Chapter 74: Valley of the Lily
DING!
[All systems online. Spawning in players.]
DING!
[Region Location: External District.]
[Welcome, Player, to the Trial World.]
Yuki opened his eyes and exhaled, his breath coming out in a thick puff of frost.
He hadn’t spawned in any of the settlements of his assigned nation. Instead, he found himself standing deep within a dense, silent forest whose trees reached high toward a strange violet sky. The sun was completely veiled behind heavy indigo clouds. The trees themselves were skeletal and long, their bare branches swaying in stiff, unnatural motions against the howling wind. Around him, the pitch-black bark of the trunks stood out in stark contrast against the deep snow.
Yuki began making his way through the winding trees, his senses heightened to catch any sign of life in the area.
However, the further he walked, the more his body tensed up. There was nothing around. No animals, no monsters, no signs of civilization—not even a single bird in the canopy or a rabbit hopping through the drifts. There was only him. The only sound in the entire forest was the eerie whistling of the wind moving through bare branches and the soft crunch of his own footsteps on packed snow.
After several kilometers, Yuki finally emerged from the confines of the ash-colored forest.
Greeting him on the other side was a vast, open expanse of vibrant frost lilies and frozen ponds that stretched as far as the eye could see. Yet, just like the forest, it was dead silent.
"What is this place?" Yuki muttered aloud, stepping carefully through the field. "It’s mesmerizing... a real sight to see. I wish the others were here to see this..." He let out a soft sigh, looking up at the sky. "I hope they’re doing okay."
Realizing he was alone, Yuki decided now was as good a time as any to inspect his pocket dimension. He held out his hand to summon his system, then caught himself.
Right... manual.
He opened his system panel, pulled out the strange metallic cube, pressed its center, and activated it. The cube unfolded like a tesseract, its core swirling with a mist of ethereal silver. Yuki stepped directly into the light.
His vision flashed white before settling, leaving him standing on a wide, empty platform floating in the middle of a vast, blank void.
Nothing inside at all, just like I thought.
Opening his system shop, Yuki began searching for seed packets to feed to the God Tree. He purchased everything he needed, though he quickly hit a wall—every item in the shop had a strict purchase limit of 5, with restocks occurring only once a week.
"Man, this is total BS..." Yuki groaned, stacking his newly purchased items in a corner of the platform.
With only the bare ground to work with, he stretched his arms, popping his joints. "Time to start building, I guess."
He headed outside to shovel dirt to serve as a foundation for his home. He had chosen to unlock a hardware store, a seed shop, and a furniture/appliance store. While he couldn’t level them up or buy high-tier upgrades due to his limited starting points, having those basic storefronts would eventually make constructing a modern home inside his pocket dimension much easier.
Once his points were completely drained, Yuki resumed his trek across the tundra to find the capital of the Snow Kingdom—or at least a nearby settlement.
He walked for miles, but the frozen wasteland felt truly endless. There was no end in sight, and the purple sky was rapidly darkening into night.
"Where even am I?" Yuki wondered aloud, perching atop a small hill as the freezing wind blew through his long, flowing hair. "Why is this place so empty? Where is everyone?"
DING!
[New Mission issued to all Inquisitors by the Queen!]
Target: Eliminate ’The Forgotten Soul, Lily’ in the Ruins of the North.
Penalty for Failure: -2 Points
Reward for Completion: +2 Points
Difficulty Level: 2
Time Limit: 48 Hours
Good luck, Players.
Yuki turned toward the north. In the distance, a tall golden beacon of light pierced through the darkness, reaching high into the sky.
"I guess that’s where I need to go," he murmured, skipping down the small hill. "Well, time to get walking."
After traveling for several more kilometers, Yuki finally arrived at the Ruins of the North.
The structure was a broken, ancient arena—or perhaps an open-air performance hall—long overgrown by the local flora. As he cautiously stepped inside, the faint sound of weeping reached his ears, accompanied by a hauntingly beautiful voice. It was a woman singing, begging and pleading for her killer to return and set her soul free.
Gods... this isn’t going to be easy, Yuki thought, his heart sinking as he readied his claws.
He stepped fully into the heart of the ruins and looked around at the scenery.
Above, the sky was not merely night—it was a breathing canvas of celestial wonder. A brilliant, slender sliver of the moon traced a pristine, glowing arch against the deep sapphire void, crowned by an ethereal aura of starlight. Cosmic clouds painted in shades of violet and incandescent blue drifted across the cosmos, while a gentle rain of shooting stars streaked softly down the sky like falling stardust.
Below, bathed in the moon’s luminescent veil, a field of pristine lilies bloomed in radiant indigo and soft lavender. Each petal seemed to absorb the starlight itself, shimmering with a gentle, magical glow as faint flecks of light floated lazily through the cool night air. It was a place where the boundaries between heaven and earth blurred—a tranquil sanctuary untouched by the chaos of the world.
In the center of the ruins sat a beautiful woman singing her heart out, weeping in the deep pain of her sorrow.
Enveloped in an overwhelming, abyssal darkness, she pulled her knees tightly to her chest, her small frame buried beneath the cascading folds of an ethereal, silvery-white gown. Long strands of luminescent white hair spilled around her like liquid starlight, pooling in the shadowy waters beneath her feet. Her violet-hued eyes glinted with unshed tears, heavy with a profound and ancient grief that echoed through the quiet dark.
Floating just beside her was a solitary, glowing jellyfish, casting a soft sapphire radiance across the rippling water. Its gentle bioluminescence illuminated her somber face—the lone light keeping vigil beside a broken maiden lost in the depths of her own despair.
Hearing her sing made Yuki freeze in his tracks. His chest tightened.
Why...? Why do I have to kill her as my very first task?
Yuki let out a frustrated sigh, turning to leave and accept the point penalty. But as he took a step back, he glanced up—only to find the weeping woman staring directly at him. Her violet eyes screamed a thousand silent words of pain, grief, and ancient hatred.
"They sent you to kill me, didn’t they?" she asked softly, her gaze falling back onto the glowing jellyfish beside her. "It’s okay... I don’t mind. If you must, then do what you have to do. I’m just glad to see another face after so long."
She offered him a bitter, heartbreaking smile. "Even if it’s the face of my killer."