Boundless white mist drifted through the dense forest, more like some kind of "special substance" akin to White Mist, obstructing both sight and perception.
Looking into the distance, layer upon layer of woodland gradually blurred before finally becoming a complete grayish white.
The heavens, too, were shrouded in pale color.
Towering canopies vanished into the White Mist, shifting into all manner of bizarre forms amid the surging fog, like unknown things lurking in the dark, watching and coveting.
This was not a dream.
More precisely, it was not merely a dream.
It was more like some sort of boundary between dream and reality.
When Herman realized he had lost all connection to the real world, a clear and pleasant female voice came from the thick fog.
"Traveler lost here, do you require assistance?"
His agitated emotions calmed considerably.
Herman looked in the direction from which the voice had come.
At the end of the gray-white fog, faint rustling footsteps approached from afar. First came a hazy, indistinct human silhouette, which gradually became clearer.
It was the figure of a woman.
A long black dress wrapped around her entire body. Her hooded cloak completely covered even her eyes, and at eye level, white dye had been used to paint an inscription resembling a pupil.
That eye seemed alive, wantonly surveying everything before it.
Strands of dark purple hair peeked out from beside the hood. Her lips bore only a faint touch of gloss, making her mysterious and alluring, compelling others to uncover the true face hidden behind it.
The newcomer stopped. The ominous eye on her hood met Herman's gaze.
"Who are you?"
Herman examined the woman who had appeared from nowhere and could not help asking.
For some reason, the panic he had initially felt over becoming lost in the