There was once a supreme god who led the gods to explore the original continent and named it Saint Veronica.

On the border of Saint Veronica, there is a vast primitive forest, where countless adorable and friendly little inhabitants live. It is the Eternal Forest bestowed upon us!

Our protagonist also embarked on his new adventure in this forest (but not now).

"Hey, do you want to know who I am, always mumbling here? I am just a commoner from this forest...Nice to meet you!"

To thank the bear clan for building houses for us (money is naturally useless), but since there are more people, we can also chop wood on the mountain.

So besides the wood we need, we also need to send some to Uncle Bear.

Enduring it goes without saying, she, who was born in a martial arts family, is already proficient in chopping wood.

Don't be deceived by her petite and delicate figure. At first glance, she looks like a fragile little lolita, but she can chop wood faster than me, an old lady.

But...

"Oh my, I'm so tired. I can't do it anymore!" Chiyo, who had already been sweating profusely, angrily slammed the axe on the ground.

In contrast, Chiyo has been hailed as a beautiful and rich lady since she was young, also known as a white beauty.

She couldn't even fill half a basket of firewood after a whole day.

As the sun set, we finally managed to bring back the firewood we chopped for the day to the cabin. Our down jackets made us hot and thirsty today.

Looking at the attire of a certain unknown girl, it was lightweight and conducive to movement. Maybe we should ask Uncle Joseph where he gets his attire?

But to fulfill our promise, we invited the handsome and kind-hearted Joseph, Uncle Joe, for the unknown girl first.

"Well, I understand the general situation of the matter already. I also know quite a bit about the legend of the mirage!"

Uncle Joseph's face turned serious as he told the tragic story.

From Joseph's perspective...

6000 years ago, it was after I arrived in Saint Veronica that I heard this story.

As you can see, the forest we live in is not affected by the seasons, even in deep winter, the leaves of the Eternal Forest are always green.

On the mainland, different types of flowers can almost be found here, from delicate sunflowers to ferocious man-eating flowers, everything can be found here.

Although we who live on the border of Saint Veronica lead a simple and ordinary life,

we never yearn for the luxurious life of the nobles in the center of the mainland, Colmar Empire.

Because we enjoy foraging in the forest and the abundance of oxygen that is several times better than in the city, those are the reasons we stay in the forest.

...Omitted thousands of words...

And finally, the most important thing!

Uncle Bear seemed to be in very high spirits and lifted his head proudly as he told the history of their race.

"Uncle...!" (Ignoring completely)

Uncle Joseph spent a whole hour without getting to the point, and I have lost patience!

"Uncle -!"

"Huh? What... What's wrong, Miss Youmu? Is my storytelling not good enough?"

"Ugh, Uncle, you've been talking for so long that it put me to sleep."

I pointed to the other two who were already lying down (Shinobu and Chiyo), as well as the nameless girl who was barely keeping herself awake and accused him.

"Just don't talk about useless things and get to the point!"

"No, storytelling would lose its meaning without serialization..."

Why is he suddenly lecturing me in an elder's tone again?

"Hey, I'm telling you..."

"Oh, it's getting late today, so let's end it here."

Damn, there are too many loopholes. I can't keep up.

"Uncle, you are so indifferent..."

"No, you misunderstood. If it gets any later, my wife will scold me again. I'm scared... Just thinking about it scares me. Well, bye!"

Wait!

After greeting and acting cute, he disappeared in the blink of an eye.

Only I, with a face full of frustration, and the nameless girl who fell asleep due to exhaustion, along with my two followers who had already fallen asleep like dead pigs, were left.

"Okay, let's just leave it at that... Huh?"

The nameless girl was mumbling in her sleep, her words mixed with a sobbing tone.

"Wuwuwu... Mom, no!"

"..."

Clap, clap, clap!

Juxi did a somersault and took a few steps forward in momentum.

After landing solidly, the floor tiles behind me collapsed again, connecting with the stairs of the next floor.

"Xiaoxi-!"

Naiyu, who was left on the previous floor, was trapped, but now on the floor below...!

A group of malevolent spirits followed the sound of the collapse and blocked his way. Their pale cheeks were even losing their hair, but they still aimed at Juxi with a sense of resentment.

"Oh, what nonsense are they talking about?" Juxi thought, feeling goosebumps all over his body from the chilling voices.

