"Tap... tap..."
The crisp sound of footsteps echoed through the alley.
Yun You held her breath, groping her way through the alley, the worn-out black leather boots stomping on the concrete road, making a piercing sound.
She had clearly minimized every movement, but in this dead quiet alley, even the faintest sound would clearly reach one's ears.
Ever since the girl stepped into this unfamiliar dark alley, the entire world seemed to have hit the mute button, turned off the lights, presenting the most direct darkness and malice before her.
The dark alley had no streetlights, nor any neon glows from the Upper District, making its overall environment gloomy to the extreme.
Darkness surged from all directions like an invisible abyssal maw, cold and chilling, devouring everything in the girl's sight, and herself.
The road ahead showed no end, nor any glimpse of light.
To be precise... darkness itself extended from there, if it weren't for Yun You's usual stubbornness, she might have already retreated by now.
On both sides of the alley stood two massive broken buildings, as hefty as high walls, resembling old alley buildings.
Concealed in darkness, they stretched upwards without bounds, with no roofs in sight, like two towering black mountains hemming the small Yun You in between.
The sense of oppression enveloped the girl's body like an airtight plastic bag, making the simple act of breathing increasingly difficult...
If it weren't for the many old robot remnants around, using the nearly wasted yellow lights from their chests to illuminate Yun You's path, she might have already lost her way.
"This is definitely not R9 Street."
Yun You once again confirmed this fact.
Yet she didn't think... she had taken the wrong path.
Though prolonged malnutrition often made the girl feel her head heavy, and her thoughts somewhat sluggish, she had some confidence in her basic intelligence.
For an easy escape, Yun You firmly remembered everything near her home.
How many discarded machines were there in this alley's corner, what pattern was the rust on the stairs... every circle the patrol drones flew each day, she remembered vividly, not to mention the way home.
"But if it's not a wrong turn, then there's only one possibility."
Yun You furrowed her brows, a word she was reluctant to face surfaced in her mind.
[Death Domain]
She thought, likely as she was unlucky, she had been caught in a Death Domain event.
For those living in Nest City, Death Domain events were not unfamiliar.
This indiscriminate disaster appearing in various parts of the city would hit the TV broadcast every few days, claiming ordinary lives amidst the merciless announcement of the announcer, and then be counted as merits for the Apprentice Death Gods.
Although Yun You had never experienced a Death Domain event before, she knew that the survival rate of an ordinary person in such an event usually did not exceed 5%.
This was the number given by the Nest City broadcast, but the girl thought, following the essence of Nest City journalism, this figure had to be halved to reflect reality.
"I thought I got lucky... turns out it's the same unfortunate state."
"Yun You, Yun You, you'll never win the lottery in this lifetime."
The girl rubbed her face heavily and sighed helplessly.
The situation looked quite grim, but Yun You wasn't in despair.
After all, she had encountered things far more despairing, knowing that being downcast was utterly useless. It was better to keep calm... and smile.
At least, it made her feel a lot better.
Of course, while being optimistic was one thing, Yun You would still be cautious when necessary.
"Nest City broadcasts once mentioned, Death Domain events usually have two characteristics..."
The girl simply stopped, stretching out her slender white fingers, silently thought: "First, the Death Domain covers the real world with a kind of special energy, forming a unique [Death Domain Space]."
"In this special space, any physical common sense could alter, even fail..."
"The originally 'normal' world would become chaotic, unreasonable, ruleless... Even the structures of objects and buildings would undergo unpredictable changes."
"In this way, it explains why the buildings on both sides of the alley have grown so tall."
Yun You looked up, gazing at the "alley buildings" around, which were larger than any skyscraper, further affirming her thoughts.
"As for the second characteristic, it's the existence of [Mutant Creatures]."
"Supposedly, they are special creatures that defy common sense, generally possessing powers beyond humans and some special abilities, unique species of the Death Domain, holding great hostility towards people."
"Hmm... From my perspective, they are 'Apprentice Death Gods that don't look like Apprentice Death Gods', anyway, they are all enemies."
Yun You muttered to herself, her gaze gradually turning to the corners of the alley on both sides.
In the dim corners, heaps of broken, rusted robots lay there, occasionally twitching, producing faint "clank-clank" sounds inaudible to ordinary people.
These discarded robots didn't count as mutant creatures.
Despite their numbers being piled up like mountains, it's still normal.
In Nest City, the thing updated quickest, apart from the worthless bottom people, is these cheap low-grade robots.
Due to a certain legislation concerning machines, using official channels to dispose of robots required a hefty waste disposal tax...
Therefore, most people wouldn't throw these things to the disposal station but casually abandon them, tossing them into alleyways of the slums, letting them slowly degrade.
So seeing large quantities of robots wasn't strange here.
Yun You glanced at the robot shells with her peripheral vision, continuing to dig through the amassed knowledge in her brain.
"Generally speaking, to exit the Death Domain, one has to meet its requirements, like solving puzzles... or clearing levels, similar to classic online games."
"Yet, some Death Domains are tightly bound with mutant creatures. Only by defeating those creatures can one escape... but who knows which kind of Death Domain this eerie place belongs to."
Yun You looked around, trying to gather useful information or hints from her surroundings...
But reality isn't a game, in the end, the girl found no hints.
"Might as well just fumble along."
Yun You helplessly shook her head, then lifted her somewhat numbed legs, continuing to walk deeper into the alley.