"Young Master..."
It had been several days since they last met. Seeing Roy again in the basement,
One-Eye and Scarface, who were standing guard at the iron-barred gate, placed their right hands over their chests and bowed.
They pulled the gate open from both sides, revealing a dark passage leading toward the secret room.
"Mhm." Roy nodded curtly, his expression serious. He stepped into the passage, his footsteps echoing under the dim lights as he walked toward the airtight door.
The pot of yellow chrysanthemums by the door was well-tended. As spring transitioned into summer, the flowers were in full bloom... petals bursting with life, following the endless cycle of blooming and withering.
*Clack.*
Roy paused and lightly stroked the [Curse] on the back of his hand. Taking a deep breath, he said, "Grandfather, I've come to see you."
*Rumble.* The airtight steel door swung open. The [Demon Eye] suddenly extended a tentacle and, as it always did, wrapped around him and dragged him into the secret room...
As his consciousness sank, he heard that familiar voice once more. [Re: The Game of the Dead] activated!
After a brief moment of daze, the boy opened his eyes to find the world had changed. He was now in a forest of towering trees so tall their tops were invisible...
The Uzuki Forest...
It had been a long time...
A gust of wind blew by, carrying the fresh scent of soil.
Roy closed his eyes and inhaled a deep breath of the oxygen-rich air, his memories flooding back... The [Bunker] Frank Becki and the [Storm] Archbishop behind him... Benjamin's 'Lightning Spear' thrown after his [God Descent] still felt like it was right before his eyes...
The boy flipped his hand, gathering points of light. Using 'reverse-materialization,' he manifested the 'strategy map' Silva had given him. With a sudden movement, he left afterimages behind as he dashed toward the 'Abandoned People's Settlement'—the city of Bandle, the 'Home of the Colorless.' His movements carried the rhythm of a master's 'Dark Step' infused with a hint of [Shunpo].
With the [Curse] active, he clearly couldn't go to the territories controlled by the Seven Great Orthodox Gods, such as the Principality of Samir or the Kingdom of Hoine. Furthermore...
Roy still didn't know which entity he had offended, or what his grandfather Zigg had actually done to cause this backlash. In his current situation, he felt it was best to stay in the territory of the abandoned, gathering intelligence while spreading his faith and quietly accumulating power.
*Whoosh.* Moving like an arrow piercing the wind, he marked the map while using [Magnetic Field Control] to maintain his sense of direction...
Along the way, he dealt with various magical beasts to fill his [Monster Encyclopedia]. The panel flickered with prompts...
["Life Energy" +10, +15, +20.]
[Monster Encyclopedia entry complete...]
[1. Plague Bat: D-class magical beast. (Note: Rating based on Ants. Elite Captain is D, Squadron Leader is C, Royal Guard is B, Ant King is B+)]
[Manifested Aura: D+ (9,741/10,000)]
[Potential Aura: C- (1,250/100,000)]
[Innate Nen Ability: "Plague" (Note: When attacked, the Plague Bat can induce illness in enemies to escape)...]
[Prompt: "Plague" extracted. High correlation with [Spider Venom] from Lower Moon Five, Rui... Host [Poison Resistance] +10... [Venomous Seed] ability +10...]
...
[2. Ground Eel: C-class magical beast. (Note: Rating based on Ants. Elite Captain is D, Squadron Leader is C, Royal Guard is B, Ant King is B+)]
[Manifested Aura: C- (4,715/100,000)]
[Potential Aura: C (72,540/100,000)]
[Innate Nen Ability: "Laser" (Note: A snake-like eel that moves on the surface. When attacked, it stimulates its compound eyes to fire a laser at the enemy)...]
[Prompt: "Laser" extracted. High overlap with [Eye of Delusion Breaking]... Upgraded to [Laser Eye]. [Yang Release] +10...]
...
Man-Eating Vine: Innate Nen Ability "Camouflage," high overlap with [Deception]... 4. Howling Crawfish: Innate Nen Ability "Voice of Despair." (Note: A clawed beast that feeds on sound. Its howl can strike terror into any creature with reproductive consciousness, forcing feelings of depression and lethargy... causing them to lose the will to live until they... commit suicide.)
