Chapter Four: Streaking with Skeletons

Watching as the skeletal creature, once only seen in movies or games, devoid of flesh and blood, made entirely of gleaming white bones, and possessing a life of its own, fixed its gaze on him with eyes forged from eerie blue flames, Jia Zhengjin felt goosebumps erupt across his body.

He let out a scream and spun around, darting toward the matchbox-sized room.

In this pitch-black night, was he really expected to fight a skeleton with nothing but the torch in his hand? He doubted fire would do any good against the undead.

With a loud bang, he slammed the door shut and hid inside the sealed space, gasping for air and forcing his wildly thumping heart to calm down. "Good heavens, that was intense!"

A genuine undead! A skeleton that could walk!

Surely hiding in the room meant safety? In games, entering a room was always equivalent to reaching a safe zone!

Thinking this, Jia Zhengjin felt a little relief. He tiptoed to the door, pressed his ear against it, and listened intently.

Outside, all was quiet, save for the distant chirping of insects in the forest.

"Could it have left?" After waiting a while, Jia Zhengjin wondered. He cautiously opened the door a crack and peered out.

A pair of ghostly blue eyes met his gaze, the skeleton's jaw snapping open and shut rapidly, producing a chilling sound. Instantly, a skeletal arm reached through the gap!

With another slam, Jia Zhengjin hurriedly shut the door, barring the creature outside.

It scared him nearly to death! Who would have thought the skeleton would stand right at the entrance? Thankfully, Jia Zhengjin was cautious; had he opened the door fully, it would surely have stormed in to wreak havoc!

Technically, this skeleton was a "monster" from a game—defeating it could grant experience and loot.

But Jia Zhengjin had no idea if it was a beginner monster or a boss; the difference was vast, potentially lethal! And with nothing but a dagger for a weapon, how could he possibly take on an undead in close combat? That would be suicidal!

Jia Zhengjin didn’t fear death—he’d already died once to cross over to this world. But he didn’t want to die meaninglessly. Having finally realized his dream of playing a game in reality, he was determined to enjoy it to the fullest!

Luckily, the room should be safe. He just needed to stay quiet and wait for the skeleton to leave.

Thinking this, Jia Zhengjin planted his torch in the ground and prepared to crawl into his sleeping bag.

Suddenly, the locked door shuddered violently with a loud clang.

A glance revealed its durability, once at 100, had instantly dropped to 95.

"Damn it! Isn’t the house supposed to be a safe zone?" Goosebumps prickled anew as Jia Zhengjin realized the room wasn’t safe after all! The skeleton could attack the house—it could even break in!

He could not let it enter; he had to find a solution…

Thinking hard, Jia Zhengjin remembered that the basic toolkit included a stone hammer for repairing damaged structures. He immediately chose to craft it, breaking down wood into four sticks and then clicking on the stone hammer in the tools menu.

After consuming two stones, three plant fibers, and one stick, the crafting bar completed, and a "shoddy stone hammer" appeared in his hand.

Standing before the door, now reduced to only 65 durability by the skeleton’s relentless assault, Jia Zhengjin saw the repair option pop up, which required one piece of wood.

He quickly repaired the wooden door, his inventory automatically deducting one wood, and the door’s durability returned to a perfect 100. The damage vanished as if it had never been.

"Hahaha! Scratch away! Keep scratching! No matter how long you take, I’ll fix it in an instant!" Seeing the pristine door, Jia Zhengjin laughed smugly.

But joy often leads to sorrow.

Just as he was basking in triumph, the wooden walls flanking the door began to shake as well, their durability dropping. Outside, more rattling noises echoed—more skeletons had arrived!

"Reinforcements?" Jia Zhengjin’s face darkened. As all three walls and the door rapidly lost durability, he was overwhelmed, unable to keep up with repairs!

With a final crash, the left wall gave out first, its durability falling to zero and the wood splintering apart, leaving a square window. Through it, he could clearly see several skeletons furiously clawing at the walls.

"Monster siege!" Jia Zhengjin screamed, frantically grabbing more wood from his backpack to patch the hole. But as soon as he fixed one spot, another wall was breached. After repairing the right wall, the door’s durability plummeted, forcing him to fix it again.

The skeletons multiplied, soon numbering over a dozen, densely packed outside, desperately scratching at the door.

This couldn’t go on!

Jia Zhengjin made a snap decision: abandon the room. The wood’s durability was too low to withstand the skeletons’ attacks. If he stayed put, the defenses would eventually fail!

Better to take his chances outside than sit and wait for doom. Although these skeletons were terrifying, they only walked, not ran, so they couldn’t catch him. As long as he kept moving, they’d never reach him!

But with the door and side walls blocked, the only escape was through the rear, which hadn’t been attacked by skeletons.

These creatures had all approached from the beach and weren’t clever enough to circle around to the back.

Resolute, Jia Zhengjin grabbed the torch in his left hand, raised the stone hammer in his right, and bit down on the dagger. Spinning around, he began smashing the untouched wooden wall with the hammer.

Faster! Faster! The other three walls were crumbling rapidly, skeletal arms began snaking through the breaches. Jia Zhengjin accelerated, pounding the wall desperately.

Crash after crash, the gaps behind him widened, the door teetered on the brink of collapse. Finally, fortune smiled—the rear wall shattered, leaving a gap wide enough to escape.

"Time to go!" Jia Zhengjin squeezed through with his torch, plunging into the darkness. He tossed aside the stone hammer, took the dagger from his mouth, and gripped it for defense.

Several skeletons noticed his escape, abandoning the walls to slowly approach him, while others continued their intense demolition.

"Come on! Chase me! If you’ve got guts, try running!" Jia Zhengjin taunted them, torch raised in one hand, dagger in the other, making faces at the pursuing skeletons before turning and sprinting away.

He only circled the area near the house, not venturing far; after all, he wore nothing but his skin—who knew what thorns lay in the forest? Besides, who could say if even more terrifying creatures lurked within? He dared not enter carelessly.

Though he didn’t know the exact time, the sky was tinged blue after red, suggesting dawn was near. Low-level undead rarely moved during daylight—if these skeletons followed that rule, he just needed to lead them around for a few laps and he would be safe!