Evan Stone's pupils suddenly contracted!
However, when he blinked, the blood-red characters on the ground disappeared instantly, as though they had never existed.
A hallucination?
Evan Stone stood there dumbfounded, the words seemed to have drilled into his mind, impossible to forget.
[We are watching you]
Evan Stone abruptly turned his head!
In the empty living room, it seemed as though countless invisible crimson pupils were observing him. The feeling of being watched was eerily similar to the nightmare.
He stood frozen like a statue for a long time, forcing himself to take deep breaths.
"Maybe I'm just too tired from staying up late preparing for the authorities' exam... my mind is too tense..."
"But this is something the original owner of this body did... it shouldn't have anything to do with me... Could it be that when the two souls merged, something went wrong and it damaged my mind?"
"I've heard that severe schizophrenia can cause hallucinations that are difficult to distinguish..."
Evan Stone temporarily stopped the fear inside him and tried to explain it scientifically. A strong feeling of hunger surged,
and he grabbed a sausage from the chopping board, swallowing it in a few bites. He felt a little more awake.
"Maybe... I need to see a psychiatrist."
Startled, Evan Stone didn't even bother to wash his face. He hurriedly threw on a black cotton coat and pushed open the door.
Even so, the cold air rushing in made Evan Stone shiver.
This was the first time Evan Stone, now fully conscious, had truly stepped into this world. He took a deep breath, ready to face all the unknowns and difficulties.
However, when he absentmindedly looked up at the sky, he couldn't help but curse.
The first light of dawn scattered from the east, and blue satin ribbons, like dreams, floated in the air above the small town, seeming close yet unreachable.
The aurora.
The aurora in daylight.
Evan Stone stood at the door of his house, staring blankly at the sky full of auroras for a long time. He muttered to himself:
"What the hell is this world...?"
...
"D*mn, why is this road so hard to walk?"
"The weather is too cold, and it rained heavily last night. The mountain road has frozen over. Be careful."
"We've been dragging this whole way, and it's already daylight." The man wiped the sweat from his brow. "How much farther?"
"That mass grave is just up ahead... we should be almost there."
Two stumbling figures climbed the mountain peak, finally spotting the scattered earth mounds ahead. Some were new, some old, and most had no inscriptions. There was either a wooden sign stuck in front of the mound or items belonging to the deceased.
But after the heavy rain last night, many of these mounds had been washed out, and the wooden sticks and other objects were scattered in disarray, making the scene look chaotic.
What surprised the two of them was that the mass grave was now surrounded by yellow caution tape, and more than ten figures were walking through the restricted area, their expressions grave.
"Authorities?"
Seeing the people in their black and red uniforms, the man's eyes widened. "Why are they here?"
"Have they found out?" The woman's face turned pale. "Is it... is it Evan? Did he go to find the authorities? Is he really not dead?"
They had thought they had killed Evan Stone, only for him to return on his own the next day, and now the authorities were suddenly appearing at the burial site… there was almost no other explanation.
"No..." The man stared at the figures intensely. "The authorities from Zone 3, even when handling criminal cases, would send at most three people! But this... ten or more people? It could only mean..."
"Disaster... has appeared?"
The woman seemed to think of something, and cold sweat instantly soaked her back!
"Could it be that the monster in the bedroom is..."
"Run!!" The man grabbed the woman's wrist and quickly turned to leave,
At that moment, a cold voice came from nearby.
"Stop."
The two figures instantly froze.
An authority figure slipped under the caution tape and slowly walked toward them, his eyes narrowing.
"Who are you? What are you doing here?"
"I... I..." The woman stammered, unable to say anything.
"We're here to visit our son." The man tried to remain calm. "He was buried here. Today is the anniversary of his death."
"Then why are you running?"
"…Because we're scared."
"Scared?"
"With so many authorities here, it's because the Gray Realm has converged here, right?" The man swallowed hard. "Maybe... maybe a disaster crawled out of there... we're afraid of being caught in the crossfire."
"Oh? You seem to know a lot." The authority figure raised an eyebrow in surprise.
The man forced a pale smile.
"Master Authority." The woman carefully asked, "Is it true that a disaster has crawled out of the Gray Realm?"
"This is classified."
The authority figure answered coldly, "You won't be visiting your son today. You should go back... What you've seen here is not to be shared. You understand the rules, right?"
"Understood, understood."
"Go."
Hearing these two words, the man finally let out a sigh of relief and immediately turned to leave.
"Wait."
The two of them's hearts skipped a beat.
"Leave your names and addresses." The authority figure took out a pen and paper. "For confidentiality purposes, please understand."
"Richard Stone, Grace Stone, Frost Street 128, Zone 3."
After recording, the authority figure let them go, then crossed the yellow caution tape and approached a man in a black coat, handing him the documents.
"Vick, I've clarified. They came to visit their son."
Victor Hale, smoking a thick cigarette, took a deep drag, and the pungent smoke mixed with his breath, drifting in the cold wind.
He casually glanced at the document and spoke calmly:
"Send a few people to follow them. They're hiding something."
"…Huh?"
"The distance from Frost Street to here is at least ten kilometers. They would have had to leave by around four in the morning at the latest... and the rain hadn't stopped at that time.
Who would travel up a mountain to pay respects in the middle of the night?
Also, this is a mass grave—burial grounds for those without family or who died far from home. Why would parents bury their child here?"
The officer was stunned, and immediately smacked his forehead. "Oh, I didn't think of that."
"…Ellie, how did you even pass the authorities' exam?"
The officer named Ellie awkwardly laughed and quickly changed the subject. "By the way, Vick, did a disaster crawl out of the Gray Realm last night?"
Victor Hale didn't answer right away. Instead, he reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a palm-sized device, which had a compass-like pointer in the center. The different areas were marked with varying colored scales.
"This is the Disaster Pointer?" Ellie Kane curiously eyed the device, reaching out to touch it, but his hand was sharply slapped away.
"This thing is very precious. When you become an officer, you'll get to handle it."
Ellie Kane rubbed his hand in frustration. "How does this thing work?"
"This is a device that detects the disaster danger level. When it's activated, the pointer will point to the area showing the level of disaster fluctuations nearby. If it's just the Gray Realm converging with no disaster crawling into the real world, it won't react.
The higher the disaster level, the more violently the pointer moves."
Ellie Kane nodded and said with concern:
"Vick... there shouldn't be any disaster crawling out, right?"
"Most likely not. If there had been a disaster coming through here yesterday, Zones 2 and 3 would have been in chaos by now."
"That's good."
"Just to be sure, we still need to complete the check."
Victor Hale said this while activating the Disaster Pointer. The other officers watched curiously.
One second, two seconds, three seconds...
The Disaster Pointer showed no reaction.
Just as Victor Hale relaxed, the pointer suddenly shook violently!
It swept wildly across the colored zones, and the ear-piercing screech of the instrument filled the air. Victor Hale's pupils contracted, and he instinctively let go of the Disaster Pointer!
Bang——!!
Countless parts shattered mid-air, and the sharp pointer grazed Victor Hale's cheek, leaving a trail of crimson blood!
The Disaster Pointer...
Exploded.