Second Manifestation: The Bizarre Spotted Deer

"Looks like I was overthinking things."

The night passed quickly, and the influence of the Purple Moon around the oak tree was limited to the so-called light pollution.

Neither strange otherworldly creatures nor mutated native animals of the blue planet appeared to attack Ji Yu's oak tree manifestation.

Everything seemed exceptionally peaceful.

Ji Yu was naturally delighted to see this.

"There's only two days left before the second manifestation. I hope that it will surprise me!"

Ji Yu kept thinking about his second manifestation, but at the same time, he did not forget to finish up his game time.

Thus, after letting out a slight sigh, he quickly entered a state of meditation again.

——————.

Very quickly, two days passed.

In these two days, Ji Yu's personal interface did not change much.

Ever since he got stuck at the peak of level 1 for humans a week ago, his personal interface seemed to have stagnated.

However, only one data had changed.

His height had increased by another centimeter.

[Player Condition]

[Good]

[Life Force Level: 1]

[Constitution: 0.99 (Average: 0.5)]

[Height: 1.83 meters (Average: 1.67)]

[Age: 26 years old (Average lifespan: 77)]

[Characteristic 1: Increased Vitality (Medium)]

[Characteristic 2: Nature's Affinity (Medium)]

Looking at his slightly exaggerated attribute panel, Ji Yu was a little worried.

There would always be a chance for a breakthrough if he was in a state of stagnancy. However, the growing height was worrying for Ji Yu.

If he suddenly grew to two meters one day, that huge change would be difficult to hide and would attract countless curious gaze when he went out.

Ji Yu felt helpless against that.

He shall just leave it to fate and think about it when he really can't hide his abnormalities. In any case, there was no point drowning himself in worry because of his inflexibility, right?

Putting aside the problem of height, Ji Yu quickly looked at the bottom right side of the panel in front of him.

There was a countdown notification at the bottom right.

[Time till second manifestation is activated: 1:21:37]

The number was decreasing every second, and Ji Yu's heart became more fervent and eager with each change in number.

After realizing his shortcomings and weaknesses, he really needed an avatar that could move.

Hence, Ji Yu started to pray inwardly.

He prayed that his second manifestation would be what he wished for it to be.

——————.

On the southwestern border of Line's Federation.

At this moment, there were more than ten Line's Federation soldiers with loaded guns standing on a road covered by dense forests.

At their feet, there was a huge spotted deer that was about three meters long.

The deer's entire body was covered with bullet holes and its blood stained the surrounding ground.

"Captain Liu Yu, what should we do about this deer? Should we bury it here or send it to the research institute?"

"Let's bury it here. We've sent enough mutated creatures to the research institute over the past few days and it included three deers as well. We don't need to send them for now."

"Okay."

The soldier replied and then called for a few comrades to pick up their shovels and dig a hole in the forest not far away.

In less than half an hour, when all the soldiers had left, only a fresh mound of soil was left behind.

However, less than ten minutes after these people left, when the sky gradually darkened, the originally peaceful mound suddenly stirred.

Once.

Twice.

Three times.

...

Suddenly, the mound was pushed open, and a dying deer stood up from the pit.

However, because of the deer's severe injuries, it only took two steps before it immediately laid back on the pit and panted heavily.

[Congratulations for successfully obtaining your second manifestation]

[Second Manifestation: Spotted Deer (Male)]

[Opening Spotted Deer status]

[Weak]

[Life Force Level: 2]

[Vitality: 0.15 (Maximum: 5)]

[Body Length: 3.16 meters (Maximum: 10)]

[Shoulder Height: 1.87 meters (Maximum: 6)]

[Age: 3 years old (Average Lifespan: 50)]

[Characteristic 1: Bloodthirster's Berserk (Low)] (Prone to anger. Full of desire to attack all life forms around you.)

[Characteristic 2: Visual Pollution (Medium)] (The state of mind of a creature which looks directly at the manifestation for a long time will be impacted and their thoughts will become chaotic.)

[Note: Manifestation is losing its vitality.] (Bleeding, 13 minutes and 18 seconds before the deer dies completely)

[Reward: As the player has successfully activated the second manifestation, the second manifestation will be rewarded with a characteristic of 'high' level]

[Detected fatal injuries to the second manifestation. Too many harmful substances present in its body. The wrong path was taken during its breakthrough to the next Life Force Level. Special reward, characteristic of 'high' level: Life Transfer]

[Characteristic: Life Transfer (High)] (Maximum vitality increased by 20 times. All other attributes increased by 5 times. When the manifestation touches any ordinary life form in its surroundings, it can absorb their life force to strengthen itself. It can also transfer its life force to other life forms.)

(Note: When using 'Life Transfer', please take note to avoid living beings whose level is higher than your own. You're also highly advised to absorb their life force when they are incapacitated to avoid being attacked.)

[Guiding Mission (Stage 1): Please use the characteristic 'Life Transfer' to convert the life force of the surrounding life forms for your own use.]

Looking at the rows of words appearing on the screen, Ji Yu felt extremely uncomfortable.

The second manifestation was different from the first.

The oak tree was a tree which had no sense of pain.

However, this spotted deer was a mammal which had a developed nervous system. Ji Yu, who had entered his second manifestation, was naturally feeling weak and in pain.

"I didn't expect my second manifestation to be a mutated spotted deer contaminated by the Purple Moon."

"This is too unbelievable!"

Ji Yu felt a bit helpless, but at the same time, he immediately noticed the guiding mission.

"'Life Transfer' had to be used on life forms. Where am I supposed to find one now!"

Ji Yu's mind was temporarily blinded because of the pain.

However, he looked carefully at the surrounding forest and then at the green grass beneath his deer manifestation.

Ji Yu's eyes suddenly brightened.

"Grass! Trees! Yes, those are also life forms!"

Ji Yu, who came to a sudden realization did not have time for any other thoughts. He immediately began to focus his attention on the grass beneath his feet.

At the same time, he slowly began feeling out for the power of life transfer. He quickly concentrated the power of this characteristic on the grass beneath the deer's feet.

[Congratulations for successfully transferring life force. Spotted Deer Vitality +0.01]

When the notification appeared, Ji Yu realized that a strand of grass beneath the deer's feet had simultaneously withered and died.

At the same time, Ji Yu felt a cooling sensation amidst the pain he was feeling in his brain.

The pain which subsided slightly made Ji Yu feel as if he had found a straw to clutch at.

So at this moment, he chose to ignore the strand of withered grass, immediately continuing to use his 'Life Transfer' characteristic to absorb the life force of the grass beneath his feet.

[Congratulations for successfully transferring life force. Spotted Deer Vitality +0.01]

[Congratulations for successfully transferring life force. Spotted Deer Vitality +0.01]

"…"