Duan Lili raised her hand and waved, even revealing a smile.
"……" Duan Lili, ""
Duan Lili herself didn't know why she made that gesture.
She didn't even know how she was still alive? She clearly died inside the giant serpent's stomach.
Her memories still lingered in the pain before death, yet now, she sat on her rustic fabric sofa, striking a bizarre pose.
This was definitely not a dream. She was still on the Another World Continent, with the sofa firmly planted on the riverbank. Lifting her gaze, the giant serpent that had swallowed her was coiled on a rock by the river.
It was likely digesting its prey slowly after swallowing it.
But now, the serpent's stomach was suddenly empty, leaving the serpent utterly bewildered as it raised its head in confusion.
The moment Duan Lili saw the serpent, her entire being shattered!
The explosive pain in her chest and head from suffocation; the claustrophobic darkness of being tightly wrapped from head to toe; the stinging corrosion of mucus on her skin and eyes…
The fear, despair, and pain that had accumulated just before her death erupted in an instant.
The calm and composure Duan Lili had maintained from the moment she crossed over until her death completely shattered! She frantically curled into the sofa, letting out a high-pitched, broken scream—
"Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh!"
It would have been fine if she hadn't screamed, but her scream caught the attention of the giant serpent, which was still confused about its empty stomach.
It's said that snakes can't see, but who knows if this giant serpent could. In any case, Duan Lili couldn't control her high-pitched scream, which alerted the serpent to her presence.
The next second, the serpent slid across the ground like an arrow, moving with incredible speed despite having no legs. In just a few seconds, it rushed from the riverbank to the front of the sofa.
Its head and body rose upright, opening its massive mouth toward Duan Lili…
Was she about to relive the painful and terrifying experience of being swallowed?
Driven by fear, Duan Lili instinctively pulled her legs onto the sofa. She pressed her body hard against the backrest, her hands nearly tearing through the rustic floral fabric sofa cover!
Then came a loud "thud!"
The open mouth hovered just slightly above Duan Lili's head, as if it had crashed into an invisible transparent wall. The serpent moved so fast, with such momentum, that upon impact, its two fangs snapped off.
The foul, fishy stench from its mouth sprayed all over Duan Lili's face!
Who knows if any disgusting fluids got into her mouth. Duan Lili had been screaming with her mouth open, but the stench abruptly cut her off, leaving her staring dumbfounded at the bizarre scene.
Giant Serpent: ""
What's so weird today?
With its prey clearly in sight, the serpent recoiled slightly, twisted its head and neck (if it could be said to have a neck), aimed at Duan Lili, and opened its gaping maw for the second time…
Thud!
Duan Lili blinked, watching as the serpent, unwilling to give up, thudded left and right, repeatedly crashing into the invisible wall in front of her.
The massive mouth was only twenty or thirty centimeters away from the tip of her nose, yet it could never reach her face, blocked each time by the unseen invisible wall.
As her fear subsided, Duan Lili calmed down. She even mustered the courage to reach out and touch the serpent's mouth during the brief moment it was stalled against the invisible wall.
Her hand passed unimpeded through the air to touch the giant serpent, but the serpent was blocked by an invisible wall on the "outside," unable to reach her.
After all, she had an external plugin!
"System?" Duan Lili called out to the System, "What is this…"
But the System remained silent, offering no response whatsoever.
It had gone into hibernation. Completely unreliable.
Just before Duan Lili died in the serpent's belly earlier, she had called out to the System countless times, and it had given no response either.
Serves it right for crashing! Serves it right for hardware damage! Serves it right for losing its Core Data!
As Duan Lili angrily cursed the unreliable System in her heart, the giant serpent stopped. It couldn't understand why it couldn't devour the prey before it, but it had no intention of letting Duan Lili go.
It was a serpent, so it began to coil.
Coiling prey to death was the racial talent and fine tradition of serpents.
With this coiling, the giant serpent created a peculiar space.
It turned out the invisible wall wasn't only in front but on all four sides.
The serpent's body pressed tightly against the invisible wall, coiling around nothing but air.
Duan Lili now understood: using the outer edge of the sofa as the boundary, this vertical space was protected by invisible walls, and the giant serpent couldn't enter.
In other words, the sofa was safe.
Moreover, Duan Lili had clearly died earlier, yet when she opened her eyes, she was sitting on the sofa, waving her hands foolishly.
She understood!
Respawn point, Safe Zone!
Realizing she was safe, Duan Lili leaned her head back against the sofa cushion and took several deep breaths.
A foul odor flooded her chest.
Duan Lili: ""
Ugh! It was the stench from the serpent's mouth!
Duan Lili looked up again. It couldn't be considered completely safe, because the serpent wouldn't easily give up its prey—it would persist until it coiled the prey to death. It was now coiling around the entire "Safe Zone," using its own body to build a wall of flesh, trapping Duan Lili on the sofa.
This wouldn't do; she had to find a way to escape. Duan Lili closed her eyes and switched to Game View.
Sure enough, above the giant serpent's head was a red Health Bar: [Health: 350].
Having a Health Bar was good—it meant it could be killed.
