Strange

The dossier book in Charles's hand dropped straight to the floor.

He stared dumbfounded at everything around him.

He had thought the Wizard World was strange enough, only to discover there were greater masters yet.

Everywhere his gaze reached was filled with bizarre sights.

The surroundings still resembled the manor room from before, but the place looked exceptionally ruined, as though it had been abandoned for decades.

Not only that, the light around him was dim, and gauzy, veil-like shadows drifted through the air.

It felt like the way someone with astigmatism saw lights.

Charles could even smell a faint scent of decay with every breath.

He had been sitting on the bed, but now he felt his backside constantly sinking.

Looking down, he saw that the once-luxurious bed had become abandoned and filthy.

It looked as though it had been baked beneath the sun until it was about to weather away.

Charles hurriedly got up. The moment he moved, the bed seemed unable to hold on any longer and shattered all over the floor.

"Crash!"

After a soft sound, the surroundings became a complete mess. The bed collapsed outright, and the velvet bedding atop it split apart entirely.

Fragments of ash drifted through the air.

Charles hurriedly covered his mouth and nose and picked up the dossier book from the ground.

To Charles now, this dossier book was a treasure no less valuable than something that could save his life. If he lost it, then as a stranger in the Shadow Nightmare Realm, he truly would have no way to survive.

Covering his mouth and nose, Charles quietly left the room.

He surveyed his surroundings. This was still the original manor castle.

But the environment was far worse. The walls all looked as though they had been scorched by a great fire.

There were also shriveled vines growing in places.

Veil-like shadows appeared one after another from all directions.

At the end of the corridor, Charles spotted an entirely different patch of light.

Charles hurriedly flipped through the dossier book. Sure enough, this was a connection leading to the Wizard World!

He quickened his pace in small steps, concealing the sound of his movements as he hurried toward the light.

But once he arrived, he realized something was wrong.

Compared with the brief description in the dossier book, this truly could lead back to the Wizard World.

But this place would not do. It was too small; Charles could not even fit his head inside.

It was like the shadow cast by some candlestick under candlelight.

Judging from its shape, that was indeed what it looked like—a hollow the size of a candlestick.

If Charles could shrink his body, he would be able to pass through this place.

But he could not now. If he forced his way through, he could not say what problems he might face.

The dossier book had no record of it either. The information inside was still far too brief.

And just a few minutes after Charles arrived, the light before him began to shift.

The light gradually dimmed, before finally vanishing like a bubble before his eyes.

Charles's heart sank along with that bubble.

He moved onward, quietly exploring the sights within the manor castle.

The records stated that after entering the Shadow Nightmare Realm, one had to return as quickly as possible. If one could not leave after several days, there was a chance of being assimilated, or found and killed by Shadow Nightmare creatures.

Charles took a deep breath and considered his current predicament.

He needed to find a passage back to the Wizard World as soon as possible, which meant he could not remain where he was.

The candlestick-sized passage just now had shown that passages back to the Wizard World were not fixed, and they could disappear.

He needed to explore more places before he had a chance to return.

And exploring an unfamiliar, dangerous place was no different from courting death.

But Charles had no choice.

He formed runes in his mind and assembled a spell model, first casting defensive spells upon himself so he would not be powerless against the native creatures of the Shadow Nightmare Realm.

First came the zero-ring spell: Misaligned Phantom!

Then: Danger Sense!

And afterward: Lesser Arrow Defense!

Two defensive spells, and one spell to heighten his perception of danger.

Only after doing all that did he continue sneaking through the castle.

If he had a choice, indoors was certainly safer than outdoors in an unfamiliar place.

Especially since this was only a small manor castle.

He moved as silently as possible, opening one door after another and checking the situation within.

Behind every door, the degree of decay differed.

Charles's original room looked as though it had been unoccupied for ten or twenty years.

Yet some rooms were in far better condition.

When he pushed open another door, surprise appeared on Charles's face.

This room was completely different from the others. It looked almost as though someone had lived here just minutes ago.

There was even a slight indentation on the bed, a little larger than a human body.

Charles walked to the bedside and gently touched it. It was even still warm.

"There are other people?"

Charles was astonished.

If there really were others, he would at least have one more companion.

But after searching the entire room, he saw no one else. He even found a discarded skirt and bra in one corner beside the bed.

He picked up the soft bra and thought for a moment before remembering that this seemed to be Quake's room.

That brat Quake had brought a woman into his room?

But neither Quake nor that woman had come to the Shadow Nightmare Realm.

Charles's expression darkened as he casually tossed away the bra.

He searched the entire suite. Other than traces of human life remaining behind, there was not even half a person to be found.

After inspecting the whole room, still unwilling to believe it, he touched the indentation in the bed again.

The warmth was still there!

"Fuck!"

Charles cursed under his breath.

Clearly, the feeling that someone had been in this room just minutes ago was entirely an illusion.

The states of these rooms might be completely unchanging, or perhaps they only changed once after a very long time.

He left the room and continued investigating, searching room after room.

As he continued forward, the back of his neck suddenly turned cold.

Danger Sense!

The effect of the Danger Sense spell was that whenever he encountered potential danger, the back of his neck would grow cold.

Charles hurriedly crouched down, sweeping his gaze around as he tried to find the source of the danger.

Very quickly, he locked onto the trace that might pose a threat to him.

It was a fireplace against the wall.

The fireplace was a decayed grayish-brown overall. Inside lay a great deal of ash and dust, as though it had accumulated for a long time in a thick layer.

And at that moment, something seemed to be hidden within the fireplace. The dust was trembling slightly, stirring wisps of ash into the air.

The back of Charles's neck was still cold. Clearly, whatever was inside the fireplace was definitely a threat to him.

He suppressed his heart, which pounded like a war drum, and did not dare turn around. He slowly backed away.

His eyes remained fixed on the ashes inside the fireplace, not daring to shift his gaze in the slightest.

"Crash!"

A great swath of dust burst from the fireplace, and a pale human forearm suddenly shot out from within.

Charles was horrified.

"Danger!!!"