Wen Zhi fell into deep thought.
When he picked up the Diary, something puzzling happened.
It wasn’t that a cute little Elf suddenly appeared and called him “Master” in a sweet voice, offering to grant him three wishes or anything that bizarre…
Rather, a strange floating icon had appeared in his field of vision.
However, it was worth mentioning that although the Diary hadn’t brought Wen Zhi a wish-granting Elf girl, it really had brought him an Elf girl…
But that was a story for later, so there was no need to go into it here.
Anyway, after Wen Zhi picked up the Diary, three simple drawings in different colors appeared in his vision.
From left to right, they were a hammer wreathed in vivid orange flames, a deep pink heart that seemed to be beating, and a lantern radiating a bright yellow glow.
Each icon had a corresponding label and number beneath it.
Under the hammer was “Stamina (200),” under the heart was “Health (200),” and the most unusual was the word “Sanity” beneath the lantern.
It had no number next to it, only an “∞” symbol.
Wen Zhi wasn’t surprised that the Diary had supernatural properties.
After all, he himself wasn’t exactly within the realm of science…
On the other hand, in just one day, Wen Zhi had been grabbed by a ghostly hand and taken to some strange place to cosplay as Bear Grylls, then repeatedly died in the Night…
And now he’d suddenly picked up a Diary that looked extraordinary.
He would’ve found it strange if nothing had happened.
Of course, even so, the Diary’s unknown origins, its unknown effects on him, and its possibly unknown powers still gave Wen Zhi’s mind plenty of room for outlandish guesses and fantasies.
But for some reason, he didn’t have the slightest desire to throw away the rather abnormal Diary.
He quickly calmed down, though, discarded his useless fantasies, and began testing what the Diary and the images before him could actually do.
After trying a few things, Wen Zhi concluded that the three images were a bit like a game’s three-dimensional status panel, each corresponding to some aspect of his condition.
He also discovered that he could drag the images around or hide them with his mind.
Aside from that, though, there didn’t seem to be anything else special about them.
—What was this?
Some kind of game interface he got from picking something up?
Wen Zhi couldn’t help laughing bitterly.
For a moment, he’d actually thought he’d been bound to some kind of system and was about to reach the peak of his life…
In the end, it seemed like he’d just gotten his hopes up for nothing.
The thing’s appearance didn’t offer any practical help with his current predicament.
A status panel that accurately reflected his condition couldn’t be called completely useless, but the problem was that Wen Zhi was already immortal!
For someone whose condition reset immediately after injury or death, an interface that showed his status in real time was nearly useless, even if it wasn’t entirely worthless.
And honestly, even as a reflection of his condition, the three icons were a little unclear.
He could set Stamina and Health aside for now, but what did the “∞” beside Sanity mean?
If it represented his immortality, then why weren’t Stamina and Health also “∞”?
Besides, this thing looked so mysterious.
Surely it couldn’t really be here just to give him a few game icons?
Unwilling to give up, Wen Zhi sat down on the beach in a huff and began examining the Diary he’d found and the changes it had caused in him more carefully.
He didn’t believe the Diary had simply loaded a few permanent images onto his retina.
His instincts told him that something this mysterious-looking had to have features he hadn’t discovered yet.
As it turned out, his investigation did turn up something.
He discovered that he could click on the three icons, and each one opened a short piece of text.
The hammer icon displayed:
“Stamina: The means by which you exercise your rights of change and destruction.”
The heart icon displayed:
“Health: There are many bodies in this world, but this one alone is yours.”
The lantern displayed:
“Sanity: The dwelling place of thought and soul.”
Wow, it even had flavor text!
If Wen Zhi hadn’t been a teacher in his previous life, with his temper and patience already worn down by problem students, he might really have gotten angry enough to laugh.
Fortunately, he soon discovered something that was actually useful.
He found that when he opened the Diary, a white icon resembling a palm appeared in the upper-right corner of his vision.
Beneath it were the words “Crafting Menu.”
At the same time, a large, constantly flashing “↓” symbol appeared on the icon representing “Sanity” in his vision.
But because the number in Wen Zhi’s Sanity bar was “∞,” the downward arrow flashed for ages without causing any change to the symbol.
Since Wen Zhi didn’t feel any other discomfort, he temporarily ignored the seemingly meaningless arrow and focused his attention on the “Crafting Menu.”
Just as he could move the icons with his mind, he could open the Crafting Menu and enter the crafting interface by focusing his thoughts on it.
Wen Zhi opened the Crafting Menu full of anticipation, only to find it filled with all kinds of black images, each labeled “Locked”…
But after looking through it stubbornly, he did find a few things marked “Craftable.”
One of them was something he could use right now.
[Coconut Garment: It won’t keep you warm or dry, but maybe it’ll make you feel a little better?
