Chapter 2 The Oppressive World

"This world is simply terrifying..."

Stepping out of the house, breathing in the morning air tinged with a hint of cow dung, Tao Yu sighed again.

He had thought that being an office drone in his previous life was miserable, but considering the people in this world, there was a sense of speechlessness that made him look to the skies, wondering how he had managed to survive before.

Every day involved feeding the cows, cleaning cow dung, milking, and fixing hooves, not to mention weeding and doing various farm chores.

All the spare time was spent practicing survival and combat skills in preparation for Awakening Day, and to this day he still couldn't fully recognize the characters of this world, making him semi-literate.

The hard-earned produce of the farm, which had nothing to do with his family's earnings, was regularly collected by the company, leaving only some food for subsistence as a 'gift.'

If it weren't for his parents having relatively stable jobs, earning a total of three hundred units of Yuan Force to subsidize the household each month.

Relying solely on himself, his third brother, sister-in-law, and younger brother, even working day and night was hardly enough to feed the family.

Not to mention saving up for equipment and supplies for Awakening Day.

Besides that, his parents also had to find ways to continuously increase their cannon fodder weight, employing various methods to keep them from being conscripted by the company.

And after turning eighteen, he too would be included in this hierarchy, also needing to find ways to continually increase this weight, unless something 'fortunate' like what happened to his third brother occurred...

Under the invisible threat to life, the level of vicious internal competition had already broken through the skies.

Gazing into the distance, a gray haze known as The Grey Mist Wall sealed off the periphery completely, the dense, churning fog occasionally revealing shifting shadows within.

A faint layer of bluish mist kept this gray fog at bay.

Turning around, he could see the towering, mottled walls of the Inner City.

The city wall seemed to be patched together from various materials, with all sorts of metal and concrete structures, marked with signs of filling and repairing; one could also see a distribution of watchtowers and Autonomic Gun Turrets along the wall.

Through glimpses beyond the wall, one could see some of the towering buildings in the Inner City, with exaggerated neon signs flickering, and the same sense of patchwork at the tops of the buildings.

It had somewhat the style and technological feel of 21st-century architecture, yet also a stark contrast like something out of a trash heap.

Looking up, one could see a giant city floating in the sky, its base dropping a blue light that seemed to protect the land below from the Grey Mist.

Below the majestic base of the Floating City, a series of greasy, oil-smudged pipes connected the Inner City to the Outer City and various other places, transporting goods upwards for the big shots in the city to enjoy.

The Floating City, Inner City, Outer City, and outer Grey Mist were distinctly separate, representing several drastically different living environments.

Turning back to look at his own home, the dilapidated farmhouse mainly pieced together from asbestos sheets, metal plates, and compressed boards, with a few bricks added for structure, and the surrounding farm that didn't belong to them but needed their care, Tao Yu felt oppressed.

Atop the roof was a crude Autonomic Gun Turret with traces of rust and the smell of machine oil, occasionally creaking as it turned itself around.

This Autonomic Gun Turret was the most valuable and expensive item in the house, able to discern Grey Mist monsters from a short distance and attack automatically, an item of enhanced Yuan Force that was not found in every household.

Although the Outer City was also under the protection of the Flame of Civilization from the Floating City, monsters from inside the Grey Mist would still occasionally attack.

Tao Yu remembered hearing the roar of the autonomous gun turret seven or eight times a year during the night.

This was the frequency of monsters that had bypassed the outer Night Watchers and all other possible intercepting fortifications to reach the farm.

Fortunately, it was usually just the small fry that would leave the Grey Mist and enter the protected areas of the Flame of Civilization.

The Lamp of Will defended against some invisible filth, while the gun turret physically defended against a few that slipped through, one reason they had been able to survive peacefully over the years.

Just as Tao Yu was somewhat lost in thought, a creaking sound once again came from inside the house, and a lean man with a face covered in wrinkles and graying hair, along with an ordinary-looking woman with short hair, also came out of the room one after another.

It was Tao Yu's parents in this life.

The ones who had protected him from such a harsh environment until he turned eighteen.

Although the dreams of his past life's memories made him feel a little confused with memory fusion, he still smiled when he saw the two elders.

"Dad, Mom, aren't you supposed to come back at noon?"

Tao Long saw his son and his wrinkled face squeezed out a kind smile.

"Why is the seventh child up already? Although the survival rate on Awakening Day has gone up, you still need to rest and build up your strength to give it your all."

Their eldest and second sons had died on Awakening Day, which gave Tao Long and his wife some PTSD about this day, which originally had a sixty percent survival rate.