Now there's a solid wall behind me, and the elevator on the left has lost power. There's no way out, except for a iron door on the right. From the doorplate that can still be vaguely seen, it should be a small room like a storage room.

"Hmph, ordinary storage rooms usually don't have any extra exits, but on my side...!"

Judging from the number, it can be guessed that the front door of this building has been blocked.

But they can accurately identify our positions. Are they all equipped with dog noses?

Oh well, I can't worry about that right now... Bang!

Juxi grabbed the handle and tried to pull open the iron door.

"...Oh no."

God's prank--- it was locked. He is in big trouble now!

The spirits of those hateful blood (spirit power) kept approaching Juxi, and he couldn't find anywhere... anywhere!

No choice but to make a compromise.

With a bang at the critical moment, Juxi jumped into the garbage chute.

It's narrow and stinks here, but as long as he can survive, it's fine.

"Am I on the first floor now? But I've been sliding for so long from the third floor."

Cough, cough, cough, phew, phew, phew!

The night slowly recedes, and most of the malevolent spirits begin to disperse. But there are still a few wandering in this building, so he has to be extra careful.

The square on the first floor is still crowded... uh, let's not talk about it.

"I hope Yu Nai is okay, she can't handle this."

Juxi doesn't have time to worry about his own safety right now, he first thinks of Yu Nai, his lover, older sister, and childhood friend.

"Xiaoxi, come here!"

"Yu Nai, are you okay?"

They are separated by a layer of toughened glass that not even a rat can pass through. Outside the balcony with sunlight, Yu Nai must be safe.

Because the ground and colors have started to return to normal, as long as they encounter sunny weather, they will vanish under the sun's exposure.

But Juxi's situation is not optimistic. Although the outside is filled with sunlight, the interior is still gloomy.

Wherever there is gray, it means that there may still be malevolent spirits, and the malevolent spirits that cannot ascend will become sources of terrible calamity--- mirages!

"Xiaoxi... Xiaoxi, there's an emergency exit on the left. I'm trying to pick the lock with a wire, and then you can escape."

"Um, let me think."

Juxi rubbed his chin and carefully observed the surroundings. It shouldn't be difficult to reach the emergency exit.

But what used to be just a wall away as an emergency exit could now pose deadly danger.

"It seems there is no other way... Okay then, let's do it, but be cautious at all times."

"Got it."

Yu Nai readily agreed and went to fiddle with the lock on the emergency door.

"Stay safe!"

"You only need to say it once!"

Indeed, she is carefree, but... it's kind of nice to maintain an optimistic outlook, especially now.

But he must warn Yu Nai about this, because since the first day he came to this world, he realized that not all malevolent spirits cannot walk in the sunlight.

"Yu Nai, always be vigilant around you, as someone with a hammer could appear at any moment!"

Even just the day before yesterday at dusk, Juxi discovered something similar to a large monster dragging a hammer around the city, near the downtown area. Although their movement was particularly slow, their strength was unusually strong. A single blow from their hammer would likely not leave a trace of bone!

Juxi made an effort to slow down quietly and avoid those creatures searching for them in every corner.

The journey went surprisingly smoothly, effortlessly avoiding surveillance, and Yu Nai said the door would be quickly forced open.

Only then did Juxi catch their breath, but the reality was obviously not as simple as they had imagined.

"Darn it, this door is too heavy!"

Juxi exerted all their strength to hit the door, but this single strike triggered the alarm here.

"Buzz...!"

"Ow...!"

As the alarm sounded, the sound of something banging on the security door behind Juxi followed closely. From the sound, it could be discerned that this creature was in a league of its own compared to those scoundrels!

Bang!!

With three punches and kicks, the security door was deformed. It was estimated that the next kick... Bang!

The security door flew out instantly, smashed into the opposite wall, and shattered all over the ground.

"Ah, no one can leave here!"

It actually spoke, in human language?!

Seeing it slowly raise the heavy iron hammer, Juxi's face gradually became pale with fear of death.

"Xiao Xi, what was that sound just now!"

"Never mind, hurry up!"

This was already a critical life and death situation, and Juxi must not die in a place like this because they still had unfinished tasks to complete.

"Put more effort into it..."

Ten meters, nine meters... five meters, four meters, three meters.

The heavy iron door finally showed signs of movement... two meters!

The huge hammer was already raised above Juxi's head, about to strike down.

Puff!

The door was smashed open...