'This is somewhat similar to how the [Heart Bug] devours negative emotions.'
*Ding, ding, ding...*
The notifications were incessant as Roy approached Bandle City. He killed various strange magical beasts, extracting their "Nen abilities" to supplement his own, focusing specifically on [Laser], a skill born from his [Eye of Delusion Breaking].
Unlike the Sharingan, which required stimulation from negative emotions like [Malice] and [Depravity] to trigger [Yin Release] and further upgrades...
[Laser] was purely [Yang]... like the sun itself, which no one could look at directly.
A faint, fiery red glow surged in Roy's eyes. As he savored the sensation, he felt this skill was perfectly suited for him—especially considering his "meditation object" was the sun!
*Whoosh.* Blade in hand, Roy stepped over the corpses of strange magical beasts.
He darted through the towering forest, harvesting "Life Energy." At one point, he came to a sudden halt. His [En], which covered a radius of over two hundred meters, captured a scene that made his skin crawl.
It was a creature with the body of a tiger but the head of a lion, relentlessly mauling an old woman.
Half of the old woman's body was gone, but her remaining hand was strangely being held by another elderly person... This man was so emaciated he was practically skin and bones. He watched his partner being eaten with a numb silence—no fleeing, no screaming, not even tears. It was as if a dish had been served on the table, and he was quietly waiting for his "turn to be eaten."
The man was clearly alive, yet he exuded a thick "sense of death" that made Roy frown.
"Why are you doing nothing?"
"Don't you feel any grief watching your wife being devoured?"
Roy had many questions, but when he opened his mouth, nothing came out. His past life had taught him that when facing the world's evils and the fickleness of human hearts, one should follow the "Three Precepts."
...
'Respect the fate of others, abandon the urge to help, and avoid self-satisfaction.'
Especially here, on the perilous Dark Continent, one shouldn't listen to what shouldn't be heard, look at what shouldn't be seen, or ask what shouldn't be asked. But...
As a [Human], as one who had promised his great-grandfather to be a light in the hearts of others, Roy stepped forward. With a flick of his wrist, his "Hundred-Meter Blade" suddenly extended, impaling the lion-headed tiger beast!
[Prompt: "Life Energy" +30...]
[Monster Encyclopedia entry recorded...]
[Liger: C-class magical beast, eliminated!]
[Innate Nen Ability "Ferocity" extracting...]
[Prompt: Extraction complete...]
["Ferocity": Sacrificing "Sanity" for a massive increase in "Nen Amount"... the more "ferocious," the stronger one becomes, but also more insane...]
'No madness, no life... Did this Liger go mad because it ate too many people, or did it choose to eat people because it was mad?'
Roy had taken it by surprise. Using [Divine Spear], he ended the Liger. With a swing of his arm, he tossed the carcass aside like trash. It smashed through several large trees before coming to a stop. He then stepped out from the rising dust and approached the old woman who was already half-eaten.
He knelt and extended a hand, channeling a bit of "Nen" infused with [Scorching True Intent]. It transformed into a ball of fire, enveloping and cremating her.
"Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Mrs. Nora Lawrence, may you find peace in the afterlife. If there is a next life, may you live in the light, undisturbed by the filth of the darkness..."
*Whoosh!* With a light breath from Roy, the flames suddenly expanded!
Beside him, the old man, who had been as numb as a fish on a cutting board waiting for the knife, finally seemed to react. He turned his stiff neck and stared blankly at Roy and his cremating wife. His throat bobbed as he asked weakly, "How do you know her name?"
Old Mark could swear to the [Storm] that he had never seen this young man with such thick, beautiful dark hair in his entire life.
"She... told me herself."
The fire burned, the light dancing...
Roy didn't look at Old Mark. He let his "Nen" infused with [Scorching True Intent] cremate the old woman instantly. When the last fragment of bone vanished, a hunched figure appeared in the fire... She had kind eyes, like the grandmother next door. She lifted her skirt and curtsied to Roy.
