Entering the village, I found a bunch of people yelling at each other. Some I recognized, like the lying lady from the grocery store and the guy from the restaurant who liked to collect cards. Most were holding makeshift weapons, except for one.

There was also the gossiping old couple. Normally, I avoided them because the last time I talked to them, I heard rumors that someone from the army was sent to spy on us—like I didn’t have enough to deal with!

As soon as they saw me with the shotgun at my side, some people stepped back. The policeman touched his revolver, not drawing it but making it clear he wouldn’t let me get the first shot if things escalated.

I put the safety back on Marlene and raised a hand, signaling I came in peace but wasn’t handing over my gun.

“Hey, army guy, do you know what this horror show is?” the policeman asked, gesturing for everyone else to be quiet.

Weird. Had they seen the oozing rodents too? From here, the skin forest looked more like an unnatural white forest—nothing too creepy. What a difference an hour’s walk made.

“Besides the pink-white forest and a weird mutated oozing rat, not much. Doesn’t look like there’s any of that here.”

The gossiping lady cut in: “Nah, some freaks in black vests took some of our people!”

“Calm down, Maria. Let me handle this,” the policeman said, then continued: “I shot at them, but they didn’t seem fazed. Some weird black blood came out, but that’s it. They were completely hidden in their stupid black vests.”

Interesting. But what were they planning to do?

“Anything else?” I asked, trying to figure out the best course of action. Now we had black-robed beings abducting people.

“Besides them being really strong, not much. I’ve been trying to keep these people safe.”

He seemed to be doing a decent job, for sure.

“...there’s something wrong with all the networks. Even my old radio isn’t working”, the police officer added, it seems it's not only me.

The policeman looked around, as if noticing something for the first time: “They only took the young people!”

Hmm. “That sounds like human trafficking. What are you guys going to do about it?”

The policeman frowned, as if it were obvious: “Could you help us find them? As you can see, I’ve got my hands full.”

"That is what happens when you don't have a partner", I thought they worked in pairs.

"Talk about it, Rodrigo got a promotion six months ago. The RH is still searching for someone who wants to work here, but it seems the only way in is by taking another government exam for new entrants."

Right, so a bunch of old people want me to be their hero and investigate what these black-robed guys are up to. Really nice...

Honestly, through all this bullshit, at least these black-robed assholes must know something about what's happening here. And what if new mutated animals show up?

These guys might be dead, but maybe not. What can I do to save them anyway?

The group seemed a little scared—maybe not because of the rat, but the possibility of more abnormal things appearing. The policeman nodded and looked me in the eye.

“I couldn’t follow them for long, but they were heading toward an old gray building covered in black vines. Your guess is as good as mine about where that temple came from. Be careful".

I nodded and waved goodbye to the group, gripping my shotgun. Glancing back as I headed in the direction the policeman had pointed.

I needed to be careful. People in stressful situations might try to take Marlene from me. In all this chaos, I didn’t want to be taken out by some crazy old man.

That guy hadn’t told the whole truth, or maybe he didn’t want to scare the group further. But the thing was, it wasn’t just the temple. The area around it was covered in a freaky skin forest. And, for God’s sake, the guy must’ve been colorblind because the temple was blood red, with dark red veins running through it. At least from this distance.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

As I walked toward the temple, further down the mountain...

I’d never seen this temple before, and it felt wrong. But the weirdest thing was that the village was at the base of the mountain, and from there, the land was flat for miles. There had never been a decline like this.

A temple appearing out of nowhere? Okay, I could accept that. But the fact that it had displaced who-knows-how-many tons of earth and spawned weird skin forests? That was too much.

I wanted to say that was the worst of it, but as I walked toward the temple, I saw something even more disturbing.

The place was littered with corpses. Some looked like the oozing rats, but others were dogs as big as bulls. Some had skin that glittered like metal, resembling some kind of feline.

The most numerous, aside from the rats, were humanoid monkeys with skeletal faces and no noses, their fur looking like feathers.

Here and there, weird insects and critters were eating the corpses. Some were normal insects, but most looked too strange to be from here—like a spider with a painted face on its back.

Weirder still, each corpse seemed drained of blood, reduced to a husk.

