Miss Hebe is Slaughtering Her Way Out of the Lostbelt!

"Give the sword to Sekhenkhet, Memphis's city guard captain. He'll take you in."

"Go, now, or it'll be too late..."

His voice trembled more and more, and even his tone had become somewhat distorted.

Hebe's heart tightened. Taking the things the man had entrusted to her, she ran without looking back!

The sky grew darker and darker, darkness pressing in from all directions like walls.

Hebe looked up, and the instant she saw the heavens, a profound confusion suddenly seized her.

Where was Polaris? Why couldn't she find Polaris? She couldn't even locate some of the more famous constellations.

And there were far too few stars, shattering the familiar star charts in her mind beyond recognition.

Every star gave off a dim, crimson glow, like eyes weeping tears of blood.

Was this even fucking Earth?

Even more agonizing was the pained scream coming from behind her, as though something heavy were being crushed under unbearable pressure.

Hebe steeled herself and turned around.

She saw immense darkness sweep in from the distance, unstoppable. Wherever it passed, every burning light fell silent. The man collapsed to the ground, his chest silently caving in.

—What was that?

Hebe ran desperately down the road, but she still could not outrun the spreading darkness. She threw herself toward the sand beside the road.

Thud.

It was like passing through a bubble. A bitterly cold wind instantly blew Hebe numb, and her eyeballs turned bloodshot from the dryness.

Shivering, she turned back and reached out to feel around in front of her.

An eerie blue light flowed through the air. It stretched downward into the sand beneath her feet and upward into a sky of unknown height.

In an instant, Hebe understood why those low houses had been built along the road, and why the climate she had felt earlier had been so comfortable and pleasant.

"Stay outside, or go back?" Hebe quickly made her choice and trudged laboriously along the road.

The outside climate was dry and cold, yet a violent sound came from the distance—the strange howl of a gale.

She struggled to raise her head and saw the horizon rising slowly, like a tsunami.

It was not a tidal wave, but a sandstorm driven by fierce winds. Scorching foehn winds howled as they charged toward her from afar at tremendous speed.

Hebe's thoughts grew slower and slower. She could even feel the moisture in her body evaporating rapidly.

"Fine, at least... I know this Lostbelt... is full of dangers..."

In just a few seconds, Hebe's body became completely dehydrated. Before her consciousness faded entirely, she vaguely saw the sandstorm break through the fragile blue barrier and collide with the pure darkness.

"You died."

"You encountered an unidentified calamity. Current Lostbelt Completion Rate: 1%."

Egyptian Cowboy

Hebe sat at the table, lost in thought, her dark green eyes full of confusion.

She had imagined that she would face many difficulties within the Lostbelt, but she had not expected to die so quickly.

"Not every Lostbelt has an environment this harsh. The Rose War clearly didn't." Hebe unconsciously sketched arcs on the paper with her pen. "If I'd left along the road earlier, could I have escaped being swallowed by the darkness?"

Hebe tossed aside her fountain pen, opened the simulation again, and projected herself inside.

The sky was dark blue, and the warm breeze was pleasant.

The instant Hebe regained consciousness, she turned and headed toward the nearest low house.

The door was unlocked. Hebe raised her leg, kicked it open, and strode inside.

The darkness had not yet descended. The master of the house had not returned, and there were only several children around Hebe's age inside, both boys and girls.

Hebe ignored them completely and rummaged through the place as though it were her own home—she bundled several pieces of linen into a pack, stuffed the dried meat she found inside, and filled a waterskin with fresh water.

Her decisive manner initially intimidated the children, but once they realized what Hebe was doing, they began cursing and approached her.

Hebe's response was simple.

She picked up the sharp knife used for gutting fish nearby.

The sharp gleam of cold steel made the children burst into tears. Hebe took the knife and left at once—she had no intention of wasting time here.

By the time the mistress of the house heard the children crying and hurried over, only to discover that a robber had broken into her home, Hebe had already left the cluster of low houses and stepped onto the broad ochre road.

There was still plenty of time before nightfall.

"Sure enough, as long as I set out early enough, I won't be caught up in the suddenly spreading darkness."

Hebe strode down the road while closely watching her surroundings.

She noticed that although both the road and the civilian settlement were protected by eerie blue light barriers, the road and the settlement did not share the same protective shield.

"Memphis is Egypt's capital. Without transportation, it's impossible to reach it in a short time." Hebe gripped the fish-killing knife at her waist. "Our top priority is reaching the next civilian settlement."

The darkness needed time to spread. It did not swallow everything at once, but surged from one area to another.

The previous civilian settlement had been one area, and this stretch of road was another.

Both could buy Hebe time to escape!

Narrow ditches ran along both sides of the broad, ochre-colored road, clear water flowing through them. These water sources could be used to water horses.

Several horses were drinking there at the moment, while their owners sat resting by the roadside, chewing on dry rations.

Hebe narrowed her eyes, then quickened her pace as she passed, pretending not to care.

The horse owners merely Looked Up at Hebe before lowering their heads again to deal with their chickpea bread.

Hebe slowed slightly as she passed the last horse.

Other than the necessary tack, this horse carried no supplies.

Its owners had not noticed.

