Chapter Forty: The Second Incarnation — The Enigmatic Sika Deer

“It seems I’ve truly overthought things.”

The night passed swiftly, and the only tangible effect the purple moon had brought to the area surrounding the oak tree was what could be called light pollution.

No foreign creatures appeared, nor did any mutated native Blue Star species come to attack the oak tree that Ji Yu had transformed into.

Everything remained exceedingly tranquil.

Ji Yu, of course, was more than happy to witness this calm.

“The second incarnation… just two days left. I hope it surprises me!” Ji Yu kept thinking about his second incarnation, but he didn’t forget to use up all his game time.

So, after a brief sigh, he quickly slipped back into a meditative state.

——————

Two more days soon passed.

During these two days, Ji Yu’s personal panel hardly changed.

Since he had hit the pinnacle of Level 1 human status about a week ago, his personal panel had stagnated.

Yet, one statistic did shift—his height increased by another centimeter.

[Player Status]
[Good]
[Life Level: 1]
[Constitution: 0.99 (average 0.5)]
[Height: 1.83 meters (average 1.67)]
[Age: 26 years (average lifespan 77)]
[Trait ①: Vigorous Vitality (medium)]
[Trait ②: Natural Affinity (medium)]

Looking at his rather exaggerated attribute panel, Ji Yu actually felt a hint of apprehension.

Stagnation in progress always offers a chance for breakthrough, but his ever-increasing height was a cause for real concern.

If one day he suddenly shot up to two meters tall, the drastic change would make hiding impossible; even stepping outside would invite countless curious stares.

Ji Yu had no solution for this now.

He would simply go with the flow. When the anomaly could no longer be concealed, he’d deal with it then. After all, one isn't likely to die of suppressed urine, right?

Temporarily setting aside worries about his height, Ji Yu eagerly fixed his gaze on the lower right corner of his panel.

At this moment, a countdown was displayed there.

[Time until player unlocks second incarnation: 1:21:37]

The numbers ticked down every second, and Ji Yu’s anticipation and longing grew with each passing moment.

—

After realizing his own weaknesses and limitations, he desperately needed a mobile incarnation.

Now, Ji Yu kept praying fervently.

He hoped his second incarnation would fulfill his wishes.

——————

Southwestern border of the Ryan Federation.

At this moment, a dozen armed Ryan soldiers stood along a highway flanked by dense jungle.

At their feet lay a massive dead sika deer, nearly three meters in length.

The deer’s body was riddled with bullet holes, its blood staining the surrounding undergrowth.

“Captain Liu Yu, what should we do with this deer—bury it here or send it to the research center?”

“Just bury it here. We’ve sent enough mutated creatures to the research center these days, including three sika deer. For now, we don’t need to send any more.”

“Understood.”

The soldier replied, then called a few comrades to grab military shovels and dig a pit in the nearby jungle.

Less than half an hour later, after the soldiers had all left, only a mound of fresh earth remained at the site.

Yet, barely ten minutes after their departure, as dusk deepened, the mound suddenly stirred.

Once.

Twice.

Thrice.

...

All at once, the earth was pushed aside, and a seemingly dying sika deer stood up from the pit.

Due to its severe injuries, the deer managed only two steps before collapsing atop the mound, gasping violently.

[Congratulations, player, you now possess a second incarnation]
[Second incarnation: Sika Deer (male)]
[Sika Deer status overview]
[Weak]
[Life Level: 2]
[Vitality: 0.15 (max 5)]
[Body Length: 3.16 meters (max 10 meters)]
[Shoulder Height: 1.87 meters (max 6 meters)]
[Age: 3 years (max 50 years)]
[Trait ①: Bloodthirsty Rage (low)] (Easily angered, filled with aggression toward all nearby living beings.)
[Trait ②: Visual Pollution (medium)] (Normal living beings who gaze at the incarnation for extended periods suffer mental disturbance and fall into confusion.)

[Note: This incarnation is about to lose its life force.] (Bleeding—13 minutes and 18 seconds until the sika deer dies.)

[Reward: For successfully unlocking the second incarnation, player receives a high-level trait for the second incarnation.]
[Detected: Second incarnation has fatal injuries, excessive harmful substances in the body, and has followed an erroneous path during life level breakthrough. Special reward: targeted high-level trait—Life Grafting.]
[Trait: Life Grafting (high)] (Vitality cap increased twentyfold, all other attribute caps increased fivefold. When the incarnation touches any normal living being nearby, it can absorb their vitality to strengthen itself, and can also transfer its own vitality to other beings.)
(Note: When using Life Grafting, avoid beings with higher life levels than yourself, and best absorb their vitality when they’re weakened to prevent attack.)

[Guidance task (phase one): Please use the Life Grafting trait wisely to convert surrounding beings’ vitality for your own use.]

As the lines of text appeared in his vision again, Ji Yu felt utterly miserable.

This second incarnation was nothing like the first.

The oak tree was just that—a tree, devoid of pain.

But the sika deer was a mammal, with highly developed pain receptors. Thus, as Ji Yu descended into his second incarnation, he was overwhelmed by weakness and agony.

“To think my second incarnation ended up as a mutated sika deer tainted by the purple moon’s pollution…”

“This is beyond outrageous!”

Ji Yu felt helpless, but quickly focused on the guidance task.

“The targets for Life Grafting are living beings—where am I supposed to find any right now?”

In the throes of pain, Ji Yu’s mind plunged into a brief blind spot.

But as he looked carefully at the surrounding woods and at the lush green grass beneath his deer hooves, his eyes suddenly brightened.

“Grass! Trees! Right, those are living beings too!”

Awakening to this realization, Ji Yu wasted no time, immediately focusing his attention on the patch of grass under his hooves.

He began to quietly channel the power of Life Grafting, concentrating its effect on the grass beneath his deer legs.

[Congratulations, player, Life Grafting succeeded. Sika deer vitality +0.01]

As the prompt appeared, Ji Yu saw a blade of grass under his hoof instantly wither and die.

Meanwhile, the pain wracking his brain was soothed by a cool sensation spreading through his mind.

Though the agony eased only slightly, the relief made Ji Yu feel as though he’d found a lifeline.

Without a second thought for the inconspicuous dead blade of grass, he began repeatedly using Life Grafting to absorb the vitality from the patch of grass beneath him.

[Congratulations, player, Life Grafting succeeded. Sika deer vitality +0.01]
[Congratulations, player, Life Grafting succeeded. Sika deer vitality +0.01]

“......”