After quickly finishing the report, Henry Clark felt the chill in his heart spread throughout his entire body.

Danger!

Too dangerous!!

What the hell is this place!! Why is it so dangerous!?

He just went out for a bit! Is it even possible to survive here!?

Clutching the newspaper, panting heavily as he tried to calm down, he read the newspaper over and over again.

Bang.

Henry Clark sat gloomily on the edge of the bed, watching as Little Grace packed up the things she had used to treat his wounds.

Then she started tidying up a bamboo basket filled with all sorts of messy, muddy roots and stems.

Because the room wasn’t ventilated, a strong stench of muddy rot quickly filled the air.

After sitting for a while, Henry Clark only felt his mouth dry and his body feverish.

“Is there any water?” he asked dejectedly.

Little Grace paused, then raised her hand and pointed to an inconspicuous small black jar in the corner.

The little jar was only about the size of a human head, with blurry patterns of flying birds and tree branches on the outside.

Henry Clark got up, walked over, squatted down, and lifted the lid of the jar.

Inside, a shallow layer of yellowish water with a faint stench appeared before his eyes.

“……” He was speechless; just looking at it, he knew this water was definitely undrinkable.

It was already smelly...

Suddenly, a black metal object shaped like a teapot was handed to him from the side.

It was Little Grace.

She shook the teapot.

“Filter…”

She made a gesture of scooping water and pouring it into the opening at the top of the teapot.

Only then did Henry Clark notice that there was something like a filter mesh at the top of the teapot.

He fell silent for a moment, took the teapot, found a water ladle by the jar, and slowly scooped water into it bit by bit.

Finally, after much effort, he finished filtering a small ladle of water.

He took the teapot, found a wooden cup, and poured the filtered water into it.

Hiss.

A stream of clear water, still carrying a slight stench, splashed down, filling about a third of the cup before stopping.

Henry Clark looked at the smelly water—even though it had been filtered, still...

He wanted not to drink it, but his severe thirst and dehydration made him realize that, already sick and injured, if he didn’t get water, he’d be done for.

Just as he hesitated, Little Grace snatched the cup from his hand and drank it all in one gulp.

Clack.

She set the cup on the edge of the jar with a thud.

“Drank… no… problem!”

Only then did Henry Clark pause, step forward to scoop more water, filter another cup, and then, holding the cup, his hand hovered in midair.

Hmm...

He paused, raised the cup to drink.

But immediately lowered it slowly.

Raised it again to drink.

And soon lowered it again...

Beside him, Little Grace’s eyes followed his hand up and down, looking a bit confused.

After repeating this several times.

Henry Clark took a deep breath, gripped the cup tightly, his face growing even paler.

He thought to himself, can’t this water just be a little cleaner?

He worried that before the water could help him, it would make things worse. Little Grace drank it and was fine, but that didn’t mean he’d be fine too. Sometimes the difference in people’s constitutions is much greater than you’d imagine.

‘Do you want to enhance the cup?’

Suddenly, a faint voice sounded in his ear.

Clack, he set the cup on the wooden table beside him.

Henry Clark’s expression changed slightly. He looked around, but saw only Little Grace standing obediently to the side, looking at him in confusion.

‘Do you want to enhance the cup?’

The voice came again.

Henry Clark looked all around, but couldn’t find anyone speaking.

So he focused his gaze on the wooden cup on the table.

Soon, a tiny number appeared on the surface of the cup: 3 days.

Other than that, nothing.

Henry Clark’s expression changed instantly. At first, he suspected he was seeing things, but after blinking repeatedly, he found the number was still there.

Suddenly, as if thinking of something, he looked down at the back of his right hand, at that black mark.

Sure enough.

The mark was about the size of an egg, and the black area shimmered with a wave-like luster.

‘It’s this thing causing trouble!’ Henry Clark instantly understood.

For a moment, his eyes flickered, his mind churned, and countless thoughts flashed through his head.

But soon, he remembered that Little Grace was still beside him.

He quickly raised his hand, showing the mark on the back of his hand to Little Grace.

“Can you see anything on my hand?”

“……” Little Grace shook her head, looking completely confused. “There’s… nothing.”

“……” Henry Clark lowered his hand, looked at the cup again, confirmed the number was still there, and had some guesses in his mind.

Under Little Grace’s puzzled gaze, he turned and walked to another part of the room.

The room wasn’t big, with only a few pieces of furniture.

A wardrobe, a table that doubled as a desk, two nightstands, an old-fashioned dressing mirror, and two stools.

Other than that, there was just a pile of miscellaneous items in the corner, with the little water jar placed among them.

He wandered around, finally stopping in front of the wooden door.

Reaching out, he pressed his hand against the door.

Recalling what had just happened, another thought rose in his mind.

‘Can’t this door be made better?’

Hiss.

Suddenly, as if a thin thread shot out from the mark on the back of his hand and burrowed into the wooden door.

Soon, a black number appeared on the door: 16 days.