‘Do you want to reinforce the wooden door?’ That subtle voice sounded again, indistinguishable as male or female, utterly emotionless, mechanical in tone.

Henry Clark looked at the number, a vague understanding dawning in his eyes.

‘This number is probably the time needed for reinforcement. So what will it be like after reinforcement?’

He withdrew his hand and turned to look at the water cup. The number on the cup had already disappeared.

‘Also, how exactly is this reinforcement carried out? Will it make a lot of noise? Can it be reinforced indefinitely, or are there some limitations?’

One question after another popped up in his mind.

“What are you... doing...??” Little Grace couldn’t help but ask.

“I just got dizzy and my mind went haywire for a moment... things are a bit messy...” Henry Clark sighed, not mentioning the number or the black mark.

Before figuring out the situation, he didn’t plan to tell anyone.

The most urgent thing was to find something to test the effect of this black mark’s reinforcement.

The wooden door would take too long, and there was no guarantee it wouldn’t make noise.

Henry Clark paced around, quickly locking onto an inconspicuous little object—the small white stone that Little Grace had just smashed out.

Chapter 4 Danger II

This stone could injure that white-clad ghostly figure, so it was likely some kind of special item. Plus, since it was small, even if there was some noise, it wouldn’t be easily noticed.

Moreover, if it really could be reinforced, the white stone would become even more powerful, making it much safer to deal with that ghostly figure from before.

Thinking of this, he picked up a white stone and looked at Little Grace.

“Can I have one? Thank you for saving me just now! I’ll repay you.”

He said seriously.

Little Grace shook her head.

“This... is already useless.” she explained. “If you want it, just take it.”

Henry Clark nodded, picked up the white stone, and examined it.

The stone was only the size of a thumbnail, with a dark red, intricate symbol drawn on its surface, looking like some kind of religious talisman. At this moment, a third of the stone had already turned black, for reasons unknown.

The stone felt icy cold to the touch, like holding an ice cube, chilling to the bone.

Hiss...

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

Almost immediately, a thought surfaced, and the black mark seemed to sense it, quickly transmitting a voice.

‘Reinforce the target?’

Henry Clark slipped the white stone into his pocket.

He tried responding in his mind: Yes.

The moment he confirmed his answer, the black mark on the back of his hand grew slightly hot, then quickly returned to normal.

Immediately after, the white stone in his pocket also heated up, then returned to normal.

As for the white stone’s reaction, Little Grace beside him didn’t notice a thing.

“Are you okay now?” Little Grace looked at him curiously and asked.

“It’s almost... night, getting dark... we must prepare,” she stammered.

“Prepare for what?” Henry Clark asked. After the recent emotional turmoil and physical exertion, his already weak body was returning to its normal state as the adrenaline faded.

He was still sick and inflamed; just now, he’d only mustered strength and focus to deal with danger. Now that the danger had passed, his body resumed fighting off viruses and bacteria.

His immune system began rapidly producing immune cells again, and his temperature started to rise once more.

“At night... monsters are dangerous,” Little Grace replied.

As she spoke, she glanced at the window. The sunlight seeping through the cracks was growing dimmer and dimmer.

That darkness felt unnatural, too fast.

So fast that even Henry Clark could see with the naked eye that the light was fading.

This strange phenomenon made him feel an increasing sense of anxiety and crisis.

Thud thud, clang clang.

Little Grace somehow produced a hammer and began pounding the nails around the doors and windows, as if reinforcing and checking the surroundings.

The main door was secured from the inside with thick chains and three horizontal bars.

Each bar was as thick as an arm. The contact points between the bars and the door had long been worn smooth, clearly not the first time this had happened.

The light grew dimmer and dimmer.

Henry Clark stood dazed in the room for a while, then quickly snapped out of it and tried to help check the gaps for safety.

But since he was completely unfamiliar with the environment, Little Grace soon found him more of a hindrance than a help and pushed him back onto the bed.

“You, don’t, make trouble.” Little Grace said seriously. After speaking, she crawled under the bed and pulled out a large bundle of black cloth bags.

She opened the bag, which was filled with densely packed white stones. She took out a red pen and began carefully drawing red symbols on each white stone.

‘So all these red symbols were drawn by her?’ Henry Clark realized as he watched.

Eee~~~ eee~~~~

Suddenly, an extremely faint, sharp, opera-like female voice drifted in from outside the house.

The voice rose and fell, strange and melodious, like crying yet also like performing, with a curious sense of half-truth and half-illusion.

Click.

Beside him, Little Grace clearly heard it too. She quickly grabbed a few white stones and stuffed them into Henry Clark’s hands, then picked up a yellow candle from a pile of miscellaneous items, struck it alight with something like a magnesium rod, and, holding the candle, nervously watched the doors and windows.