The worm trembled slightly, just the faintest motion, like dry leaves rustling in the wind, but Ren felt it.
Something had changed.
The nightmare wasn't over, but the chains that bound him to it were weakening.
The invisible force that had imprisoned him, pinned him to horror and despair, was beginning to fracture, piece by piece.
It had sensed it.
Not his resistance.
Not the panic he struggled to suppress.
But his detachment.
He no longer belonged to this nightmare.
Time froze.
Space solidified in a suffocating stillness. Ren could hear the rush of blood pounding in his ears, a silence so deep, it was deafening.
Then, suddenly, the monster leapt. No hesitation. No warning.
Its plump, glistening body coiled like a spring and launched backward with terrifying speed, As if he had become its source of terror.
The holes along its grotesque body convulsed violently. Thick white mist spewed from them in torrents, swirling into dense spirals that masked the air like a veil of retreat.
It was fleeing. It was retreating. It was afraid. Ren still couldn't move, his body drowned in the aftermath of what had just occurred.
But one thing was crystal clear:
He wasn't afraid of it anymore. It… was afraid of him.
Then, a sharp click tore through the thick air between the two beings.
In an instant...
Ren's blade carved a perfect arc,
a crescent slash slicing through the dense mist like moonlight cutting the night,cleaving straight through the monster's putrid flesh.
There was no blood.
No scream.
Only a moment of chilling stillness.
Then, its swollen skin split apart.
Deep, jagged incisions opened like cracks in shattering glass, revealing thick, viscous fluid about to spill forth.
A white, misty vapor hissed from the wound, swirling in the air like the dying breath of a fallen relic.
The creature convulsed violently.
Its body spasmed, the holes pulsing erratically. Mist burst from them in chaotic waves, like the last ragged breaths of a dying beast.
Then, a faint light, a cold blue glow, flickered in the air.
A final signal.
The system had acknowledged its death.
Its grotesque form shattered into countless red pixel fragments, rising into the air before vanishing into nothing.
Ren tightened his grip on the sword. His palm was still damp with sweat, but his eyes were eerily calm.
The steel's cold sheen reflected off the blade, trembling ever so slightly, like the dying echo of a symphony of death.
The system message hadn't stopped.
[There once was a great king, who conquered this land with iron will and an unblemished sword.]
[He was the ruler, the founder of order, praised like a radiant light in his era.]
[But then…]
[A worm crept into his righteous heart.]
[It whispered unheard words, sowed doubts that none could prove.]
[Trophies piled around the throne. Praises turned to chains.]
[Loyalty warped into deception. Honor became greed. Gold dulled beneath the thirst for power.]
[And so, he turned his back on those who once fought beside him.]
[When the crown rusted, tainted by blood and betrayal...]
[The four swords sworn to protect the throne... shattered.]
[The king was no longer a king.]
[Only a fallen sinner remained, fumbling in the dark, trying to salvage the last divine flicker of light…]
[Congratulations! You have slain the Worm of Doubt!]
[+0 exp]
[+0 cor]
[You have obtained: Shattered Faith.]
[You have obtained: Cloak of the Fading King.]
Two system notifications appeared almost simultaneously, shining clearly before Ren's eyes. But his mind was still drenched in the aftershock of the battle.
His breathing was uneven.
His heartbeat not yet steady.
The memory of that final blow, the sensation of his blade slicing through the creature's grotesque flesh, still lingered in his fingertips.
And yet, instead of exhaustion or panic. A strange feeling surged in his chest. A quiet satisfaction.
A day full of turmoil, ending in the best way possible.
Two items at once. Still just a fragment of a sword and a cloak.
Ren didn't even need to read their descriptions to know, they weren't ordinary. Boss drops, especially from a bizarre creature like that, always hid something deeper.
He wanted to examine them now, to feel the weight of the sword in his grip, to see what was special about the cloak.
But not yet.
His thoughts snapped back to the present.
Ren swept his gaze across the battlefield, then bolted toward his two friends.
Yuna and Nautilus remained motionless. Their bodies were entangled in layers of grotesque silk, thick, sticky threads as if the worm had tried to trap them forever in its nightmare.
