Cheat Awakening

Chapter 260: Chapter 260. The Haunted Town

"What the f*ck?! Myne, why on earth did you bring me to such a creepy place? No matter how hurried you were, at least you shouldn't have brought me to such a ghostly place, right?" Velvet complained in a trembling voice while staring at the scary view in front of him, which was no different from a description of a real living hell.

Suddenly, a cold wind swept through, sending shivers down their spines. The ground beneath them felt unstable as if reality itself had slipped away, leaving them suspended in a surreal nightmare.

Before them lay the once-thriving town, which both of them remembered as new and prosperous just two days ago, now engulfed in an eerie silence that was deafening.

The air was thick with an otherworldly stillness as if the town itself held its breath in anticipation of the gruesome tableau that unfolded, an ominous fog clung to the surroundings, giving a feeling of mystery and the danger hidden in it, waiting for them to enter.

The entrance door of the house in which they spend time which now even in their nightmare they don't want to remember again, framed by warped timbers and peeling paint, seemed to mock their naive hopes of escape.

The town, once alive with the hum of daily life, now lay in ruins, its prosperity swallowed by an inky darkness that devoured everything in its path. The blackness was so complete that not even the brightest torch could make it vanish.

The streets, now rivers of coagulated blood, squelched beneath their every step. The stench of decay and the metallic tang of blood mingled in the air, assaulting their senses with an overpowering cocktail of horror. It was a smell that clawed at the back of their throats, threatening to choke them with each breath.

It now became a haunting gallery of horror, with the lifeless bodies of hundreds upon hundreds of townspeople strewn about, their limbs contorted in grotesque angles, frozen in the throes of agony. Gruesome wounds adorned their bodies—bites that seemed to have torn away chunks of flesh, and cuts that defied any semblance of humanity.

Their contorted limbs and twisted expressions bore witness to the unimaginable suffering they had endured in their final moments.

As Velvet and Myne, who was now literally hiding behind her, eyes were drawn to the nightmarish tableau that sprawled before them, the once-picturesque houses loomed over them like spectral sentinels.

Their facades were scarred by the echoes of a violent conflict, broken windows gaped like hollow eye sockets, and charred remnants of once-thriving homes whispered of a malevolence that had left its mark. The structures seemed to lean in, as if conspiring to keep Velvet and Myne ensnared in this waking nightmare.

The houses, once sanctuaries, now served as gruesome gallows for the women who had become the final victims of this malevolent force. Suspended in the air in front of the houses like decorations, their lifeless forms told a haunting tale of torment. The different-sized wounds on their bodies painted a vivid narrative of prolonged agony, a story that transcended the boundaries of comprehension.

The roads, once familiar and traversed by the living, now sustained a sickening river of blood, as if a crimson rain had fallen just moments before. The air was tainted with the putrid stench of decay, an olfactory assault that overwhelmed the senses. The very essence of the town seemed to be drenched in a malevolent darkness that clung to everything it touched.

And so, Velvet and Myne stood paralyzed, their bodies trembling not just from the biting cold of the night but from the palpable horror that gripped them. The once-prosperous town, now a twisted mausoleum, bore witness to a cataclysmic event that defied explanation. The once-vibrant streets had become a theater of the macabre, where the curtain had fallen on the last act of unimaginable suffering.

"Velvet, do you love me?" After trembling for five minutes like an old grandma, Myne gathered his courage and broke the eerie silence.

"If this is not a trick question, then of course, yes. Otherwise, do you think you'd still be standing here asking me such an idiotic question?" Velvet replied, tightening her grip on Myne's hands. Despite her bravery after coming out of the house, she couldn't muster the courage to walk into this ghostly haunted town.

"Then for the sake of our love, let's go back to the house. I don't want to walk in this fog spread everywhere in the town. Although it is not as dense as outside the town, my knowledge is giving me a warning that if we go into this fog, we might not die from ghosts' direct attacks, but the chance of getting scared to death is very high, at least for me."

Hearing Myne's reasoning, Velvet fell into a moment of silence as if she were thinking something. She then pulled Myne a bit away from the main door of the house they were in before speaking...

"Myne, before listening to what I am about to say, first take some deep breaths... Good. Now let me climb on your back, as this is very important if you don't want to lose me and do solo adventure in such a scary place."

Saying such, Velvet climbed on Myne's back and glued herself behind him like a koala, wrapping her arms and legs tightly around his body.

"Now slowly look back and lift your head toward the sky calmly."

