War World

Watching from the same spot would, of course, yield no further information.

Linsey and Alvitte quickly set out. They descended Mountain Peak and began infiltrating the city center.

The skills from Horror Game were highly effective.

Linsey and Alvitte moved like two ghosts through Sky Island City, where the atmosphere had congealed like iron.

The veil over Dust Road World was gradually lifting before them.

It was not just the guards they had seen atop the walls.

Even the residents living in the city mostly wore stern expressions in their daily lives, with scarcely a cheerful smile to be seen.

And among the houses lining the streets,

they occasionally saw people being taken away by recruiters.

Yet stranger still, these conscripted residents showed neither sorrow nor anger at submitting to fate.

They displayed an unusually easy acceptance of the situation.

They did not want to fight, but neither did they resist.

From Linsey's experience, this resembled neither a culture born from rewards for military merit nor the surging public resentment caused by compulsory service.

Linsey: What do you think, Alvitte?

Alvitte: They are numb toward war. This... is extremely troublesome.

Linsey and Alvitte discussed the matter through the Online Game interface, but reached no conclusions for the time being.

They continued another two kilometers in the city before spotting several disabled men talking beneath a wooden eave:

"The weather isn't cold or hot, wet or dry. There is nothing especially terrible about it, but nothing enjoyable either. Sigh... this is a city at the World Border."

"Look on the bright side. At least life here is stable."

"Stable? Then how did I lose my leg? We only drove off another wave two months ago!"

"Enough. At least we're still in the Outer Ring World."

"If we were in the middle