Then she turned her head and smiled at Old Mark—just as she had when they first met, known, and loved each other as youths. Old Mark's numb heart suddenly twitched, and he could no longer control his wrinkled face... two lines of tears flowed down.
"So that's how it is."
"I wondered who it was... it was you who told him, Nora..."
The old woman smiled without a word, stroking Old Mark's face with infinite love. Unexpectedly, her hand passed right through him. After the fire, they were already separated by life and death.
"Heh. Don't worry, I'll join you soon." Old Mark struggled to lift his head, his face wet with tears as he smiled at Roy. "You killed that beast and kept me from dying... Boy,"
"You take that beast's place and kill me!"
The veins on Old Mark's neck bulged as he strained. Roy turned his head and frowned at him, falling silent for a moment.
He knew the old man wasn't joking. He was serious... and because it was serious, Roy felt a lump in his throat, his heart clouded with confusion.
He had lived two lives—in the world of Hunters, Demon Slayers, and Shinobi. He had always seen people struggling to survive. This was the first time he had seen someone... yearning for death.
The boy looked at the old man in silence. After a moment, he asked in a low voice, "Why?"
Old Mark tried to take his wife Nora's hand. They looked at each other and shared a smile. "There is no 'why.' Only if we die can our granddaughter, little Marty, live."
"Little Marty?"
[En] expanded. As the [Heart Bug] wriggled, it followed the thread of karma right before it and entered Old Mark's heart. Under this desolate and gloomy sky, Roy stood and watched. He saw little Marty, a young girl with hair as dull as withered grass...
He also saw the past of Old Mark and his wife Nora. Their struggle to survive, their desperate desire to obtain a 'Permit' to move into Bandle City and away from the slums... the crushing helplessness of working themselves to the bone for meager wages, selling their 'Nen' to the City Lord's Mansion just to pay various "taxes." He saw the heartache of their son dying because medical care was too expensive... the despair of their daughter-in-law going into the city to sell herself to feed the family, never to be heard from again. He saw their granddaughter, their friends, their everything—a massive portrait of hell...
This portrait was filled with nothing but suffering, which was the reality for the vast majority of abandoned people like Old Mark's family!
They had hit rock bottom. First discarded by the Seven Gods for [Impiety], then exploited by the high-and-mighty of the "Home of the Colorless" security force. They were born as nothing more than fuel!
Roy walked along the dry, cracked ridges of Old Mark's heart, silently observing his life. Finally, at the end, he found the answer to why they both sought death...
Bandle City, the "Home of the Colorless," had an unwritten rule—a "redemption" granted by the security force lords out of pity for the abandoned outside:
[Die if you haven't entered the city by age forty.]
[And you must die in the belly of a magical beast.]
[Once death is confirmed, the security force will take in the descendants and grant them a single chance for an entry exam.]
This was what Old Mark and his wife Nora were after. They would trade their lives for little Marty's "chance to live." At the very least... if she got into the city, she might find better work. Perhaps she could even find her missing mother. Then Old Mark and Nora could... die without regrets.
The portrait closed. In his silence, Roy saw Old Mark and Nora smiling as they lied to little Marty, telling her to go pick mushrooms for soup. Then, without hesitation, they left the slums and the protection of Bandle City, heading deep into the Uzuki Forest with resolve...
Roy's heart throbbed. He felt what they felt. Stepping into Old Mark's shoes, he experienced "happiness" for the first time in his life. It was a beautiful vision for his granddaughter's future in the city... it was hope!
*Creak—*
The portrait of Old Mark's life came to a stop.
The Heart Bug had sated itself on "negative emotions," letting out a satisfied burp before wriggling back into Roy's body...
Simultaneously, the panel prompted:
["Negative Emotions" +300%. Automatically stored in the "Unconscious Realm"...]
Roy took a deep breath. Coming back to his senses, he looked at Old Mark, who was offering his neck for death. He flicked his wrist and swung his blade...
He cut down a sharp arrow infused with [Shu] that was flying toward the back of the old man's heart!
"Heeheehee... where did this wild monkey come from?"
"You dare meddle in the business of the Security Force?!"