———– .
As the mural shifted, the elderly woman with pink hair from before, through the torment of dark potions and the use of witchcraft, transformed herself. Her once withered and wrinkled skin became fair and smooth, and her shrunken figure turned into that of a mature yet youthful and charming woman.
Initially, the witch attempted to seduce the young scientist with her looks, as depicted in the mural. She continuously flirted, swaying her hips and twirling her pinky heart shaped tail, wearing a low-cut dress, but the young man remained unmoved, steadfast in his love for the maid.
In her frustration, the witch concocted another batch of magic potions and had them secretly added to the young man’s food. Under the influence of the enchantment, the young man’s affections shifted, and he left the maid’s side, engaging in a despicable relationship with the wicked witch.
By the time the maid discovered this, it was too late. The young scientist, no longer under her protection, met his demise on the witch’s bed.
Renji: “…”
Still somewhat stunned by the sudden change in the narrative, Renji turned to the next mural, which left him wide-eyed.
In this mural, the witch used a kitchen knife to cruelly dismember the young man bound to the bed, dividing his body into five parts. Each of the five pieces was given to one of the five Miasma Master, including the maid. Each king received a fragment, ensuring there was no possibility of the maid healing and resurrecting the young man.
Renji: “????”
The young man, looking at Renji’s “hard to believe” expression, displayed a similar mix of anger and sorrow. .𝘤𝘰𝑚
Such a gruesome act was almost beyond belief, but it was the work of the wicked witch.
“The maid, who had lost her beloved, was overwhelmed by grief. The heart that had been born from ‘love’ was sealed away with the departure of her lover.”
“As the last sanctuary in the world disappeared with the closure of the maid’s heart, the evil witch succeeded, and the Tainted Miasma continued to spread. Those without the maid’s protection could only wander, fleeing and waiting for the end to come.”
“As for the mechanical beings that had also gained a ‘heart’ from the maid, they transformed into machine servants.”
“They inherited the maid’s hatred for the Tainted Miasma and her unwavering love for the young man. Day by day, they ventured to the frontlines, hunting Miasma creatures, hoping to reclaim the fragments of the young man’s body from the other four Miasma Masters.”
As the voice of the young man fell, the third story came to an end, and Renji reached the end of the basement mural.
From these three stories and the mural, Renji had gained a clearer understanding of “Dream Zero” In simple terms,
‘It was… well… kinda cringe?’
In any case, Renji now knew how to “clear” this world, much like playing a game. After defeating the four “Miasma Master” or in game term ‘Bosses’ and reclaiming the four fragments of the youth’s body from them, he needed to find Zero with all four fragments to unlock Zero’s sealed heart and truly awaken her.
However, there was still a question.
“What about the prophecy? It wasn’t mentioned in any of the three stories, right?”
“The prophecy was just a sentence uttered by the witch.”
“What did she say?”
“A group of little chicks, no matter how hard they try, can’t change anything. Become adults and then come back.”
The young man imitated the mocking tone of the witch, speaking with a certain seriousness, as if a hero had to use a holy sword to defeat a demon king, displaying a dedication and seriousness towards the narrative.
“Didn’t you find anything strange about that sentence?” Renji couldn’t help but ask.
But the young man across from him was deadly serious as if they believed that the witch’s words were profound and needed to be deciphered. “As a Miasma Master, the witch’s words were cryptic. It was only after we translated them that we understood. She was referring to the machine servants who had no ‘hearts.’ No matter how hard they tried, they couldn’t defeat her. The only way to save the world was to regain their ‘hearts.'”
“So, in this world, a prophecy has spread that one day, someone who can restore the ‘hearts’ of the machine servants will appear. In response, a new Miasma Master will arise among the machine servants, and they will once again establish a clean world in this world.”
After finishing his explanation, the young man, bathed in the torch’s red light, looked at Renji and the 86s around him with excitement.
As mentioned in the previous stories, the machine servants were supposed to be without “hearts” and wouldn’t communicate with anyone. However, looking at the current expressions of the 86s and Renji, weren’t they a reflection of the second story, where the maid and the young scientist were portrayed?
….
The mural ended, the stories were finished, and Renji walked out of the basement.
Despite Renji having already turned 86 back into a silver handgun, discreetly tucked at his waist, the villagers outside the cellar still regarded him with eyes that saw him as a “savior.”
But Renji knew the source of the prophecy, so he understood that the villagers had misunderstood. After all, 86 was not one of the “Machine Servants” in this “Dream Zero.”
It seemed that if he wanted to clear Zero’s dream, attempting to gain the favor of the ” Machine Servants” was a good shortcut. Perhaps it was like a hidden quest?
Renji had entered a game strategy mode in his thoughts.
First, there was no need to tell them the truth. With this “savior” halo, it was equivalent to not needing to grind any reputation in “Dream Zero.” He would have full credibility.
Secondly, his next goal was to go to the front lines and try to contact the real Machine Servants in this world. If he could make them obedient like 86, maybe there was no need for Suthia and Nova to “log in” as well. He might be able to handle it on his own.
As for the four “Miasma Master” in the end.
To be honest, after seeing the “witch” who came out of Zero, Renji was quite curious about how “Zero” would shape the other ones.
Renji really wanted to set out directly to find the first witch, but before that, there was something that must be done.
“Let’s all pack up your things. You need to leave this place.”
“Leave?” The villagers heard Renji’s words and were puzzled. Although the village had been looted by marauders, the foundation was still there. It would be faster to develop it rather than move.
Many people subconsciously thought that Renji was afraid that the scavenging marauders, with the help of reinforcements, would return for revenge.
But maybe the previous villagers were afraid of marauders’ retaliation, but now that Renji had the identity of a machine servant and a savior, weren’t those marauders just sending themselves to their deaths?
“No, it’s not the scavengers. It’s something even more frightening.”
“Even more frightening?”
Renji nodded and then looked into the distance, where the sky was still a dark red color. Among these dark red colors, it seemed that there were blurred dark clouds, very faint, and they couldn’t be noticed without careful observation.
…
As mentioned before, in “Falling Chronicles” the first to disgust players were the Miasma monsters, followed by scavengers.
And the one ranked first was none other than natural disasters.
The fugitive remnants of the thugs who fled from Kano Village collapsed on the ground for a rest after a grueling escape of five to six hours.
Before, there were over a hundred people, but now only a dozen or so remained. Among them were those who had been eliminated by Renji, but many more had died in the wilderness, falling prey to the Miasma creatures.
They had just rested for a short while when several of the thugs became nervous again as the sound of motorcycles approached from the distance. Many of them were terrified, thinking that the young man had caught up with them to finish them off.
However, some among them realized that something was amiss, as the young man had been alone before, but the motorcycle noise now sounded like there were several vehicles together.
In their trembling fear, they saw a squad of motorcyclists emerge from the horizon.
The appearance of these motorcycles couldn’t be compared to the luxury of the young man’s bike; they looked more like low-
end exploration vehicles.
Both the motorcycles and the riders had a badge emblem in a conspicuous position.
It was a pair of angel wings.
For the people in the “Dream Zero” this group of thugs recognized them immediately, as if they had seen them many times before. Moreover, on their faces, they even showed expressions of being “saved.”
Because it was
“The Salvation Society!”
“It’s the people from ‘The Salvation Society’!”
This content is taken from 𝘳.𝑐𝘰