Brian Carter's cries were answered only by a mouthful of bitter, astringent black sand. At the same time, a sandstorm tornado, less than a thousand meters away from Brian Carter, was rapidly sweeping toward his location. If Brian Carter did nothing, it was certain that in less than half a minute, he would be torn to shreds by this violent sandstorm.

At that moment, the system's mechanical voice sounded in Brian Carter's ear once again: "The Death Black Desert in the Alpha Star System's biological forbidden zone is ravaged by sandstorm tornadoes all year round. Based on analysis of the master's current physical strength and endurance limits, the gravity coefficient of this trial scenario has been adjusted to 2.5 times Earth's normal gravity, which is approximately 30% of the original gravity of the Death Black Desert..."

"There are over a hundred types of ancient bloodthirsty beasts in the Black Desert, all extremely ferocious species with powerful killing abilities. Among them, the mutated Crimson Ao King is the most formidable, having reached level ten mutant creature status. The only way to escape the first trial scenario is to obtain the scarlet venomous stinger at the end of the mutated Crimson Ao King's tail. Additionally, for every beast the master kills, the system will grant a certain degree of task completion based on the beast's biological level. The specific parameters are as follows..."

"Damn it, if you want me dead, just say so. No need to beat around the bush." Brian Carter was thoroughly enraged, but his survival instinct still drove him to muster all his strength to get up and dash madly to the left, hoping to reach a safe zone before the sandstorm tornado struck.

After confirming that in this space he could indeed feel all sorts of physical and even psychological pain just like in reality, Brian Carter gradually began to believe everything Blue Silk and the system voice had told him before. "I really could die here!"

What does death feel like? Brian Carter had never experienced it, had never even thought about it. But at this moment, the breath of death was so close to him. In less than thirty seconds, under 2.5 times gravity, Brian Carter miraculously managed to move 150 meters sideways—a feat that, under normal circumstances, would have been impossible for someone as unathletic as him.

Exhausting the last bit of strength in his body, Brian Carter stumbled and collapsed onto a small sand dune. Seeing the sandstorm tornado brush past him by a hair's breadth, he couldn't help but let out a long sigh of relief. But just then, a sudden change occurred.

The small sand dune that had been standing there suddenly caved in, and a giant scorpion, at least three meters long, emerged from the sunken sand.

Almost simultaneously, Brian Carter received an instant message from the system: "Black Desert Giant-Tailed Scorpion, level two creature. The venom in its tail stinger can kill a person within three seconds. Attack power: D, Defense: E, Mobility: D."

Almost as soon as this information flashed through his mind, the giant-tailed scorpion that had suddenly burst from the sand whipped its tail in a swift motion, and the one-and-a-half-meter-long stinger pierced straight through Brian Carter at a speed he couldn't even perceive.

If the giant-tailed scorpion had attacked with its venomous stinger, at least Brian Carter wouldn't have died so painfully. But in his current state, the scorpion didn't even bother to use its venom; pure physical force was enough for it to enjoy its prey.

The sensation of having a gaping hole punched through one's chest would be unbearable for anyone. Brian Carter spat blood bubbles from his mouth, his limbs hanging limply, yet he didn't die immediately.

As the giant-tailed scorpion swung its tail, Brian Carter, still alive but impaled on the stinger, truly experienced a fate worse than death. In that moment, he wanted to curse, to cry out in pain, to scream in agony, but he no longer had the strength to perform even these acts, which now seemed like a luxury.

Tormented by endless pain for a full six minutes, the unwillingness and terror in Brian Carter's eyes finally faded away—death was now the best outcome for him.

※※※

The sun rose and set, life followed death, and death followed life. In the blink of an eye, Brian Carter had already spent over sixty days in the Death Black Desert. According to the analysis of the information in Brian Carter's brain domain, the Immortal Program had simulated the trial scenario's time to match Earth's 24-hour cycle.

Anyone familiar with Brian Carter would never associate the wild man currently devouring a level-one Black Desert creature, the "burrow rat," raw, with him.

Recalling the scene from more than ten days ago when he starved to death, Brian Carter now ate the hard-won burrow rat as if he were feasting on fresh seafood.

Casually wiping the blood from the corner of his mouth, Brian Carter's eyes glinted with a chilling ferocity—a predatory, beast-like gaze rarely seen in humans.

After more than sixty days in the Death Black Desert, Brian Carter's death count had reached triple digits—a total of 324 times. Of these, he was killed by various ferocious beasts in the Black Desert 270 times, died from the harsh environment 34 times, and the remaining 20 times were suicides during his first week, when he was in utter despair.

During that first week, after experiencing dozens of excruciating deaths, Brian Carter's spirit nearly collapsed, and suicide became the only option he stubbornly clung to.

However, after killing himself twenty times in a row, Brian Carter finally realized that even if he killed himself a thousand or ten thousand times, he would still be resurrected. Unless he achieved the task completion set by the Immortal Program for the trial scenario, he would be trapped in an endless cycle of death and rebirth forever.