 127min → 214min]**
An hour and a half. Bought.
Enough.
Ning DuGu kept scanning. The resource list unfurled like a shopping list:
**[Corpse #001: Iron Arrowheads ×3 (Detachable)]**
**[Corpse #017: Short Blade Fragment ×1 (Barely Weaponizable)]**
**[Corpse #042: Leather Boot, Right Foot (Size Small)]**
**[Corpse #089: Ration Pouch (Empty. Bean Cake Residue Inside)]**
Ning DuGu marked them all. Then he began to crawl.
He couldn't stand. His shattered left leg sent agony screaming through him with any real movement. The system displayed a real-time cross-section of the break:
**[Left Tibia Fracture Analysis:]**
- **Main Fracture: Longitudinal. Length 7.2cm**
- **Secondary Fractures: Circumferential. 3 locations.**
- **Fragments: 11. Largest: 3cm.**
**[Recommendation: Immobilization required before movement attempt.]**
Immobilize.
Ning DuGu looked at the "Bone Fragments" on the list.
He crawled toward them.
One meter. Two. Three...
Each meter cost 0.1 HP. Pain like electricity arced through his brain. The system's pain index ticked up impassively:
**[Pain Index: 87/100 (Near Unconsciousness Threshold)]**
**[Recommendation: Deep Breaths. Distraction.]**
Distraction.
Ning DuGu nearly laughed.
His distraction method? Mental mathematics.
The Fibonacci sequence.
1, 1, 2, 3, 5, 8, 13, 21...
One number per meter crawled.
Finally, he reached the bones.
A corpse chewed by wild dogs. Ribs exposed, relatively intact. The system provided a detailed utilization plan:
**[Ribs ×3: Suitable for Splint Material]**
**[Recommendation: Use cloth strips for binding. Fixation Strength: Medium]**
Ning DuGu snapped off three ribs.
He worked with the detached precision of a surgeon.
No hesitation. No nausea. None of the normal human revulsion.
Because the morality module was postponed. By his own choice.
He bound the ribs to his leg with cloth strips (torn from corpses). Knot. Tighten. Knot again. The system gave real-time feedback for each step:
**[Splinting Progress: 34%... 68%... Complete]**
**[Fixation Efficacy: 77%]**
**[Fracture Stability: Upgraded to 'Can Attempt Walking']**
**[Warning: Severe Pain Will Persist. Distraction Recommended.]**
Ning DuGu stood up.
Not true standing. One-legged support. The other leg suspended. A broken arrow from a corpse served as a crude crutch.
**[HP: 4 → 3]**
Pain.
Blinding, edge-of-vision-blackening pain.
Ning DuGu didn't fall.
He looked toward the "Nearest Heat Source" marker. Northwest. 412 meters.
412 meters.
A five-minute walk for a healthy man.
Now, with this leg, this crutch, through this sea of corpses and ice...
The system calculated:
**[Estimated Travel Time: 47 minutes]**
**[Potential En-Route Risks:]**
- **Hypothermia Unconsciousness Probability: 34%**
- **Wild Animal Encounter Probability: 12%**
- **Khitan Patrol Encounter Probability: 6%**
**[Comprehensive Survival Rate: 48.2%]
Less than half.
But still better than the 0% chance of staying here to freeze.
Ning DuGu began to move.
Each step, the system recorded it.
**[Distance Traveled: 0.8 meters]**
**[Calorie Expenditure: 0.12 kcal]**
**[Remaining Distance: 411.2 meters]**
The numbers counted down.
Distance. HP. Temperature. Time.
Everything was counting down.
And Ning DuGu, in this frozen death pit, wrapped in a stream of green data, began his first, desperate struggle in this strange new world.
The sky was lead-grey.
No stars. No moon.
Only wind, snow, and the pulse of numbers.
**[Survival Timer: 214 minutes]**
**[Current Progress: 8.4 meters traveled]**
**[Continue?]**
Ning DuGu didn't answer the system.
He knew it didn't need an answer.
It just needed him to live.
By any means necessary.
---
**[System Log · Automatic Entry]**
**Host: Ning DuGu**
**Tianyuan Calendar -3 · Winter · Day 1**
**Actions Logged: Garment Stripping (Corpse) ×1. Bone Harvesting ×3. Splint Crafting ×1.**
**Morality Module Status: Postponed.**
**Note: The Host chose survival.**
**This is the beginning.**
---
**[End of Chapter]**
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