Becoming a God Starts with Acting-Chapter 57: [The River God’s Wife] - Nerio’s Part (6)

The dark espers couldn’t help but narrow their eyes at Nerio. Ace glanced at Clow and said softly, "Looks like things will be much easier than we imagined."

Clow adjusted his glasses, stepped forward slightly, and spoke gently to Nerio, "Of course. We knew you wouldn’t let anyone die. You are a kind-hearted child."

Nerio said nothing. By now, his tears had stopped falling. The kind and compassionate boy seemed lost in his thoughts—at least, the others believed.

Meanwhile, Matthew and a few others looked at Nerio and the dark espers with grim expressions. Nerio was too kind—so kind that they feared he would be taken advantage of. And they weren’t sure they had the power to protect him.

They weren’t even sure they could protect themselves from the dungeon.

Matthew turned to look at Kely.

At that moment, she was hunched over, hands clutching her head, her eyes wide open—filled only with fear and despair. Tears streamed down uncontrollably as if they might wash her eyes away.

Her lips trembled as she mumbled to herself, over and over: "No way... no way... That’s not real. That’s not real..."

Maya looked at Kely, then at Matthew and the others. "What’s wrong with her?" she asked.

Taylor frowned. "She looked back. We have no idea what she saw."

Hearing that, Julia stepped forward. Though her lips still carried a faint smile, her expression turned serious.

They might be dark espers, but right now, they only wanted to escape the dungeon safely.

Julia gently cupped Kely’s face, lifting it so their eyes met. Her gaze curved slightly, her voice soft and alluring. "Tell me, what did you see?"

Julia’s eyes gleamed strangely. At the same time, Kely, trembling in fear, suddenly froze as if something had invaded her mind.

"AAAAAAH!" Kely suddenly let out a piercing scream and shoved Julia away. She staggered backward, curling into herself in terror. "No... It’s not real... I don’t want this... I don’t want this..."

Julia stumbled slightly but quickly steadied herself. Her brows furrowed tightly, her expression turning cold and heavy. Deep within her fox-like eyes, it was unclear what she was thinking.

At that moment, Ace stepped forward, unable to hold back. "What the hell is wrong with her? What did she see? What is she refusing?"

Ace narrowed his eyes at Julia as he questioned her, clearly sensing that something was off about her.

Faced with Ace’s gaze, Julia seemed to snap back to reality. She nodded and spoke gravely, "No, something is extraordinary. I... I couldn’t see what she saw."

Ace raised an eyebrow. "Really?"

Julia’s face darkened slightly with irritation. "Are you doubting me?"

Ace was silent for a moment before suddenly laughing. "Of course not. Don’t get so worked up."

Julia raised her fan, partially covering the lower half of her face, saying nothing more.

She would never tell them what she had seen.

A monster rising from murky waters thick with the stench of countless rotting corpses. Its body was gaunt and grotesquely deformed, like a mummified corpse with unnaturally long legs and arms that dragged along the ground. Its ribs jutted out, grotesquely enlarged. From its body sprouted countless tendrils, like strands of seaweed, fused with its flesh, slithering with every movement. Its pale, slick skin gleamed unnervingly.

And the moment Julia laid eyes on it, the monster suddenly lifted its head—

Beneath its dripping, long, black hair was her face!

Pale, hollow, and corpse-like. Its wide, lifeless eyes were dull and empty, like the dead gaze of a fish—filled with nothing but hatred. Hatred and more hatred.

The monster’s lips curled into a grotesque, unnatural grin as the thick, dark-red liquid seeped from its mouth, dripping endlessly to the ground.

It was her face. Her face! Julia knew she could never mistake it. But why? Why did that abomination have her face?

Did this mean that, shortly, she would become a monster like that? No... impossible!

If anyone found out, how would they look at her? How would they treat her?

And more importantly—what would they do to her?

Her fingers tightened instinctively around her fan, her gaze lowering to conceal the storm of emotions in her eyes.

She glanced at Kely, curled up in terror on the ground. The monster had her face—so why was Kely muttering "I don’t want this"... over and over?

What exactly did Kely not want?

More than that, shouldn’t Kely be accusing her by now? And yet, Kely remained trapped in her panic.

This was strange. Very strange.

But Julia had no intention of overthinking it.

