In the hotel room, Kevin sat quietly at a small side table.
At this moment, the intelligence exchange had just concluded. They had gained a lot tonight, achieving a deeper understanding of the mysterious village. However, many challenges still lay before them, primarily two tricky issues remained: the mysterious over here sound outside, and the existence within serving as the sacrifice.
Regarding the over here sound, they still had no clue what this resentment outside was. The villagers, unable to leave, had no related information whatsoever and didn't even know of its existence. The over here sound could not enter, and the villagers inside could not leave—they were completely separate.
As for the sacrifice, analysis confirmed that it was by no means something that could be easily eliminated, and it might not even be solvable by force. This conclusion was reached because this Secret Realm had existed for nearly three hundred years. During these long years, Kevin did not believe that no one had tried to solve these problems. After all, the people in the village also yearned for freedom. For people like Bian Locke, the cage formed by the village could not trap them at all.
Whether it was capable individuals from the outside world or those within the village who longed for liberation, they must have tried hard. And the fact that Bian Locke could think of such a method clearly indicated that someone had used it before. Yet, to this day, the problem persisted.
Was it due to insufficient force? For hundreds of years, the village had maintained contact with the Hunter Association. Logically, it should have been possible to find someone with enough power to solve the problem.
Therefore, there must be a core issue that had not yet been discovered, and it was certainly not something that could be solved by relying solely on force. If it was due to insufficient force, then Kevin's force was obviously also insufficient.
However, time was pressing—only one month remained.
Kevin even speculated that the over here sound and the sacrifice might be the same entity. However, there was no time to delve into it now. The information they had gathered had reached its limit for the current stage.
Fortunately, the information he now possessed was sufficient.
Ding!
His phone suddenly received a new text message.
Kevin glanced at the time—it was past midnight, now December 1st.
He opened the message and looked at the prophetic poem.
"The Saintess on the tower gazes at the starry sky, and the one who turns into a meteor comes in response to the ruby eyes. The firmament bestows blessings, and twin stars cling tightly due to a red string."
"Your star has already sunk into the hourglass, and the time for gazing is running out. Blindly pursuing, yet never delving into what the whispers in your ear truly mean."
"This is a cage trapped by a giant serpent of resentment that should not exist here. The meteor from the heavens, an untimely descent, is a thorn in the serpent's eye."
"The sands of the hourglass are already at the bottom, the greedy serpent's eyes are already impatient, the giant serpent's gaping maw devours starlight, and the blade capable of slaying the giant serpent is already tightly held, yet powerless to wield due to ignorance."
After reading the prophetic poem, Kevin couldn't help but frown. This seemed to foretell a less optimistic outcome.
The first paragraph, combined with the information known tonight, led him to deduce that he was indeed guided to this place by a wish made by someone else.
The second piece of information was crucial. Kevin's brows furrowed tightly when he saw this paragraph. He already knew that Melusine had little time left—only one month. This meant that if he hadn't seen this prophecy, he would have tried every possible way to find a method to lift the curse. But even knowing it now, he feared that if he told Melusine, she would face death calmly. After all, if the festival and curse could not be resolved, Melusine would not let the entire village fall into an abyss of eternal damnation just for her own survival.
The third paragraph contained the most information.
Could the root of the so-called curse actually be a giant serpent? Or was this just a symbol? Judging from the context, it most likely referred to some kind of serpentine creature, and the village's curse and the cage it formed were all the "masterpiece" of this serpent.
Kevin was secretly surprised that he had not discovered any relevant clues before. He had initially thought that the curse was caused by the resentment triggered by villagers over-consuming surrounding animals. This view was not only confirmed on the Hunter Association's official website but also seemed very reasonable based on what they had learned in the village. The manifestations of the curse on the villagers also seemed to confirm this point.
However, this prophetic poem told him that from the most basic information, they had been wrong.
Kevin pondered whether this serpent could be the one near Melusine. He quickly shook his head, thinking this possibility was too low. He was more inclined to believe that Melusine's special status as a Saintess was what connected her to all of this. After all, it was clearly not just anyone who could become a Saintess and be sacrificed to the "giant serpent."
The prophecy, with Kevin as the main subject, provided limited information, essentially offering him a direction to break the deadlock. This giant serpent regarded him as a thorn in its eye—either because of his own uniqueness or because he was too close to Melusine. Combining this with the fourth paragraph, the answer seemed very clear: it was precisely because of his uniqueness.
The meaning of the fourth paragraph was very clear: the festival was about to begin, and he had not yet found a solution, and Melusine would ultimately be sacrificed. The last sentence indicated that he did indeed possess some special ability, enough to kill this giant serpent, but he was completely unaware of it. This also explained why the giant serpent regarded him as a thorn in its eye.
