The clock rewound sixty minutes. Noah, having just attained the coveted Regular rank, was already being hunted. His pursuer, Lilith, trailed close behind, her own ascension to Regular a mere two levels away.
Meanwhile, in a different region, the familiar forest took on a sinister form. An eerie silence reigned, broken only by the rustle of unseen creatures in the dense undergrowth. Monstrous trees, their limbs gnarled and contorted, formed an impenetrable canopy that strangled the sun's rays, plunging the forest floor into perpetual twilight. Moss clung to everything, damp and cold, its vibrant green muted by the perpetual gloom. The air carried the earthy scent of decaying leaves and the faint, musky odor of things long dead. Each step crunched on a carpet of fallen leaves, the sound echoing eerily in the stillness. A sense of foreboding permeated the air, a feeling as if the forest itself held its breath, watching, waiting.
