Chapter 112: The Forgotten Ones

Evan was dumbfounded as he watched Alan and Reynold pretending to be villagers.

They were so natural at it, he didn’t even feel any sense of disharmony.

If he’d just glanced over, he might never have noticed.

‘Did those guys fall into the trap too?’

Since he had gone up to the second floor of the mansion first, it seemed he had arrived here before them.

Or maybe it was that bastard Ellecell’s doing, but either way, the result was favorable.

‘No need to go looking for them again.’

Evan actually thought the situation was to his benefit.

And with Alan and Reynold arriving here first, they must have gathered a lot of information about this world—namely, the Memory of Ellecell.

There would be no need to bother Marlak for information now.

Evan pointed toward Reynold and Alan and said to Elisa,

“My lady, fortunately, there’s no need to go searching for those two.”

“Huh? What do you mean, there’s no need to search…”

As Elisa turned her gaze to where Evan was pointing, she was startled.

She spotted Alan and Reynold standing there in an unexpected manner.

“So, they arrived here before us.”

“Yes. That’s one less thing to worry about. We can pay them a visit separately a little later.”

Elisa nodded, her expression noticeably more relaxed.

Marlak checked that all the villagers had gathered and spoke.

“Looks like today’s adjustment is over. Even if it’s not, things have quieted down enough. Right, there’s plenty of wrap-up work left. Get ready to move.”

“Village Chief, who are those people?”

One of the villagers pointed to Evan and Elisa and asked.

“Ah, almost forgot. Did you say you’re from The North?”

Marlak turned to Evan and confirmed.

Evan nodded lightly to play along.

Then Marlak finished the introductions.

“These two are Evan and Elisa—engaged, apparently, and from The North. Seems there are still some survivors up there. Strange, isn’t it? Anyway, from today, they’ll be living with us, so everyone get along.”

The moment he finished, cheers erupted as everyone welcomed Evan and Elisa.

“Wow! I’ve never seen a Northerner before.”

“That lady has black hair!”

“Northerners have such fair skin.”

Everyone’s eyes sparkled as they gazed at the striking appearance of Evan and Elisa.

Amid all the attention, Evan and Elisa responded appropriately.

But the ones who should have rushed over first—Reynold and Alan—simply chatted with each other as if uninterested, then wandered off elsewhere.

‘Those punks…’

Evan’s brow furrowed as he watched.

“My lady, I’ll go talk to those two for a bit.”

“Oh, all right. Go ahead. I’ll stay here and chat a bit.”

Excusing himself from the group, Evan quickly followed after Alan and Reynold.

A little while later, Alan and Reynold stopped in a vacant lot in the village.

“Reynold, will you be able to fill your work quota today?”

Reynold shook his head as he pulled a shovel from the ground.

“Not sure. Lately, I just don’t have the energy. I don’t even know what the point of all this is anymore. In a world like this, I’d rather just lie down and rest.”

Alan let out a deep sigh, looking up at the sky as if at the end of his rope.

“Yeah, I know what you mean. Feels like the end really isn’t far off now.”

A heavy despair hung over their conversation.

Evan approached Alan and Reynold, behaving as he normally would.

“What are you two talking about? Do you know how long I’ve been looking for you? Don’t you recognize me?”

At that, Alan and Reynold turned to look at Evan, a rather startled look on their faces.

“How long have you two been like this?”

But neither of them answered Evan’s question.

They just stared blankly, glancing back and forth between Evan and each other.

Then Alan asked Reynold,

“Reynold, did you come here looking for me? You said you’re from The North—when did you meet someone like that?”

Reynold shook his head in confusion.

“No, sir! I thought I was the one looking for Alan!”

Evan frowned at their responses.

“What the hell are you talking about?”

At Evan’s blunt attitude, they both looked troubled.

“We’re meeting you for the first time, so please don’t do this.”

Alan drew a line and tried to send Evan away.

“I have to go fill my work quota.”

Reynold, looking displeased, started digging with his shovel again.

Evan was so dumbfounded by their reactions he was at a loss for words.

Alan, seeing Evan standing silently for a while, shook his head.

“Well, do as you wish. We have to get to work now. Please don’t bother us.”

Faced with their firm reaction, Evan had to pause and collect his thoughts.

‘What’s wrong with these guys?’

Thinking about it now, it was definitely strange.

If they’d seen him, they should have rushed over first.

But they hadn’t.

‘What happened to them?’

Evan immediately used his spiritual sight to check their status windows.

‘…Nothing unusual?’

No matter how much he checked, he didn’t spot anything odd.

Then, at the very end of the status window, he noticed something strange.

-Currently possessed by the Memory of Ellecell.
-Subjugated to the Last World.

Alan and Reynold were in an abnormal state.

Evan’s expression darkened when he saw this.

‘They’ve been completely caught.’

That was his first thought upon seeing it.

He could now understand why they had changed like this.

‘Have they been swallowed by this world?’

Judging by their possessed state, it was a logical guess.

But Evan had to set his thoughts aside for now.

Kukukukung!

Suddenly, as if an earthquake had struck, the ground began to shake.