Thus, Melusine's wish became apparent. What she wanted might not be a simple romantic partner, but a hero who could solve the curse and restore freedom to the village. This was not a prince-and-princess love story, but a chapter of adventure and romance akin to Dragon Quest.
Kevin deleted the text message, a faint smile on his face, then collapsed heavily onto the bed.
Although many doubts remained, he had undoubtedly found a direction to break the deadlock.
The over here sound seemed to be the key.
He needed to delve into the existence of this thing.
It seemed he would have to go out tomorrow.
The next morning, Kevin prepared the necessary supplies early.
"Are you really going alone?" Buhara looked at Kevin, a hint of worry in his eyes.
Early in the morning, Kevin had informed everyone that he planned to go outside the Secret Realm alone, following the guidance of the over here sound to uncover the truth.
"Yes. It's more convenient for me to act alone. A large group is too big a target and easily exposed. I'll be more flexible going alone. Even if I encounter danger, I'm confident I can escape," Kevin explained.
Buhara had to admit that Kevin made sense. Kevin was the strongest in the team, and heading in the direction of the over here sound would inevitably involve risks. If multiple people went together and encountered danger, it would probably be difficult to escape unscathed. But if Kevin went alone, with his abilities, if he ran at full speed, others might not be able to catch him. This operation was not a hunt, but more like reconnaissance, and Kevin, who could fight and run, was the most suitable to go alone.
"Alright, then be careful," Buhara said helplessly.
"What about the Saintess?" Menchi reminded him.
"You explain it for me," Kevin said, then walked out the door.
Then, he saw Lorian pushing Melusine toward him.
Melusine saw Kevin's attire, staring at him, a hint of regret in her eyes. "Are you going out?"
Kevin nodded. "There's something very important I need to handle."
"Alone?"
"It's more convenient to act alone."
Hearing this, a hint of worry flashed in Melusine's eyes, but she knew she couldn't dissuade Kevin, so she waved at him. Kevin stepped forward and half-knelt before Melusine. Melusine extended her hands, gently embraced Kevin, and whispered close to his ear: "Do you… do you like me?"
"Yes, I do," Kevin replied softly.
In an instant, a pink aura flowed from Melusine's hands into Kevin's body.
This aura did not take effect immediately but remained quietly within him.
"Can this ability be used like this?" Kevin was secretly surprised. He had already experienced it once, so he wasn't caught off guard. However, the ability to remain dormant within his body was something he hadn't expected.
"This is a gift, you know. Of course, a gift has to be opened to see what's inside," Melusine said with a grin.
Kevin nodded in sudden realization. "So if I open it, will I grow wings?"
However, Melusine shook her head. "A gift is meant to bring surprises, so we don't know what it is yet."
Kevin understood that there was a certain randomness involved, but it should be a pseudo-randomness, likely determined by certain conditions.
"But the gift will definitely be to your liking," Melusine added.
After bidding farewell to Melusine, Kevin quickly left the village.
His purpose for this trip was very clear: he wanted to follow the over here sound in his ears to find out what exactly "Little Black" was.
Along the way, Kevin moved quickly while pondering the contents of the prophetic poem.
The poem mentioned that the giant snake should not exist here—but what exactly did "here" refer to? Was it this village, this continent, or the entire world? This description was too vague to judge.
Recalling the previous crises he encountered—the raven and the Griffin—the god mentioned by the raven was undoubtedly a powerful being. He had always thought that this god was the over here sound, especially after the sudden crisis during his first hunt, which further solidified his belief. But now it seemed he might have been mistaken.
If he were to think from a different perspective, completely reversing his previous thoughts—
Could the shadowy figure formed by the over here sound be warning him?
The first time, the shadowy figure had suddenly appeared on their way back, driven them out of the forest, and then no longer bothered them. Was it possible that the giant snake was about to act then, and the over here sound had given an early warning, allowing them to escape a calamity?
The second time, on the hunting day, the shadowy figure had also appeared first. Kevin wasn't outside at the time, so he couldn't hear the sound, and it was a while before other monsters launched an attack. And the attack targets were interesting: one was the nearest villager, who was covered in tentacles, fell unconscious after being captured, and later suffered multiple fractures. The other target was Saintess Melusine—she was snatched from the crowd by a monster. Fortunately, Kevin arrived in time to save Melusine, and she was unharmed.
Did the giant snake not want to harm Melusine, but rather take her away to protect her first, and only then begin its widespread attack? Judging from the situation in the prophetic poem, perhaps the giant snake was more worried that Kevin would be detrimental to the Saintess.
