Within the town.
The stained blood had already long dried, dyeing the ce with rich maroon color... Making the sight not different from an apocalyptic scene that was abandoned long ago.
On the ground, the corpses that withered due to the passage of time still could be seen scattered around the ruined ce, making their rotting smell linger within the atmosphere as the mortal beings who luckily survived the ordeal don''t have a choice but to cover their nose in disgust.
In the far distance, a desperate voice, carrying pain and guilt within, could be faintly heard... Making the passing humans to have mixed emotions within their being, tilting their heads below as they fasten their movements, having already gotten used to the sight of suffering in the past few days.
To the point that their face already looks nd from the outside, as if emotions couldn''t move them anymore.
...
"This... It''s all gone. M~mom, d~dad..."
Seeing the familiar rotting corpse in his front, slowly being consumed by bugs and maggots. The man trembles crazily, feeling weak all of a sudden, taking out a sharp dagger within his inventory before decisively stabbing himself a couple of times.
Bleeding before dying afterwards, having no time to feel the pain in his physical body due to his decisiveness.n/?/vel/b//in dot c//om
Understanding that dying was better than living upon losing all of his hope. Not willing to spend another time in this pathetic world full of misery...
...
Above, seeing the scene within the town, the eyes of the Nascent Soul being couldn''t help but darken. Clenching his fist with force as an intense aura, enough to bend anything around radiated from his old physique.
The feeling of happiness upon killing the newly ascended serpent within the depths of the Endless Forest vanished just like that, being reced by intense anger as theplete rules that heprehended immediately oozed from his being...
Enveloping the less than 5,000 residents that survived the ordeal, making the wounds they took, physically to mentally, visible heal under his deliberate control.
Tilting his head toward the distance, beholding the corpse of the crimson humanoid being, oozing madness to its bones although it already died for days.
The eyes of the Nascent Soul constricted drastically, gritting his teeth as an intense aura subconsciously emitted from his body, further shrouding the ce as the firmament above seemed to freeze in time- dyeing the ce in silence as his eyes unfolded an intense killing intent within.
"The Devil race!!!''
***
Ding!
[ Congrattions upon fixing the destroyed tombs within your territory!
Reward 1: The horror scenario (Feature) was finally unlocked!
Reward 2: 1 star permanent increase in a certain scenario! ]
Hearing the familiar sound of notification within his mind. Leo momentarily paused on his track, causing his shovel to hit Skeleton #1 who was moving beside him.
Making it painfully touch his shoulder upon being grazed by Leo''s ufortable aura. Secretly pointing his middle finger toward Leo before cursing on its head.
Leo, unaware of what was happening in the mind of the silver Skeleton beside him, hurriedly opened his character panel. Locking his gaze toward the new feature as he hurriedly clicks its description.
Ding!
[ Horror Scenario (Feature): It''s a unique ce within the reality that umted fear and despair throughout the span of time.
Upon umting a lot of fear within a single or whole ce, it would slowly fuse toward the ce- making it carry traces of a unique aura that could evoke fear in beings around it.
Furthermore, upon umting a certain amount of fear and despair, the ce could instinctively create special effects (illusion, trap, mimicking, etc...) in order to harvest fear and despair on its own!
Current Scenario: The nd Cemetery, The Corner of Abyss, and Under the Wooden House. ]
"This... System, can you exin it to me in great detail?''
Understanding what it meant but unable toprehend its full potential due to theck of information, Leo couldn''t help but ask his system. Wanting to gain deeper knowledge regarding the new feature in order to avoid mistakes.
Ding!
[ Exining would cost 10,000 horror points! ]
"ept.''
Ding!
[ A Horror Scenario was basically a domain that exist within the reality. Born from fusingrge amounts of fear and despair toward the ce that essentially carried the rule of Horror, Fear, and Despair within them.
Making them carry the advantages of what the domain had! ]
***
Feeling shocked, understanding how mysterious a domain was, Leo couldn''t help but gasp loudly.
