And now, he saw the possibility of awakening—even if that possibility was minuscule, even if the dangers he would face were immense, he still wanted to give it a try!

(Every time I travel to another world, I must wait seventy-two hours before I can return. Based on my previous experiences, I will return to the location where I last came back. If nothing changes, then when I travel back, I should still be in that pit. After more than ten days, those monsters should have all left by now.)

(So, I should do my best to hide and avoid detection in this abandoned building, and search for information about this afterlife world. I’ll try to hold out until close to the seventy-two-hour mark, and only then explore a wider area. If I encounter monsters or life-threatening danger, I’ll have a chance to travel back and escape.)

William Clark considered many possibilities in his mind. For example, what if he encountered monsters as soon as he crossed over?

Or what if those monsters killed him instantly?

Or what if he ran into something even more terrifying, like a ghost from "The Grudge" or Sadako?

And when he crossed over again, would he still be disabled? Both legs were basically gone, and one arm was probably half-crippled!

All of these were possible!

But... but...

His parents, his younger sister, his friends, his classmates...

This imperfect, yet vibrant world...

Spring Festival, family reunions...

That was his home...

On the day William Clark heard his parents wanted to bring him home, hoping he would spend the Spring Festival with his family, he rushed toward the only light in the darkness.

When William Clark came to his senses, he was lying unharmed on the concrete floor, and at his feet, the rotting corpse of a monster was still blocking the entrance to the pit.

(End of this chapter)

Chapter Six: Prohibition

William Clark forcefully kicked the monster’s corpse away from the entrance, then carefully crawled out through the opening.

It was very quiet around him. Aside from some distant, chaotic noises, the rooftop and the floors below in this building were completely silent.

Clearly, after more than ten days, the horde of monsters had moved on.

The monster he had killed was already starting to rot. Its lower half had been gnawed with many holes, exposing pitch-black organs and bones in several places, making the whole creature look even more grotesque and terrifying.

A pungent stench of decay filled the room.

William Clark quickly left the room, checking his body as he walked.

That body, which had clearly been crippled and severely injured, was now completely restored. Both legs and his arms were unscathed, and even the scratches from the steel bars had fully healed.

“Is it because I returned to my physical body?”

William Clark muttered softly. He wasn’t sure if it was the act of traveling that caused the recovery, or if the body healed the soul.

But either way, this was a stroke of great luck for him.

Next, William Clark explored this floor with extreme caution, carefully avoiding broken walls and open windows in the building to prevent his silhouette from being seen from outside.

Those monsters had extremely sharp vision. Back then, they had spotted the three of them on the rooftop from the ground floor. William Clark didn’t know how many monsters existed in this afterlife world, or whether they could see him from a great distance. To avoid any accidents, he could only choose to expose himself as little as possible.

When he first arrived in this afterlife world, he was chased by monsters on the rooftop, so he hadn’t explored the building at all. Now, as William Clark explored, he found that this floor had originally been an office building. The tattered papers on the ground showed faint traces of business charts and the like, but they were basically worthless.

There were also some broken pieces of furniture. Among them, William Clark found a pen, a phone power bank, a nail clipper, cosmetics, and some miscellaneous trinkets. Most of these little items were damaged—the more technologically advanced, the worse the damage. For example, the phone power bank was basically completely destroyed, while simpler things like the nail clipper were still usable.

Peering carefully outside through the windows and broken walls, William Clark spotted some of New York City’s landmark buildings. But from their appearance, they were all badly damaged, as if a war had taken place—collapsed, ruined, with hardly any intact structures.

Why was the afterlife world a ruined New York City?

Who built this city in the afterlife world?

Was it an exact replica of the living world?

And why was it ruined? Did a war really happen?

These questions left William Clark deeply puzzled.

During his exploration, William Clark confirmed again and again that he had indeed become stronger.

Judging by the strength he could exert with his hands and his running speed, he was now more robust, stronger, and faster. Although he hadn’t reached a superhuman level, his strength and speed had clearly improved. In just over ten days, he had gone from the level of a weak addict to that of a well-trained, muscular man.