Outside the sheep pen, the cold wind howled, snowflakes danced tirelessly, and the night grew deeper. Lawson yawned, his mind gradually becoming hazy.

In the haze, his thoughts still raced.

‘Can I install new software on the computer in my mind?’

‘If I become an erotic artist in this world, could I make a living, get married, and have children? Or should I just stay single for life and enjoy my freedom?’

‘A curse mage... what kind of existence is that?’

‘Can I learn magic?’

“Baa!”

Suddenly, a sheep bleated in his ear. The sound wasn’t loud, but it was full of alertness.

The next moment, all the sheep in the pen suddenly stood up with a clatter.

Lawson snapped awake. By the firelight shining through the cracks, he carefully observed the flock.

The sheep were restless, and the lead ram kept ramming the wooden fence of the pen with its horns, making a banging sound.

The other two boys were also startled awake. They had already gotten up and were standing among the sheep, looking at each other in confusion.

“What’s going on?” the shrill-voiced one asked.

“Maybe there’s a wild beast outside the village. Last time a grizzly came, it was like this too,” the boy with the raspy voice guessed.

Lawson thought the same, but he was a quiet and reserved person. He wouldn’t jump to conclusions before figuring things out.

The next moment, something strange happened again!

Among the sheep, the two boys’ expressions suddenly changed dramatically!

Their faces turned a bluish-purple at a speed visible to the naked eye. Blood streamed from their mouths, noses, and eyes. Their thin, claw-like hands scratched wildly at their chests, and they made choking sounds: “Ugh~~ ugh~~~”.

In less than five seconds, the two boys stopped struggling and collapsed limply to the ground.

Their faces turned black, their heads grotesquely swollen, like inflated, shiny black balloons—their deaths were horrific!

An inexplicable and terrifying scene unfolded before Lawson, delivering a violent shock to his mind.

His eyes widened in terror, staring fixedly at the corpses before him. His heart pounded like thunder, as if it would leap out of his throat.

‘Ding!’

Vaguely, his mind trembled, and a stream of information flashed across Lawson’s consciousness.

‘Software “Rosen’s Adventure Log” has been installed. This software will comprehensively record the user’s adventures. The user can replay and take screenshots at any time.’

Lawson was stunned: ‘Installed new software? What’s the use?’

There was no time to think further—more anomalies appeared.

The restless sheep seemed to be soothed by something and gradually calmed down.

The lead ram stopped ramming the wall, the ewes lay back down, and at some point, all the beast-repelling torches stuck in the outer wall had gone out.

The entire mountain village was plunged into a thick, inky darkness—so dense you couldn’t see your hand in front of your face, as if hellish darkness had descended upon the world.

------------

Chapter 2: Sir, Do You Need an Apprentice?

‘Hmph!’

‘Ugh!’

‘Ah!’

In the snowy night, muffled grunts, screams, and moans—terrifying sounds like arrows—pierced through the thick darkness, nailing themselves into the tiny sheep pen.

Lawson hid in the innermost corner of the pen, curling his body tightly and covering his thin frame with thick dry straw, just hoping the nightmare would end soon.

He couldn’t understand why the two boys had died; he only knew the village was under attack.

He was powerless, so the only thing he could do was make himself as inconspicuous as possible and avoid attracting the attention of this terrifying, merciless attacker.

Suddenly, a deafening roar came from the darkness.

“Ah~ I’ll kill you! I’ll kill you!”

It was the voice of the village chief, Ironclaw Wolf.

“Come out! Come out here!”

“If you’ve got guts, don’t hide! If you’ve got guts, come out and fight me fair and square!”

His voice was full of rage, but even more of helplessness.

“Hehehehe~~~ Fine, I’ll let you die knowing why.”

A cold laugh came from the darkness, and the voice was so close to the sheep pen that it made Lawson’s scalp tingle!

“Ironclaw Wolf Wald, wanted criminal. Baron Murray has put a bounty of 10 gold crowns on your head. Now you understand, don’t you?”

“It’s you! You’re that curse mage?!” Ironclaw Wolf’s voice was full of surprise.

“Ha~ Surprised you still remember my voice.”

“Hmph~ So the lofty curse mage has stooped to being a bounty hunter. Looks like you’re not so impressive after all.”

Despite his surprise, the bandit chief’s voice calmed down.

“Whether I’m impressive or not, you’ll find out soon enough.”

Outside the sheep pen, everything fell silent. Apart from the howling wind and snow, there was no other sound.

The suffocating silence lasted a full ten minutes. To Lawson, it felt like a century.

“Hmph!”

A pained grunt suddenly sounded right next to the sheep pen.

Lawson’s heart skipped a beat, and he curled up even tighter, cursing inwardly: “If you want to fight, do it outside the village! Why come over to the sheep pen?”

“Die!”

A thunderous shout exploded near the pen, followed by a shrill wind that rushed straight toward the sheep pen.

‘Crash~’

The wooden wall of the pen was smashed to pieces, wood chips flying everywhere.

‘Thud!’

The next instant, Lawson felt something heavy slam into the muddy ground behind him. The splattering mud hit his back, stinging with pain.