Finally leaving the canopy of the Enchanted Forest, Han could see the uphill travel he'd have to do. The [ Rocky Cliffs ] indeed.

He could fill his limbs growing tired and weak, but despite all of that, he eagerly pushed forward. It would be Death's Door he'd be seeing if he continued staying at the Enchanted Forest. He climbed up the stony slopes, carefully maneuvering through the rocky dirt trail that was probably formed from countless travelling back and forth from the forest.

"Nearly there." He muttered to himself. "I'm nearly there."

It was a mantra that he said to himself as he kept up with the road. He was struggling not to fall back and drop down back into the forest. The sun was now up at the highest, beating down its oppressive rays on him. Not a single cloud was up in the sky. It put a stark difference to the cooler temperature in the forest, but he had to keep going.

Each step of his was now heavier, the sheer effort it did to put one foot in front of the other.

He felt parched.

He wanted to drink.

It was this need that had him marvelling when he finally reached the peak of the slope. In the distance were the fields and farm that lay before him. Even from afar, one could notice that they were all battered up, the crops had boulders crushed on them and the fences and the farm house were blown to blitz but at last he finally reached the top.

But there was no one at all.

No Becky, Betsy or other creatures in sight.

His chest tightened for a moment.

When Han returned to this village, he wasn't so sure of what he'd expect. Han Jing was a little nervous to be honest, this was his starter village and despite it being not a complete RPG—he was worried if they'd pull a complete annihilation route with him.

Character growth or some other excuse.

And it was a bitter feeling indeed.

The special mission had said that there were 50% chances of survival… but it didn't mean that everybody survived did they? He didn't want to think too deeply about it right now. He would have to see it for himself.

Han trudged slowly towards the pastures, his mind and body only searching for one thing. Putting aside all the other people at the moment, there was a singular goal that he seeked to achieve.

To quench his thirst.

And it was in one of the watering troughs that he had his fill.

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The sight of a grimy young man reflected in the waters, a terrible sight that he ignored as he scooped some water up in his hands and took a drink.

He choked.

Spewing out some of the water in the process.

"Ack!" It tasted horrible… although he could only blame his hands. His dirtied and soiled hands. He slumped to the grass. It was tiring.

Now that there was no immediate sense of danger, it seemed like his adrenaline had disappeared. Deciding to rest his aching body for a moment, Han Jing stared at the blue sky, squinting at the sun.

It was all too realistic. From the heat of the sun, the feeling of thirst and to the rustling of the grass, it all felt real. Was this truly just an avatar of his? This was all some sort of simulation made by the Creators—

A cold metal struck against his head, recoiling and dropping on the ground. It sent a sharp pain across his forehead as he forced himself up. The empty bucket sprawled on the grass and he quickly looked up.

"Han?" Becky stared at him with wide eyes, mouth slightly ajar. "Heavens to Betsy! You're alive!" She threw herself at him, clutching him tightly. "You look worse than a burnt up boot and you stink up worse than an outhouse but you're alive!"

Han could feel her two jugs pushing up to him as she grappled him in her arms. His face flamed, it was something that he couldn't help but notice until she pulled away and shook her head. "Everybody would be glad to see ya! But ya better clean up first! We can't be presentin' ya when ya look like that!" She began to pull him up. "Let me fetch you some water and you can take a bath!"

In no time, Han was scrubbed up like some clean ol' baby's bottom. That was to say, he managed to clean up in a lavatory and even received a change set of clothes from Becky. He didn't try to question why she had some spare clothes lying around that were for males, but he was simply happy to have freshened up.

"How'd you survive?" Han asked her after that. It may have been too callous to say, but he was curious. This place was the one first ravaged by the Gargoyles.

The woman laughed and elbowed him. "I'm a tougher gal than I look like."

"A-Ah, I see! Of course." Han tried not to stagger into his knees and laughed along as they walked together to the village. "And what about your cows? Did you hide them in the barn?"

"Betsy, she fought tooth and nail with them to keep her sisters safe ya know?" The woman sighed a bit, kicking up a small pebble on the dirt path. "And, I guess the others are all safe thanks to her."

"I'm sorry to hear that."

"...Don't be sorry, she made her choice. We gotta respect that, ya know? All we can do is accept the outcome and moved on, she would have wanted that." She sniffed and rubbed her nose. "—That's why everybody will be thrilled to see ya! We thought ya were a goner! Grandma Moe said you're some loony willy-nilly while Tom thought you were amazing." She laughed, a bit more mellow this time, as she glanced at him. "Don't be so surprised though, okay?"

"Why would I be so surp—"

The village was still the same old village that he had seen before, it looked a bit worse for wear but repairs had already begun. People were all helping out one another from young and old. They were fixing up broken windows and pillars, carrying logs or tool boxes and others distributed refreshment. He could already see Tom holding a bucket of paint while Lumberman Jack carried a log on his back. They were all okay!

But something else caught him flabbergasted.

In the middle of the village square was a newly constructed monument. A mounted statue to be exact with a large slab in front of it. The statue was decorated with garlands of flowers. It depicted a man proudly standing up and within his right hand—a broken liquor bottle stretched forth like a beacon.

"T-That's…." He was at a loss for words.

"I'm seeing ghosts!" A young villager dropped a crate of box he was carrying and pointed at him.