Materials Required: Coconut Leaves ×5, Rope (any kind) ×3]
The icon was grayish white.
He could just make out a shirt with a rough, crude design, woven from layers of coconut leaves.
For Wen Zhi, this could solve his immediate problem and keep him from continuing to sit naked in the sea breeze.
His constitution was unusual, but staying naked forever wasn’t exactly practical, was it?
Besides, the sun on the Deserted Island was vicious during the day.
Without clothes to cover him, the slightest mistake could result in a severe sunburn.
Wen Zhi couldn’t exactly plan to kill himself whenever he got sunburned just to refresh his condition…
That would be too much trouble and completely insane.
It was better to find a way to prevent it in advance.
With that in mind, Wen Zhi tried clicking the icon.
As expected, the words “Insufficient materials. Unable to craft.” appeared in his vision.
In that case, he could only start gathering the materials.
Fortunately, coconut leaves were everywhere on the island, and its coconut trees were widely distributed.
There was even a stand of them not far from Wen Zhi.
As for rope…
Wen Zhi had also found a crafting icon for it.
Many materials could be used to make rope, including palm fiber, which was fairly close by.
Once he’d settled on a goal, Wen Zhi immediately got to work.
The Diary was still full of suspicious and unknown elements, but he instinctively chose to ignore them.
After all, Wen Zhi had always been a pragmatist who focused on what was in front of him.
Besides, his unusual circumstances meant he didn’t have to be overly cautious or hold himself back.
Compared to any conspiracy or malice that might exist, Wen Zhi would rather figure out how the thing worked and what it did, then make the best use of it.
However, Wen Zhi didn’t notice that ever since he picked up the Diary, a pair of translucent gray-blue eyes had been quietly watching him, curious and timid.
The Ghost truly had no idea what the young man who’d picked up the Diary was trying to do, even though, to some extent, the connection they’d just formed let it vaguely sense his thoughts and emotions.
Yes, the moment the man picked up the Diary, the Ghost felt that a new connection had formed between itself, him, and the Diary.
Through that connection, the Ghost discovered that it had gained two new abilities.
One of them had come to it the instant Wen Zhi picked up the Diary: the ability mentioned earlier, which let the Ghost directly sense Wen Zhi’s thoughts to a limited degree.
The Ghost’s perception wasn’t clear yet.
It could only sense very shallow thoughts, and even those were vague—like figuring out the emotions and thoughts of a pet you’d raised for a long time from the sounds it made.
But to the Ghost, that was still far better than having to guess everything from the start.
As the saying went, fear came from the unknown.
Once the Ghost could roughly understand Wen Zhi’s intentions, it no longer felt quite so anxious and uneasy.
But for that very reason, the Ghost was even more baffled by Wen Zhi’s actions.
If the Ghost couldn’t sense anything at all, then it could only guess at the purpose behind Wen Zhi’s behavior.
In the end, it would probably come up with a relatively reasonable answer on its own…
But now the Ghost could roughly sense Wen Zhi’s emotions, and what it picked up was something like this:
After picking up the Diary, Wen Zhi was confused, then surprised, then happy, then disappointed.
Then, for no apparent reason, he sat down on the beach in a huff.
A while later, he got a little angry, then, for no apparent reason at all, he got happy again, stood up, dusted himself off, and started climbing a coconut tree…
This was truly baffling…
No, baffling to the Ghost!
Of course, the Ghost wasn’t about to rashly decide that Wen Zhi had some kind of mental problem…
But it did make the Ghost, who’d become unusually excited after gaining its second ability, calm down a little.
It also made it hesitate for a moment over whether to use that second ability right away.
The Ghost had discovered its second ability when Wen Zhi opened the Diary.
At the time, the Ghost had seen Wen Zhi about to open it and drifted over curiously, hoping to see whether the Diary contained anything valuable.
Unfortunately, all the Ghost saw was a blank page.
There was nothing on it.
Just as the Ghost was starting to feel disappointed, it suddenly felt something flow from Wen Zhi into its body, bit by bit, through that mysterious connection.
Afterward, the Ghost discovered that its thoughts seemed clearer and more complete.
It also realized that it could interfere with the Diary…
Or rather, it could now write and draw directly in the Diary.
The instant the Ghost realized it could affect the Diary, a thought appeared in its consciousness.
It was simple, intense, and clear—only two short words, yet they cut through the Ghost’s thoughts like lightning.
—[Communication]
This was something the Ghost, who’d always been alone, had never dared to imagine.
Through countless days and nights, it had been nothing more than a weightless silence between the pages, a lonely observer, a spirit with no connection to the world, waiting for its consciousness to fade away in endless solitude.
But now, the Ghost’s circumstances seemed to have changed just a little.
Something that had never happened before had become real, and the miracle it had prayed for seemed to have truly arrived.