But now, with the monster gone, the cocoon was dissolving. The threads slowly unraveling, drifting down in the mist like falling ash.
Ren knelt beside them, carefully reaching out. He could feel warmth on their skin, their faint but steady breathing.
They were still alive.
The tightness in his chest eased just a little.
They were okay.
They were still here.
Then the world tilted.
It felt as though the ground vanished beneath his feet, and gravity slipped away into the void.
A wave of dizziness crashed over him, drowning every sense in a swirling, dreamlike chaos.He couldn't tell up from down, his body dragged into a whirlpool of disorientation.
Wind rushed past his ears, but there was no sound.
No gravity.
Nothing to hold onto.
Then, in the blink of an eye.
Everything collapsed.
His vision snapped back into clarity.
And as Ren blinked again…
He realized...
He was standing in a completely different place
There was no longer any trace of the terrifying battle that had just taken place. No more sign of the grotesque monster, nor the thick white mist that once shrouded everything. No more drifting red pixel fragments quietly dissolving into the air.
The surroundings were eerily quiet.
Ren stood there, his breath still a little uneven, his body instinctively tense as if bracing for another attack. But all he saw before him.
Was the forest.
He had returned.
Only this time, he stood just beyond the edge of it, beneath the vast open sky, where the cold moonlight cast its pale glow onto the still ground.
Suddenly, a familiar sound echoed in his mind, pulling Ren from the thoughts that hadn't yet taken form.
[You have purified the forest. From now on, the mist shall no longer block your path.]
He blinked. A cold breeze swept past, carrying with it the faint remnants of darkness lingering between the treetops.
No more eerie white mist acting like an invisible wall, just the quiet forest stretching out before him, now revealing a clear path ahead.
Ren tightened his hand slightly, feeling the lingering chill on his fingertips.
He had done it.
Not just survived, but changed something in this world.
But the system message hadn't stopped.
[You have received the Fruit of the Silver Tree as a token of gratitude.]
As the text appeared, Ren noticed a faint light glimmering through the distant branches.
A small, silver object gently drifted down into his palm, a fruit shimmering as though dusted with moonlight, radiating a soft but mysterious glow.
Then, the system continued:
[Monster respawn time in the Sparse Woods has been halved.]
[EXP gained in this area increased by 10% for the next three days.]
Ren narrowed his eyes, gazing at the forest now free of fog. Something in this place had changed, not just its environment, but the rules that governed it.
And something inside him had changed, too.
Ren suddenly forgot all about his exhaustion.
The dull aches from battle, the invisible bruises on his spirit, all of it was cast aside as a thought flashed through his mind, sharp like steel slicing through the air.
He looked down at the item he had just received, the Fruit of the Silver Tree. Its shimmering skin mirrored the pale moonlight, glowing faintly with an air of mystery.
A cool sensation ran through his fingertips, but Ren paid it no mind. His eyes were already fixed on the forest ahead.
No more unnatural fog. No more twisted illusions that distorted reality. The darkness that once clouded this forest had truly been lifted.
And more importantly, monsters would now respawn faster. EXP gains were boosted.
If this information spread, other players would undoubtedly flock here, turning the forest into a prime leveling zone.
The reckless, the impatient, and the bounty hunters alike would swarm this place like wolves catching the scent of easy prey.
Ren paused for a moment, then the corner of his lips curled upward into a smile, part amused, part calculating.
How much Cor could he earn if he sold this info to Argo?
Just the thought brightened his mood considerably.
But the sun had now dipped past the horizon, its final rays fading like the dying glow of a dwindling flame.
Darkness quietly swallowed the sky, stretching long shadows over the canopy above. A chill evening breeze swept through the forest, carrying with it the damp breath of night and the rustling whispers of nature slipping into twilight.
Ren clenched his fists, his gaze sweeping over his two unconscious companions, Yuna and Nautilus, still bearing the marks of their recent battle.
They couldn't stay here any longer.
He knelt down to check their injuries, then carefully helped them up, doing his best not to disturb the bruises and scrapes covering their bodies.
Under the dim remnants of twilight, Ren looked around for a place to set up camp, a safe haven before night fully settled in.