However, below the Health Bar was a blue bar: [Combat: 45].
Duan Lili suddenly remembered something and glanced at her own attribute Interface.
She now understood that she had died once and respawned. In such situations, one usually lost levels. But her attribute Interface showed no changes?
…Well, she was already at the lowest level, with no levels left to lose.
There was no time to worry about her beautiful sofa cover now. Duan Lili stood up on the sofa and summoned the toy knife—no, summoned the Small Wooden Knife.
In all her life, Duan Lili had only ever touched small cats and dogs. This was her first time confronting such a terrifying and enormous creature head-on.
She nervously swallowed and cautiously reached out to touch the wall of flesh.
The sofa's spatial restriction had no effect on her—it only affected creatures attempting to harm her.
Her courage instantly surged.
They say to strike a snake at its seven inches, but with such a large serpent, she had no idea where its seven inches were. Duan Lili gripped the Small Wooden Knife, hesitated for a moment, and chose a spot below the serpent's head that could be considered its "neck." She gently "slashed" it with the knife.
The toy-like wooden knife struck the giant serpent covered in cold, hard scales, and a red 【-1】 floated above the serpent's head.
It worked! It really worked!
Thank you, System!
As she prepared to strike a second time, Duan Lili hesitated because the serpent was truly horrifying and disgusting. She closed her eyes and switched from the ordinary Game View to the Sandbox View.
Sure enough, after switching to Sandbox View, everything became cartoonish and blocky, and even the serpent looked cute.
Duan Lili tried striking with force again, but the floating number remained 【-1】.
However, after trying twenty or thirty times, she discovered that a light strike would only reduce one point of health, but a forceful strike could occasionally trigger a critical hit, reducing two or even three points of health.
At the same time, the Small Wooden Knife was losing durability, dropping one point with each strike.
The Small Wooden Knife's durability was capped at 100, while the serpent's Health Bar was 350.
Duan Lili didn't dare slack off. She put all her strength into every strike, hacking at the serpent with as much force as possible. The serpent's head continuously floated numbers like 【-2】, 【-3】, and at its highest, even 【-5】.
Duan Lili was quite worried that the serpent might flee from the pain. Since the serpent had emerged from the river, and Duan Lili's sofa was only a few dozen meters away from the river—too close—if the serpent returned to its nest, it would remain a constant threat. It was best to eliminate it on the spot.
Fortunately, serpents, when attacked, don't flee. Instead, they coil tighter, typically using constriction to render their prey unconscious and unable to resist.
Duan Lili stood on the sofa, continuously hacking away with a "chop chop chop chop chop chop chop" sound. Finally, on the hundredth strike, the Small Wooden Knife let out a "crack" and shattered into a pile of wooden splinters, falling onto the sofa.
Exhausted, Duan Lili slumped onto the sofa's backrest, leaning against the "meat wall" as she panted heavily.
Meanwhile, the serpent's Health Bar still had 194 points remaining.
Duan Lili had no weapons left, only tools. She summoned an axe. The axe was also small, resembling a child's toy in both size and weight.
Generally speaking, using tools as weapons is less effective.
Sure enough, a light strike with the axe caused no change in the serpent's Health Bar—not even a 【-1】. Only a forceful strike could reduce one point of health. Critical hits were practically nonexistent.
The axe's durability was also 100, meaning that even if Duan Lili used all her strength with every strike, one axe could at most deal -100 damage to the serpent.
However, this was an ideal scenario. In reality, Duan Lili's arms were already sore to the point of exhaustion. Sometimes, even after two consecutive strikes, not a single 【-1】 would appear.
When the axe's durability dropped to 50, Duan Lili struck three times in a row with no effect.
Feeling that her condition was deteriorating, she suddenly became alert and pulled up her attribute Interface for a glance. Sure enough, her Health Bar had dropped a tiny bit.
From exhaustion.
At the same time, she noticed that the bar below her Health Bar, which had no numerical value or label, had progressed more than halfway?
She thought for a moment and couldn't think of anything else besides an experience bar.
If it was an experience bar, would killing this snake allow her to level up?
Duan Lili paused first, sitting cross-legged on the sofa to rest for a while. Her stamina consumption had been too high. She hadn't noticed it while she was hyped up and frantically fighting the monster, but as soon as she stopped, her stomach growled loudly with hunger.
Duan Lili summoned a steamed bun.
Steaming hot, soft and fluffy big steamed buns! Carrying the aroma fresh out of the pot! That fragrance cut through the giant serpent's fishy stench, drilling straight into her nostrils.
Duan Lili took a big bite, the soft, warm texture filling her mouth, and a sense of happiness welled up inside her.
You have to know, when she was inside the snake's belly… No, no, no! She wasn't going to think about it anymore! She absolutely wouldn't recall it again!
For now, she would focus on the small, certain happiness of a hot steamed bun!
After devouring a hot steamed bun and chugging down half a bottle of cola, she rested for a while, watching her Health Bar slowly recover. When the Health Bar was completely full, Duan Lili rolled up her sleeves and stood up again.
Without another word, she swung her axe and got to work!