Global Abyss: My Skills Can Enhance Infinitely Chapter 2 - 2 The Oppressive World

"This world is truly horrifying."

As he stepped out of his home, inhaling the morning air thick with the pungent stench of cattle, Tao Yu let out a weary sigh. He once believed that life as a simple office worker in his previous existence was miserable, but witnessing the reality here left him bewildered, forced to gaze up at the sky and wonder how he had managed to endure for this long.

Every single day consisted of a grueling routine: feeding livestock, shoveling waste, milking cows, and tending to hoof care, not to mention the endless weeding and general farm labor. Any free time he scraped together was dedicated to survival and combat training for the upcoming Awakening Day. To this very day, his grasp on the local script remained shaky, leaving him essentially semi-literate.

The farm's hard-won harvest, which offered no real financial benefit to their family, was systematically seized by the company, leaving behind only the barest rations as a meager 'gift.' If not for his parents, who held relatively stable positions and provided three hundred units of Yuan Force monthly to keep the household afloat, his own labor—and that of his brother, sister-in-law, and younger sibling—would barely keep them fed, let alone allow for the equipment and supplies required for Awakening Day.

Beyond that, his parents constantly searched for ways to boost their 'cannon fodder weight,' using various strategies to avoid being conscripted by the company. Once he turned eighteen, he would be drafted into this cruel social hierarchy, forced to find ways to artificially inflate his value to the company—unless, of course, he encountered a 'fortunate' twist of fate like the one that befell his third brother.

Beneath the constant, unspoken threat to their survival, the vicious nature of their internal competition had truly reached a fever pitch. Gazing toward the horizon, Tao Yu saw the gray expanse of The Grey Mist Wall, a dense, churning barrier of fog that completely sealed off the perimeter, occasionally revealing shifting, ominous silhouettes within. A thin, azure layer of mist stood as the only defense against the creeping gray tide.

Turning his gaze back toward the city, he could see the imposing, mottled walls of the Inner City. They appeared to be a patchwork of scavenged materials, from industrial scrap metal to reinforced concrete, marked by clumsy repairs and reinforced with watchtowers and Autonomic Gun Turrets. Glancing over the ramparts, he could see the skyscrapers of the Inner City, where flickering neon lights failed to hide the same amateurish repairs. It possessed a bizarre, retro-technological aesthetic reminiscent of the 21st century, yet it felt more like a sprawling trash heap.

Above them loomed a massive, floating city, its base emitting a blue radiance that seemed to shelter the land from the encroaching Grey Mist. Beneath that majestic structure, a web of greasy, oil-slicked pipes linked the Inner and Outer Cities, channeling resources upward to sustain the elites. The Floating City, Inner City, Outer City, and the hazardous Grey Mist beyond represented distinct, fractured strata of existence.

Looking back at his own home—a dilapidated shack constructed from asbestos, sheet metal, and particle boards, supplemented by brick reinforcements—Tao Yu felt a wave of oppression. Perched upon his roof sat a weathered Autonomic Gun Turret; its rusted frame smelled of machine oil, and it groaned periodically as it rotated. This device was their most precious asset, capable of detecting and engaging monsters from the Grey Mist that wandered too close, a luxury afforded by their hard-earned Yuan Force.

Though the Outer City was protected by the Flame of Civilization, monsters occasionally broke through. Tao Yu recalled hearing the turret’s mechanical bark seven or eight times per year during the night. Such incidents represented the rare few creatures that managed to bypass the Night Watchers and all other fortifications. Thankfully, usually only the smaller, weaker prey escaped the mist. The Lamp of Will repelled invisible filth, while the gun turret held back the physical horrors, a combination that had kept their family alive thus far.

As Tao Yu stood lost in thought, the house groaned again. His parents stepped out—a lean, gray-haired man with a deeply lined face, and an unassuming woman with short, practical hair. These were the parents of this life, the people who had shielded him from the brutality of the world until his eighteenth year. Despite the lingering, confusing echoes of his past life’s memories, he offered them a warm smile.