I was starting to regret my decision to come here. But if these beasts were as strong as they looked, we were all screwed.

Following the trail of corpses that led to the temple, I realized the path had been cleared of bushes and vegetation. The area looked ancient, with trash and debris scattered everywhere.

It was like walking through a forgotten town. Nothing seemed useful... except for... what was this?

Amid the rubble, something sparkled with a bluish light. It was small, about the size of a bead, crystalline like a gem. Getting rich was the least of my worries, but this could be useful—maybe for bartering or distracting the black-robed figures.

As I pocketed it, the light vanished. I expected the bright glow to still shine through the fabric, but it didn’t. Strange.

Approaching the temple, two things stood out: the color scheme, which looked like an edgy vampire lord had designed it, and the sheer size of the place. It looked more like a king’s palace than a temple.

How and why would anyone bring this here? It made no sense. For the first time, I regretted living in the middle of nowhere.

As I approached the palace, the smell of blood grew stronger, like a slaughterhouse.

And like some hellish fragrance, the scent seemed to be coming from deep within the temple gates.

I didn’t want to go in there. A deep, primal part of me screamed that entering would be my end.

As I wrestled with my inner conflict, a bright light flashed in my eyes, nearly blinding me. Looking around, I found the source: one of the hundreds of windows, where a light shone and then disappeared, like a signal.

When it seemed to have my attention, the light moved through the shadows of the structure, guiding me. From there, I saw some ladders.

“Follow the light or enter the morgue?” I whispered to no one, shaking my head. It seemed I was going mad.

But being mad was better than being dead. Still, I didn’t feel lucky. With all the surrounding bodies, I’d probably join them soon.

I tried to be as sneaky as possible. There were no corpses around the palace, just in the surrounding forest.

Speaking of the forest, it looked alien, but its structure still resembled normal vegetation—just with a weird appearance. I’m no botanist, so maybe there was more to it.

Quietly, I started climbing the ladders. The light from the window guided my way. Unlike the shiny stone I’d found, this light resembled the glow of a star at night.

Was I in a poetic mood? Whatever. Time to climb these ladders.

Slowly, but surely, I climbed higher and higher. It reminded me of when I was a kid, but with much higher stakes. I tried not to look down; if I fell, I’d become floor jelly.

Maybe if the situation weren’t so insane, I’d be terrified. But damn, this was like a nightmare come to life. Compared to all this chaos, climbing seemed like the safest bet.

It still felt like a trap.

From what I could tell, the window the light was guiding me to was in the middle of the palace. It took longer than I expected to reach it.

That’s when it hit me as I got closer: the light faded. The room was pitch black, not welcoming in the least.

I hadn’t climbed all this way just to be afraid of the dark. Acting more on impulse than instinct, I jumped into the room.

That was a mistake. The window was higher than I thought.

To put it in perspective, this was the lower window, so the room’s ceiling must’ve been incredibly high.

I landed on my arms, feeling them sprain and ache. They weren’t broken, but they were definitely injured.

“Fuck, now I’m hurt. Is anyone else here?”

An eerie voice echoed from somewhere: “...is anyone else here?”

“Very funny. Some echo bullshit going on?”

“...dost mine voice echo? That is enough, I thank thee,” the voice replied, sounding more alive but still unsettling.

Now I could pinpoint where it was coming from—a corner of the room. As I focused on it, a figure emerged. Numerous candles lit up with blue flames, revealing the being in the room.

What I saw was not a person but a creature over four meters tall. It had light blue hair cascading down to its legs, two fluffy antennae protruding from its head, and a human-like face with no eyes—just smooth skin where they should’ve been. It wore a red dress, its long arms crossed in front of its chest. Not only that, but it had six pairs of arms, all insect-like except for the top pair.

Though somewhat humanoid, the creature’s alien features didn’t ease my instincts. I grabbed my shotgun, relieved to find it intact after the fall.

The eerie creature spoke again: “Thou hast no need for such weaponry; I come with a proposal for mutual gain. Thou hast need of a guide upon thy journey; I am in want of one to branch the path.”

For the first time, I realized the creature wasn’t speaking aloud—it was communicating directly into my mind. Its mouth didn’t move.

It seemed I was about to become insect food. Or just brainwashed.