"I still have to go out."
Holding a dagger he had polished himself, Xia Yu hesitated at the entrance of the shelter.
Calling it a dagger was a stretch; it was actually just a rusty piece of iron with cloth wrapped around the thinner end and the other end sharpened.
But in order to survive, Xia Yu gritted his teeth, closed his eyes, and walked out of the shelter with his homemade dagger.
He had been transmigrated for two days now, and he hadn't eaten anything in that time. If he didn't drink some water or eat something soon, he feared he would become the first transmigrator to die of starvation.
He had neither a system nor a golden finger upon his first transmigration, and he had woken up in a room that looked like a doomsday shelter. It was simply the worst possible start.
God knows how confused he was when he first woke up from the hibernation pod. He went to sleep, closed his eyes, and opened them to find himself in this world without any warning.
He hadn't been hit by a car, nor had he fallen into a river and drowned. His computer was sitting right there, and there was no electrical leak. It was simply ridiculous—was there any more casual way to transmigrate?!
It seemed there actually was. As Xia Yu left along the steel corridor, he let his thoughts wander, which allowed him to temporarily ignore his own situation.
In one of his favorite light novels, 'Re:Zero − Starting Life in Another World', the protagonist Subaru Natsuki transmigrated even more casually: he just closed and opened his eyes in front of a convenience store and was suddenly in another world.
That was even more ridiculous and casual than transmigrating while sleeping.
But as miserable as that guy was, at least he transmigrated to a relatively normal fantasy world. Xia Yu, on the other hand, woke up in a hibernation pod with not a single soul—not even a sign of life—around him.
After he woke up, the hibernation pod's power cut out immediately. If he hadn't left before it completely stopped running, he might have been trapped inside to die.
He didn't know whether to call it lucky or unlucky.
After all, now that he was awake, he had to find a way to survive. Had he not woken up, he could have left this world painlessly in his sleep.
"Whatever, why think so much? Just get out first."
While encouraging himself, Xia Yu fumbled his way through the steel corridor. The lights inside had long since gone out, and the gaps in the walls were rusted.
But at least it wasn't blocked; otherwise, he really would have been in despair.
Before long, a bright light appeared at the end of the corridor, seemingly indicating that the exit was not far away.
The moment he saw the light, Xia Yu took a deep breath and picked up his remaining energy to quicken his pace. Even if the outside world was already at its end, he wanted to see it with his own eyes.
Bright sunlight shone in from the exit, looking like a radiant entrance to hope. Xia Yu bathed in the warm sunlight and stepped out of the corridor one step at a time, but what greeted him outside was true despair.
"Why is it a desert?!!!"
Xia Yu's legs went weak, and he leaned against the corridor wall, his body slowly sliding to the ground. He didn't even have the strength to grip the dagger in his hand.
A vast, withered yellow desert stretched as far as the eye could see. Occasionally, the tops of a few high-rise buildings peeked out, but they were all crumbling due to weathering.
This was a post-apocalyptic world, and he might be the only human left in it.
After seeing a few robots that looked like Androids, Xia Yu confirmed this thought. This was—the world of nier: automata!
He knew this world, and he knew its specific circumstances—a desperate yet poignantly beautiful world.
Despair within hope, and hope within despair—that was the truest portrayal of this world.
Why wasn't it the story world of Nier Replicant? At least that world had Replicants. This world... in this world, I'm really the only human left!
Xia Yu's eyes were vacant as he roared in his heart; he no longer had the strength to shout out loud.
But soon, Xia Yu propped himself up and stood. He couldn't give up hope. As long as he could find an Android in this world, he could still be saved!
Although there were no humans left in this world, a large number of Androids—essentially biomimetic robots—remained. These Androids held humans in the highest regard, believing humans to be their creators.
They didn't have thoughts like "God created man, man created robots; if man can doubt God, why can't robots doubt man?" After all, to these Androids, humans were the supreme creators, the objects of their reverence, and the very meaning of their existence.
Because humans were the meaning of their existence, once humans went extinct, the Androids lost their purpose. This was the origin of the story of nier: automata—a scam leading to extinction, a hopeless despair.
So the current situation was that as long as he found an Android, he could live safely and even turn this desperate story around.
At least, that's what Xia Yu thought, because he had to give himself a hope—a hope that wouldn't lead to total despair.
"Phew, let's go out."
Clutching his dagger, Xia Yu supported himself against the wall and stepped into the desert. The scorching heat of the soft sand instantly traveled from the soles of his feet through his entire body.
But Xia Yu didn't care. He carefully avoided those Android-like robots; those were the aliens' Machine Lifeforms, similar to the Human Army's Androids.
About a thousand years after the extinction of humanity, aliens suddenly arrived on Earth intending to invade. They created Machine Lifeforms to fight the Androids, while the Android forces established the Human Army to resist these alien invaders.
After a long war, the creators of the Machine Lifeforms—the aliens—also went extinct.
Yet, the Machine Lifeforms created by the aliens continued to battle the Androids. It was ridiculous; even though the creators were gone, the creations were still fighting to the death.
Nowadays, both Machine Lifeforms and the Resistance Army exist on Earth, both fighting for their respective creators.
Even though both sides' creators had long since perished.
Xia Yu carefully avoided the Machine Lifeforms; these mechanical constructs wouldn't care if he was human or not.
[Xia Yu has joined the Chat Group!]
"Eh?"
Xia Yu stopped. Was he having auditory hallucinations because he had been hungry for too long, causing dizziness?
Wait!
Looking at the Chat Group interface that suddenly appeared before him and the text scrolling on it, Xia Yu's face turned pale. He... was not only hallucinating sounds but also sights!
[elden ring]: Well-reasoned and convincing.
elden ring? Wasn't that a game he used to play? Why was it in his imaginary Chat Group!
[Xia Yu]: Cold? Shaking?
Xia Yu? Himself? He had even imagined another version of himself chatting. It was over; he really was starving to the point of madness.
Clang! Clang!
The walking sounds of two small robots suddenly rang out. Xia Yu instantly snapped back to his senses and hid behind a sand dune. Even if he was hallucinating, he couldn't put himself in danger.
After the walking sounds of the robots faded into the distance, Xia Yu breathed a sigh of relief and turned his attention back to the Chat Group in front of him.
This hallucination was quite realistic; it actually hadn't disappeared yet.
When he saw the message sent by the person labeled 'resident evil', Xia Yu thought for a moment and tried clicking the top right corner of the Chat Group, then scrolled down to see the so-called group announcement.
After reading the announcement, Xia Yu's previously stiff thoughts gradually became active, and his expression began to turn excited and distorted.
"Hell yeah!!!"
He wasn't crazy; he was saved!
Hell yeah!!!