CHAPTER 42: REAL NULL ZONE

Deklan clutched his chest and panted heavily.

His face was ashen, and beads of cold sweat drizzled down his forehead and neck.

All he did was step into the inner area of the forest, but he acted like he managed to dodge death.

But how could he now sweat and hyperventilate like this? The moment he stepped through the distorted barrier, he was immediately greeted by dozens or even a hundred Ghosts on the other side. All turned toward him, also surprised to find somebody entering their territory out of nowhere.

On top of that, the place beyond the barrier doesn’t look like a forest at all.

At a glance, it looked like an abandoned town that was also burnt to a crisp.

And the mana in there... Deklan didn’t know how to describe it, but it was evidently different.

[Notice: Host has entered a Null Zone!]

[...]

[Area identified: Shrouded Town.]

Deklan looked at the notices that appeared the moment he stepped inside.

He was too fixated on the Ghosts before him earlier that he hadn’t read these notices.

"A Null Zone...?" Deklan furrowed—recalling what happened to the forest in the past from Marsha. "I thought the Exorcists had already dealt with all the Null Zones. Wait, a Null Zone will only be closed once the Alpha Ghost is defeated. Since there are two Alpha Ghosts still, there should be two more Null Zones."

"But the scale of these Null Zones was vastly different from the Pale Night Lady’s."

Back near the bridge, the Null Zone, or at least what Deklan thought was the Null Zone, only muted the color and sound in a very small area. Perhaps it was barely a Null Zone—so the system didn’t even identify it as one,

For the Pale Night Lady to accept food from Granny Linsa and Adiran, she might also be wounded.

It was probably why her Null Zone was negligible.

However, the ones beyond the distorted barrier were certainly a full-fledged one.

"It’s my first time seeing an actual Null Zone, and I want to say it was similar to the dungeons from the stories I’ve read, but it’s... different," Deklan thought aloud as he folded his arms. "I didn’t get a good look at the area, so it’s hard to really tell."

Deklan rubbed his chin, weighing his options.

He could change spots and enter through there, but among the Ghosts that greeted him earlier, he could feel that a few of them were bronze-rank Ghosts. Since he could barely kill the Drifting Skeletal Wolf, fighting multiple bronze-rank Ghosts sounded stupid.

"It’s not like I really have plot armor," Deklan exhaled through his mouth.

Even though he was mauled earlier, he survived, and some might think he has plot armor.

But in truth, Deklan could tell that it wasn’t him who had plot armor.

It was Marsha.

As opposed to having plot armor, he was more like a tool for plot armor.

Fortunately, he was close to Marsha, so he was the only one who could save her earlier.

Had it not been for her, he would’ve probably died earlier.

I really have good eyes. It’s the right move to gain her trust.

Deklan patted his own shoulder, thanking his past self for taking an interest in Marsha.

He took an interest in her because she was cute, of course, not because he knew she was special.

But that’s beside the point.

No matter what, she was now his lucky charm.

"In that case, should I bring her along with me so that her luck rubs off on me again? I could, but she is exhausted, so I can’t rely on her. Besides, it’s ungentlemanly for me to bring a girl to a very dangerous area," Deklan nodded his head repeatedly, recalling Paul’s teaching to always be a gentleman—until he was proven otherwise. "Oh!"

Deklan flicked his fingers, remembering that he had Pumple with him.

Even though he wouldn’t know if it’s going to work or not, he ought to try using Pumple more.

"System, place Pumple in prison again and summon him here."

[Copy.]

Soon enough, reddish particles appeared before him until they formed into Pumple.

Just like summoning Pumple while he was within his territory, there’s a time limit until he, or rather, the Ward ran out of mana. He needed to make use of the time he had, or else it’s going to be a waste. "Hey, how long would Pumple last now?"

[Notice: Five minutes.]

"So little? That’s barely enough. Go and upgrade the Ward to level 10!"

[Leveling up the Ward to level 10 will cost 100 Spooky Dollars. Do you want to continue?]

"Yep."

[Are you sure?]

"Ask me that one more time, and I’ll slap the bitch out of you."

