*Can’t move my fingers. Am I… dying?*
*But why…*
This time, no villagers came forward, as if the little girl’s inner voice echoed in the area.
Then, thick fog rose around Renji, turning into a series of phantom images, like a carousel of lanterns, seemingly recounting the experiences of the little girl named “Artius”
As an Eclipse with “healing” abilities, Artius initially was seen as an angel of healing and resurrection by the other refugees in the group. However, when they realized she was an angel who never refused and could be ordered around, their attitudes became increasingly cruel and indulgent.
They no longer requested but demanded the little girl to provide healing, without considering her limits, recklessly consuming her power, even demanding her to overexert herself for minor injuries.
Later, jealous ones among the refugees emerged. They envied the little girl’s status as an Eclipse, so evil rumors were born: drinking her blood could resist Miasma pollution, resurrect the dead, and even turn others into Eclipses. Despite her explanations, once everyone believed it, even the most absurd rumors became the truth.
Was it fortunate or unfortunate? The villagers, blinded by desire, corrupted by Miasma during the escape, and turned mad and irrational, were about to “divide” the little girl to obtain the flesh and blood of an Eclipse when they encountered a swarm of monsters.
The villagers screamed and scattered in all directions. Because they had received healing from the little girl, they could run fast. But the girl herself, already exhausted and depleted from overuse, fell to the ground after only a few steps.
She cried out for help to the villagers she had earnestly healed and even saved, begging someone to pull her up. But sadly, no refugee paid attention to her. Instead, they wanted to squeeze out her last bit of value, using her as bait to distract the Miasma monsters and buy themselves time to escape.
Ironically, the little girl, lying on the ground without the strength to move, miraculously went unnoticed by the Miasma monsters. Instead, the fleeing villagers who were in full stride attracted the monsters’ attention, leading them away. The sounds of claws tearing flesh and villagers’ screams reached the little girl’s ears.
Looking at the hellish scene, the entire refugee group, except her, was annihilated by the Miasma monsters. The girl lying on the ground must have been filled with sadness and pain.
But perhaps the little girl herself didn’t realize, and Renji, in the midst of the mist, saw it clearly: on the little girl’s, on “Artius’s” lips, there was a smile.
Until the end, when the monsters left, and the girl lay like a corpse on the wilderness, looking up at the sky.
*It doesn’t matter anymore, does it?*
*Liars.*
*All liars.*
Her parents left her, telling her they would catch up soon, but they never came back.
The people who took her package told her they would bring her parents back to find her, but they never returned.
Those who received her healing promised to protect her in danger, but they just ran away and never came back.
The little girl struggled to get up from the ground, moving forward with only a sheer will to survive.
She didn’t know where to go or where she could go.
Perhaps, in this desolate world, finding a place to “shelter” her was an unattainable fantasy, finding someone who wouldn’t deceive her, a greedy wish.
*So tired, Mom and Dad…*
In a place invisible to the little girl, a large cloud of red mist rose behind her. A massive amount of Tainted Miasma crazily poured into the little girl’s body, a manifestation of the Miasma’s will descending.
For the world of Dream Zero, this was the sign of a “Miasma Master” being born.
The little girl’s strength was rapidly increasing, but she was unaware, continuing to walk forward in confusion.
The Miasma’s will waited for when the little girl could walk no more, when her exhausted body collapsed, it would be the moment of complete transformation.
But if during this period
The little girl miraculously encountered someone willing to shelter her, perhaps everything would have been different.
Regrettably.
In Dream Zero, there was no leader of a gathering place named “Ashen.”
Only
A young scientist in love with a robotic maid.
So Artius’s fate was already sealed.
The sound of motorcycles from a distance broke through the mist, pulling Renji out of Artius’s story.
Renji turned to look. It was a team of ten vehicles. In such wastelands, to see such a neat and uniform convoy, even with each member wearing the same uniform with an “angel wings” badge, Renji recognized them at once.
Kael Technology.
Meanwhile, the villagers behind Renji, too, woke up from Artius’s mist. Seeing the speeding convoy, many exclaimed the words “Salvation Society”
Kael Technology secretly forming a private army to enter Dream Zero was something Renji had heard from the underworld. Now it seemed that this “Salvation Society” was their covert name within Zero Dream. .
And judging by the villagers’ reactions, Kael Technology’s development within Dream Zero… seemed not bad.
Moreover, Renji remembered that the wealth left in the little girl’s package by her parents was also the “Salvation Society’s” food tickets.
The people from Kael Technology were just passing by, seemingly in a hurry to go somewhere. Renji noticed their urgent destination was towards the natural disaster at Kano Village.
‘However, it’s a pity, whatever their mission was, it was probably impossible to complete now’
When the team leader drove into the fog and saw the lone figure of the little girl walking in the wilderness, a look of utter terror quickly appeared on his face, followed by the entire convoy screeching to a halt.
“The Witch! It’s the Witch!”
“No, no, no, no! Damn it! How did we end up in the Witch’s mist! Has the Witch’s territory expanded?!”
“Forget about that, look what level of trial this is!”
“It’s the third level, the last one! It’s too late! The Witch is about to appear! Break the dream! Quickly, break the dream!”
“Break the dream! Break the dream!”
“I’m breaking the dream! Let me break the dream!”
Perhaps it was because the people from the Salvation Society suddenly broke in and started shouting in panic, or maybe the “trial” was already at its end, but many of the villagers behind Renji also seemed to finally wake up from a dream, staring wide-eyed at the distant figure of the little girl.
They seemed to have realized something too.
“What’s going on with us? Why are we here?”
“The legend… Do you remember that legend? The Witch lures travelers into her territory and makes them experience what she went through, putting them through trials. In each trial, if they make the wrong choice, the little girl turns into the Witch and kills them on the spot. Only by passing the trials, they get a quarter of an hour to leave.”
“But, but if they remain obstinate and continue until the last trial, witnessing the Witch’s entire life, then no matter what, it’s all in vain.”
“Run! Run!”
“It’s no use, it’s too late, the Witch, the Witch is about to appear!”
The terrified villagers were in chaos, desperately trying to escape, while the Salvation Society members from Kael Technology, shouting “Break the dream” were trying to pull out their logout devices to forcibly leave Dream Zero.
But it was all too late.
Their shouting and disorder seemed to hasten the story’s end even more. The little girl, exhausted of her last bit of strength, fell to the ground. At that moment, another voice took over the entire area.
“Heh~”
“Hehehe~, after seeing everything until the end, you still want to leave me?” 𝑖𝘦.𝒸𝘰𝑚
“Don’t you know”
“What I, Artius, hate the most… is people leaving without saying goodbye?”
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