Walking back from the mining district to his dwelling, a distance of several hundred meters, Soren saw the same man from the morning. Unlike earlier when he could barely speak, the man now couldn't utter a single word. Half his face had rotted away and rested heavily against the ground, viscous fluid oozing from the corner of his mouth.
His eyes were tightly shut, his body convulsing involuntarily. Soren knew these were signs of imminent death. He quickened his pace but hesitated after a few steps.
"I wonder if Prime Restoration would have any effect on someone like this."
Looking at the man again, Soren could clearly see that his health bar showed less than one-tenth remaining—clearly a critical condition.
"Prime Restoration—"
Without hesitation, Soren's fingers moved left and right twice. A green light appeared from his hand, its pale glow brightening the dusk. With a wave of his arm, the green light instantly entered the body of the man on the ground.
"Hum—"
The man's body convulsed violently, and the green light scattered from his body in all directions. In just moments, the convulsions stopped, and the remaining one-tenth of his health bar disappeared.
[Infection level 100%, damage 50, organism deceased, 50 experience points gained.]
A mechanical voice abruptly announced. The use of Prime Restoration had actually accelerated the man's death.
"Effective, in a way."
A bitter smile crossed Soren's face. Without lingering, he quickly headed toward his dwelling. Prime Restoration clearly only worked on normal humans. Those completely altered by the virus obviously couldn't withstand its healing effects.
Their bodies were sustained by mutated cells, and Prime Restoration's healing destroyed those cells—treatment equaled killing them.
During the brief journey, Soren developed more theories about Prime Restoration. To confirm his suspicions, he felt he needed to experiment a few more times. As for the fifty experience points gained, Soren realized he might have found a way to level up.
Walking quickly, it was already dark by the time Soren reached his dwelling. The interior was pitch black without a trace of light. Seemingly hearing Soren's footsteps, Mia stepped out from inside. Her movements were stiff, like a small robot, her thin, dark face showing a hint of anticipation.
"Here's food and water."
Seeing her hunger, Soren handed over the provisions.
"No, brother should eat first."
She spoke slowly, her voice barely audible. Perhaps due to the painful calluses on her face, the little girl dared not show much expression. Too much movement would crack the hardened skin, and cracked skin would hurt, leading to more serious infections. She pushed back the food Soren offered. Despite her hunger, the girl had her principles.
"Let's eat together."
Seeing the determination in her eyes, Soren opened the can. He was already very hungry, and there was no need for unnecessary courtesy. Besides, she was his sister—saying more would only make things awkward.
The girl didn't speak further but ran to get something like a spoon and handed it to Soren.
Stroking the girl's hair, Soren gave her one of the cans. Then he opened another can for himself. Watching Soren stuff food into his mouth, the girl also began eating from her can.
As the canned food entered his mouth, a strange dryness spread across Soren's tongue. Even third-grade canned food and drinking water had been contaminated, just within the acceptable range for humans.
If it had been the old Soren eating, he probably wouldn't have noticed any discomfort. But after multiple treatments with Prime Restoration, his tongue had clearly recovered many abilities—the first being the ability to be picky about food!
"Why isn't brother eating?" Seeing Soren stop, the girl also paused. In her view, the food before them was already quite good. She couldn't understand what her brother found unsatisfactory.
"It's fine, eat up."
Knowing the girl wouldn't eat if he didn't, Soren forced down the can despite his discomfort. The canned food of this era didn't have the pleasant taste of the past; both its coarseness and hardness far exceeded Soren's expectations. He gulped down the food, drank the water beside him, and hastily finished dinner. Their meal ended just minutes later.
In the corner of the room lay a pile of straw—Soren knew this was where they slept at night. As for blankets, from this body's memories, Soren found no information. Wrapping the cloth strips around their bodies, the two squeezed onto the straw pile and fell asleep.
...
At the mining district, Soren continued walking into the mine shaft. Unlike Mia, Soren hadn't fallen asleep last night. Instead, each time Prime Restoration's cooldown ended, he used it again. Throughout the night, Soren had used Prime Restoration four times on himself and five times on Mia.
After these treatments, Soren could clearly feel the improvement in Mia's condition. Even the calluses on her face had become less severe under Prime Restoration's effects. Soren believed that in a few more days, both their bodies would be completely healthy again.
Vigorously swinging his pickaxe, Soren forcefully dug at the coal chunks in the mine shaft. After ten recoveries with Prime Restoration, Soren's health had been restored to over four hundred, and his coal mining speed was considerably faster than yesterday.
"Rumble—"
Black coal chunks rolled out. Soren's mining experience had reached over three hundred. Feeling his body becoming fatigued, Soren's fingers moved in a pattern, and a green light flashed, driving away most of his exhaustion. With Prime Restoration, Soren's mining rate was clearly much higher than before.
Swinging his pickaxe rapidly, his Coal Mining skill experience grew quickly. Correspondingly, each time he used Prime Restoration, that skill's experience also accumulated significantly. After using Prime Restoration once more, its experience finally reached level zero, ninety percent.
"Each use of Prime Restoration brings five experience points. I've used it eighteen times, so that's ninety percent experience. In just two more hours, my Prime Restoration will reach level one. But before that, my Coal Mining skill seems about to reach level two."
Talking to himself, Soren realized both his skills were about to level up, and he began swinging his pickaxe even faster. With the System, coal mining was not Soren's long-term plan. Once he accumulated enough food, he intended to venture out. He wasn't someone content with monotony—he had many questions about this world.
He wanted to know when exactly the Great Collapse had begun. How distant was this era from his own time? Could he ever return to the world he came from?