"Dad, Mom, aren't you supposed to be back at noon?"

Tao Long looked at his son, his wrinkled face softening into a gentle grin. "Why is our seventh child up so early? While the survival odds for Awakening Day have improved, you really should be resting and conserving every bit of your strength."

Having lost their eldest and second sons to Awakening Day, the couple suffered from deep trauma regarding the event, as the base survival rate hovered near sixty percent. They lived with extreme frugality, hoarding every resource to give their remaining children the best fighting chance on that fateful day. Since the tragedy of their second son, no further catastrophes had occurred.

"I couldn't sleep," Tao Yu replied honestly. Sometimes, the harder he tried to rest, the more it eluded him; there was little he could do.

"Then come along with us," his father suggested, his tone casual. "We managed to find your Uncle Hu at the garrison. He’s an instructor now, and with a quick word from us, he can look after your group. Let’s go pay him a visit."

The company maintained its own territory at The Abyssal Rift, where many combat and production roles were performed. Although his parents had just left their room, they had actually just returned from that parallel world, which remained perfectly synchronized with their own. Aside from the mandatory fifteen days of adaptation before Awakening Day, everyone could travel between these worlds after fifteen minutes of meditation. With the minimum return interval now reduced to five days, survival pressures at The Abyssal Rift were slightly more manageable—assuming one could reach the designated gathering points.

"Uncle Hu is an instructor? I thought he lost his arm and was forced to retire from combat?" Tao Yu asked, surprised. While he called the man Uncle Hu, he was merely a cousin, though the close, treacherous environment of the outer city often blurred such titles.

"He got a lucky break. He met a noble who funded his mechanical augmentation, and his combat efficiency hasn't just been restored—it's been boosted." Envy flickered in Tao Long's eyes. Their cousin was naturally talented, yet he lacked the aristocratic backing they desperately needed. "Come on, let’s get going; he should have just returned as well."

His mother, Hong Xia, emerged from the kitchen carrying a thick slab of smoked meat. She brushed off some char before heading out. Seeing the meat, the scrawny Tao Yu felt his mouth water; in such a bleak world, even refined food was a rarity, and meat was strictly reserved for special occasions. By Outer City standards, his family lived relatively well, yet the sight still stirred memories of the abundance of his previous life.

Tao Yu held no unrealistic pride as a transmigrator; eighteen years of hardship had worn that down effectively. He respected his parents' long experience and knew following their advice was the smartest path. Furthermore, he admired his cousin, who possessed a C-Grade talent called 'Predictive Eye.' It was an ability that easily rivaled the B-Grade 'Dynamic Vision.'

They had maintained a close bond over the years, marked by mutual support, which was far stronger than his ties to other relatives. His own skill with a firearm was largely due to his cousin’s guidance, which had saved them a fortune in ammunition costs. For Tao Yu, who had once known peace, doing everything possible to survive that terrifying sixty percent mortality rate was the only rational choice. He had no intention of becoming a statistic.

...

"Haha, Long, why the formality? And look at Ah Yu! He's far too skinny; he needs to eat more meat to build up his strength!"

Uncle Hu was a stout, swarthy man with a powerful build. Tao Yu noted that his cousin had swapped his missing limb for a punk-style mechanical arm that integrated seamlessly into his left shoulder. Though the limb leaked a bit of oil and bore signs of heavy use, it was clearly a high-quality, albeit second-hand, piece of hardware. As he took the meat, Uncle Hu gave Tao Yu’s shoulder a firm, metallic squeeze.

"People awaken every single day, so finding a spot for you shouldn't be an issue," Uncle Hu stated. He paused for a brief moment, his expression grave, before adding, "However, I’ve heard rumors that the children of two very important figures are also participating today. So, there are some things I need to warn you about first..."