“W-what’s happening?”

Alan and Reynold dropped their shovels and hurried to move.

“Damn it! Is it starting again? I thought the adjustment was over!”

“I don’t know! Hurry up!”

Their reactions showed they were all too familiar with this.

Evan moved toward Alan and Reynold and asked,

“What’s this earthquake all of a sudden?”

Alan and Reynold frowned.

“There’s no time for this! You need to evacuate too!”

“This time it feels really bad!”

Reynold was trembling, cold sweat running down his face.

At that moment, a frantic voice called out from behind.

“Sir Evan! Evacuate!”

As Evan turned, Elisa was running toward him.

Alan, watching Evan and Elisa, let out a deep sigh and gestured for them to follow.

“You don’t have an assigned shelter yet, so come to ours for now.”

Alan took the lead, and everyone followed behind.

Goooo~!

An ear-splitting vibration resounded incessantly.

If you listened too long, it almost felt like something was screaming.

Right after the vibration came, unstable mana waves crashed repeatedly against the ground.

Kukung! Kukung! Kukung!

Outside, it looked just like a living hell.

Evan was currently watching it all from Alan and Reynold’s shelter.

“What on earth is happening out there?”

Elisa, sitting beside Evan, looked out the window as well.

“There’s nothing like this in hell… I’ve never seen anything like it either.”

She seemed to be trembling all over for some reason.

No, perhaps it would be stranger not to feel fear at the sight.

Of course, Evan was used to many catastrophes from the previous world.

And besides, thanks to the effect of the Beast’s Heart, he felt no fear.

Evan stood up.

“I should go ask those two about what’s going on. My lady?”

“I’ll watch a little longer. It’s not often you witness something like this. And it seems valuable for research, too. There are plenty of ancient records where things just vanished like this. Every time, the research would stall because of those gaps. But if these phenomena really happen…”

Ancient world information flowed from her lips.

Even while afraid, her curiosity as an archaeologist never faded.

Evan couldn’t help but smile at the sight.

It was certainly better than falling into panic.

“If anything happens, go down to the basement at once.”

Elisa nodded, and Evan made his way to Alan and Reynold’s quarters.

From the outside, the village buildings looked low.

But inside, the space was surprisingly large.

It was solidly constructed in the style of a dugout.

Regardless of appearances, safety was the only priority.

On top of that, the building had a fully-equipped bunker underground.

Given the situation outside, this level of preparation made sense, but he needed to find out why things had gotten so bad.

‘If this is connected to the Last World among Ellecell’s memories, this will be crucial information.’

Clack!

Evan lifted the door to the basement.

A deep stairway stretched before him.

He descended and soon reached the bottom.

‘Another iron door.’

Seeing how everything was reinforced multiple times, it was clear how much they’d suffered.

Clang!

Creak!

Evan opened the heavy iron door and entered the bunker.

Once again, a large interior space greeted him.

There was nothing but beds and a simple desk.

Alan and Reynold were crouched in the corner, gripping their heads with both hands, trembling uncontrollably.

Consumed by fear, they seemed completely out of their minds.

Evan slowly approached them.

“Are you two okay?”

They just kept trembling, unable to come to their senses.

Evan sighed and stepped closer to Alan.

“Tell me what’s happening right now.”

“…”

“Alan! Get a hold of yourself!”

Evan grabbed Alan’s shoulders and shouted.

“…Eh? Yes? Young master?”

The answer slipped out of Alan’s mouth before he realized it.

It was so instinctive, Alan couldn’t understand why he’d said it.

“Huh? What did I just say…”

Strangely, Evan’s stern voice brought a sense of longing and familiarity.

The fear-clouded mind slowly began to find some stability.

“Are you coming to your senses? Can you remember me?”

“Sorry? What do you mean, remember?”

“Never mind. Just tell me what’s happening. I have no idea.”

For some reason, Alan felt he couldn’t refuse Evan’s words.

It was a strangely familiar sensation.

Even as he tilted his head in confusion, Alan spoke as Evan had commanded.

“The North isn’t affected by the adjustment? I can’t believe you don’t know.”

“Adjustment?”

“Yes. World adjustment. The end of the world is near. That’s why the world’s administrators have begun the adjustment process. The adjustment keeps coming, and at some point, the world will meet its end.”

Evan’s eyes sharpened.

“…The world’s administrators?”

It was the first real clue about the ones destroying the world.

And then, a message window appeared before Evan’s eyes.

-Progress in viewing the Memory of Ellecell: 32%
-Second clue collected (100%)
-Clues collected: (2/3)

A clue about the Shadow Path Quest was found here.

But Evan had no time to relax.

KWAANG!

Suddenly, a massive roar—and Evan’s body was lifted off the ground.

A massive quake that felt like the whole world was shaking.

The previous tremors and anomalies were nothing compared to this.

“Ahhhh! It’s starting!”

Alan, slammed into the ceiling, fell back into a state of terror.

-The world’s administrators have begun the world adjustment.
-The world-building system has rejected it.
-World adjustment level has been downgraded to danger 40%.