"There is nothing more precious than life itself."

I used to scoff at this idea and thought it was pure nonsense uttered by people who didn't know what it felt like to suffer.

But then I eventually realized they were right.

And when I did...

It was already too late.

Suicide Forest— the name of the forest that brought fear to the locals in the city.

When I first learned of the existence of this place, fear was not what I felt.

It was fascination.

I was attracted by this forest.

Something was urging me to come into the forest.

For years, I lived a miserable life.

For years, I thought of numerous ways to end my life.

Because of my extreme fascination with this forest, I had then decided;

If I must die, I must die here.

And so, I came here intending to die.

However...

I changed my mind.

After coming here, I realized the true horror that lies within this forest!

Living a miserable life was much better than being here at all!

As long as you're alive, there's still hope!

But here? There is no hope in this place.

There's only misery.

This forest is nothing but a trap for the miserable and the damned like you and me.

Mortals like us have no business in this place.

If you're still alive, do yourself a favor and get out of this forest as soon as possible—

—before this forest takes you.

Zenith was standing in front of a huge tree, reading the diary of the man that was lying at the base of the tree.

The words in the diary were wobbly, and some parts were nearly unreadable due to the bloodstains in it. There was a big indicator that the one who made this diary had written it in haste. These issues were only minor inconveniences though as it was still readable overall.

When he was done reading, he closed the diary and placed it back where he found it. Then, he looked at the huge tree thoughtfully.

Upon death, a person's soul would normally end up in Mori, the realm of the dead that was ruled over by the supreme god of the underworld. However, this wasn't the case in this forest at all. The souls of those who died in this place didn't go to Mori. Instead, they remained here— lost and forever doomed to roam the forest for eternity.

The reason for all of this was unknown to him at the moment, but from what he had observed, this forest was slowly becoming a part of Mori. In simpler words, this forest was slowly turning into a smaller version of the underworld itself.

Mori was only for the dead. It had no place for the living. The aura of death in Mori was too much for a mortal to handle and as a result, it could easily corrupt a person's soul and thoughts.

The Suicide Forest was like this. Anyone with malicious thoughts about others or themselves who would come near this place would instantly be bewitched by the trapped and corrupted spirits within, leading them into taking their lives. The owner of the diary was only one of this forest's many victims.

If a normal person came here, they'd be fine as long as they didn't spend too much time here. But if they stayed too long, their thoughts would slowly be twisted until they'd eventually kill themselves.

"That is the case for now, but when this forest completely becomes a part of Mori in the future, no mortal will be safe from this place," he thought with narrowed eyes.

At that time, entering the forest would be certain death for a mortal no matter how sound their mind was.

Just as he was about to leave the place, Zenith paused when he felt a hand wrap around his ankle. He looked down, only to see the owner of the diary wake up and hold him back.

"Finally!" said the man with an incredibly hoarse voice. "Did you come here to save me?!"

Black tears streamed down his face as he looked at Zenith with hope.

"Please! Take me away from here! I... I don't want to stay here any longer!"

Zenith frowned at him.

"Let go."

"I'll do anything! I'll be your slave! Just get me out of here! I don't want to become like them!"

Seeing that the man wasn't listening, Zenith kicked his face and knocked him back.

The man was forced to let go. He groaned out as he felt his world spinning due to Zenith's sudden violence. When he reoriented himself, he leveled a glare at him.

"Why?" he asked through clenched teeth.

In response, Zenith only gave him a cold look.

"Why won't you help me?! Why?!"

Without any hint of emotion on his face, Zenith spoke, "Don't you realize it yet? It's too late for you."

The man must've already known. He just didn't dare accept that reality yet as he desperately clung to hope that he would one day be saved from this hell.

"You're already dead. You have become one of them."

A stunned expression appeared on the man— no, the corpse's face.

"Ah, is that so?" it asked listlessly before it looked at its rotting hands. "I didn't make it in the end."

The remaining hope that the corpse had was finally extinguished. It was forced to face reality. In the end, the corpse had brought its fate upon itself. This was the consequence of its action.

"I didn't make it in the end! I didn't make it! Hahaha!"

As the corpse began laughing hysterically, Zenith continued walking ahead.

He couldn't be bothered by a dead person.

Along his way, he encountered a few more oddities in this forest. There were many rotting corpses of beasts and men, watching him like a hawk from behind the trees. He ignored them since they were just watching him. He didn't want to waste his energy in this place.

A few minutes later, he finally arrived at the base of his destination.

The Silent Mountain.