Couldn''t help but inspect the nd cemetery within the surroundings, carefully staring at the countless tombs within, unable to feel the fear that the system said.
Helpless, Leo decided to check its description on the system.
Still couldn''t believe that it entered the basic requirement to be called a Horror Scenario by the new feature!
Experience tales at empire
Ding!
[ The nd Cemetery: A ce of death, homing thousands of corpses within. In the morning, countless crows could be heard unceasingly cawing above, being shrouded by thin mist, only showing their beady emotionless eyes that preyed toward flesh...
Horror Star Rating: ★ (It was supposed to be a half-star but I couldn''t find a "Half-star".)
Requirements to upgrade: 100 sensations of sincere horror, fear, and despair (0/100).
Note: A new horror scenario that ascended weeks ago, causing its ability to evoke fear toward beings extremely weak. ]
"That''s all?''
Feeling disappointed upon reading its nd description simrly on how nd the ce was... Leo hurriedly checked the other Scenarios within the system. Wanting to see the difference between the three before deciding where he would spend the other rewards that he gain from the system.
[ Under the Wooden House: Below the rooting wooden house, within a forgotten cemetery, a secret that was hidden from the world was slowly fading with the passage of time...
It''s said that countless mournful wails that originated within its depths often resound when the nightes, making beings who identally heard it go crazy when the day arrive.
Horror Star Rating: ★★
Requirements to upgrade: 1000 sensations of sincere horror, fear, and despair (0/1000). ]
Ding!
[ The Corner of the Abyss: ??? (Unable to see due to the host''s low level)
Horror Star Rating: ★★★★
Requirements to upgrade: 100,000 sensations of sincere horror, fear, and despair and deaths of thousands of sentient beings within (0/100,000) (0/100). ]
...
"Great, now we were talking!''
Retrieving his other rewards from the system, Leo immediately clicked toward the highest star scenario within the new feature of the system- wanting to increase its grade by another 1 star in able to further increase its capability, making his absorption of Death Qi toward the catbs increase drastically, elevating his cultivation speed considerably in the process!
However, upon pressing the add button beside the scenario. The expected increase of the star didn''t ur, instead, the deafening silence... followed by the annoying sound of notification loudly rang within his consciousness.
Making him sigh in helplessness, as if already half expected that a problem would ur upon trying to upgrade the highest scenario within the system.
Understanding that the system would again give him restrictions in order to make his life hard.
Hard as hell!
"As expected, the system wouldn''t allow my strength and advantage to increase easily.''
"System, what is it now?"
Ding!
[ ces that don''t belong to you and ces that you hadn''t explored by at least 50% of its space wouldn''t be able to upgrade... ]
...
Understanding that he wouldn''t be able to upgrade the two scenarios other than the nd cemetery, Leo slowly takes a deep breath. Shaking the regret within his being as he helplessly upgrades the scenario of the nd cemetery.
Increasing it from its natural half-a-star grade to 1.5 stars.
At the same time, upon adding the star toward the nd cemetery, the earth beneath him visibly bes brown-ck in color, bing vibrant in the process as dark moss and unknown nd grasses, capable of making one''s mood down visible grow around the surroundings- causing the 5 humans within to halt on their movement, feeling a strange premonition within their being as they gulped audibly.
Following that, in the epasses of thend, dark pits reaching unknown depths could be seen appearing in the corners of the cemetery- making beings who identally look toward its depths instantly feel ufortable within their being, nting a seed in their consciousness that someone was staring from the other side.
Akin to a vengeful corpse that was tempting them to explore the ce devoid of light!
Crack~ Crack~
Still not done, the earth around visibly quiver. Cracking afterward as rotting bones, being careless by cold wind could be faintly seen slightly emerge from the soft ground- giving a scene to one''s mortal mind that they were crawling out from the soil!
Furthermore, the newly made and old concrete tombs be scarier in Leo''s sight... Giving him the sensation of the unknown upon seeing the epitaph, slowly being covered with green dark moss.
As if... He faintly saw his name on the old epitaph.
***