Chapter 12

Translator: EndlessFantasy Translation

Editor: EndlessFantasy Translation

The skies were high, and the plains were wide.

Two men hobbled forward through the desolate plains.

“How much more road is there to cover, Gustav?”

Meng Yang panted heavily as he pushed through knee-high blades of grass. He walked on, exhausted, focusing his gaze on Gustav in front of him.

“We’re nearly there!”

An old voice traveled back to him from the front.

Gustav had one hand on a wooden staff he picked up somewhere, while the other supported his waist. He stared at the horizon of the desolate land.

“This area is the borderlands. We were lucky the entire journey… We wouldn’t be able to reach here so smoothly, if otherwise.”

As he talked, Gustav stuck his hand in the clumps of weeds around him and dug out the roots of two plants. He rubbed them on his robe casually before tossing one to Meng Yang. He tossed the other into his mouth and started to chew. 

“Fine!”

Meng Yang accepted the root and took a bite. It tasted sour and vile, but he had been unbearably hungry and thirsty this whole journey, and he had no choice.

He did not complain, though. He could only praise the old man inwardly. Despite his age (that Meng Yang did not know), and his wizened, scrawny physique, the old man had better stamina than him, a young man.

They had been making their way forward in the plains for half a day since their departure from the cave. Gustav had said time after time that they were nearly there, but Meng Yang saw nothing, not even a shadow, during the half-day they spent walking.

Life after transmigrating into a new world was not easy, as expected. Now he could only hope that his former cellmate, the old man could show his skills and find them a place to rest.

While conversing with Gustav during the journey, Meng Yang got some information about this world from Gustav.

He was standing in a wasteland. Or it could be said that this place was somewhere the average person living in the East and West Lands forgot about. It was called the Land of Despair or the Land of the Forgotten.

The Land of the Forgotten was at the north of both East and West Lands. Deserts and incomprehensibly deep trenches separated the southeast part of the land from the East Land, while ice and snow and raging oceans divided its southwest part away from the West Land.

There used to be no sign of human life on the land, but it gradually became a place where exiled criminals, nomads, and losers of political disputes settled down after beasts swarmed the lands a thousand years ago. 

The inhabitants of the East Land looked like him, while people in the West resembled Caucasians more.

Of course, that was irrelevant to Meng Yang. Looking for a place to settle down and build up a base was his priority right now.

According to Gustav, the people in the Land of the Forgotten settled in one of its corners. A pig-headed monster alone could defeat ten humans in a direct skirmish, and pig-headed monsters were among the least powerful creatures here.

The two men made their way forward through the bare wasteland. After a long time, a black line surfaced on the horizon. It became clearer as they covered more distance. It was shown to be a massive, dark building, shrouded in a thin white fog. A white forest surrounded the building.

“We’re here! We’ve reached our destination.” Gustav, who was standing in front of him, suddenly let out a long sigh at the sight of the building in front of them. His sigh seemed to carry countless memories and desolate feelings.

Meng Yang followed behind the old man. It was gradually made clear to him that a massive city stood in front of him. The city walls spanned the wasteland. They were so expansive, their corners were beyond his line of sight. 

There was no signs of life in the city whatsoever. It stood desolate, in the middle of the wasteland. 

As the two men approached, Meng Yang discovered that the white forest outside the dark city walls was not, in actuality, in a forest.

Bones. Countless bones.

They piled up, creating a forest.

Rib upon rib, as majestic and ordered as the tallest trees. Skulls as big as houses. Femurs and ribs a dozen meters long piled upon one another in disorderly crisscrosses. One could imagine that a herd of massive creatures had lived here once from the sight of those bones. They had all died out, though.

There seemed to be a deathly aura of desolation around. There were no birds. No insects. Fear thrummed in Meng Yang’s chest.

He could not help quickening his steps at the sight of Gustav walking in front of him. At this moment, Meng Yang felt something beside his ankle. He lost his balance and fell down to the ground.

Meng Yang lowered his gaze toward his foot. He had stepped on a white silk thread that was strangely resilient. It had tripped him.

Squeak—

As Meng Yang fell, a strange sound came from inside the pile of bones. 

From the middle of the forest of bones, three colorful black widow spiders as large as toilet sinks crawled out on their eight long legs. It was evident then that the silk thread that had tripped Meng Yang was came from them.

“They’re enormous!”

Meng Yang was instantly shocked by the three spiders. Humans’ phobia of insects was a natural instinct, especially when their size was of a certain level. 

The squeaking continued. The three spiders had swooped down almost instantly at the sight of Meng Yang falling down.

