Global Fog Survival

Colin couldn’t quite describe what it felt like to grab it; it was like holding onto a cold mass of air, light and flimsy. If it weren’t actually being dragged, he wouldn’t have been sure he had even grabbed the semi-entity. But clearly, it was now being dragged along.

He quickly dashed out of the group, heading toward the crack in the seal containing the “Wall Rats,” and then—

“Get in there, you!”

When the mass of “air” was stuffed into the crack, it seemed to sense something and began to thrash about. At that moment, hundreds, if not thousands, of faintly glowing stones poured out of Colin’s inventory, piling up under the damaged stone pillar. The holy mark on the pillar instantly started to repair itself. As the holy mark rapidly restored, the sounds of the “Wall Rats” inside the town grew fainter and fainter.

“Is it sealed?” Colin closely watched the semi-transparent light screen. The humanoid shadow formed by the curse was frantically pounding against the screen, sometimes turning to gravel and other times morphing into a mass of shadows, constantly changing shape. But this time, it couldn’t break free.

At that moment, Colin saw a large number of “rats”—visible only as shadows and sounds—swarming out from the “gap” behind the light screen, devouring the humanoid shadow. The curse was quickly consumed by these “rats” until nothing was left.

“It’s been eaten?” Colin was taken aback.

This was quite an unexpected bonus.

But just then, where the humanoid shadow had disappeared, the shadows began to writhe again. Soon, another humanoid shadow appeared! It began furiously attacking the light screen the moment it appeared, but to no avail. With another surge of rats, it was “killed” again. Colin saw a mass of rat shadows clustered there, chattering and licking their paws, as if waiting to be fed. Clearly, this thing was never going to escape, forever becoming the food for these hungry rats.

The only word Colin could think of to describe the curse’s fate was “pitiful.”

“You actually thought of this method.” Sanna, the only one who kept up with him, looked at the scene in amazement.

“A flash of inspiration. I figured these ‘rats’ were at a higher level than it. Since the seal could contain the rats, it might also seal this curse,” Colin shook his head, avoiding further discussion on the topic. “Li Chou still needs to be monitored, at least for the next few hours or even days, to ensure nothing abnormal happens.”

The curse had a unique property; once it split off, the original entity would be covered. It was like a Matryoshka doll: the one you see is always the outermost layer. So, when Colin noticed the incorrect number of people, he could decisively act against “Li Chou” without fear of making a mistake.

“Got it.” Sanna nodded, fully complying with Colin’s orders.

“Great!” A now fully awake Li Chou and Number One, among others, rushed over. Li Chou was the happiest of all. Every time the curse split, he felt as if he were in a daze, dreaming. The shadow would completely replace him, and he’d be in a third-person perspective dream, barely remembering anything upon waking.

“The quest is complete.”

Colin took out the scroll and saw that the quest was marked as completed.

“Congratulations on obtaining ‘Raw Potatoes’ *30.”

“Congratulations on obtaining ‘Recovery Card’ *1.”

“Congratulations on obtaining ‘Contaminated Eyeball’ *1.”

“Let’s get out of here quickly, to avoid any unexpected occurrences.”

After receiving the rewards, Colin didn’t immediately check them. Instead, he had the survivors, who were shivering like quails, quickly leave the area. His sense of urgency put everyone on high alert, as if great danger were imminent.

However, nothing happened.

“Did we really complete it that easily and simply?”

Colin was skeptical. Though he believed it, he wasn’t fully convinced. This was the first time a quest had been so easy; he felt a bit out of place. Moreover, the quest was complete, and another major problem was resolved.

“Easy?”

A survivor who had recovered from the mental trauma heard this and showed a bitter smile. “Praise the sun. Maybe, with your strength, it indeed seems easy.”

“Don’t worry about it; you just had a bit of bad luck.”

Colin comforted them with a few words. Just then, he noticed a recently collapsed pit behind one of the survivors.

【You realize this leads to a collapsed tunnel to the outside. If cleared, it could provide a stable exit.】

【Considering the reality of the “gap,” you think something may have previously escaped through here, and the tunnel was dug out as its escape route.】

“Is this the passage you came through?” Colin asked to confirm.

Seeing the survivor nod, Colin’s expression became peculiar.

“The tunnel leads directly to the ‘nobles’ backyard? These survivors really had some bad luck.”

“But what could have dug such a long tunnel to escape?” Colin wondered.

The tunnel could have housed a subway train, probably another unknown “miracle.” Without a new quest, Colin didn’t dwell on it. After instructing everyone to stay alert, he began to tally the mission’s gains.

He took an unremarkable yellowish lump from his inventory. At this moment, Colin felt he was holding the future of humanity! Under the curious gazes of Sanna and others, he raised the potato with a genuine smile, reminiscent of a cartoon character’s pure joy.

“This is the potato you’re so hopeful about?” Sanna asked, genuinely curious and supportive.

She rarely saw Colin smile so openly.

“Yes.”

Colin smiled and nodded, feeling invigorated. In a few days, most of humanity would be able to eat their own potatoes. Most importantly, they would start to reduce their reliance on the system.

“I want fries. And a cold soda,” Li Chou said, unable to resist.

At this moment, they all missed the past. “We can’t eat them now. We need to cultivate and sprout them first.”

Colin contacted his territory and shared the news, causing a stir. Reluctantly, he sent all thirty uniform-sized potatoes over.

“Tomorrow, I’ll be a philanthropist again. I really am a good person,” Colin muttered, taking a deep breath to calm his excitement.

“Four recovery cards now. As long as I’m not instantly killed or in an unsolvable predicament, I have four extra lives.”

His gaze shifted to the sinister, clearly human eyeball, wondering about its purpose.