Either the disappearance, the death, or the distress of the one who wrote this, any of those three, shook Leo's heart.
Damn, he could even vaguely imagine the expression of the person when he was writing this.
Ding!
At the same time, while his mind was filled with indescribable thoughts, unease was slowly creeping through his heart, the familiar sound of notification rang inside his soul.
In his vision, the panel unfolds, validating his fear.
[ Novice Quest Issued!! ]
Ding!
[ The Wolf In Sheep's Clothing
Difficulty: ★ (1 Star)
Objectives: Survive till the morning or kill the anomaly. Failure to accomplish any objective would lead to complete erasure.
Rewards: Based on your actions.
Player count: 25/25! ]
Ding!
[ Beginner assistance. Please choose an item from the choices. ]
"Failure to accomplish any objective would lead to complete erasure?"
Does the 'complete erasure' indicate death?
Mumbling to himself, his face already veiled with gloom, Leo's sight soon moved toward the player count below.
Just looking at it, Leo instantly knew that those 25 players (including him) had probably also been transmigrated to this place without prior knowledge and was force in this so-called quest, causing his tension to ease somewhat.
"With people around, this quest might not be that scary at all.
"Perhaps, I might even pass it without doing much."
Ding!
[ Please choose an item from the choices. If the player hadn't chosen an item in 3 minutes, the system would provide a random item to the host. ]
As he was absorbed with his thought, wondering if the other players were outside this small cabin or were somewhere else, the panel in front of him suddenly vanished...
Respectively, the hologram of a small dagger covered in rust, a silver pendant shaped like a tear, and a bronze monocle with a visible crack on its lens, appeared before his eyes.
Ding!
[ Unknown Rusted Dagger (ungraded): A normal dagger soaked for a long time with the blood of an anomaly under the decree of Bane.
Being struck by this dagger could randomly cause one to receive negative effects from the following list.
Weakening, Random Senses Impairment, Ailment, or Slow. ]
[ Tear of Depravity (ungraded): The accumulated sadness from a mermaid.
Wearing this pendant allows a person to weaken some negative effects casted by low-level decree spells and anomalies. ]
[ Monocle of True Sight (ungraded): Upon equipping, one could vaguely see spirits. Including newly deceased humans, spiritual entities, demons, and such.
Note: You might see something that you shouldn't, attracting calamity in the process. Use with care... ]
"Is this for real?!"
Staring at the description of the items hovering in front of him, Leo's eyes couldn't help but widen in pure shock and amazement.
Just their description alone already told him that they weren't an ordinary item.
No, in fact, they were already within the threshold of being magical! Just thinking of wielding such power, Leo's fear subsides somewhat.
Unfortunately, he could only pick one. If not, he would want them all for himself.
"Soo, what item should I choose?"
***
Tap- Tap- (Sounds of footstep.)
At the same time, while Leo is focused on choosing an item from the beginner assistance.
Outside his cabin, tens of meters away from his location, dozens of people could be discerned gathering in the center of the small village.
Their eyes showed varied emotions of unease, disbelief, and excitement as they inspected the strangers around them. Looking to see if anyone had any idea about their current situation.
Unfortunately, other than offering company, based on the evident confusion in everyone's eyes, it's clear that the people around also had no idea about what was going on.
"Sho-should we look outside for help?"
Feeling the awkwardness and anxiety hanging in the atmosphere, a girl, probably at the age of 17 or 18, asked the tall man behind her, only to be met by silence as the man pointed toward the far distance.
Following the man's finger, a complete darkness, only showing the silhouettes of the towering trees outside the village, greeted her sight.
Moreover... She could see the strangeness within those trees.
Their branches seemed twisted in a bizarre angle while the night usually engulfed their figures, only showing their silhouettes that seemed to be moving slowly when she stared at them for too long.
Just by looking at them, the teenager instantly extinguished the thought of exploring.
Gulped~
"I... I think it's much better if we all stay here and wait for the sun to arrive. If we go out now, there's a good chance that we will get lost."
Sneer-
"Cowards. You all can stay here all you want. Without a telephone, the chances of rescuers finding us would be nil. I still have work tomorrow, I'll go and find the exit."
Dismissing the teenager's words, not caring about how creepy this place was or whether what the floating thingy in front of him was telling the truth, a middle-aged man nearby, with a face laced with urgency, spoke.
"Wait! Can I tag along? I do have a daughter at home. I can't leave her alone for too long."
"Hmm, same here! My test is tomorrow, I can't stay here and wait. It's better to find the exit. If we manage to find the exit, we will contact the authority to rescue you all."
"I'll also come. My mom probably already worried sick..."
Seeing another three people nearby planning to look for the exit, someone nearby, out of worry, interject.
"Wait, it's dangerous to go at this kind of time. What if you all ended up being lost? Wouldn't it make the situation worse? Besides that, what if this panel was telling the truth? Wouldn't it mean going outside would result in death?"
Hearing this, the middle-aged man's expression slightly turned gloomy. Without further ado, his eyes scanned the faces of people around before uttering.
"Hmmp! Then staying here and waiting to be killed would be much more dangerous than exploring outside."
Leaving those words behind, the middle-aged man, not giving the people around time to speak, hurriedly strides toward the entrance of the village along with the three people...
Their figure soon vanished under the complicated gaze of the others.
...
Ding!
[ Player Jerome died. Player count: 24/25! ]
[ Player Cristina died. Player count: 23/25! ]
[ Player Kendrix died. Player count: 22/25! ]