[As night falls, you see that the vines are unblemished, apart from the blood you have spilled over them. Nonetheless, you feel certain that you can damage the flower eventually. You eat from your rations and fall asleep…]

…

[Day 17: …You no longer pay attention to anything except for attacking the vines with the [Nine Bull Fist], ignoring your broken hands that are swollen to three times their usual size...

You run out of rations…]

…

[Day 21: …You have not eaten for four days. You are beginning to hallucinate, but you continue to attack the vines, despite your attacks becoming weaker and weaker…]

…

[Day 23: As you wake up, you realize that you lack the strength to walk. Your body is wracked with unbearable pain. You chose to stay in place…

You feel as though you are fighting a great battle with the evil power within you. You hallucinate fighting the vines as you slip in and out of consciousness…]

[Day 24: You lack the strength to move. Your senses are heavily impaired, and you think you are still attacking the vines. You are consumed by the evil power within you and die.]

Thankfully, the simulation was finally over.

Lem had not enjoyed being trapped in a half-blind version of himself that could barely move for hours on end.

Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

In his last moments, before he was transported back to his past self, he thought about the evil flower.

Since it had displayed its ‘true appearance’, it had not stirred from atop the dead tree. He wondered whether it had another face that it had never shown him.

[Simulation ends.]

The memories poured into Lem’s mind.

[Choose one of three rewards:

Option 1: peak cultivation from lifetime (Day 4 cultivation)

Option 2: comprehension from lifetime

Option 3: (one spiritual mushroom), or (one faintly spiritual berry)]

Lem made a mental marking of the two significant places he had discovered.

The pond with the harvest tree and the spiritual water lily was two days northwest of the mushrooms.

The evil flower was directly north of the pond.

Of course, the harvest tree could be an illusion, as it was unclear to Lem when he had fallen victim to the evil flower.

He had already decided he would avoid both locations entirely, unless for some unknown reason, he was compelled to flee in their direction by his circumstances.

Lem did not feel conflicted in the slightest when he looked at the three options.

It was clear that he should choose Option 2.

After all, it was the first time in a simulation that he had practiced [Nine Bull Fist] so much, and he had even made a breakthrough when he was single-mindedly fighting the evil flower, allowing him to produce a new mysterious force at the point of impact.

He had some reservations about the mental states he would be subjected to, but he trusted that the system would not give him a useless option.

Before he made his selection, Lem realized that he had completely discounted the ‘faintly spiritual berry’ that was among his options.

It showed how far he had already come in less than a day of simulating.

Lem shook his head.

Option 2, he thought with intent.