After what happened that day, it seemed like a nightmare for us. Father had woken up, but he wasn't able to move around much due to his broken arm, and mother had to go out and try to get some food despite her injuries, along with my brother, while I stayed at home to take care of my father. All of our items, including food and fur to fend off the cold, had been ransacked by the villagers that day.
And winter finally came. It started to snow every day, and mother usually came back with some small fruit she had found, but it wouldn't be enough to feed all of us, not to mention how difficult it was to find anything in this snow.
Many days had passed, and we struggled to survive. But today, my mother said she had heard that the merchant group would arrive, and she was prepared to go and beg the merchant group for some food or fur. Even though my mother knew it was futile, our family's situation had already reached a dire state, so the only hope we had left was in the mercy of that merchant group.
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At the center of the village, there were many carriages currently loaded with fur by the villagers and black-cloaked people.
The black-cloaked person who seemed to be the leader spoke toward the village chief. "As agreed, this is the payment."
The black-cloaked person gestured to his subordinate to bring out a chest full of gold. "Sir Ozul, glad to be working with you," the village chief replied with glee, praising his luck for meeting this jackpot. He also moved closer to Ozul and spoke in a low tone, "Please transfer the remaining amount to our agreed place."
Ozul, currently wearing a black cloak with a mask covering half of his face, suddenly had a weird smile that drew attention to his noticeable trait—a snake tattoo on the bottom half of his face.
"Don't worry, we will do as per the agreement, but please gather all the villagers as we have some gifts to give in celebration of our first cooperation," Ozul said with a gentle tone and a smile.
The village chief suddenly got excited upon hearing the word "gift," knowing that this person in front of him was filthy rich. He told his subordinate to call all the villagers.
After a while, a crowd of villagers gathered, and it seemed like almost all of the villagers had gathered. When the crowd stopped forming, Ozul suddenly spoke out loud.
"Everyone! I am Ozul from the merchant group, and I would like to express my thanks for everyone's hard work. Gathering this amount of fur was only possible with everyone's cooperation!" Ozul's subordinate handed out a small chest to everyone. When the villagers opened it, they found a small black round object that looked like an egg. They were filled with doubt and surprise as none of them had encountered such an object before.
"All of you might be wondering what this object is, right? Well, don't be surprised, as this item will change your fate!" Ozul shouted with passion and excitement, but the villagers and the village chief voiced their doubts.
"Sir Ozul, sorry for interrupting you, but what exactly can this thing do?"
Ozul suddenly raised his hand in front of the village chief and said in a mysterious tone, "Don't worry; you will know about it soon."
Suddenly, the black object in every villager's hand started to crack, revealing a strange worm with a sharp beak the size of a finger. As if it suddenly found something, it jumped toward the villagers and drilled itself into their bodies.
"AHHHHHH!"
Screams suddenly filled the air as the villagers tried to dodge the worms, but their struggle seemed futile. The worms' movements were extremely fast as they drilled small holes and wriggled inside their bodies. Even the village chief was no exception; he felt a sharp pain in his chest while struggling to get the worm out.
While enjoying their screams, Ozul raised both of his hands toward the sky and said, "Do not resist! This is the test of our god. As long as you pass the trial, you will be reborn!"
Yet his words seemed to fall on deaf ears as every villager continued to scream. Their bodies suddenly turned purple and black, with veins appearing all over their bodies as if they were about to explode.
BOOM
BOOM
BOOM
After a while, the sound of bodies exploding resounded in the area, turning the snow-white surroundings eerily red.
Ozul, covered in blood, seemed disappointed and irritated, not because of the blood that sprayed on his body, but because of the result in front of him.
"Hmmmmmm, so not even one success in transforming," he muttered. Almost like a switch had been flipped, his excitement seemed to disappear, and a coldness returned to his face. Then he ordered his subordinate, "Go get all the other villagers, and..." Just as Ozul about to finish his sentence he saw a ugly woman run away from his direction as if she just arrived.
"Do it like we did to the other villagers. I have some matter to take care of," Ozul commanded.
"Yes, Lord Ozul!" the others replied.
Ozul began to follow the woman he had just seen, but he appeared lost as he tried to recall the ugly woman's appearance.
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"What's going on...?" she muttered as she witnessed the bloody scene before her.
Filled with fear, she turned around and ran as fast as she could, her primary concern being the safety of her children.
After running for a while, she reached her small house and rushed inside. "Honey! Lance! Gwen! We need to leave immediately!"
Surprise filled the faces of the three people inside the house, but before they could respond, a voice came from behind the woman.
"So you have a family, huh?" Ozul appeared silently behind her, his gaze fixed on the family he had been trailing.
Sadness filled his face as he observed their ugly and tattered appearance.
"All of you must have had a rough life, but don't worry. As long as you can pass our god's trial, your lives will be changed, and you will become great assets in helping our god to transform this twisted world," Ozul said, producing small black eggs from somewhere.
However, panic overcame the woman as she caught sight of the black objects, likely recognizing their connection to the earlier bloody scene. She shouted to her children, her face filled with panic.
"Run—" Her voice was abruptly cut off as something emerged from the cracked black object and flew towards her chest.
She screamed in pain and collapsed to the ground.
Ozul continued walking towards the remaining three individuals. One of them, whose arm was limp, suddenly jumped up and collided with Ozul, attempting to stop him.
"Lance! Gwen! Run!" the injured man exclaimed.
Ozul paid no heed to his pleas, retrieving another black egg and pushing it towards the man in front of him. However, due to the slight delay caused by the injured man, the two children managed to escape through the back of their house.
Just as Ozul was about to chase the children, he abruptly stopped and turned around, muttering in surprise.
"You are..."