Chapter 51: 51.Forest of No Shade-1

The clock reached eleven as Mylo finished writing down his new observations about himself in his notes on Narak and the System.

Having finished his dinner, he was now dressed and ready to go embark on his exploration.

​Locking his door, he let out a wide yawn.

​"Man, I would really love a good, long sleep."

​He remembered considering sleeping in Narak, since there was a fivefold time difference compared to Earth. He laughed at the absurdity of the thought, going to hell just to get a complete night’s rest.

​Walking across the terrace, Mylo’s gaze swept over the vibrant lights radiating from the city below.

That was easily one of the best perks of his apartment. For a few seconds, he just stood there, enjoying the cool night air brushing against his face, before heading down to the elevator.

​Leaving the building, he walked along the deserted road.

Every now and then, a few cars and bikes would pass by, but the peaceful, golden quiet of the night felt remarkably pleasant.

​He passed his college, crossed the walkway, and ventured into the forest. The familiar rough terrain and dense bushes greeted him as he pushed his way through.

​Crossing the thicket, he finally arrived at the lake. Setting his backpack down on the shore, he called out to the System in his mind.

Let’s begin.

​Instantly, that same creepy atmosphere engulfed the entire forest.

There wasn’t a single hint of any other living creature around. Space and time distorted in his vision.

His body lifted off the ground, up became down, and down became up, as the black orb sucked his existence.

Back outside the forest, a bike parked along the walkway held a boy and a girl.

​The boy dialed a number and waited for an answer, while the girl’s eyes shifted around in unease. The empty, barely lit road seemed to stretch forever into the darkness.

​The call went through. "Huh? Peter, why are you calling right now?" an annoyed voice barked from the speaker.

​"Yo, Braden, you wouldn’t believe what I just saw!" Peter shouted into the phone.

​"Tch. What now?"

​"So I was passing by the college, and I saw that motherfucker, you know, the one who picked a fight with you. Yeah! Mylo! He just walked right into the forest."

​"The forest? What the fuck is he doing in there?"

​"Dunno, bro. He had his backpack with him. I’m here with my girl, so I didn’t follow him in. What do you wanna do?"

​"Sigh... Wait for me. I’m coming."

​The line went dead. Peter grinned, smirk spreading across his face as he stared into the dense shadows of the treeline.

​In the other reality:

Mylo couldn’t see anything. His heart surged with a sudden, intense joy before quickly settling into a calm, controlled rhythm, a far cry from his frantic experience the first time.

​His mind remained remarkably composed. His body began to stabilize, and a moment later, his feet touched solid ground.

​Opening his eyes, he was welcomed by the numerous, familiar shades of red and black. He was back in the cave.

​...I thought I would appear back at the spot in the forest. Looks like it brings me back to the exact place where I left from.

The moist smell of the cave hit his nose, a scent he was still far from used to. Rubbing his eyes, he took a careful look around his surroundings.

​Right then, a string of blood-red screens materialized before his eyes:

...

[NOTIFICATION]

​Your daily quests for Narak are pending!!

Daily quest: Hunt 25 Vexfangs!

Daily quest: Hunt 25 Tkerns!

Daily quest: Hunt 20 Nothroughts!

Daily quest: Hunt 5 Bearashs!

Daily quest: Hunt 1 Barebone!

Time limit:

(Re-evaluated for time dilation and recalliberated for quest integrity.)

Time remaining: 19 hours 50 minutes

Penalty Stockpile:

(Multiple penalty levels have been combined to form a single penalty)

Penalty: The restriction on Curse of Vespara will be lifted!! Severity depends on quests failed!!

...

"...Daily quests? But haven’t I completed my daily quest already? Also, if I’m seeing this right, there are five daily quests!"

...

[NOTIFICATION]

​Quests are issued based on Narak and Earth’s day cycle separately.

( 1 Earth day= 5 Narak days.)

​However, the time limit of 24 hours adjusts according to the host’s current reality!

...

​...I get separate quests for Narak? But what does it mean by time adjustment?

​Then it hit him: Earth’s time moved five times slower than Narak’s! One hour on Earth equaled five hours in Narak.

Almost 20 hours had passed on Earth since his last visit, which meant it was currently the fifth day here, resulting in five stacked daily quests.

However, because only 20 hours had elapsed in his perception, none of the time limits had actually expired yet.

​"...Isn’t this completely unfair? I’m going to have to do five times the work here! And what’s with that penalty? Hey! System, are you crazy?! Releasing the curse could mean the end of me!"

​There was no response.

​For a second, his thoughts drifted back to his strange, anomalous behavioral shifts. Was a daily quest penalty the cause behind it?

...No, none of the quests have actually expired yet, so I shouldn’t be receiving a penalty right now. Five days, huh... Hm?

​His attention suddenly snapped back to the cave.

​He was standing in the outer chamber, the exact spot where he had left that chained girl trapped inside a cage.

His gaze swept across the chamber, locking onto the iron cage. Its gate was wide open.

​There was no one inside. Every trace of the food he had left behind was gone, leaving nothing but the hook he had stripped off the rusty bars.

...She left, huh? Hopefully she managed to escape the deadly forest-

​His thoughts were cut short by the unmistakable sensation of someone breathing directly behind his neck.

​Spinning around and leaping backward, he caught sight of the intruder.

​"Eh? Why are you so scared? Huh? Why? Hmm? Hmmm? Hmmmm?"

​Standing before him was the silhouette of a person, a young girl, judging by her petite frame, barely covered in a battered, filthy sack.

She had a small build, heavy bags under her eyes, and wild, unkempt hair. The most alarming anomaly was her nails: unusually long with a sharp curve, stretching nearly half the length of her fingers.

​"You...! You’re the girl from the cage! You’re still here?!" Mylo asked.

​"Hmm, hmmm! How could I leave this place? Where would I even go, hmm? Tell me! Ah, also!"

​She practically tiptoed over toward the section with table, searching through the clutter until she found what she was looking for.

​"You were the one who killed him? Hmm? Hmmm? Tell me! Hmm?"

​She turned and held out a piece of cloth. No, the texture was entirely wrong.

Mylo strained his eyes, the shades of red and black making it difficult for him.

’’Ah! It’s eh-"’

It was the actually the half-burned, skinned face of the lunatic Mylo remembered killing.

​"...?!"

Why on earth do you have that?!!

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