The World Forgot Me

Cheng Jianxue looked at the food, fell silent for a moment, and raised her hand.

Her skin had the pallor of a corpse, and she had indeed felt the enhanced memory and night vision granted by the potion, along with the abnormal reactions during her advancement...

So the potion was real.

But the food wasn't... Was it because this place hadn't stored the food she needed?

As she pondered this, hunger spread through her body. Cheng Jianxue felt as though her body were digesting something that didn't exist. After a moment of stunned silence, she realized something even more terrifying-it wasn't just her mouth and tongue that possessed memories. Her stomach and her entire body did too!

They were recalling the process of digesting food!

"Shit!" Cheng Jianxue swore for the second time since arriving here.

Enduring that hunger, Cheng Jianxue returned to reality. The stones beneath her dug painfully into her, but after climbing to her feet, she felt that this was the first good thing to happen since she'd arrived-it meant that she had entered that pure-white space physically. At least she had somewhere to hide if she encountered danger.

Still, the most important thing right now is probably finding something to eat... This damned place, the Forsaken Land of the Gods...

Cheng Jianxue turned to look at the grayish-white barrier. This was undoubtedly the border between the Forsaken Land of the Gods and the Western Continent. The residents of nearby Moon City regularly sent people to patrol here, waiting for someone to emerge from the barrier. As long as she claimed to have come from beyond it, she would hear the word "Chernobyl" and become a guest of Moon City.

Of course, all of this depended on her being able to stomach the local specialty of the Forsaken Land of the Gods-corpses of monsters in the darkness.

...On the bright side, this counts as acting as a Ghoul. And maybe I've arrived at a time when Frank's mushrooms are already available. Hahaha...

Cheng Jianxue forced an extremely strained smile onto her face, because even she didn't believe that thought.

Still, Cheng Jianxue wanted to wait for the people of Moon City. At least they could give her somewhere to stay. Besides, if it was Moon City, she could probably confirm a few things, such as-the current date.

Actually, if this is during the events of the story, praying to the Fool would probably tell me the date too...

Cheng Jianxue sighed, then suddenly perked up. Her luck was good: an exploration team from Moon City really did happen to approach.

More precisely, their lights approached.

The flickering lights drew closer as Cheng Jianxue watched expectantly. Their appearances were as deformed as the story had described. Cheng Jianxue restrained herself from looking away, but soon realized that there was no need-these people couldn't see her at all!

The exploration team stopped not far away, and the man in charge said in a low voice:

"Xin, Rus, Adal, you three form a team and inspect the stretch at the very front.

"Bartel, Ali, Yayi, you three inspect the stretch at the very back.

"Lin, Venn, Suh, you three come with me."

This language was probably Jotun. Cheng Jianxue realized that the language she knew was different from this one, but she could roughly make out what they were saying. It just took some time. Of course, she had no time to concern herself with that now.

The nine people whose names had been called answered in unison, addressing their leader as "Captain Zaphir." Then, under Cheng Jianxue's gaze, they divided into three teams. The first two spread out in their respective directions. Only Zaphir's team headed toward Cheng Jianxue-and then walked past her.

Cheng Jianxue's expression suddenly changed. She shouted at the four-person team, which hadn't gone far yet, "Hey!"

Her voice wasn't particularly loud, but it was definitely loud enough to be heard.

The four showed no reaction, as though they were deaf. After standing there for a few seconds, Cheng Jianxue bent down, grabbed a handful of stones, and hurled them at the team.

Zaphir reacted extremely quickly. Almost the instant the stones left her hand, he sensed something. He swiftly turned around, shielding Lin, Venn, and Suh as he drew a Blood-Red Greatsword from his back.

The stones struck the blade, then fell quietly to the ground. Zaphir shouted in a deep voice:

"Who's there!"

The other two teams, which hadn't yet gone far, stopped as well. They swiftly converged, forming a ring as they warily scanned their surroundings.

Watching this, Cheng Jianxue fell completely silent. Holding the Blank Canvas, she approached the group until she was almost face-to-face with Zaphir. Yet he still seemed not to see her, continuing to watch the area ahead vigilantly.

Cheng Jianxue pressed her lips together and backed away again. Standing a little farther off, she reached out from the side and patted the shoulder of the woman named Ali.

Ali immediately tightened her grip on her short blade. She slashed to the side and shouted sharply:

"Who's there!"

Prepared for this, Cheng Jianxue had already withdrawn her hand and was retreating. As she backed away, she watched the scene in silence. Zaphir calmly asked:

"What happened?"

"Something touched my shoulder!" Ali answered.

This was hardly good news. Zaphir's expression abruptly darkened. Cheng Jianxue watched him plant the greatsword in the ground. Then crimson flames rose around the circle of people, forming a wall of fire that protected them within.

But this no longer meant anything to Cheng Jianxue. She moved away from the team, then lowered her head to look at the Blank Canvas in her hands. Only after staring at it for a full half minute did she murmur:

"The world... forgot me..."

These were precisely the ravings she had heard when she drank the potion.

Cheng Jianxue's fingers stroked the Blank Canvas, her eyes unreadable.

Immense dangers lurked in the darkness of the Forsaken Land of the Gods. Anyone who fell into lightless darkness would be attacked by monsters or suddenly vanish. Cheng Jianxue knew that this was actually a manifestation of the chaotic divine power left behind in this land. Since she hadn't encountered any danger before, she had assumed she was protected by the sefirah. Now, it seemed...

The protection was real, but protection wasn't entirely beneficial. This unknown influence had made danger forget her, but it had also made the entire world forget her. She thought that anyone below a certain level probably couldn't even detect her.

...What should I do?

No, rather...

Who should I pray to?

Cheng Jianxue lowered her lashes. She didn't think she could solve this problem herself anytime soon. If she had to suggest something, she could probably try entering that pure-white world and seeing whether it contained a potion that would advance her straight to an angel or even a true god. If she drank it, the problem would probably solve itself-but she likely wouldn't survive either.

For Cheng Jianxue, the only solution was to pray to a higher being. Yet in the Forsaken Land of the Gods, the number of higher beings capable of responding

was extremely limited. At most, there were only five whose honorific names she knew.

Kotar, the Wish-Granting Demon Wolf; Amon, the Angel of Time; Klein, the Fool; Ouroboros, the Angel of Fate; and...

The True Creator.

...Ouroboros could only count as half...