[ Ciallo~! ]
[ Just a quick note: The protagonist has high attack and low defense. How strong do you expect a soul without physical protection to be in the early stages? Which normal mage is tanky in the early stages? After chapter 50, it's a one-sided slaughter of Survivors. ]
... [ Welcome to the game of "All-Out Escape," where you will spend the rest of your lives. ]
[ You will be divided into two major factions: Survivors and Hunters. ]
[ If you are a Survivor, you might currently be on a ship, a train, in various vehicles, or directly in a shelter. It's also possible you have nothing but are a Sequential Transcendent. ]
[ If you are a Hunter, you might transform into anything other than a human. ]
[ The rules of All-Out Escape are as follows: ]
[ One: Fog descends periodically. Hunters can only operate within the Fog. Of course, the Fog is not the only danger in this world. ]
[ Two: Each time a Survivor experiences the Fog, they will receive a corresponding rating based on their performance, thus earning rewards. ]
[ Three: Those with vehicles or shelters can upgrade them by collecting materials. ]
... A strange sound echoed in Silas's mind. He instinctively wanted to scratch his head, but felt as if he couldn't grasp it.
Realizing something was wrong, he immediately woke up, but what greeted his eyes was a patch of Fog.
Silas immediately checked his body, only to find that he seemed to have no physical form.
"Are those words all true?"
Silas felt incredulous. Just then, a blue-white light screen appeared before him.
[ Name: Silas ]
[ Type: Nightmare Demon (First-Tier Hunter) ]
[ Abilities: Dream Entry, Dream Weaving ]
[ Introduction: As a Nightmare Demon without a physical body, you are the lowest-tier but uncommon demon in the Fog. You are extremely fragile upon birth; even the hostility from a normal person's punch could kill you. You can sustain your existence and continuously grow stronger by devouring souls. ]
After reading his information, Silas was completely stunned.
He originally thought that as a Nightmare Demon, he would be immune to physical attacks, but he didn't expect himself to be so fragile, and he didn't seem to have any offensive means.
At this moment, another voice echoed in his mind.
[ All-Out Escape Announcement (Hunter): ]
[ One: There are not only Hunters in the Fog, but also various Fog creatures. ]
[ Two: Hunters cannot communicate with Survivors. Killing Survivors will earn you Kill Points. Kill Points can be used to deduce your own evolution or purchase various special items. Kill Points are non-tradable, but killing other Hunters will earn you 70% of their Kill Points. ]
[ Three: The Fog will randomly envelop an area at regular intervals and last for a random number of days. Hunters can choose one of three randomly refreshed buffs. At that time, enjoy the slaughter! ]
[ Four: The first All-Out Escape will begin seven days later and last for three days. ]
Subsequently, the chat channels were opened, divided into World Chat, Regional Chat, and Private Chat.
The World Chat channel was the most lively. After Silas clicked in, various messages continuously flashed like meteors, making it impossible to see what content was being sent.
Regional Chat was much better. Although many messages still popped up, this time he could see them clearly.
"Bro, bro, any recommendations for a stronger type? I became a Doppelganger."
"Yes, yes, bro, there are, there are nine such Hunters in total."
"Upstairs, stop making memes. Help me out, I became a Slime!"
"How about you turn into a cup?"
"Damn, you're playing with words again, aren't you?"
"Help, I turned into a Silver Dragon, but I'm in a Goblin's pot..."
"What a coincidence, I just became a Goblin. Call me Saintess Hunter from now on."
... Silas did not chat, quietly observing these messages, trying to gather some useful information.
After a while, he summarized some information:
Regional Chat should mean that all Hunters within this patch of Fog can chat in this channel. In the past ten minutes, 376 Hunters had spoken in it. Excluding silent users like him, this area probably has 500 Hunters.
Most of them were ordinary monsters, such as Goblins, Slimes, and Doppelgangers.
However, a very small number were inherently powerful creatures, such as Silver Dragons and two-headed Ogres.
Hunters who were born relatively weak were usually in safe places, just like the Hunter who was a Goblin, whose birthplace was directly in a Goblin settlement. The Hunter who was a Slime was even born directly in an underground mine.
