"Have you heard?"
"A monster entered the ruins these past couple of days."
"I know, I know."
"You mean the monster who destroyed the Land Temple as soon as he arrived, then spent the last two days smashing temples everywhere?"
"Oh, you heard about him too, brother?"
"Of course I did."
"I was resting in a Mountain God Temple that day when he barged in and started smashing away, turning a perfectly good hall into rubble. It was pouring outside, and I'd only just managed to find somewhere to shelter."
"What a fucking bastard!"
"I was furious!"
"Then what? Did you give him a stern dressing-down?"
"Yeah, yeah!"
"With that temper of yours, brother, you must've fought him, right?"
"Bull-fucking-shit."
"Who said I have a temper? Step up and see if I don't beat you to death! I'm cultured and easygoing, okay? After the Mountain God Temple collapsed, he was very polite. He even apologized."
"I told him it was fine. Good job smashing it."
"Then we went our separate ways."
"Isn't that a perfectly good outcome?"
"The world isn't all fighting and killing. It's about knowing how to deal with people. You're all too young. You don't understand how life works..."
"Isn't that just being a coward?"
A childish voice suddenly rang out from the crowd.
"Fuck your mother!"
"Who's running their fucking mouth? Step up! I'll cut you down, you hear me?"
This was a small town.
Its streets bustled with crowds, visitors streaming past without end. They were all Awakened from far and wide who had entered the ruins through passages in different regions and eventually gathered in the town.
A massive mountain stood behind it.
The true heart of the ruins lay on that mountain: a vast tomb buried deep beneath it.
Rumor had it.