Chapter Nineteen: A World Without Logic

“We can’t go this way.”
Colin’s voice was low and firm, halting his two subordinates’ urge to explore downward.
So far, aside from the little ghost girl’s unexpected appearance, the hints had been accurate enough.
Therefore, this time Colin didn’t attempt to enter the underground passage; he planned to consider other options first.
Neither servant harbored any doubt about his orders.
Experience had proven that the lord’s every decision was wise and unerring.
Colin turned around. The monster was still outside the door.
It seemed to sit there quietly, in no hurry to act, waiting patiently for them to break down.
The only good news was that, having just completed the trigger task, the lantern was full of blood. For now, time wasn’t pressing for Colin and his people.
But this wouldn’t last.
“My lord, the thing outside hasn’t moved at all. Should we try to quietly slip out the window?” Servant Two whispered.
“Idiot!”
Before Colin could answer, Servant One snapped, “If that monster were as stupid as you, and this was so easy, would the lord be troubled? Step out the window and you’ll be dead before your feet hit the ground, believe it or not.”
“Ah, sorry.” Servant Two realized his mistake and quickly apologized to Colin.
Colin was about to speak when his expression changed abruptly.
[You suddenly realize something: you’ve been out exploring for three hours and twenty-six minutes. You sense that if you can’t return to the cabin within the next hour and seven minutes, your chances of surviving the night are nearly zero.]
“Three hours? It feels like it’s only been a little over one! And didn’t you say nightfall wouldn’t be a problem this time?”
Colin’s face darkened.
An hour and seven minutes left.
In reality, he only had thirty minutes!
If he didn’t come up with a solution in half an hour…
Everything would go terribly wrong.
Colin didn’t know exactly what would happen when night fell, but that did nothing to lessen his sense of dread.
“My lord, is something wrong?” Both servants noticed Colin’s sudden shift in expression and grew anxious, wondering if their earlier dispute had angered him.
“It’s nothing. Don’t worry about it.”
Colin shook his head, not intending to share the information.
All it would do was increase their anxiety, serving no real purpose.
A minute of silence settled over the group.

Suddenly, an idea struck Colin. He took out the parchment and opened the World Chat.
“Someone please help, I’m really about to die of thirst. I don’t even have any urine left to drink, sob sob sob…”
“Please, I beg you, someone tell me how to light the lantern. I’ll owe you my life…”
“Didn’t someone already say it? The first person to give out hints will pay a terrible, unbearable price. No one wants to be the first, so don’t be naive—let’s just wait for death together…”
“If you want to live to see tomorrow, just use your food reserves. I’ve figured it out: the game gives us all the same amount of stamina. If you can’t find a way to light the lantern on the first day, you’ll starve to death. It’s cruel.”
“Sigh, I want to help, but I really don’t want to face that thing. Just thinking about it drains me. This game is too ruthless…”
As expected, the chat was filled with pessimism and despair.
Colin had already suspected that revealing the lantern’s ignition method would result in some unknown, horrifying punishment.
He just hadn’t realized it only targeted the first person.
That restriction was enough to keep billions of people silent, too afraid to help one another.
Colin had opened the chat because a bold idea had formed in his mind—
Yes, he was planning to reveal how to light the lantern.
According to the hints, the lord-level abomination outside was here to hunt anyone who entered this forest. If someone else showed up, it would likely leave.
After all, as long as it waited here, it couldn’t kill him.
Colin believed that as a lord-level abomination, it could sense when others entered the woods—otherwise, it wouldn’t have appeared at his door.
Once he made the method public, nearly everyone in the game would soon know how to light the lantern.
That included his regional channel.
As long as anyone entered these woods within half an hour, his chance to escape would come!
[In your despair, you come up with this plan. It’s filled with uncertainties, but it’s more promising than any other option.]
[However, you realize this will bring an inevitable punishment upon you in a few days.]
[Surviving that punishment will be extremely difficult, and before that, you must pass a willpower check—hence no one dares to be the first to speak out.]
“A punishment from several days in the future.”
Colin narrowed his eyes. He was about to die—why should he care what happened in a few days?
To hell with the future. He needed to survive now!
Quickly, Colin composed a message, but just as he was about to send it with the loudspeaker, he froze—his gaze unfocused, pupils dilated.
In an instant, darkness swallowed him.
It felt as if his vision, hearing, smell, and all other senses had been stripped away.
All that remained was endless, suffocating dark.

Were it not for the faint awareness of his own consciousness, Colin would have thought himself annihilated in that moment.
Then, he sensed a distortion in the darkness before him.
It was no longer pure; it was filled with countless, indescribable entities…
Their existence defied logic, their forms vast beyond comprehension, their speed unimaginable, moving by unknown laws…
Colin felt utterly insignificant.
He tried to use his hint ability to glean information, but a chill swept through him—his intuition screamed: do not attempt it!
By now, a weird, icy chill had begun to rise from deep within.
He sensed eyes, watching him from somewhere beyond, making his skin crawl.
Before he could react, he snapped open his “eyes,” his entire body rigid.
He saw, without knowing when it appeared, a massive bloodshot eyeball hanging in the air ahead.
“What the hell is this thing!?”
Colin’s scalp prickled. Under its gaze, his perception of reality began to warp.
If he still refused to give up on speaking out…
The bloodshot eye radiated pure, absolute malice.
Compared to it, the deranged ghost girl seemed almost gentle.
A wave of anxiety and the urge to flee surged within Colin.
But it was just a thought—retreat meant certain death!
He was more afraid of dying than of this.
Gradually, everything before him faded away.
He returned to reality.
As if nothing had happened.
He had passed the willpower check.

Note: This mechanic is inspired by an anomaly detection system from a certain game where standing in the wrong place could get your account banned.