The third attack was even more direct. Although the shadowy figure did not appear, the whispers in his ears were exceptionally intense. Judging from the fact that intelligent creatures were among the attackers sent this time, the over here sound should not be allied with them.
Kevin should have noticed this at the time, because the over here sound's voice kept getting louder and more distinct, as if it were tipping them off. Unfortunately, they hadn't realized this and had mistakenly equated the over here sound with the attackers.
Now it seemed the over here sound's purpose was still unclear, and the giant snake appeared to be able to control creatures within the Secret Realm. However, the giant snake's control over creatures seemed to have a certain limit—otherwise the first two attacks would not have sent creatures one by one, but rather in large swarms. The third attack had also only sent two powerful attackers at the very end. Under normal circumstances, the cooperation of those two would have been enough to solve most problems.
Unfortunately, they had encountered Kevin.
Kevin's steps were unceasing, and the sound in his ears grew louder.
Two days later, he arrived at the foot of a mountain.
This mountain was not much different from the surrounding forests—the only special thing was that the trees on the mountain were sparse, looking somewhat bare.
At this moment, the over here sound in his ears became even more frequent.
Roar!
A monster resembling a tiger suddenly appeared. The difference was that this monster also had a pair of horn-like growths on its head, and its body was extremely large—though not as big as an elephant, it was roughly the size of a camel.
"Don't block the way."
Kevin acted swiftly, charging directly toward the monster and throwing a punch.
Bang! With a loud crash, this camel-sized horned tiger was sent flying, breaking a swath of trees before falling silent.
"If you want to attack me, then send a Phantom Beast—if you have any left," Kevin shouted loudly.
If Phantom Beasts came to him, it would be much better than him searching everywhere. He wasn't afraid—he was even somewhat anticipating it.
After the battle, the sound in his ears immediately quieted down.
As expected. My previous thoughts might indeed have been wrong.
This also indirectly proved that the over here sound was indeed formed by resentment, without independent intelligence—merely a programmatic, instinctive reaction.
Kevin sighed helplessly, pondering as he continued to climb the mountain, following the sound.
Upon reaching the summit, he easily found the source of the sound—a cave.
Kevin first performed a detailed scan of the cave with his Nen, confirming that the source of the resentment was inside.
Kevin was all too familiar with resentment.
He carefully formed a defensive layer of his Nen around his body and slowly walked into the cave. For others, this might be difficult to do, but Kevin's ability to discern and resist resentment was extremely strong—it was not easy for any post-mortem Nen to affect him.
Entering the cave, Kevin found traces of human habitation, but the time was too long ago—at least over a hundred years. Perhaps due to the influence of resentment, the entire cave was unusually cold, yet it was very clean, with no spiders or insects in sight.
Kevin walked all the way to the bottom of the cave and saw a skeleton. The flesh and clothes on the skeleton had long since weathered away, but the resentment was not coming from this skeleton.
Could this be the prototype of "Little Black"? Why didn't it come out?
He squatted down and began to examine it carefully.
The only notable thing in the entire cave was a small hole next to the skeleton, where something seemed to be hidden—and this was the source of the resentment.
Kevin picked up a few wooden sticks and carefully dug out the object inside. It was an unknown metal box. This box was about the size of a head, wrapped in bandages that had turned yellow, but it was inscribed with divine characters, and the Nen emanating from it was still clearly visible.
"This Nen can last so long?"
Kevin was amazed. Although he didn't know how long this person had been dead, it was certainly over a hundred years—perhaps even from the time the curse first appeared, which was nearly three hundred years ago. After such a long time, Nen still remained on it, and it wasn't post-mortem Nen. How terrifying must this deceased person's strength have been in life?
Kevin carefully examined it, and after confirming there was no danger, he gently removed the bandage.
The metal box was made of an unknown material. He tried to channel his Nen, gently touching the box.
The lid opened automatically, and dark resentment permeated from within, but it did not affect Kevin at all. These resentments seemed to have no offensive power.
Inside the box, the source of the resentment was a book—or more accurately, a notebook.
Kevin protected his hand with Nen and gently touched it.
The moment he touched it, the post-mortem Nen activated.
"Dream on."
Kevin immediately circulated his Nen to counter it. He didn't forcefully push through, but merely blocked the speed at which the post-mortem Nen was spreading, wanting to see what the resentment on this notebook meant.
Transmitting information?
This resentment seemed to want to transmit information?
It seems I'll have to endure it physically.
With a syringe ready, Kevin slightly eased his obstruction, and information instantly flooded his mind.