"Ahhh!!!"
Li Ban screamed in agony, wanting to roll on the ground from the pain.
After seeing the girl bite off and swallow his right eye, she now opened her mouth toward his left eye.
Ignoring the pain and forgetting this was a virtual world,
his fear of blindness sent adrenaline surging through him. With both hands, he forcefully lifted the girl's upper body and kicked out with his legs, directly throwing her into the iron cage cart above him.
He immediately stood up to close the cage door, only to see the mimic rat girl curl up into a ball again inside.
Without stopping, Li Ban slammed the door shut with a "bang" and fumbled to lock it quickly with trembling hands.
Once inside the cage, the mimic rat girl seemed even more terrified than him, remaining completely still.
Though he didn't understand why, this was better than her continuing to attack.
He collapsed onto the ground, chest heaving violently.
Though the Witch World was virtual, this pain... was absolutely real!
The eye pain brought a splitting headache with it.
He didn't know if such injuries could kill him here.
After the struggle, his inner fury had grown significantly.
If he really died here, he could just use the amnesia excuse to silence the lab people!
Even his colleague Ze admitted the lab's technology wasn't perfect yet.
Just then, Li Ban suddenly heard the mission assistance system's prompt tone.
[Character data partially lost detected. Character invaded by unknown toxin detected. Severe infection detected. Calculating survival probability...]
[Calculating...]
[Character survival probability rapidly decreasing. Character will die within 20 minutes. Forced logout conditions met. Preparing forced logout.]
[Connecting...]
[Connection failed. Forced logout failed. Character approaching death.]
"Death from infection? This is poisoning, right?"
At first Li Ban didn't care, but hearing the last part made him exclaim in shock.
"'Forced logout failed, character approaching death' - what does that mean? How do I leave the Witch World then?"
[Analyzing...]
[Analysis complete: Consciousness unable to logout will be trapped inside the decaying corpse until complete decomposition.]
Li Ban covered his face, feeling blood spray onto his palm and trickle down his wrist and cheeks.
His mind went blank for a moment.
Then a fear called despair took root in his heart, rapidly spreading throughout his body.
Just moments ago he didn't care - dying in a virtual world meant nothing, logging out wasn't a big deal.
But now the system told him his consciousness would be trapped in a rotting corpse until complete decomposition?
Li Ban didn't know how long full decomposition took.
But he knew he couldn't endure even one month like that.
He'd go insane.
In death state, would he lose all five senses, unable to perceive anything?
Like prolonged solitary confinement? Or like a vegetative state?
Even if his decomposed body returned to the lab, could they restore his insane mind?
Might as well die for real!
Thinking this, cold sweat instantly drenched Li Ban.
He finally realized - in this situation, he couldn't even commit suicide.
He knew how to kill a body, but not how to kill his own consciousness.
"What should I do... Didn't they say death would force logout? Why can't I logout? Because I'm a transmigrator, not the lab's original consciousness?"
Suppressing his panic, Li Ban had the system try repeatedly, but each attempt failed.
Staggering, he gritted his teeth and asked another question.
"My injury is to the eyes with severe infection. If this body receives treatment, can death be avoided?"
The system didn't answer immediately.
While waiting, Li Ban's entire body trembled uncontrollably.
"Would the tree-person jailer save me? Probably. I'm his newly purchased slave after all. Letting me die now would waste his money."
He stood up, forcing his weak legs to move, determined to find the jailer.
Tree-Person A had entered the inner passage when leaving.
He might be on the first or second level.
Even if it meant disobeying orders, Li Ban had to find help!
As he stumbled forward, the mission system's voice suddenly sounded again.
[Data restoration and infection treatment solution found.]
[Please leave the room, turn left, proceed 9.7 meters diagonally upward. Turn right, then right again after 2 meters. Retrieve target's right eyeball to restore data package and treat infection.]
The system had found a solution!
Heart leaping with hope, Li Ban immediately followed the directions out of the Death Prison.
Reaching the destination and looking up, he finally saw whose right eyeball he needed.
It was the former jailer's corpse hanging on the gallows!
Were its eyes still intact?
The corpse had been sideways to Li Ban, but now turned halfway to face him without any wind.
It slowly revealed a grotesque smile, freezing Li Ban in terror.
But remembering the horrific consequences of character death, Li Ban pushed past his fear.
Scanning the area with his remaining eye, he saw no one else.
The other two slaves were presumably busy in their rooms.
Li Ban stood on tiptoe, reaching for the former jailer's right eye.
The moment his fingers touched it, the corpse suddenly spun halfway, presenting only the back of its head.
Gritting his teeth, Li Ban grabbed the corpse's shoulder with one hand while swiftly reaching for its eyeball with the other.
But then—
"Thud!"
The corpse swung violently, its leg hitting Li Ban like a giant hammer, sending him flying a meter back.
Rubbing his chest, he barely stood up and approached again—only to be knocked back once more.
Lying on the ground, Li Ban faced a despairing truth:
He couldn't even defeat a corpse.
Maybe there were other solutions.
But Li Ban's body couldn't hold out much longer.
The pounding headache prevented clear thinking.
"Burn me to ashes."
A faint voice suddenly reached Li Ban's ears.
He looked up at the corpse—it remained lifeless as before.
"Burn me to ashes, and you can have the eye."
Burn?
Fire!
With no time to consider if the corpse was deceiving him, Li Ban desperately ran toward the water room.
The water room had boiling water—there must be fire there.
As for the rule about open flames not leaving the water room... to hell with it!
Dizzy, Li Ban supported his head while staggering forward, not daring to slow down.
Now that he thought about it—one slave handled harmless waste, another managed safe water, while he alone dealt with various dangerous ingredients.
Clearly, the task distribution had been rigged from the start.
But with limited information and coming from a peaceful world, Li Ban never thought to question the assignments.
Covering his face, he reached the water room and slammed against the door.
Though locked, it soon opened.
Hot air rushed out as the slave girl stood in the doorway, fine sweat beads on her forehead.
She looked up at Li Ban, showing little reaction to his bloodied face.
"What do you want?"
"I need fire."
The girl's eyes widened slightly.
She glanced at Li Ban's face, then toward the corpse at the Death Prison entrance.
"Open flames cannot leave the water room."
Dazed, Li Ban reached out to push past her—he had no time to explain.
But the girl reacted swiftly, retreating inside and shutting the door.
Too slow to stop her, Li Ban punched the door fruitlessly.
Now he understood why the water room had brick walls—
Fireproof. Theft-proof.
Hah...
Suddenly, the door cracked open slightly.
The girl peered through the gap, ready to slam it shut again.
In a hushed voice, she told Li Ban: "Bring me an intact mimic rat tail, and I'll give you a burning log. But you must say you broke in and took it yourself."