Aberration

The northern ferry crossing lay shrouded in mist.

Nine wooden boats stood spaced apart along the shore, each attended by a strange ferryman.

They wore no clothes, only filthy scraps of cloth wrapped around their vital areas.

Most strikingly, every one of their faces was a sheet of "white paper."

From the side, it seemed as though part of their heads had been sliced away vertically, removing their eyes, noses, and mouths and leaving behind a flat plane.

The white paper fit perfectly over it.

Incredibly faint breaths seeped out through the paper, while black specks flickered in and out across different areas of the sheets.

Rustle, rustle—

Dense sounds came from deep within the forest.

Monsters from different parts of the Mid-level Zone arrived here at the same time as though by prior agreement, preparing to board the boats.

They were all "infected."

Some monsters were still scratching at their infected areas.

Others displayed body parts covered in holes, either proudly or as if trying to prove something.

Furthermore, they had all been infected for a long time.

Their infections had stabilized.

Their structures had become fixed.

In their sleep, they had heard a summons from between the holes, giving them a specific address and demanding that they come here.

It seemed that some existence wished to meet them in person.

It also seemed that an opportunity awaited them.

Of course, only a very small number had been chosen.

The selection process had already begun on the shore.

The monsters who came here lined up to board, displaying the infected holes on their bodies to the ferrymen.

Some were on their hands.

Some were on their thighs.

Others were scattered around their navels.

They were related to the sites of their initial infections and their own individual traits.

The