Mag-log inWith a hiss, the flame inside the gas streetlamp's old-fashioned glass shade shot up.Warm yellow light poured down, raising an umbrella of light in a world swallowed by mist.The light drove back the mist within about three feet, enveloping Jake as he stood beneath the lamp.Jake glanced down at his feet.The asphalt gleamed cold and hard, but strangely... he cast no shadow.He lifted his head and looked past that curtain of warm yellow light toward the street ahead.Three feet beyond the lamp's glow, thick white mist churned and surged. Nothing could be seen through it.At the same time, the once-silent street suddenly came "alive."Eerie hissing and snarls, heavy footsteps, and spine-chilling whispers that sounded as if they were right beside his ear rose and fell all around him.Deep in the mist, where nothing could be seen, it seemed as though countless scarlet eyes had all lit up at once.An ordinary player, even one who had awakened a Specialization, would have been he
Sam exclaimed, "Is the town's curse really this terrifying? One night's sleep and yesterday gets wiped from his memories?"If we stay a few more days, won't we even forget why we came here, or forget the Mist Town side quest altogether?"How are we supposed to escape from this town then? We'll turn into one of the dimwitted locals here for real!"Just thinking about the consequences made Sam shudder.Suddenly, as if remembering something, he turned to Jake and asked, puzzled, "Hold on, Jake, how come you're fine?"Your eyes are clear, and you're thinkin' straight. You aren't dazed at all like Gavin here.""Yeah..."Jake leaned back in his chair, a little puzzled himself. 'Why am I fine?'Could it be his high Mind?After all, his Mind was now nearly 1,000 points, far beyond that of an ordinary person.No, that probably wasn't the reason.Leon had said before that the curse had no absolute connection to how much Mind someone had. It only had to do with whether they'd eaten the
The Mist Town. Seven in the morning.As the bell rang out, the thick fog that had blanketed the town all night receded swiftly like an ebbing tide.The eerie knocking and roaring vanished along with it without a trace.Jake sat at the dining table, eating the sandwiches and hot milk Bella had prepared while looking out the window at the street.The blank-faced residents had reappeared and, like NPCs following a preset program, began their day's labor.'Today is my third day in the Mist Town.'Jake swallowed a mouthful of milk and felt the warmth settle in his stomach, while his mind raced.According to Sheriff Leon, starting today, any player who hadn't eaten the Sacred Fruit would begin to be eroded by the curse and lose their memories.And yet...More than an hour had passed since he woke up.Jake made a point of going back over every detail since he'd entered the Mist Town.Every memory was crystal clear, as if carved into his brain.He didn't feel like he'd forgotten an
The vehicle's menacing armor and intricate machinery made it impossible to tell what kind of starter vehicle it had originally been.Mounted on top of the war vehicle were three external weapons gleaming with a cold metallic sheen: a high-rate-of-fire machine gun, a tank cannon, and a twelve-round missile launcher.Those three external weapons announced the vehicle's level. It was a Lv.7 vehicle!At that moment, in the command room inside the war vehicle, a foreign man a full six foot three lounged lazily in a leather chair.He had short, pale-blond hair, a long, narrow face, and high cheekbones. Deep in his sunken eye sockets, his eyes were as sharp and cold as a hawk's.This was one of the Free Alliance's core leaders, code name Neptune.He glanced at the freshly updated points leaderboard.[10th Place: Neptune (Team 0001): 6,900]"Tch."Neptune clicked his tongue in displeasure and closed the panel. "My ranking didn't even budge!"He stood up, threw on a dark-blue naval gr
Night fell.The knocking and calling at the door arrived right on schedule."Open the door... Mister... it's me, Lilith. My sister and I have been captured...""Jake, this is Leon. There's an emergency...""Jake... it's me, Victoria. I've found an important clue..."This time, it wasn't just Anne's voice. There was also Sheriff Leon's commanding tone, and even the voice of the Junaea team captain they'd met earlier that day.Every voice was perfectly lifelike, striking straight at the weakest spots in a person's heart.But Jake just sat quietly in his chair and paid it no mind.He was on watch again tonight.He took out the note he'd written the night before from his subspace and neatly added the information he'd gathered today, along with some of his guesses.After all, the town's curse was forgetting.If he really did forget something, he could use the note to piece things back together.He wasn't afraid of forgetting this either, because he'd also prepared a few continge
On the way back to their lodgings, Jake also ran into a group of foreign players who had just entered the town.There were a dozen or so of them, all well-equipped with fierce eyes. Clearly, they hadn't been forced in. They were elite players confident in their own strength who had entered the instance voluntarily for the rewards.Jake saw Carl, the mustached officer, saying something to them with that signature smile plastered on his face.Jake didn't stick his nose into it. He looked away and pushed open the door, stepping inside with Iris."You're back?"Bella, wearing an apron, was busy making dinner. When she saw Jake come in, she immediately broke into a gentle smile, "Dinner's almost ready.""Mm."Jake nodded and glanced at Vera, who was sitting on the living room sofa.Vera was staring blankly at a pile of bottles and jars, her brow deeply furrowed.At seven o'clock in the evening, the heavy, drawn-out tolling of the distant clock tower rang out again, as if striking a