She had already thought of a hundred ways to silence Kely.

She would survive. She would not become a monster.

And she would not give Kely any chance to expose her.

"Look! Someone’s coming!"

Taylor’s sudden voice broke the tense silence.

The others turned their attention to the distance—

A man was running toward them.

He was tall, slightly plump, dressed in rough, simple fabric. Under the harsh sunlight, his lips looked dry and cracked, as if he hadn’t had water in days. His eyes bulged slightly, the whites tinged yellow and laced with bloodshot veins.

Sweat—or perhaps something else—coated his exposed skin, giving it a greasy sheen like a thin layer of oil had been smeared over him.

Seeing them, the man broke into a cheerful smile and said, "Finally, you’ve arrived! The village chief sent me to welcome you. Let’s head to the village—it’s almost nightfall!"

"Almost nightfall?" Some muttered, instinctively glancing up at the sky, which was still a bright, cloudless blue—like it was midday.

Only then did they realize—despite the clear skies and blazing sunlight, the sun was nowhere to be seen.

And behind them,... darkness had already devoured the entire edge of the forest and was steadily creeping toward them.

"Yes, we should hurry," the man urged. "The village chief has been waiting for you all for a long time. He’s been expecting you."

Then, under his breath, he mumbled, "Besides... we still have to prepare for the wedding..."

They had come to attend a wedding—yet they also had to help prepare for it?

Many of them exchanged uncertain glances, but at that moment, a pop-up message appeared before them all:

[Quest 2: Enter the Village. You are warmly welcomed—head to the village and meet the village chief!]

Taylor frowned deeply. "Are we just going to follow whatever quests pop up? Who knows where they’ll lead us?"

Clow adjusted his glasses. "It seems these quests are the key to progressing through the dungeon. For now, we should follow them."

"No! We can’t go into the village!"

Suddenly, Kely’s panicked scream rang out. She staggered backward, eyes wide with terror as she stared at the plump man. There was even a hint that she might bolt into the forest.

Julia smirked, waiting for this exact moment.

But before Kely could flee, Matthew grabbed her by the arm. "What’s wrong with you?!"

Kely didn’t seem to hear him. She struggled violently as if she would rather die than step foot into the village.

Jack scowled, his eyes flashing with killing intent. "Tch. Just kill her already."

Ace lifted a hand lazily. From out of nowhere, vines erupted from the ground, winding tightly around Kely and restraining her. "Enough. Just take her with us. Normal people are always such a hassle."

At that moment, the dark espers all looked unusually serious—almost like they were an actual team.

The ordinary people instinctively turned to Matthew.

Matthew nodded. "Let’s go."

Alexis scoffed at this and sneered. "God, Matthew, do you think you can protect all of them? Know your place if you want to survive."

His casual remark sent a chill down everyone’s spine.

Matthew ignored them and instead turned to Nerio. "Let’s go."

"Oh? Nerio will be coming with us," Clow said with a smile, bending slightly to meet the boy’s gaze. "You like us more, don’t you, Nerio?"

It was the first time anyone had seen such a friendly expression on Clow’s face.

But Nerio didn’t even spare him a glance.

Instead, he silently walked to Matthew’s side—then took the lead, heading forward.

Clow remained in place, his polite smile unchanged. But behind his glasses, his eyes gleamed with something far more sinister.

"...I swear, I can’t hold back much longer... I can’t hold back much longer..."

"Don’t lose it here." Ace shot Clow a cold look before striding ahead. The others quickly followed.

Behind them, darkness crept in from the forest’s edge.

And yet, the sunlight remained scorching hot.

They could feel their energy being burned away when they stepped out of the shade. Their skin reddened, blistering painfully.

The ordinary people clenched their teeth, gripping their flesh hard enough to draw blood as if that would somehow lessen the agony.

Meanwhile, the plump man’s pace remained leisurely, as if he felt nothing.

"Can’t we move faster?" Taylor muttered irritably.

"No can do," the man replied. "I’m trying to remember the way. You don’t want to get lost out here after dark."

That was when the others noticed—

Despite walking for what felt like forever, the village in the distance remained precisely as far as it had been when they first saw it.

And when they turned around—

The giant tree they had left behind was still right there.

"What the hell is going on?!"