A long time ago.

In the morning light within the forest, a small group of adventurers stumbled upon an unconscious old-looking lady lying on the ground.

She looks pale and fragile, so the adventurer decided to help her. But as they wake her up, she just looks a bit confused. The squad leader cautioned her about the danger of wilderness, from beasts to even small things like spraining her ankle could be lethal.

The leader then asks some of their members to escort the lady to her home, but she said that there is no need for them to do that, because that place has long gone.

The adventurers began to realize that they were in a deep forest, and it confirmed with the map they were carrying that there was indeed no village nearby. She said that she was all right and started to wander again.

They found this a very strange and unsettling phenomenon, but as they were about to let her wander alone one of the young members gave her some sustenance and prayed for her safety. That old lady looks baffled as if she saw something from their party, then she suddenly offers them a contract...

She offers the adventurers a contract that can grant them power strong enough to break free from the curse that bound them. Hatred, Jealousy, Anger, any unpleasant feeling that they can think of, even death. In exchange, she needs half of the world so that she would have a place to return to.

The adventurers were so confused. One of the members told their leader to maybe bring her to their party to be dropped in their next destination, but their leader feels something is not right, and many questions come into his mind.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

If she had that kind of power, why wouldn't he use it to herself?

What does she mean by half of the world? Who does she think of us to be able to grant such things?

and how is she even getting here in the first place even?

The leader started to question her cautiously.

She answered that she can't use that power by herself because such power always comes with a price. By half of the world, she seems like she really meant it, though she didn't seem to really understand why she needed that price in the first place. And since she doesn't really have a place to return, she just wanders around by herself without really having a destination.

After a bit of a think, the leader concluded that she might have lost her mind and decided to agree to the earlier member's suggestion to take her to their party and drop her in their next destination just for her safety. She looks a bit disappointed, though she also just agrees to that suggestion.

The young party member before took pity on her and asked the leader to agree to her just to make her feel a bit better, he said that there is no harm in agreeing on her gibberish. The leader seems a bit uncertain at first, but then stays on his conclusion and allows him to do that.

He then approached her, said that he would agree to anything she said before. The old lady seems relieved and believes in him to hold such power. She then started to grant him what she had offered to anyone who agreed earlier.

Suddenly there's an earthquake, half of the forest starting to wither and die out as if there's a line that separates the forest from the other new side. That young member seemed enlightened then said "I understand now" before he suddenly disappeared out of nowhere. The leader desperately tries to attack that old lady hoping that he might stop the things that are happening, but his attack just goes through her body like a ghost.

That old lady seems to take pity on them, and then she looks like she is bracing herself until she finally tells them her apology before walking slowly into the other side of the world.

Prologue - End