But inherently powerful Hunters were not so lucky. The Hunter who was a Silver Dragon was extremely active in speaking at first, but has not spoken for a while now, and it is unknown if he has been cooked.
"My birthplace should be relatively safe, right..."
Silas thought to himself. His situation was undeniably bad; not only was he extremely fragile, but he also had no clear means of attack.
"Am I really supposed to scare people to death by weaving nightmares? That can't be possible!"
There were still seven days left. As Hunters, they were supposed to hunt Survivors, but wouldn't those Survivors also want to turn the tables and kill them to get ratings?
Moreover, he currently knew nothing about his own situation. Being transparent and relatively hidden would be best. If he still had some black or purple colors on him, he probably wouldn't even have a place to hide.
"Forget it, I should first find a way to improve my strength."
A Nightmare Demon's vision is larger than a human's, but it cannot reach 360 degrees without blind spots, and the range of vision is very short. Silas estimated that the range he could see did not exceed 50 meters.
The area he was currently in was a forest. Tall trees completely obscured the sky, and the sound of a babbling stream came from not far away.
Silas drifted in the direction of the stream, also testing his mobility. Although he could leave the ground a certain distance, floating upwards indefinitely was impossible. Since there were no reference objects, he didn't know exactly how high he was from the ground.
Moreover, he seemed unable to move very quickly. Once he moved fast, he felt as if he was about to be blown away by the wind.
Before long, he arrived by the stream. The water was relatively calm. Silas planned to look into the stream to see what he looked like now.
Looking down, he quickly came to a conclusion: a translucent, colorless substance with two red dots on it, which might be his eyes.
Just then, a sound came from the forest ahead. An injured Sika Deer rushed to the stream, with several bloody wounds on its body, appearing not yet adult.
It seemed to have completely ignored Silas, its attention entirely focused on drinking water.
Silas immediately became excited. Perhaps due to becoming a Nightmare Demon, he could now sense the Sika Deer's emotion—fear.
Strands of energy surged into his body. He even felt himself stabilize a bit because of it, without the shaky feeling he had at first.
"Could it be that I can strengthen myself by devouring fear?" Silas thought to himself. The ability of Dream Weaving quietly activated. In his line of sight, his originally translucent body suddenly seemed to grow two tentacles, which stabbed towards the Sika Deer, fiercely piercing into its glabella.
But at the same time, Silas felt himself rapidly becoming weak, even much more fragile than he was at first.
The next moment, the injured Sika Deer suddenly trembled all over, its pupils turning blood-red, as if entangled by some terrifying entity, struggling to leave.
In Silas's eyes, the Sika Deer's fear instantly increased several times, and the feedback to him also increased exponentially, but this was still not enough.
But how could Silas let it go? He now had a premonition: if he couldn't get replenishment from this Sika Deer, he probably wouldn't live much longer.
With this thought, Silas directly mobilized his already scarce energy, condensing another tentacle, and with an unstoppable momentum, rushed directly towards the Sika Deer.
The last tentacle wrapped around the Sika Deer's head, finally dragging it into a dream.
At the moment of success, Silas felt a huge suction force suddenly coming from the three tentacles he had extended. He was about to struggle, but an instinctive reaction told him not to struggle.
The next moment, Silas was directly sucked into the Sika Deer's glabella by this suction force.
(PS: The protagonist is immune to physical attacks, but not to the side effects of physical attacks. For example, the kinetic energy of a punch can be immune, but the wind element, blood qi, and spirit it brings cannot be immune... This explanation should suffice, right?)
(Most Hunters are ordinary monsters before evolution. How much stronger they are than Survivors depends entirely on their race.
Most Sequential Transcendent's physical strength in the early stages is similar to that of ordinary people. If they encounter a Hunter, they are likely to die.
Hunters follow the path of a 'Gu' raising competition, where growth speed depends on how ruthless they are, leaving only the strongest. If they don't get stronger, they die. Survivors follow a stable path, with a basic guarantee but slow growth.)