A world shrouded in thin mist.
The young man cautiously entered that mysterious village.
Along the way, he kept his eyes straight ahead. He did not dare look back, nor did he dare casually glance at either side of the road, afraid he might see something beyond common sense.
Fortunately.
As he drew near the village, the "thump, thump, thump" of digging slowly faded from his ears.
It seemed that the eerie presence in the darkness had not followed him.
This let him breathe a sigh of relief.
But soon, his heart tightened again.
Because after entering the village, he was stunned to discover that the doors of many houses were actually half open, as if their owners had not gone to sleep in the depths of the night.
When he passed houses beside some streetlamps, he saw, by the dim light, sumptuous dishes on the tables inside, partially eaten rice, half-drunk wine, and steaming soup...
It looked as though the people inside were enjoying dinner, but in truth, there was not a single person there.
The owners of the different houses seemed to have vanished from the face of the earth.
And it had happened only recently.
This involuntarily reminded the young man of the book Unsolved Mysteries of Humanity that he had once read.
It was said that, beginning in the Age of Discovery, some mysterious unmanned ships had floated across the boundless ocean. They sailed through the seas, yet not a single person could be found aboard.
Explorers found the goods being transported on those ships—the supplies for daily life, fresh water, and food—but, strangely enough, they could not find a single person.
It was said.
Many years ago, a strange ship had suddenly arrived at a certain port on a stormy night.
After it reached the