What?! I am the System Maker?!

After spending some time exploring the village, Ren gathered some detailed information about this place.

First, the village was called Sunny Village. A rather cliché name for a place that felt anything but sunny.

Second, every single resident here was an adult. Throughout his entire exploration, he hadn't come across a single child or even a teenager. The complete absence of younger generations was unnerving.

Third—and perhaps the most suspicious—was the hunting parties. Every hour or so, small groups consisting of three to five villagers would return from the forest. The villagers claimed they were out hunting, but strangely enough, Ren never saw them bring back any game.

If it had only been one or two groups, perhaps it wouldn't seem so strange. But every single hunting party came back empty-handed, which clearly indicated something was off.

Ren was extremely tempted to follow one of these groups to uncover what they were really doing. However, he restrained himself for now—he didn't want to alert the village that he was suspicious.

But his curiosity refused to stay quiet. Instead of tailing them directly, Ren used his clairvoyance magic to secretly observe their actions from afar.

And that's when he discovered the truth. They weren't hunting animals. They were searching for someone. More precisely, they were tracking down a little girl—someone named Elaina—who had apparently escaped into the forest.

Ren didn't know what their intentions were regarding this girl, but he could easily guess it was nothing good. Considering there were no children at all in the village, it was safe to assume that Elaina was not originally from this place. That fact alone made the situation even more sinister.

Whatever was going on, Ren was now determined to find Elaina himself and uncover the true nature of this village.

And finally, there was one more thing...

"Hm… Let's try hunting some animals for lunch," Ren muttered as he casually headed into a different part of the forest—far from where the hunters were searching.

Not far behind him, a villager hiding among the trees narrowed his eyes, watching Ren's every move. After a moment of hesitation, the villager quietly began following him.

As expected, they're monitoring my every action. They're extremely cautious around me. Or perhaps this is how they treat any visitor who enters this village?

Ren wondered. Though he couldn't confirm it yet, he suspected the latter was very likely true, especially considering the strange nature of this village... and now, the disturbing case of Elaina.

Tired of constantly being watched, Ren finally decided to take action. He swiftly created and deployed a Doppelganger Spell to fool the persistent villager who had been stalking him. The doppelganger took his place seamlessly while the real Ren silently slipped away to another location.

The switch happened so fast and flawlessly that even the stalker, who had been closely monitoring him, failed to notice the exchange.

Now free from their surveillance, Ren let out a long sigh of relief. For the first time since arriving in this village, he no longer needed to pretend — no more acting clueless or deliberately playing the fool.

"Heh… Why didn't I do this from the start? If I'd thought of this earlier, I wouldn't have had to waste time putting on that idiotic act," he sighed regretfully. His excessive caution had caused him to overplay his cover.

He shook his head. "Forget it. What's done is done. More importantly—let's find that girl named Elaina now."

With that, he activated his Clairvoyance Spell, scanning the surrounding areas for any signs of her.

But then, something unexpected caught his eye.

"Hm? What is this?" he muttered, narrowing his eyes to get a clearer view.

Focusing his magic, he finally saw it: A massive pit—filled with piles of discarded human clothing, belongings, and even weapons.

His expression immediately turned serious. This discovery only confirmed his growing suspicion that something far more sinister was taking place within this village.

It seems what they're hiding is much darker than I originally thought...

The thought echoed in Ren's mind, yet instead of fear, an eager grin spread across his face.

"Hahaha... Now I'm getting excited. Let's see what this village has prepared for me."

Just then, a distant voice suddenly caught his ears across the forest.

"Don't come here!! Y-you monsters!!!" The voice was trembling with a mixture of fear and hatred.

The cry came from far away — so far that only someone with Ren's superhuman senses could have picked it up.

Raising an eyebrow, Ren smirked in amusement. Without hesitation, he immediately rushed toward the source of the scream.

"Let go! Let go of me, you monsters!!!" The little girl screamed, her long white hair messy, her body filthy and clothes torn, as she struggled violently against the grips of the adult men surrounding her.

"Hahaha! Little girl, stop struggling! Just let us take you to Lord Astros so you can finally be reunited with your parents!" One of the men laughed, his companions joining in his mocking laughter.

"You bastards!! I'll kill you all! I'll kill every single one of you!!!" The girl roared in rage, pure hatred burning in her eyes as her resistance grew even fiercer, forcing the men to tighten their grip, struggling to hold her down.

"Damn brat! Quit struggling! Don't blame me if I have to get rough!" One of the men growled threateningly. But his warning only made the girl struggle even harder, making their situation even worse.

Finally, their grip started to weaken, the girl nearly slipping free from their hold — surprising them and forcing their expressions to twist into frustration and panic.

Without hesitation, one of the men raised his fist and delivered a hard blow to her head with a loud crack, instantly knocking her unconscious.

As the girl went limp, the men let out a collective sigh of relief, wiping the sweat from their foreheads.

"What a violent little brat! We nearly couldn't hold her down just now!" One of the men exclaimed, his voice a mix of exhaustion and lingering fear as he stared at the unconscious girl lying before them.