For Alex, the feeling of teleportation was far from pleasant.

The moment he vanished, Alex felt the ground beneath him turn into a void. It was as if he had been thrust onto an endless slide, rapidly plummeting downward. He couldn't even tell if he was falling; all he could perceive were countless stars flickering around him, the world spinning wildly. And then, suddenly, he felt his body soaring upward.

The next instant, gravity mercilessly seized him once again.

"Thud!!"

He crashed heavily onto the ground, crying out in pain. His body felt like it was falling apart, with not a single part intact.

How could he be so unlucky? Two consecutive transmigrations, both times ending with him being thrown to the ground. Was there no justice in the world?

"Alex!!"

As Alex internally cursed his luck, a man's voice sounded in his ear. He felt someone grab him and pull him up from the ground. Opening his eyes, he saw a man in armor staring intently at him.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?"

"I... I'm fine."

Not knowing who this man was, Alex still shook his head, forcing himself to wake up before responding. Hearing his answer, the man finally sighed in relief. He released Alex and raised his sword.

"Hurry, we need to leave! The damned undead are about to surround us! If we don't go now, we'll never make it out!!"

"Huh?"

Hearing the man's words, Alex looked around. He saw dozens of rotten, zombie-like creatures approaching them in the pouring rain. Nearby, several soldiers lay in pools of blood, lifeless.

You've got to be kidding me, again?

Looking at this scene, Alex was speechless. System, are you trying to kill me? Just after transmigrating, I was chased. To escape, I came to another world, only to be besieged again?

At least this time, he wasn't being attacked by those terrifying paladins but by a group of zombies. Well, that's not much better.

Thinking this, Alex drew Frostmourne with a swift motion and quickly followed the man, running towards the edge of the wilderness. The zombies were slow, but their numbers were overwhelming. If Alex and the man hadn't run fast enough, they would have been surrounded and unable to escape.

"Damn it!"

Once they had escaped the encirclement, the man clenched his fist and swung it in the air.

"I can't believe so many undead would appear near the church! Those poor lads… I can't even give them a proper burial..."

Sighing, the man glanced at Alex.

"Alright, let's head back to Tristram. These damned undead will surely attack it. We have to protect it!"

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"I understand."

Hearing the man's orders, Alex didn't say anything, just nodded. It seemed his identity in this system-assigned world had already been arranged. But he still didn't know which world this was. Judging by the man's attire, it seemed similar to the primary world he had originally transmigrated into.

As the rain poured harder, Alex and the man, drenched and disheveled, returned to the small town called Tristram.

It didn't look very large. The town's gate was tightly shut, with two militiamen armed with longbows standing on either side of the watchtowers. Seeing the two approach, the guards on the watchtower immediately drew their bows, aiming at Alex and the man.

"Who are you? What are you doing here?!"

In response to the guard's question, the man beside Alex shouted loudly.

"It's me! Rumford! And Alex! We're back!"

"It's Captain Rumford!"

Hearing the man's name, the guards on the watchtower were momentarily stunned before waving and shouting.

"Open the gate! Captain Rumford is back!"

As the guards shouted, the gate slowly opened, and Rumford led Alex inside.

Upon entering the town, Alex could feel the tense atmosphere. In the pouring rain, the entire town looked bleak and desolate. Not far away, several militia corpses lay haphazardly around a large pit. Seeing these bodies, Rumford's brow furrowed deeply.

"Why not cremate them?"

"The rain is too heavy, Captain!"

Hearing Rumford's question, a guard wiped the rain off his face and replied loudly.

"We can't get them to ignite..."

"Then cover them with a cloth to block the rain! Use oil! Do you want to see them rise again and drag you into the abyss of death?! Hurry up!"

"Yes, sir!"

Hearing Rumford's order, the militiaman quickly turned and left. Only then did Rumford let out a sigh of relief and turned to Alex.

"Alright, Alex, it's lucky you made it back alive... Go to the Slaughtered Calf Inn, get some rest, change your clothes, and have something to eat. Tell the innkeeper to put it on my tab."

"Understood, Captain Rumford."

Hearing Rumford's words, Alex nodded and turned to leave. He needed some time to figure out what kind of world he had come to. The information Rumford had mentioned earlier was overwhelming, leaving Alex confused.

He vaguely felt that Tristram sounded familiar, like he had heard of it somewhere before...

Alex originally planned to ask someone where the Slaughtered Calf Inn was, but he soon realized he didn't need to—this small town only had one inn, and its sign was hanging right above the door.

"Jingle."

Pushing open the inn's door and walking into the hall, the first thing Alex noticed was the pungent smell of medicine. Along the wall, several seriously injured soldiers lay moaning. Seeing Alex, the innkeeper behind the counter waved at him.

"Hey, Alex! Lucky for you to make it back alive!"

"Yeah, I guess I was lucky, innkeeper."

Responding to the innkeeper with a smile, Alex saw the man nod cheerfully.

"Indeed, out of sixteen who went, only you and Captain Rumford returned alive. That's some luck... Anyway, enough chit-chat. I've prepared a change of clothes and some hot soup and bread for you in your room!"

Alex was starving, having not eaten anything since his transmigration. Hearing the innkeeper's words, he quickly changed his clothes and came out to enjoy his meal.

To be honest, the food wasn't particularly delicious, but when you're starving, anything tastes good. Alex was no exception, and with someone else footing the bill, he ate heartily, not forgetting to praise the innkeeper's culinary skills.

Living in a medieval-like era, the innkeeper had never experienced such compliments from someone like Alex, who had gone through the information explosion. Just a few words made the innkeeper beam with joy, and he not only gave Alex extra food but also waived the meal's cost.

Meanwhile, Alex finally managed to gather information from the innkeeper about the events that had transpired.

"You mean... a falling star?"

"Yes."

The innkeeper nodded solemnly at Alex's inquiry.

"A star fell from the sky, directly hitting the church and collapsing it! You should have seen the scene, it was terrifying. Then that young girl Leah came, saying she needed to gather militia to find her uncle. It's hard to believe something like this could happen..."

"A falling star?"

Hearing this, Alex frowned. Then, as if he had realized something, he looked at the innkeeper.

"By the way, what's Miss Leah's uncle's name?"

"Um... I think it's... Deckard Cain."

Hearing this, Alex finally understood which world he had come to.

This was a dark and desperate world, where everyone struggled to survive but could only helplessly accept their fate.

Diablo.