Meng Yang reached down hastily to untangle the thread around his ankle. The thread was abnormally resilient, though, and was also sticky. It latched itself tightly on his ankle, and he could not get rid of it.

Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!

Meng Yang heard a litany of crisp thuds.

Gustav, who had been in front of him, had returned before he realized it. He twirled the staff in his hands swiftly, repelling the three spiders with a deftness that belied his age. 

“These are black widow spiders, one of the most common predators in the Land of Despair. Aside from their ability to trap their prey with their silk, they aren’t much of a fight.”

Gustav kicked the spiders hard until they exploded into greenish goo before walking toward Meng Yang.

“Why are those weird creatures everywhere in this godforsaken place?” Meng Yang spat. He had to tear the hem of his pants off mercilessly before he could free himself from the sticky spider silk.

“This is the nature of the Land of Despair.”

Gustav shook his head, sighing. Noticing Meng Yang’s tired visage, he said distantly, “I think that you shouldn’t have banished your creatures. If they were here, it might be easier for you. I heard that there’s a vehicle in the East Land. The master can command their servants to carry himself around on it.”

“It’s used to carry someone around? Is it a litter? Then… Forget about it!”

Meng Yang waved his hand listlessly. Gustav did not know what the vehicle looked like, but he did.

He thought of the gamers he had summoned. Forget about finding a litter. Even if he did find one, he could give up on asking them to carry him around. Haha!

If they had to cover so much road, they would either exit the game directly or slice him, the NPC, up for drops.

Of course, the main problem was Meng Yang’s fear that the gamers would not realize that this world was a real Other World instead of a mere immersive RPG.

The NPCs in RPGs normally awarded something to the gamers after they completed a mission, but he had nothing to give. Affinity points were a little too abstract. Gold coins, EXP that could help them level up, or some spells, on the other hand, would do.

“Be careful, we’ve already arrived at the City of Despair.” Meng Yang had expressed his opinion on the matter, so Gustav did not continue advising him. He could only remind him softly before going ahead to lead the way.

The city walls loomed nearer after they passed by the forest of skeletons. It was only then they could see for themselves the majestic exterior of the building.

It was incredibly wide and tall, probably spanning hundreds of kilometers. The imposing city walls loomed over them, splitting the wasteland.

The seemingly majestic city was in ruins now, though. Much of the gargantuan city walls bordering the city had already collapsed, plants growing out of the cracks. Stones and miscellaneous objects were scattered everywhere, piling up into hills and mountains.

Meng Yang stood in front of the city walls. He could see the gates, seemingly forced open by some colossal beast in the past—countless tiny cracks could be seen. He looked up, and there was an array of terrifying scratches—about a dozen of them—marring a stretch of the walls that was otherwise in good condition. Judging from the angle they were in and their outward appearance, some massive creature had made them with its claws.

He then looked on, his gaze sweeping over the entire long stretch of the collapsed walls. He saw more of those ghastly scars. Craters, claw marks, and teeth marks of various sizes, so many that he could barely count them.

There were even more of those collapsed bricks and stones and dilapidated buildings. Wide expanses of land were now covered by black tar. The stone bricks and the floor seemed to have meshed together—that was what fires long ago had left behind.

“A city like this… Like this…”

Meng Yang had seen his fill of tall skyscrapers in modern society, but he still felt a surge of strong emotions rise up in his chest at the sight of such a majestic city in the middle of the wasteland and imagining the ordeals that it might have weathered.

The forests of skeletons outside the walls and the damage inside were enough nightmare fuel despite them not witnessing the terrible happenings in the past.

“Gustav, what happened here?” Meng Yang turned to ask Gustav.

“What else? The City of Despair fell.” Gustav sounded sad. “This was our last refuge, but every city, no matter how grand they are, is destined to fall. It’s only a matter of time.”

“Refuge?” Meng Yang looked at Gustav, gaze questioning.

“In the Land of the Forgotten, humans are only outsiders.” Gustav nodded. The solemnness on his face became clearer, traces of his longing for life and acceptance of death apparent.

During his short interactions with the man, Meng Yang could feel Gustav’s resignation, but at the same time, he was also unwilling to succumb. It was a paradoxical emotion.

Without hope, Gustav could quietly accept the fact that he would eventually be the pig-headed monster’s food, but when he saw a possibility of survival, he would have hope. He seemed to be strangely wise and calm when it came to the matter of life and death.

“Let’s go in!”

Gustav stood by the walls for a long time, silent. He turned, only to meet a taken aback Meng Yang’s gaze. He sighed softly. “Ever since the City of Despair fell, everyone left is barely standing. I’ve left for quite a while. I don’t know what’s happening inside now.”