The train slowed to a halt at a station.
I stepped off at a station that was literally in the middle of nowhere.
No vending machines, no crowds.
The platform was cracked, weeds growing through the concrete, and there wasn't a soul around to welcome anyone.
The town itself was about four to six kilometers out.
The station attendant, an old guy who looked like he'd seen too much, checked my ticket as I passed. He gave me a look. Not a friendly one, but a serious, pitying one.
I checked the time. 9 AM.
I patted my pockets, thinking about the location.
This place is famous for being a "Ghost Town." And since magic is real, ghosts are real too. People come here to disappear.
Literally. It's a suicide spot.
I started walking in the opposite direction of the town, straight into the forest.
The attendant sighed, "I don't get paid enough for this emotional trauma" kind of sigh.
The guy appeared to be tired of seeing people throw their lives away.
He assumed I was going to off myself.
"Think of the faces of those who will find you," he muttered, dropping a guilt trip on me.
"I…"
I froze for a second, almost stumbling on my legs and falling.
'So, awkward. I'm just grinding for loot, man.' I couldn't exactly tell him I was going dungeon diving. So, I just kept walking.
I heard him pick up the phone.
As I got further away, I heard him make a call.
"Yeah, chief," he said into the phone. "Is it another lost soul?"
" ...Yep. Looks like it."
"Just leave them be… there's no savings for those who have given up." The voice was tired.
…
"Haff… Haff… Khh…"
I was already gasping for air.
It hadn't even been ten minutes, and my lungs were already burning. Black spots danced in my vision.
My legs felt like lead pipes filled with cement.
The reality of this body's weight was far crueler than any stat screen could convey.
Serious question: why did the game make this look so easy? My character used to sprint up this thing in a cutscene.
Meanwhile, real-life Aoi is dying after thirty minutes.
I couldn't use mana to reinforce my muscles, so I was hauling nearly a hundred kilograms of dead weight up a slope purely on grit.
The trek is brutal.
It wasn't just the cardio. It was the vibe.
This place was cursed, literally and metaphorically.
Every few meters, a new sign popped up to ruin my mood.
[Turn back, the view is not worth the price.]
Wooden stakes were driven into the earth, bearing weathered placards.
[Your pain is a moment. Death is an eternity of silence. Please go home.]
"Cheery," I grumbled.
I passed a shrine that looked straight out of a horror movie, complete with weathered dolls tied to the trees.
It was small and covered in moss.
'Are they offerings or memorials?' I couldn't tell.
The atmosphere was heavy like the air pressure had dropped specifically to crush your spirit.
This was Mt. Munen, the mountain of regrets, and it was living up to the name.
It wasn't just a VFX effect like in the game; the mountain itself was made of melancholy.
[Beyond this point, no search parties will be sent.]
The warning was stark, placed by local authorities who had clearly given up.
Further up, the signs got more desperate the higher I went.
[Don't give the mountain what it wants.]
[It DOESN'T stop hurting up here.]
"I get it, I get it…" I muttered, wiping sweat from my eyes.
I trudged past the "Point of No Return," ignoring the ominous ravens circling overhead.
As I dragged my feet onto the main passage, a rabbit with a single spiral horn popped out of the brush.
Our eyes met.
'A weak mob. Free XP, usually.
Instantly, its nose twitched in terror, and it scrambled away as if it had seen a demon lord.
"Huh?" I watched a flock of birds abandon their nests in a panic. "Am I that ugly? Rude."
I didn't realize they were running from me or rather, the dense, suffocating sludge of mana leaking from my body.
By the two-hour mark, I was done. My legs were shaking so bad I had to stop.
I flopped onto a rock and cracked open my bento.
"Umai…" The rice and pickled plums tasted like heaven. It was simple fuel, but my body craved it.
My shirt was soaked through, sticking uncomfortably to my back, a second skin of cold sweat.
"Well, nowhere to go but up," I sighed, checking the sun. Four hours to go. My legs were going to hate me tomorrow.
I capped my water bottle and stood up.
There's a long way to go.
…