Nightmare

In the throes of life and death, Simon endured the buzzing in his head as the hammer swung down. Almost simultaneously with the grotesque creature's hand striking Simon's cheek, the hammer also landed on its face.

Having absorbed three spirit sources, Simon's strength had increased by over a hundred pounds. Combined with his innate power, the hammer's blow resulted in a crunch of breaking bones. The creature's face deformed instantly—its nose collapsed, teeth flew out, and even its eyeball burst from the impact.

The creature collapsed heavily, crashing to the ground with a resounding thud. Fearful of any potential retaliation, Simon swiftly followed up, despite tears streaming from his left eye and his vision blurring. He swung the hammer again at the creature's already mutilated face.

The impact splattered brain matter, completely disfiguring the creature's entire visage. The white fur-like substance on its skin immediately retracted inward.

Simon let out a long sigh, finally pausing to rub his left eye with the back of his hand. The blow had been severe; not only was half of his face numb and unfeeling, but his left eye was also affected.

The motionless creature lying on the ground suddenly displayed a white furry sphere on its surface. It shot into the center of Simon's forehead, integrating into his body. Immediately, a warm current enveloped Simon's entire body, this time concentrating heavily around his left cheek.

The improved version of the paragraph:

The once numbed cheek immediately regained sensation, and the fiery stinging in Simon's left eye began to fade away. Simon understood this as the "spirit source" healing the wounds he had just received. Lasting a few seconds, the warmth within him vanished in an instant, replaced by a message in his mind: "Spirit sources: 4/5."

"Only one more to go. Just kill one more monster, absorb one more spirit source, and it'll be 5/5. I wonder what will happen then?" Simon felt a vague sense of anticipation and a strange fear.

He anticipated new changes, gaining more powerful abilities, yet feared becoming like these corpse-like monsters, sprouting white fur on his body's surface or even transforming into a monster himself. With each passing moment since killing the first corpse-like monster, Simon had absorbed four spirit sources in succession, continuously gaining strength. By his own estimation, Simon had gained at least one or two hundred pounds of strength.

The windows of the balcony were shattered. If there were still corpse-like monsters outside, they could climb in at any moment. Simon gripped the hammer and cleaver tightly, remaining vigilant. Yet, what he feared most was the unknown shadow lurking beneath the water.

It resembled a large fish or a giant python, suddenly bursting out of the water and dragging the fifty-something-year-old woman, another corpse-like monster, into the depths. However, due to its incredible speed, Simon couldn't quite see it clearly.

He could only witness the transformation of the fifty-something-year-old woman into a creature, powerless and without any resistance, instantly dragged into the water.

"If I were caught and dragged into the water, I fear the outcome would be the same..." Simon dared not approach the balcony, fearing the creature might suddenly burst from the water and pull him down as well.

"What should I do now? With such terrifying creatures lurking in the water, leaving is simply impossible." Simon slowly retreated, sinking into the sofa in the living room, casting a glance at the makeshift wooden raft on the floor.

Initially, he had intended to use the raft to escape, to explore other buildings for survivors and find a way out. Now knowing that creatures lurked in the water, how could he dare to use the raft to depart?

"Staying here, although corpse-like monsters could appear at any time, I can barely cope. But encountering that creature on the raft would lead to a dead end, dragged into the water." Simon abandoned the plan to escape, at least temporarily staying put here was safer, and he still wanted to kill another corpse-like monster to see what changes would occur after absorbing five spirit sources.

He believed there was profound meaning behind the message in his mind.

Simon initially feared the appearance of the corpse-like monsters, yet now he found himself faintly anticipating another encounter. However, to his disappointment, the surroundings remained eerily safe, engulfed only in darkness and the lingering scent of blood, with no new creatures emerging.

Despite Simon's enhanced strength throughout the day, physically he did not feel particularly fatigued. However, facing continuous adversity in the dark solitude of this place, he began to sense mental exhaustion and loneliness creeping in.

Initially, he had resisted sleep, remaining vigilant to the changes and sounds around him. As weariness overcame him, unable to resist any longer, he dragged the corpse of the creature from the bedroom and barricaded the window with a moved cabinet for safety. He then propped the bed upright against the cabinet, adding an extra layer of protection.

With the cabinet and bed as barriers, even if the creatures outside had the strength to break through, it would not happen instantly, and the resulting noise would surely wake him. Afterwards, Simon brought in the makeshift raft crafted from two wooden doors and a sack filled with food, locking the door securely from the inside. The floor was damp, prompting Simon to lay down the raft and prepare a dry area on top before finally lying down, clutching the cleaver and hammer in hand.

Simon, overwhelmed by exhaustion, fell asleep almost immediately upon lying down.

Rarely did Simon experience dreams, but this night brought a sequence of nightmares. In one, he found himself adrift in an endless ocean strewn with countless floating corpses. Standing alone on a raft, surrounded entirely by these lifeless bodies, Simon suddenly witnessed the corpses springing to life. Their dead fish-like eyes stared at him, mouths with gnashing teeth opening on pallid, bloated faces contorted in grotesque horror. They reached out towards him like locusts swarming.

"Ahh—" Simon screamed in terror, escaping one nightmare only to plunge into another.

In this subsequent nightmare, he struggled desperately in water growing deeper and darker. His limbs bound, he sank deeper amidst the abyss of black, flowing hair below. The hair coiled around his limbs with relentless strength, dragging him further down. Simon fought upwards, kicking furiously with his legs. Suddenly, a face emerged from the darkness of the black hair—a face that belonged to his girlfriend, Wang Lan.

Simon recoiled in inexplicable horror, about to call out her name when Wang Lan's mouth split grotesquely from ear to ear. Revealed within were fangs akin to those of a vampire, accompanied by a blood-red forked tongue that lunged menacingly towards Simon.

Experiencing a series of bizarre and terrifying nightmares, Simon endured until he was startled awake by a loud and insistent knocking at the door.