[Day 10: …You find a faintly spiritual berry.]

Lem perked up. In front of him, he could see a bush with a single berry on it.

His simulated self had approached it because it was food, but the moment he had gotten close, he felt a noticeable pleasant sensation.

It was akin to finding an oasis in a drought of pain.

He was sure it was the feeling of spirituality.

Lem did not know what his simulated self was waiting for.

Just eat the berry!

Eventually, he stopped staring, and slowly picked the berry and raised it to his mouth.

Lem felt relieved. His simulated self was so corroded by the evil power that its actions and judgments had become extremely unreliable.

[You do not know whether it is poisonous, but you have lost much of your strength and are desperate, so you eat it. You do not taste anything, as your mouth has largely lost its function. Your vitality improves slightly…]

After eating the berry, Lem could feel a noticeable improvement in his body’s function. His senses seemed less dull and less pain was being transmitted. However, the situation was still far from promising.

…

[Day 13: …You have not eaten for three days. You are beginning to hallucinate from hunger and weakness. You think that you are back in the village and begin mumbling to yourself.]

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Lem was taken aback when his mouth began speaking against his will.

“Mother, father, I have returned…”

The situation was growing ever more dire.

Lem’s senses had grown so dull that he could barely see even a meter ahead of him. He was constantly running into vines and bushes, and was operating mostly on instinct.

It was clear that the mind of his simulated self was nearing its end.

“It was not my fault…” his body mumbled.

Lem did not know what to think. He was ready for his simulated self to die at any moment.

…

[Day 14: As you wake up, you realize that you lack the strength to walk. You chose to stay in place rather than crawl away…]

Lem’s senses were nearly completely gone. Everything was blurry around him. Lem watched with morbid fascination as his body barely moved.

His eyes closed, and the world was dark for a few minutes.

His eyes opened, and the blurry forest appeared again.

[As you lie on the ground, you slip in and out of consciousness…]

Suddenly, Lem saw a dark figure pass right before him. His eyesight was too poor to make out any details. It was just a dark mass that cast a shadow over front of him.

Clearly, his body also recognized the threat, as it began to radiate extreme fear.

However, afterward, it began to feel…happiness?

[A beast passes by your body. Your eyesight has degraded to the point that you do not recognize it.]

The shadow remained over Lem’s body, and then, a moment later, it was gone.

[The beast chooses to keep moving without eating you, perhaps because it can sense the presence of evil.]

…

[Day 15: You lack the strength to move. Your senses are heavily impaired, and you are only occasionally aware of your surroundings. You are consumed by the evil power within you and die.]

Lem felt relief as the world disappeared around him. The experience had been too strange and unpleasant at the end.