Ancient Sin

Thud! Immediately afterward, the sound of a heavy object hitting the ground came from behind Linsey.

He turned to look. The corpse that had just been relentlessly pursuing him had somehow already collapsed onto the ground.

After the red light flashed, it lost all Action Ability.

Now it lay sprawled on the ground as though it had returned to its frozen, stiff corpse state, as if it had never revived at all.

He was...

Safe? Reinforcements from the town! Realizing this, Linsey, who had been standing on one foot, dropped onto the ground.

"Whew—"

He let out a heavy breath.

After thinking for a moment, Linsey put his shoes back on before looking ahead.

At that moment, Ju and an elderly Nun dressed in black clerical robes appeared through a gap in the trees.

The Old Nun's dark, cloudy eyes watched the scene ahead.

The Cold Wind of winter stirred the hem of her black robes. Like a drifting dark cloud, she slowly approached Linsey and, just as she had outside the church several days ago, extended her withered hand in aid.

"Linsey, can you stand?"

"Godmother..."

The person Ju had gone to for help was none other than Linsey's Godmother! The red light that had arrived in an instant had also come from this Nun of the School of Death, who had used her own skill to crush the revived corpse once more.

The moment he saw Red Moon, a wave of relief washed over him.

The tension in Linsey's heart finally eased. He nodded, braced both hands against the ground, and stood back up.

Red Moon examined Linsey and naturally noticed the wound on his chest. Then she slowly and seriously asked, "Were you injured by this living corpse?"

Linsey shook his head.

"No. This corpse looked strange from the start, so I tried my best not to let it hit me. As for this wound, I got it when I encountered an Ice Badger earlier. My Life Source Material is resisting the cold's erosion, so it's not serious for now."

Red Moon showed no obvious emotion.

She simply placed her hand atop Linsey's head, sensing the condition of her godson. Only after confirming that his Life Source Material was functioning normally did she finally withdraw her hand.

Linsey was fine.

Life Source Material was closely tied to its user's life.

When examining the physical condition of an Awakened who used this kind of source material, one could learn quite a lot from that alone.

Having confirmed Linsey's condition, Red Moon's voice became completely calm. "That's good. Let's go back and treat your injury first."

Ju hurried forward as well, guilt in his eyes. "Brother Linsey, I ran away first just now..."

Linsey immediately stopped Ju from blaming himself. "I told you to go get help. That wasn't running away!"

"And look, both of us were saved, and nobody got hurt—that's the best possible outcome. Besides, as far as my safety was concerned, I only survived because you went for help... mm."

Linsey had said too much in one breath.

The wound left by the Ice Cone in his chest made him want to cough, but he did not want the two beside him to worry.

He forced it down, and his words trailed into a mumble.

"Brother Linsey?" Ju supported Linsey by the arm with concern.

"I'm fine." Linsey smiled and shook his head. To show that he was all right, he proactively asked Red Moon, "Godmother, what happened to this corpse?"

"When I examined it before, it clearly showed no reaction at all. Then it suddenly started moving, and it was... it was incredibly difficult to deal with."

Red Moon answered in an even tone.

"It was a dead person disturbed by Ancient Sin."

"The School of Death was originally created to deal with this very problem."

Linsey asked curiously, "Ancient Sin? What is that?"

Red Moon explained in her usual tone, "It is history so ancient that it can no longer be traced. Now, only fragments of legend still circulate in this world. According to the Codex Cosedon, shadows once lurked in the darkness, threatening all goodness in the world."

"In the past, the righteous forces of the world gathered to resist them and won. But a certain special influence also spread from that time onward, making it impossible for the dead to rest easily."

"..."

Linsey could understand the concept of undead revival. After all, there had been things like that in games he played in his previous life.

But the place he was in now was a living, breathing world.

Based on the information Red Moon had given him, it meant that in the past, death in this world had simply meant death. There had been no corpses rising or undead revivals.

But because of a war between good and evil, the rule of the dead reviving had begun to interfere with reality, allowing the dead of countless worlds to rise again...

What level of power did that even involve? "Linsey? Ju!"

As Linsey pondered this new information, Dan's voice rang out from the forest.

The Female Hunter darted between the trees, moving so quickly that her movements were nearly impossible to follow.

A few minutes earlier, she had pursued and killed the magical beast lurking in the woods.

But when she returned, she saw the bodies of three dead Ice Badgers, as well as the missing Linsey and Ju. Her heart had nearly leaped into her throat.

Now, she rushed over with a tense expression.

When she saw the two children standing there with Nun Red Moon, she first let out a sigh of relief. After admitting her mistake, she explained her actions. "I'm sorry. This was my failure."

"Earlier in the forest, I discovered an unusually strong Ice Badger. It should have been the leader of the nearby pack..."

Dan's voice abruptly stopped.

She saw the corpse that should not have been lying there. After a moment of stunned disbelief, Dan suddenly realized what it was. "Wait?! This is a living corpse?"

Red Moon nodded, giving Dan a definite answer.

"That's right. It is a living corpse."

Dan's eyes widened, her tone filled with utter disbelief. "How is that possible? Leize has been dead for at least three days. How could the corpse of an ordinary person who never mastered source material suddenly become animated after so long?"

Red Moon analyzed the matter in an indifferent tone.

"Perhaps the heavy snow and low temperatures preserved the state of his body. If it then encountered stimulation from source material, an accident would not be impossible."

Dan recalled the Ice Cone wounds on Leize's corpse, as well as the two young Awakened she had left at the scene.

That truly could explain what had happened before them.

But it also meant that she had left two children beside a dangerous living corpse!

Dan clenched both fists, staring intently at Red Moon.

"This is all my responsibility."

But Red Moon did not directly respond to the Female Hunter. Instead, in her calm tone, she gave an unbiased answer.

"I merely proposed one possibility, not described the truth."

"..."

The two Awakened discussed the matter of the living corpse.

Normally, Linsey would certainly have listened carefully to their discussion and committed every piece of knowledge to memory.

But now, his mind wandered.

Because after the Female Hunter appeared and reunited with them, the mechanical notification belonging to the Game Player sounded twice in Linsey's mind, one after the other!

Task Completed

RPG Module ability upgraded. Level: 3

RPG Module obtained a new skill—Personal Baggage.

----

Second Module unlocked

Source material successfully inserted

Hunting Simulation Module logged in

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