Global Fog Survival

Bang! The wooden door was slammed shut.

After much struggle and effort, Colin and his companions finally returned indoors before nightfall. As the wooden door closed, Colin leaned against it, feeling a strong sense of safety. The “Hunting Time” was deactivated, and his demeanor reverted to its usual gentleness. The exploration took four hours. Despite several close calls, they managed to come out unscathed.

Of course, the dangers were numerous, but the rewards were equally rich. Colin obtained a substantial amount of resources and important items, and even his two servants were upgraded. These improvements would place him ahead of most others. However, before anything else, Colin threw himself onto the wooden bed, his tense nerves finally able to relax. But he was both tired and hungry.

Rest wasn’t an option yet.

At the same time, the two servants, who had been panting heavily since entering the house, finally caught their breath. Throughout the escape, they had used all their strength just to keep up with Colin’s pace, nearly being left behind several times. The Lord was too powerful for them to keep up!

At that moment, all three inside the house felt a sense of trepidation, and they simultaneously looked out the window. The once faintly illuminated world of gray fog had suddenly darkened. The gray fog seemed to come alive, writhing outside the window, with occasional low growls and faint screams emanating from the mist.

Inside the wooden house, an unknown source of dim light illuminated the room.

【Night has fallen. You estimate it will last at least twelve hours.】

Twelve hours… the day was also twelve hours long, indicating this world operated on a 24-hour cycle. They must have been transported here in the afternoon… Colin’s thoughts wandered, but he suddenly felt a wave of anxiety and quickly refocused.

“Stop looking. Eat some porridge,” Colin said, kicking aside a pile of rotten wood next to the bed and retrieving the table and chairs he had “collected” from the church earlier.

“It’s a bit big…” Colin looked at the wooden table, which took up nearly a fifth of the space, and shook his head. “Never mind.” He also retrieved a long bench, but there was no room to place it in the house. He took out the stone pot and stone bowls, along with bread and water, and directly combined them into porridge.

Then Colin began taking inventory.

• 20 liters of Grade 3 water.
• Slightly to moderately spoiled meat from various animals *12.
• Treasure map fragments *3.
• Hunter title.
• Ax and lantern set.
• Four long benches.
• Black bread *8.
• Thorns of Suffering *4.
• Kaidish’s wooden wheel.
• Condensed Light Stone *2.
• 107 ml of Foul Tainted blood.
• 71 ml of Ordinary Tainted blood.
• Bones, wood, stones…

Various materials almost filled the 【inventory】. Colin took out the wood and stone, instructing his two servants to stack them at the foot of the bed. Then, Colin’s gaze settled on two items in the inventory, deep in thought. One was the Condensed Light Stone obtained from the female survivor, and the other was the wooden wheel obtained from Father Kaidish.

“Condensed Light Stone: A special mineral emitting a faint white light.”

“Note: Using it can dispel fear, confusion, and other negative effects, harm undead creatures, and accelerate the healing of wounds in ordinary creatures.”

【Hint: You feel familiar with it. You remember seeing a similar power in Father Kaidish’s wooden wheel. You vaguely sense that if you absorb this power, you might gain a unique ability.】

“Gaining a unique ability…” Colin’s heart raced. “This is definitely a treasure…”

He almost instinctively felt that this item was related to the underground passage of the church. This suspicion was confirmed when he examined the wooden wheel later. After the little girl used it to commit suicide, Colin found its name changed from “Blood-Stained Broken Wooden Wheel” to “Kaidish’s Wooden Wheel.” Simultaneously, its description also changed.

“‘Kaidish’s Wooden Wheel’: If the holder enters a state of rage while holding it, the remaining power in the wheel can be triggered, emitting holy light.”

“Remaining uses: 3 times.”

【Hint: As one of the thirteen saints of the Church of Suffering, known as the ‘Saint of Light,’ Father Kaidish was ostracized and isolated by other saints. This seemed related to the power he used. The church believed that the ‘light’ used by Father Kaidish was not a ‘miracle’ granted by the ‘Mother of Suffering and Thorns’ but an evil power obtained by selling his soul to a demon, capable of bewitching people. In an unfavorable incident, the church used this as a pretext to execute all of Father Kaidish’s devoted followers, stripped him of his saint title, and banished him back to the place where he first demonstrated ‘miracles,’ forbidding anyone to follow him.】

“…The church is definitely the bad guy here.” Colin thought of the deformed monster lying on the ground, unable to reconcile it with the “Saint of Light” in the hint. Considering the actions of the church and the priest, the distinction between good and evil was clear.

Without further thought, Colin turned his attention to the last part of the hint. Father Kaidish was banished back to the place where he first demonstrated miracles. This place… was likely behind the church’s underground passage. No, there should be more entrances to the church… The Condensed Light Stone on the female survivor suggested she had explored an area filled with special power… This area should align with the direction of the church’s passage.

“There must be great treasures there, but that monster is unbeatable…” Colin hesitated. The lord-level mutant had undergone a certain degree of qualitative change. He couldn’t defeat it, not even with “Hunting Time” activated.

“Sigh, to be safe, I should grow stronger before going back…” Colin shook his head, dismissing further thoughts, and then opened the parchment. He saw a new blood-red task added to the Quest list:

“Quest Name: ‘Dignity of the Arbiter’.”

“Quest Requirement: Survive until the eighth day.”

“Quest Description: Your actions have disrupted the stability of the game environment. You will face a punishment from the system.”

“Quest Reward: Hardened¹Previously stiff, will stick to hardened black bread from now on Black Bread *3?”

“Note: You still have time to commit suicide.”

【With your current strength and progress, you feel doomed.】

Seeing the blood-red text that seemed to drip blood and the hint’s blunt words, Colin felt the pressure. For the first time, Colin felt a tangible desire to become stronger. This reminded him of the church again… Only by mastering special powers could he confidently face the punishment seven days later. But the problem was, the lord-level mutant was blocking the way…

“My head hurts…” Colin rubbed his temples and fell asleep in his heavy fatigue…

The night passed just like that.

Colin was awakened early the next morning by a message that appeared in his mind.

The parchment had been updated with new functions.

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  Previously stiff, will stick to hardened black bread from now on