Therefore, the preparations for the younger children were thorough, preferring to scrimp and save on everyday necessities in order to accumulate enough goods for their children to use on Awakening Day.

Ever since the second child's incident, no such tragedy has occurred on Awakening Day.

"I can't sleep."

Tao Yu candidly replied, sometimes the more he forced himself to sleep, the more elusive it became, and there was nothing to be done about it.

"Then join us for a trip."

Upon hearing this, Tao's father did not insist anymore but casually made the arrangement.

"We found your Uncle Hu at the garrison before; he's now an instructor and can take charge of your group after a greeting. Let's pay him a visit together."

The company had its own built-up area at The Abyssal Rift where many production and combat professions worked.

Although Tao Yu's parents had just returned from their room, in reality, they had just come back from another world, a world that was perfectly synchronized with this one.

Beyond the mandatory half-month of survival adaptation imposed by Awakening Day, once it was over, everyone could travel between the two worlds after about a quarter of an hour of meditation.

Then, aside from needing to visit The Abyssal Rift regularly to prevent madness, the minimum interval for returning had been reduced to five days.

If one could reach the gathering place, besides the company's assigned cannon fodder tasks, the pressure to survive actually decreased.

"Uncle Hu became an instructor? I remember his hand was severed, and he was disqualified from combat, right?"

Tao Yu was somewhat surprised. Although Tao Hu sounded like he was Tao Long's brother, they were actually only cousins. Under the dog-eat-dog pressure of life in the outer city, names were usually chosen casually, and having the same name was common.

"He got lucky and met a noble who helped him undergo mechanical augmentation, and his strength has not only been retained but increased."

Envy appeared in Tao Long's eyes. Their younger brother was also talented, but it was just a pity not to have such fortune. Otherwise, serving a noble would be fine.

"Alright, let's go over there; he should have just returned as well."

Hong Xia, coming from the kitchen, carried out a big chunk of smoked meat. After brushing off some of the blackened areas, she also stepped out.

Looking at the smoked meat, the scrawny Tao Yu also swallowed hard; it was indeed cruel, in this world, there were indeed people who could not afford meat.

Recalling the delicacies of his previous life, even though his family's circumstances were average, as an only child he at least had the freedom to eat meat. Now in this world, meat was a luxury saved for days when their food was improved.

Even that, by outer city standards, was considered decent living conditions!

Tao Yu did not object to visiting affluent relatives, nor did he have the inexplicable pride of a transmigrator; after living in this world for eighteen years, all his pride had been worn down.

His parents were veterans who had lived in this kind of world for decades, and following their advice now would not be wrong.

Moreover, Tao Yu had a good impression of his cousin Uncle Hu, who had the talent "Predictive Eye" (Grade C), possessing a strong ability to predict.

This ability was even stronger than the "Dynamic Vision" of the same level. Its value at Grade C could be compared to Grade B Dynamic Vision.

He used to be the best off among the relatives; he had left the combat sequence due to injury, but there had been some contact over the years, so the relationship was rather good.

Before the injury, he had taught the third brother, and after the injury, Tao Yu's family helped his in return. So, there was mutual assistance between them.

This relationship was even closer than that of other direct uncles, aunts, and cousins.

Tao Yu's own shooting practice was done through his intervention, saving a lot of expenses for bullet consumption.

For Tao Yu, who had lived in a peaceful period in his previous life, preparing as much as possible for the Awakening Day with only a sixty percent survival rate was naturally the best course of action!

A sixty percent survival rate didn't mean that every person had a sixty percent chance to survive, but rather that those with better preparations and a higher survival rate would skew the average. Tao Yu did not want to be part of the averaged statistics...

...

"Haha, Long, why are you being so polite? Ah Yu is so skinny, he needs to eat more meat to get stronger."

Uncle Hu was a short, stout, and well-built man with dark skin. When Tao Yu saw him again, the man had replaced his originally severed arm with a punk-styled mechanical arm, which even turned his left shoulder completely mechanical.

Although the mechanical arm reeked of oil and shone with a polished gleam, wear and tear were still visible, suggesting it was at least second-hand but a good fit for Tao Hu.

After receiving the smoked meat, Uncle Hu squeezed Tao Yu's shoulder with his oily mechanical arm and then spoke up,

"People awaken every day; it shouldn't be a problem for me to arrange for today."

At this point, Uncle Hu paused, then continued,

"However, I've heard that the children of two important figures will also participate today, so there are some things I need to mention in advance..."