Goblin Dependency

Without hesitating, he stepped forward.

His right hand gripped the [Green Pine] wooden sword, better suited for exerting force, while his left hand lightly held the rungs of the ladder above.

His waist and abdomen were tense, ready at any moment to leap off the ladder.

His right knee bent, thigh lifted, the sole of his boot firmly landed on the rung.

The calf muscles exerted strength, about to propel his entire body upwards.

And just at the lowest point, the moment the supporting leg of his entire body, the tip of his left foot, left the ground.

The encounter he had upon arriving in this Secret Realm from the Neum Slums happened once more.

Without any premonition.

The wide open plaza surrounding his body vanished in an instant.

In its place was tightly drawn, multi-layered silk curtains that let no outside light in, and marble walls on either side adorned with cold, chilling lamps.

A small room of modest size.

The clock hands hanging on the wall stood still in place;

Fine stone dust scattered like the first snow on the dark teak floor surface, an unfinished plaster statue showing no discernible shape, only humanoid limbs vaguely identifiable in the dimness;

Tools with strong directional properties—a triangular file, a round-mouth axe, and a steel carving knife—lay haphazardly on rolls of paint-stained sandpaper, with a small tin bucket nearby, containing a slanted brush;

"A sculpting workshop."

This was Xia Nan's first impression upon entering this room from the River Valley Town illusion.

He instinctively wanted to leave the ladder and search carefully.

But the thought had just formed, not yet transmitted through the nerves to drive his body.

Suddenly, Xia Nan realized.

It seemed, once again, he had lost the ability to control his body.

Just as he had faced the golden haired Elf earlier.

"Click, clack, click..."

The sound of hard objects clashing resounded above, like urging him.

And his body, trapped by invisible constraints, as if by instinct, climbed up the ladder.

One step, two steps, three steps...

His footsteps on the ladder rungs echoed like the ticking of a clock's hands.

The time in the room began to flow.

Tightly drawn, multi-layered curtains allowed flickering light to filter through;

The stone dust accumulated more and more on the teak floor, like snow, gradually covering the entire room;

On the wooden table, various sculpting tools swayed back and forth, each slight motion adding more usage marks to them;

The surface of the sandpaper was smeared with crimson paint, which was then crumpled into balls and thrown under the table;

The cold, eerie lights shook violently, while the statue enshrouded in mottled shadow silently transformed, its originally vague outline becoming clearer, as hair-like textures grew on it, with a long, narrow head whose face remained obscured, only the two prong-like protrusions on its head extending and elongating.

All this settled into silence the moment Xia Nan took the last step upwards.

The completed stone statue, amidst scattered pale stone dust and oddly colored crimson paint, was draped with a thick white cloth.

At the same time, Xia Nan finally reached the topmost point of the ladder.

Both feet landed on the floor.

What met his eyes was a narrow, dim attic.

No firelight for illumination, everything before him was hidden in darkness, obscured.

The only clarity was the sound of friction that was alarmingly close, coming from behind him.

He turned around.

Soft moonlight slanted down from the attic's sole small window, showering blue-black dust that fell gently and slowly, as if to dissolve in the moonlight;

On the pale, veined back of a hand, a thumb pressed steadily on the spine of a knife, leaving a smooth and natural line on the wooden sculpture's surface.

The moonlight was just a small spotlight, barely illuminating the gradually forming wooden sculpture, and the hands busily crafting it.

Like some natural spotlight, it instinctively drew Xia Nan's gaze.

"It's the [Sheep Deer Statue]."

Even though it was not yet complete, the sculpture's peculiar appearance, with a human body, sheep's head, and deer antlers, and its rich, harmonious Otherworld style, made Xia Nan recognize it at first glance.

"So, those statues in Neum City, were they all carved by him?"

Recalling the workshop he passed during his climb, Xia Nan speculated in his heart.

His gaze instinctively followed the moonlit, fair and slender hands upward.

From the forearms, shoulders, neck... to the final face.

The attic's dim light, combined with the seated figure's side profile facing away, allowed him only a glimpse of a few blurred shadow contours.

Xia Nan strained his eyes, trying to see clearly beneath the shrouding shadows.

But the next second, as if sensing his gaze...

The dark figure suddenly turned back!

Buzz—

The mind went blank in an instant, and the already scattered consciousness during the ladder climb was instantly blown apart.

A buzzing resonated continuously within the cranium, tangled thoughts were straightened and cast into the void.

Xia Nan did not see the other person's face clearly.

At the moment the shadow turned back, all his perceptions twisted and distorted among countless bizarre and exotic sights, turning into ineffable nothingness.

The perspective magnified infinitely, passing through the moonlight and dust, into the tiniest wrinkles of the wooden wall.

Mildew grew in reverse in the attic's shadows, transforming into whirlpool-like growth rings, impacting and devouring his spirit.

Falling, falling.

Absurd and delusional fragmented images were wrapped around and carried out by the growth rings from the depths of memory.

The deep shadows passing through the depths of the pond, the slender antennae tickled by the grasshoppers, the soft whispers of a hazy dream...

Xia Nan only felt his soul and consciousness being propelled by these long-forgotten bizarre memory fragments, like a tide pushing toward somewhere.

He did not know what he was facing, nor was he aware of his current situation.

Under the intangible yet overwhelming impact, his shattered spirit could no longer focus or think.

In this situation, all that was left was the creature's instinct to survive.

Like a small boat lost in a storm, rising and falling in the surging waves, seemingly about to be engulfed by the sea at any moment, yet resiliently floating on the water.

Protecting the deepest part of the heart, symbolizing the "true self," was a spark of flame.

It could be a hundred years, or perhaps less than half a second.

The perception of time and space had entirely dissipated within the disintegrated consciousness.

Neither fainting nor quite awake.

Xia Nan just stood still quietly, like a boulder on the shore, enduring the impact of waves one after another.

It was unclear how much time had passed.

When those fragmented images carried by the growth rings returned deep into memory;

When the waves relentlessly washing over his consciousness slowly receded.

Everything returned to nothingness.

In the profound and lightless darkness, only the tiniest, most fragile yet resilient flame flickered silently.

Whoosh—

Xia Nan was awakened by a sudden cold breeze.

Like starlight gathering in dots, the fractured consciousness once again bonded and converged, becoming even more resilient;

Guarding the spirit amid boundless storm, the mind became increasingly fortified.

His chest heaved, breathing, the air flowing into his nostrils was slightly foul yet uniquely real;

The cool and chilling night breeze brushed against the surface of his skin, and unidentified distant wind whistled by his ears.

Senses gradually returned.

Xia Nan slowly opened his eyes, his expression slightly bewildered.

As if he'd had a dream.

What appeared before him wasn't the cramped attic faintly shrouded or the fantastical River Valley Town.

But the crowded and shabby old houses of the Neum Slums, remnants of battles, barren abandoned spaces, and robust bear bones laying pale on the ground.

Translucent characters flickered across his vision.

"Charm +1"

"Perception +3"

"Specialty [Gaze into the Abyss] unlocked."

"..."

Xia Nan gazed into the darkness ahead.

Expression emotionless, neither sorrowful nor joyful, undetectable emotions.

Just standing there.

For a long time, he then took a deep breath.

Slowly raised his head.

His gaze passed over the beast bones on the ground, bypassed the dilapidated houses ahead, transcended the blurry outlines of distant buildings.

Upwards.

Stopping at the very center of the sky,

That flawless, gently radiant,

—serene and bright Silver Moon.