Although Myne couldn't understand what Velvet was trying to do, but since he still blindly believed in her, he confusedly did what she told him. But soon, he regretted his decision because right on top of the entrance door were the naked, rotten bodies of a family of three – one man and two women – hanging there.

Insects could clearly be seen crawling on various parts of their bodies, but compared to the horror Myne was witnessing, this could be considered very normal. All three of the dead bodies had an eerie smile on their bloody, rotten mouths, staring at them while their not-so-well-conditioned hands tried to cut off the rope with their nails, tying them in the air.

"Ahhhhh..."

After witnessing such an eye-opening scene, Myne displayed grandmaster-level expressions. He let out an ear-piercing scream out of his lungs, enough to let the entire town know about their location, and blindly started running without caring about where he was going.

Behind him, the three people – or ghosts – witnessed Myne running with Velvet on his back at unimaginable speed, speechlessly staring at their fading backs in the fog. All three of them looked at each other before the husband and wife, perhaps, nodded their heads with an understanding expression. Then, both of them grabbed their daughter's arms, one each, and pulled them out from her body.

Their daughter clearly didn't have thinking abilities like them, as she didn't make any movement even if her arms were getting pulled out by her parents.

With the help of the arm bone of their daughter, the husband and wife soon broke free from the thick rope around their necks, as if they had done it multiple times, and quickly chased after Myen and Velvet, along with dozens of other ghostly figures from their neighbouring houses.

...

10 minutes before the bell rang. Stay connected via M V L

"Knock-knock... Can I come in?"

"Grandma, why do you always behave this way? This is your own house; you don't need to ask every time you want to enter my room."

A cute little girl, around 10 years old, opened her room door with a pouted expression and spoke with fake anger while inviting her grandma into her room.

"Haha, sorry, honey, but I read somewhere that children at your age care a lot about their privacy, especially when they have a special guest in their room. They can easily get angry if you overlook these small details." The grandma, with a smile on her face, rubbed her granddaughter's hair and walked into the room, holding a silver tray filled with various sweets.

"Sorry, Tailar. I just went to the guard tower to ask about your grandfather, but they still have no information about him. It seems like he is inside someone's house; otherwise, if he was out, there is no way we couldn't have found him yet... Ahh, don't be so sad. We will try again tomorrow. Anyway, it's not like he can always stay in someone else's house, right?

Oh, my, look at the time. I wasted so much time out that I completely forgot about dinner. You guys play; I'll make dinner quickly."

Saying such the kind-hearted grandma, who met Tailar at the beginning and had been helping him search for his grandpa Kane till now, walked out of the room and gently closed the door.

She looked at the clock on the wall and, while humming a tune, which sounded more like an incantation, started sealing all the house doors and windows with wooden planks instead of preparing the dinner she had mentioned.

"Don't be sad, Tailar. We will soon find your grandpa. Be patient and optimistic. I think we should go to the mayor tomorrow. He is a kind person and will definitely understand your situation. He will help you search for your grandpa.

You might be hungry, right? Here, eat these cookies. They are my grandma's special cookies. She only makes them when we have guests; otherwise, no matter how many times I tell her, she always refuses, saying that it is not the right time."

The little girl said with an excited face while handing Tailar palm-sized cookies. Tailar, who had been staying with this little girl for the past two days, took them with a helpless smile and started eating while discussing various childish things to keep his new friend from being sad.

Soon, they finished all the cookies merrily, not realizing it, and lay down on the floor while rubbing their little tummies.

*DING!!*

*DINGGG!!*

*DINGGGGGG!!!*

"What is that sound?" Tailar suddenly stood up, hearing the bell ringing. He curiously walked toward the window to see what was going on, wondering why the people were ringing the bell.

"Oh, that must be the sound of the Bell of Awakening... seems like the festival is finally over, and everyone now has to go back to work."

The little girl said in an unnatural voice while walking toward her wardrobe. If Tailar were like Myne, who had read a lot of horror novels, he might have definitely felt something wrong with his new friend's voice and especially her movement. Alas, he didn't think much about it and continued staring outside, especially at the festival area where the lights were getting out visible to the naked eye.

"But it is still so dark. Aren't they going to wait until that weird fog vanishes and the sun shines again?" Tailar asked while rubbing his eyes. Suddenly, he felt extremely sleepy, everything around him started spinning weirdly, and soon he collapsed on the ground powerlessly. The only thing he heard before completely passing out was...

"Sun never shines in this town."