The experience was so profoundly magical it defied imagination, and no one could explain this phenomenon except as a divine punishment from the Stone Mother.
The more Raila spoke, the more excited she became, a fanatical, cult-like expression spreading across her face. Although Ed had never believed in gods in his past life, only ghosts and demons because of the influence of movies and novels, this was a magical world where anything was possible. It wasn't too far-fetched to think a god might be protecting and watching over the world.
Knock-knock…
Just as Raila was about to continue her story, a sudden, loud knocking came from the door. It only took a shared glance for them to realize who was outside.
F*ck, it's Aunt Marcy. She must be here to deliver food," Ed said in a panic. He hurriedly pushed Raila away and started pulling on his pants.
"Why is she so early today?" Whispered Raila, in a bad mood, who was only wearing a simple full-body robe from her visit the night before. She hurried to the main door on her tiptoes, peeked, and ran back.
"She's not early; we woke up late. Look outside—it'll be afternoon in a few hours. Now, hurry and go out the back door. Be careful," Ed said, pulling Raila to the kitchen's back door. He gave her a tight kiss and a bear hug before rushing to the main door, not daring to keep Aunt Marcy waiting.
After seeing Raila slip away, he adjusted his hair and opened the door with an innocent smile, as if nothing had happened.
...
It was already evening, and the sky had turned red.
Ed was lying on the beach, resting in the shadow of the cliff. A short shovel was stuck in the sand beside him, surrounded by various carefully dug holes, each explored using fixed landmarks as reference points.
After the morning's close call, where he had almost exposed his secret relationship with Raila by stopping Aunt Marcy from entering his bedroom just in time, Ed quickly ate his food, then, under Aunt Marcy's expressionless gaze, he walked proudly toward the cliff with his shovel and map. Now that he had her permission to hunt for treasure, it felt natural to show off his inner confidence.
While resting, Ed flipped through the treasure-hunting manual in his hand. It was filled with information and speculations about "magic treasures." As someone from the modern world, he had to admit the original owner had a talent for gathering information. If not for the extraordinarily powerful death curse, this body's former occupant might have become a real treasure hunter. Of course, he went looking for death and found a cursed treasure; he seemed quite unlucky in that regard.
Ed couldn't help but study the information carefully again.
"All these clues and speculations suggest this Jack dude intentionally left clues to his treasure when he died. Wait… could what I just saw be the entrance?"
Thinking this, Ed stood up immediately. He stepped back and looked up at the cliff carefully. Sure enough, under a thick tree growing obliquely from the cliff face, he spotted a cave entrance.
"Could that be the treasure the system showed? No matter what, it'll be dark soon. I'd better go up and take a look. If it's a dead end, I can still draw a detailed map and let the system do the rest. Damn, I really miss Google Maps."
Ed immediately opened his inventory and pulled out a long, thick coil of hemp rope with a grappling hook. The original owner never found anything in his life except for a cursed coin that ate away his life, but his equipment is pretty decent.
Holding one end of the grappling hook, Ed eyed the bent tree about ten meters up. He swung the hook and let it fly. It went smoothly—though it was his first time, the memory and muscle sense left by the original owner made it feel familiar. Yet, the hook flew off-center, landing two or three meters from the tree.
Ahem. It's normal to miss the first time. He retrieved the hook and tried again. After several attempts, with his biceps growing sore, he finally secured it to the tree.
"I have to say, the people in this world are really strong, whether in bed or in other tasks. If someone from Earth tried this, throwing a hook toward a rock ten meters nonstop without any practice, they'd never manage it—especially not an 18-year-old brat.*
After wrapping the rope around the tree trunk twice, Ed pulled down hard, even hanging his full weight on it. Only after confirming it was stable and safe did he breathe a sigh of relief. He put his remaining tools back into his inventory, wrapped the spare rope around his waist, and tied a safety knot. When working at height, you need safety gear. Otherwise, if life plays a joke on you and you end up disabled young, you won't find a good place to cry.
After his preparations, Ed took a deep breath, gripped the rope with both hands, pressed his feet against the cliff, and began to climb.
Half an hour later, after stopping three times to recover his stamina, he finally hauled himself into the cave entrance. Peering inside by the dim sunlight, he could see it wasn't very deep. The air held a dull, unknown smell, reminiscent of the caves the original owner had explored as a child.
Sitting at the cave entrance, he untied the knot around his waist and weighed the rope down with a heavy stone. Ed pulled a torch from his inventory, struck a flint to light it, and the darkness inside was instantly pushed back.
He stood up and walked inside on trembling legs. To tell the truth, he was terrified of entering; he'd never liked caves and other enclosed places. But a damn curse hung over his neck like a sword, and he had to get rid of it. Otherwise, if he died in his sleep, he might not be lucky enough to travel to another world with a system and might just open his eyes in hell.
The cave entrance was about two meters wide and somewhat narrow, but it widened further in. After a few steps, Ed could vaguely make out the back of the cave.
"Whoa!"
The torch in his hand shook. Ed started and took a step back. A corpse lay in the torchlight. Neither his original self nor his current self had ever seen such a scene outside of movies. He took a deep breath to calm his emotions, stopping himself from sprinting out of the cave screaming like a little girl.
Steeling himself, he approached the corpse with a shaking body; he had to check how this person died. The corpse's clothes were rotten and torn, and it lay face down. The skeleton showed an obvious fracture at the sixth lumbar vertebra, with corresponding scars on the opposite ribs.
Attacked from behind and killed in one blow? It was a relief if this person was killed by someone, rather than dying mysteriously. Ed's mood calmed; a death by betrayal during a treasure hunt was a normal occurrence. He'd been afraid the cave itself had caused the death. But it made sense; the system had set the difficulty for adults, with no special requirements. In the end, he'd scared himself for nothing.
The most urgent task was to get rid of the damn cursed silver coins. After a quick search, he pulled the coin out of his inventory.
Click, click!
"F*ck!"