"Why has the land here become so badly desertified?"
Led by two students, Old Chen arrived at the ruins of the inner city above Blood Vulture Gallery. He took one look at the terrible condition of the soil, bent down, and grabbed a handful to squeeze in his palm.
The large clod immediately crumbled under the pressure. It had no cohesion at all.
The soil was also a strange grayish white, making Professor Chen's brow furrow deeply.
"There's no way we can build directly on this. Even reinforcing the foundation won't work. Have you measured it? How deep does this soil go?"
"At least a meter and a half, Mentor."
The Ashen Worker pushed up his decorative glasses and said to Old Chen:
"I asked around. Apparently, the astral energy from beyond this world has been eroding the land, rapidly draining its vitality. The surface parts of the entire city have been dragged into that other plane. The land left behind was corrupted by foul energy and turned out like this.
"I think when the locals talk about the 'loss of the land's vitality,' they probably mean that it's lost its fertility and become something like a desert.
"And look!"
He pointed to the sky. There was a twelve-hour time difference between the game and reality, so when Old Chen entered the game, it was just before dawn.
Looking up, he could see the strange, deep-purple-glowing Astral Rift in the heavens, clashing with the surrounding starry sky like a crack in the sky.
"The astral corruption is still pouring in. Lady Triss said it'll continue for at least ten years. Under its influence, the soil in the inner city can't return to its original state. To be honest, the outer city is in somewhat better shape.
"The stone slabs they