Super Game System-Otherworld King: Rise to Power

The forest was eerily quiet under the night sky. The camp was peaceful, with all the soldiers fast asleep. The evening breeze rustled through the trees, bringing with it a chill. Standing at the doorway, Ronald shivered slightly, tightening his thin cloth tunic, and walked toward the far corner of the camp.

"Huff... Winter's coming. Next time, I'll have to bring back some woolen clothes and blankets," he thought, stopping beneath a tree. Quickly, he unbuckled his pants and took care of business.

Just as he finished, preparing to head back to his tent, a chilling sight made his blood run cold.

In the distance, amidst the trees, a squad of skeletal soldiers in tattered armor appeared! But what made Ronald's heart race wasn't just their appearance—it was the fact that they didn't have any feet!

Their rusted swords and bloodstained armor were in poor condition, and the flags they carried were stained dark red with blood, giving them the appearance of ghosts. These spectral soldiers silently floated toward the eastern edge of the camp…

"Yin soldiers!" Ronald's body went rigid, a shiver crawling up his spine. He quickly clamped his hand over his mouth.

Biting down hard on his tongue, he forced himself to stay calm. A quick scan showed at least four to five hundred of these ominous figures.

He crept back to his tent, carefully opening the door and stepping inside. Once he was safe, he let out a soft breath.

"Damn it, that scared the hell out of me."

But instead of crawling into the warm embrace of Fan Qingyue, he silently donned his armor, picked up General Wang's sword (his big blade had been given to Zhang Tie), and cautiously stepped back outside.

He crept over to the neighboring tent and, upon opening the door, was met with an uncomfortable sight.

"Damn it! A-Qiang, Cuihua, don't you two lock the door when you're..."

The two of them, caught in the act, froze at the sound. Cuihua almost jumped in shock, but upon seeing Ronald, she let out a relieved sigh.

A-Qiang gave a sheepish smile. "Master, it's the middle of the night… what are you doing…?"

They had begun to show some signs of humanity, no longer wearing that typical, aloof expression.

Ronald wasn't embarrassed about interrupting their private moment. He pointed outside and whispered, "There's something going on outside. Grab your weapons and come with me."

A moment later, the three of them were hidden behind a large tree near the edge of the camp, watching the spectral soldiers fade into the night. Cuihua spoke in a low voice, "Master, these ghosts don't seem interested in our camp."

"True, but I can't relax until I figure this out. Let's follow them."

A-Qiang and Cuihua didn't object. They quietly followed the ghosts through the dense forest, moving with caution.

Two hours passed, and the night grew deeper. They followed the ethereal soldiers to the base of a mountain, where the ghosts vanished into a hidden path. Ronald furrowed his brow and halted.

The path ahead was enveloped in a thick mist, though the rest of the mountain was clear. This didn't seem right.

Ronald wasn't foolish enough to rush into the mist. He planned to wait until dawn, gather more men, and then investigate. But as he was about to retreat, something inexplicable happened—he blinked, and suddenly, he found himself deep within the fog!

A cold sweat broke out across his body, and his hair stood on end.

"Master!"

A-Qiang's voice snapped him back to his senses. Ronald quickly grabbed A-Qiang's arm with one hand and Cuihua's with the other, urgently saying, "Hold hands! Stay together—there's thick mist here, we can't get separated!"

"Master, what do we do now?"

"Stay calm! We'll backtrack. Let's head back!"

But the fog was so dense that they couldn't see any path back. They walked for what felt like an eternity, but the mist didn't seem to clear.

Ronald's heart sank, and just when he felt lost, A-Qiang spoke up, "Master, there's that stone monument again! We seem to be back where we started!"

"Stone monument? I don't see it."

Cuihua chimed in, "Master, are we going in circles? I've seen this stone eight times now!"

Both of them had sharper vision and better memory than Ronald, so when they pointed it out, a lightbulb went off in his mind.

"Show me."

Standing beneath the towering three-meter-high stone, Ronald's eyes widened in disbelief. The stone was inscribed with strange markings on all four sides. And the writing wasn't from Tianheng Continent!

"Death!"

A blood-red character stood out, glowing ominously on the massive stone.

"What...?" Ronald's heart skipped a beat. This was Chinese! Traditional Chinese characters!

Shock and confusion flooded his mind.

"Why? Where is this place? Why would there be Chinese characters here?!"

"A-Qiang, the eight stones we passed—did they all have this word?"

A-Qiang hesitated, then said, "Master, the fog's too thick, I can't see them clearly. But I think the other stones had different characters."

"Quick, let's keep going. We need to see what the other stones say!"

After a few more moments of searching, Cuihua's voice rang out sharply, "Master, look! There's another stone ahead!"

"Wound!"

Another blood-red Chinese character—"Wound!"

"Death? Wound?" Ronald's hairs stood on end.

"Keep going! Let's find the others!"

They pressed on through the mist, and soon they found another stone.

"Death!"

Another "death" character!

"Have we gone in a circle?" Ronald asked, uncertainty creeping into his voice.

A-Qiang spoke up confidently, "Master, based on my sense of direction, we've just backtracked."

Ronald paused, his frustration boiling over as he glared at his companions. "Why didn't you say so earlier? Lead the way—let's find a new path!"