Hebe leaped onto the horse, grabbed the whip hanging from the saddle, and cracked it hard.

The riding skills she had honed in the previous Lostbelt finally came in handy. The brown horse obediently came under Hebe's control, kicking up its hooves as it galloped happily away.

Only then did the owners react, but before their curses could ring out, Hebe had already spurred the horse onward.

She vanished over the end of the road like a streak of lightning, leaving only dust in her wake.

It was freedom she had not felt in a long time, but Hebe could not enjoy it for long, because the sky began to darken.

The "darkness" was about to descend.

She could practically imagine the first civilian settlement being swallowed by darkness.

Fortunately, the outline of a second settlement had already appeared on the horizon, scattered lights gleaming at the end of the road.

Several armed warriors stood at the road's end, blocking Hebe's path.

Hebe began taking deep breaths while still on the road, then shouted, "I'm delivering a message to Memphis—the 'darkness' has descended behind us!"

She was gambling.

Thankfully, she won.

At those words, the armed warriors quickly moved aside, allowing Hebe to ride through the center of the road they guarded.

As she passed them, someone even tossed her a bag full of food.

"Go to Memphis, messenger!" the warriors shouted after her retreating figure. "We'll hold this place!"

"Don't let the 'Osiris Plague' spread!"

Osiris Plague—they called the descending darkness the "Osiris Plague"?

Hebe was both shocked and struck by how fitting it was.

In legend, Osiris had been murdered through a conspiracy by his younger brother, Seth, the god of the desert. He was later resurrected as a mummy and became the ruler of the underworld and judge of the dead. As king of the underworld, he judged whether the dead could attain eternal life.

Was that darkness, which took all light and life with equal indifference, not the embodiment of "Osiris descending into the underworld"?

Understanding dawned on Hebe, and she urged her fast horse onward.

The setting sun fell upon the desert, draping the dunes in brilliant gold.

Along the way, her identity as a messenger had afforded Hebe tremendous convenience. No matter how heavily guarded a settlement was, all she had to do was call out "Osiris Plague," and its gates would open to provide her with every supply she needed.

After four days and five nights of nonstop travel, Hebe had changed horses several times. Her body was already nearing its limit, yet her spirit only grew more exhilarated, as though something was about to sprout within her through this journey.

At last, just as the golden-purple twilight was about to dissolve into the sky, a golden spire suddenly appeared at the end of the horizon.

Hebe pressed her lips together, lowered herself over the horse's back, and launched into one final sprint along the broad road.

That golden spire grew larger, its shape increasingly complete.

The sun's lingering rays spilled leisurely from the sky, tracing the lines of the golden spire downward until they merged in splendor with the boundless desert.

Pyramids—magnificent pyramids.

Their forms transcended time. Whether in the yesterday of centuries past or the tomorrow of millennia hence, they stood aloof, as if eternally proclaiming a declaration.

Even after civilization itself had become a prisoner buried beneath the sand and gravel after repeated conquests, they silently remembered everything, serving as civilization's own tombs.

Around the three pyramids, the Nile River flowed through the fertile delta, surging northward.

Memphis, the capital of all Upper and Lower Egypt, stood here. On its outskirts were low stone and wooden houses, while the terrain rose gradually inward, with temples, towers, obelisks, and numerous palaces arranged in succession. White stone walls divided the inner and outer cities, and long milk-white stairways stretched from the inner city to the roads of the outer city.

Hebe pulled on the reins.

Seated upon her sweat-drenched mount, she watched as a warrior clad in armor and wearing a falcon-feather crown approached her.

Before he could come to a stop, Hebe began to speak.

"The 'Osiris Plague' descended four days ago at the twenty-seventh settlement south of Memphis."

Even she was startled that her voice had become so hoarse, yet it still carried a forceful, soul-stirring ring.

The warrior's eagle-feather pattern suddenly twisted, turning into words that only Hebe could see.

"You have arrived at Memphis, the white city and capital of all Egypt. Upon your first arrival here, your progress will be automatically saved."

"Current Lostbelt Completion Rate: 10%."

"You may choose to temporarily exit the current Lostbelt. The next time you log in, you will continue your exploration from this time and place."

Hebe let out a sigh of relief and whispered inwardly, "Log Out."

The scene before her immediately rippled like water, shattering into fragments.

The magnificent pyramids gradually faded away.

Hebe saw the mildew stains on the wall of the curio shop.

She had returned to reality.

Hermanubis

Bright text appeared across the dark green tabletop.

"Calculating results..."

"Current Lostbelt—Golden Truth Dream: Lost Sand Sea Kingdom. Current Progress: 10%."

"Achievements:
Decisive Action—You realized that before disaster strikes, excessively lofty moral standards are useless.

Swift as Lightning—You took on the duty of a messenger and reached Memphis with tremendous speed.

Calamity of the Nine Pillars—You learned the name of one of the 'natural disasters,' but the greater secrets still remain unknown to you.

Silent Revelation—You escaped the silent end, but it will surely come one day, and you have already sensed its approach. When you begin the simulation next time, you will inevitably set foot upon the path governed by the principle of 'Winter.'"

"Overall Evaluation: D-. The secret you uncovered was but an insignificant grain of sand in the sea of sand."