Global Fog Survival

The stone pillars emanating sacred light were covered with mysterious engravings. The white light within these engravings flickered like a breathing light, glowing intermittently. Each pillar was about ten meters apart, connected by thick chains that hung in slight arcs.

Before Colin could observe further, rustling noises suddenly emerged around them. They soon heard numerous squeaking sounds growing louder and more persistent, seemingly coming from the walls, as if countless rats were burrowing through, trying to break into this world. The stone pillars began to tremble, impacted by the disturbance, and the heavy chains clanked dully. A white shield-like barrier appeared, intensifying with the turmoil, sealing off all the ominous forces.

However, a crack had appeared in one corner of the barrier, just large enough for a child to pass through. Through the transparent shield, they saw a dark area within the bone-stacked altar, which seemed more like a “gap” because it was empty, appearing “black.”

Like a gap in a layer, numerous eerie, unknown rats were trying to crawl out of it. At the edge of the light, Colin and the others could see rats either crawling or standing, all staring intently at them, waiting for the right moment to swarm.

“Don’t panic. It’s still safe for now.”

Such a large hole without fully emerging suggests the “rats” are only one form, Colin thought while trying to calm the panicked survivors with a soothing voice. However, he had no immediate solution for the survivors, who were already huddled on the ground, shivering like fledglings. Unless he gave each of them a “Recovery Card,” it would be difficult for them to recover quickly. But with only three cards and the possibility of needing them soon, he couldn’t waste them on minor injuries.

Shaking his head, Colin turned his attention to the stone pillars and began to think.

【You realize that the stone pillars surrounding the altar are generally intact, but one of them has a damaged holy mark, causing a crack in the seal.】

【Through the crack, those intangible things turn into “rats” upon entering.】

“Recharging, exploiting every last bit of value—exploitation is everywhere,” Colin muttered, his mind wandering a bit. “The system doesn’t require us to deal with this gap completely, so it believes we can’t handle this ‘black gap’?”

Speculating, Colin took a light-condensing stone from his backpack and threw it toward the damaged pillar. The stone landed near the pillar with a clink. He squinted and noticed a special force in the pillar absorbing the stone’s light, depleting its power quickly. Since one stone had little effect, Colin took out a large number of collected light-condensing stones, preparing to throw them over.

Just then, Colin felt a burning pain in his arm and instinctively looked at the words on it. He suddenly had a bold idea. With this thought, he looked at Li Chou.

“Boss, what are you doing?” Li Chou shivered under Colin’s gaze.

Without immediately answering, Colin pondered for a moment and asked, “Are you the real one?”

“Of course, you know me,” Li Chousaid seriously. “If I were an imposter…”

“No need to say, I believe you.”

Colin nodded, beckoning him over. “Come here. Let me check closely.”

“Of course, but what are you doing, boss?”

Li Chou looked puzzled as Colin took a palm-sized, rust-covered triangular shield from his inventory.

“Be good, and let me check your development.”

If the team didn’t have 26 people, I might have believed you, Colin thought, holding the “Shield of the Just Knight” toward Li Chou, saying solemnly:

“In the name of the Shield of the Just Knight, I declare a fair duel against this lifeform.”

As his words fell, everything seemed to pull away. A previously unnoticed man, now dazed as if waking from a dream, asked, “What happened? Where’s the boss?”

He looked around and didn’t see Colin.

“He forcibly pulled the curse off you,” Sanna said, her blue eyes fixed on the blurry “duel field,” explaining briefly. This wasn’t the first time they had forcibly extracted the curse. Previously, she had pulled out the curse entity and dueled it, easily killing it. When the doppelganger was killed, the curse entity appeared, only to reattach to Li Chou shortly after, repeatedly creating clones to summon monsters until the host was killed. Colin’s hints indicated that the curse could only be temporarily removed for a few minutes.

But Colin had just thought of a good solution.

“I swear, in this duel, I won’t use weapons. As fairness, the opponent also can’t use weapons.”

“I swear, in this duel, I will only move forward. As fairness, the opponent can only move forward.”

“I swear, in this duel, I forgo all defensive actions. As fairness, the opponent cannot defend effectively.”

As the oaths were made, a certain pledge was sealed. The cursed entity, still resembling Li Chou, stood quietly, seemingly suppressed. But as the third minute arrived, it suddenly charged at Colin with a twisted expression. Colin stood still, using “Mental Pierce,” causing the Li Chou-like figure to explode instantly!

It was dead!

The duel was over. Due to the curse’s nature, a terrifying humanoid shadow appeared after its death, resembling a tall, thin figure. It stood silently like a three-dimensional shadow, without any movement.

Colin’s gaze turned cold. Activating “Hunting Time,” he rushed forward and grabbed the proportionately normal “shadow.”