Just as Yun Zhen’s imagination was running wild, a sudden downpour began in the miniature world inside the bookshelf. The rain fell with urgency, as if the sky was pouring its entire contents in one go.

A fierce wind swept through, churning the already turbulent waters into even more treacherous waves. The tiny speedboat tossed violently in the storm, appearing so fragile and helpless that it seemed it might capsize at any moment.

Yun Zhen quickly lifted the entire boat, shielding it with her right hand to keep the rain off.

Upon closer inspection, she noticed that the bottom of the boat had already accumulated some water, and Pei Hao was lying unconscious in the cold water.

In such harsh weather, this was undoubtedly making the situation worse for the severely injured and feverish little man. With no suitable shelter nearby, the only way to save him was…

Yun Zhen gritted her teeth and decided to take the little man out to treat him.

She carefully moved the boat to the edge of the bookshelf, ready to push through the invisible barrier with both the man and the boat.

But suddenly, a strong force stopped her, as if her hand and the boat had collided with a soft yet resilient barrier.

At the same time, a system notification appeared:
[Operation violation: Humans cannot cross the time-space barrier!]

Huh—?!

Water can flow out of the cabinet along her arm, but the little man can’t?

Yun Zhen was dumbfounded; she never expected such a rule.

The situation was critical, with the environment inside the bookshelf deteriorating rapidly. She couldn’t take the little man out, so she had to come up with a solution within the given constraints.

Yun Zhen began to move the boat, swiftly and steadily searching for land within the scene.

Luckily, she soon found a piece of debris sticking out of the water. Although there was no building to shelter from the rain, the ruins could at least anchor the boat.

Yun Zhen secured the boat and then quickly pulled out scissors and some large clear tape to craft a makeshift rain cover, transforming the speedboat into a rudimentary canopy boat.

After using a few tissues to soak up the water at the bottom of the boat, she wiped down the unconscious little man, feeling both anxious and worried as she watched the boat tremble in the storm.

The rain showed no signs of letting go, and the thunder was still rumbling ominously. The little man’s injuries needed attention—what should she do next?

As Yun Zhen examined the cabinet, she noticed a small black square, about 2 cm long, 1 cm high, near the upper right edge of the compartment. It looked sleek and high-tech, with a glossy black finish.

This definitely wasn’t there before; it must have appeared after she bound the system.

She reached out to touch it, and sure enough, a translucent, floating screen popped up, about the size of a tablet, with six colorful icons neatly arranged on it.

One icon represented a planet and was labeled [World], a jagged shape represented [Map], a speaker icon was labeled [Speaker], a microphone labeled [Communication],
a butterfly labeled [System], and a camera labeled [Camera].

Yun Zhen tapped on the map icon and saw that the screen displayed the current area, with the flooded regions appearing as blue expanses dotted with brown patches of exposed debris.

It seemed the map updated in real time, which would help her locate actual land.

After experimenting with zooming and dragging, she realized the map’s display range was quite limited, and trying to explore further would prompt a message: “Not yet unlocked.”

What were the conditions for unlocking it?
Yun Zhen sighed in frustration.

This time-space interaction system was like her computer—only completing one command at a time, wooden and mechanical, not at all like a high-tech gadget. It couldn’t even chat or provide smart answers; she had to figure everything out on her own.

After thoroughly checking the map, she found the nearest land was Yulong Mountain.

Yun Zhen looked at the red dot representing Pei Hao’s location and the green mountain symbol at the bottom left of the screen, labeled Yulong Mountain, and couldn’t help but grumble: “It would be great if it had a navigation system to guide me there. How else am I supposed to get him there?”

As soon as she spoke, the system suddenly beeped, and an AI voice, mechanical and genderless, began to announce:
[Now navigating, departure: Victory Avenue, East District, Huacheng; destination: Yulong Mountain, Huacheng.]
[Current weather: Heavy rain, expected to last 5 hours. Please take precautions against the cold.]

A blue route appeared on the map, connecting Pei Hao’s location to Yulong Mountain. Interestingly, the route wasn’t winding but a nearly straight line, showing the shortest path.

Yun Zhen found this amusing and followed the AI’s navigation while carrying the speedboat.

The navigation was quite intelligent, warning her to take detours around large ruins, alerting her to water spouts, and advising caution near areas with high radiation due to the proximity of nuclear plants.

What does it mean that the little man needs protection from pollution but not me?
Yun Zhen wondered, but she continued diligently acting as the “aircraft.”

What took her half an hour to cover would have taken the little man days to navigate on his own, she thought as she finally reached Yulong Mountain.

Yun Zhen found a sheltered spot in the woods and set down the speedboat. She then cleaned a newly bought enamel ceramic cup, sealed a third of the opening with clear tape, and placed it near the speedboat as a temporary safe house.

Next, she fetched some ointment, fever medicine, alcohol, and bandages from the living room cabinet downstairs and carefully disinfected and treated Pei Hao’s infected leg before placing him into the ceramic cup.

When it came to oral medication, Yun Zhen crushed the fever pill into powder, dissolved it in warm water to create a suspension, and then poured the liquid into a bottle cap, placing it within Pei Hao’s reach.

She then opened the [Communication] icon on the screen and selected the “Single Call” function.

Clearing her throat, Yun Zhen tried to sound calm as she spoke: “Pei Hao, wake up, it’s time to take your medicine.”

The faint, distant voice woke Pei Hao from his fevered stupor. His mind was still foggy, unsure if he was in hell or the living world.

In his daze, Pei Hao slowly sat up, staring blankly ahead.

Hearing the voice from above guiding him to take the medicine, he foolishly cupped his hands and scooped up some water from the “big basin” beside him, drinking it down eagerly.

Why is this water bitter? Is it the waters of the River Lethe or perhaps Meng Po’s soup?

Pei Hao’s throat was parched and burning, so even the bitter water felt like a relief. He scooped up another handful and drank, but as he reached for a third, he was stopped by the voice.

“Don’t take too much of the fever medicine. Eat some food to regain your strength.”

With that, the “big basin” holding the medicine flew away, only for two more “big basins” to fly in shortly after—one with warm water at the perfect temperature and the other with a giant orange-yellow cake.

Following the instructions, Pei Hao drank the warm water and ate some of the food, feeling a bit better overall. However, his fevered mind remained dizzy and swollen, and he fell asleep halfway through his meal.

Just before drifting off, he mused about the afterlife: “Bitter first, then sweet… At least I’ll die a full ghost. The King of Hell is truly merciful…”

Yun Zhen—The King of Hell—thought to herself, “…”

This child is so delirious he’s talking nonsense. What King of Hell would feed and care for you?

Right now, he probably doesn’t realize how absurd his situation is. He’ll definitely be shocked when he wakes up tomorrow.

As she was thinking this, a system notification suddenly popped up:
[Correction Value +1 obtained. Congratulations, you’ve unlocked the full Huacheng city map!]

Yun Zhen: “???”

What are Correction Value?