Lost in the Otherworld

When Gao Yang awoke, he only felt thirsty, with no trace of pain anywhere on his body.

He was astonished: wasn’t he stabbed in the lower back? Why did it not hurt at all, leaving only a faint itch, as if merely bitten by a mosquito?

“Don’t move, it’ll be done soon,” the childish voice sounded again.

Gao Yang’s vision gradually cleared, and with effort, he sat up. In front of him was a little girl, no older than seven or eight, her hair tied into two adorable buns, dressed in a modified hanfu with a white top and a light pink skirt adorned with peach blossoms.

She knelt beside him, her chubby, tender little hands cradling his large one, her face rosy with baby fat, and her big eyes sparkling with innocence.

“Who are you...?”

“The Zodiac, Fluffy Sheep. Everyone calls me Little Fluffy.”

“Did you heal me?” Gao Yang’s tone was filled with gratitude.

“Nope, I just transferred big brother’s injuries to myself.”

“What?” Gao Yang was shocked.

“Gift: ‘Damage Transfer,’ Serial Number 24. Rune type: Life,” White Rabbit approached, crouching before Gao Yang and ruffling Little Fluffy’s hair. “That’s enough, go find Uncle Dead Pig.”

“No way! I’m going to transfer all of big brother’s injuries first,” Little Fluffy said proudly.

“You don’t usually care this much. What’s this? Do you like him?” White Rabbit grinned mischievously. “Already smitten at such a young age? Swoon over a handsome face, huh?”

“No! Not at all!” Fluffy quickly released Gao Yang’s hand, her cheeks flushed, and she scampered away.

Gao Yang soon noticed White Rabbit’s shoes. After that “leap,” the soles of her white sneakers had worn through, revealing her toes, with the black nail polish on her right big toe only half-applied.

“Where are you looking? That’s rude!” White Rabbit’s tone was light, without a hint of anger.

Gao Yang quickly averted his eyes.

White Rabbit sat cross-legged, casually pulling off her ruined sneakers. From her baseball jersey pocket, she pulled out a bottle of black nail polish and nonchalantly resumed painting her toenails. “Left in a rush, didn’t finish. You don’t mind, do you?”

“Not at all.”

“Any questions, ask away. I’m here to answer.”

“Qing Ling... is she okay?”

“Relax, she was the first we saved. Almost died, but we brought Little Fluffy and Uncle Dead Pig just for this, so it’s not too bad,” White Rabbit answered lazily as she focused on her nails.

“What exactly is Little Fluffy’s ‘damage transfer’ ability?” Gao Yang asked.

“Exactly what it sounds like. She can transfer someone else’s injuries into her own body, but it must be within half an hour of the injury.” White Rabbit paused briefly. “Roughly speaking, the amount of damage she can absorb at once is enough to kill you about ten times over.”

“...”

Gao Yang wasn’t too keen on dying that many times.

“But Little Fluffy can’t retain the damage for long; she has to transfer it out fairly quickly.” White Rabbit blew on her freshly painted nail. “The method of transfer is the same—she just has to touch the target’s body. There’s a species barrier for damage, though—what she takes from a human can only be passed to another human, animal to animal, plant to plant, beast to beast.”

Gao Yang was a bit worried, “Doesn’t that mean...?”

“No need to worry. Now let me introduce another of our group’s powerhouses—Uncle Dead Pig,” White Rabbit tilted her head, gesturing towards the man not far away, who wore a pig head mask.

The man appeared to weigh at least three hundred pounds, shirtless and sitting cross-legged on the ground like a massive Buddha statue—or more accurately, a “mountain of flesh.” However, unlike Fat Jun’s loose layers of fat, his flesh was taut and dark, solid muscle that, rather than seeming greasy, radiated a comforting sense of reliability.