[All I need is another ’yes’, host.]

[Ward level has been increased to 10!]

[Ghost Resident slot has been increased by 1!]

[Spell Amp Berry has been unlocked and added to the Dimensional Fruit pool.]

...

[Ward — Ancient Dimensional Tree]

Level: 10

Class: Sprout

Ghost Residents: 1 / 2

Prison: 0 / 1

Income: 40 Spooky Dollar / Day

Current Spooky Dollars: 462

Fruit Bearing: 16 hours and 11 minutes.

...

Deklan was elated to see—that he now gained another slot of Ghost Residents, as entering the inner area would be the perfect chance for him to gain another powerful and useful Ghost. Since there’s the Prison function, he doesn’t need to be worried too much about the Ghost he captured either.

It would be perfect if he had a Fond Fruit right now to calm the captured Ghost down, but it’s fine.

Only waiting for the perfect moment to make a move would be a waste of time anyway.

So, he decided to take a risk.

"How long is it now, system?"

[Notice: 15 minutes.]

"Hmm, fifteen minutes? I can work with that," Deklan turned his focus on Pumple.

He didn’t need to check the Spell Amp Berry’s description since the name was already self-explanatory enough, and besides, he didn’t have one on him right now. Perhaps the Ward back home already made one for him, but he could only check later.

Right now, it’s scouting time!

Pumple’s time is too precious, as once it was over, waiting for the Ward to recharge takes time.

Deklan didn’t know for sure, but it might take an entire day.

"Pumple, you’ll go inside and check if the Ghosts are hostile towards you or not."

Wuii...?

"Stop looking at me like that, aren’t you supposed to have no personality?"

Deklan ground his teeth in annoyance when he saw Pumple was looking at him with puppy eyes, trying to make him feel bad. Outside of the Ward’s territory, Pumple should have no personality, so seeing this irked him.

Not even complaining, Pumple bounced and headed into the Shrouded Town.

But five seconds later, he returned once again.

Wui! Wuii!

"Tch, I was hoping that you wouldn’t get attacked," Deklan clicked his tongue in displeasure as he was hoping Pumple could do the scouting instead, and then he would enter. "Guess we both have to enter and scout properly."

Deklan moved location.

He went west for about one minute, not forgetting to mark the path he took.

Since the spot earlier was full of Ghosts, he ought to change—his entry point, hoping that the next one would be safe from Ghosts. Once he was far enough, he and Pumple walked through the distorted barrier and checked the other side.

Swoosh!

Immediately after both stepped inside, a strong gust of heat brushed against their bodies.

Deklan looked around warily.

Fortunately, there were no Ghosts nearby, giving him time to really take a good look at the Null Zone.

"Right, it’s different than a dungeon," Deklan swept his gaze across the scenery.

He sucked every bit of information he could get.

Deklan was now standing at the edge of the Null Zone, where the familiar forest abruptly gave way to something that defied logic. Before him was the forest, still breathed with life from the way the leaves rustled, and the green color of nature was vibrant, but that wasn’t all.

An abandoned town also lay ahead, its buildings charred to the color of burnt charcoal.

It was as though fire had consumed them long ago, yet left them eerily untouched by time.

Each structure leaned at odd angles, its forms warped as if reality itself had its own geometry.

Towering trees pierced through the rooftops and walls, their trunks merged with the houses in fading intersections that shimmered faintly with mana, as though unsure which world they belonged to. Such a sight was awe-striking, even to those who were used to seeing Null Zones.

Deklan narrowed his gaze and found that the buildings, though they looked burnt, weren’t really burned.

It was more like the shadow had eaten them.

"So, this is what an actual Null Zone looks like..." He murmured whisperingly.

A place where the intangible dimension bled into the physical dimension.

He knew of its existence from the previous Deklan’s memories—and knew more from talking with cute Marsha, but seeing it with his own two eyes was something else entirely. The description of this Null Zone from Marsha is confusing, and he couldn’t quite picture how it looked.

But now that he was here, it made sense.

"Two dimensions forcibly merged into one," Deklan smiled. "Isn’t it akin to the Ward’s territory?"

Other than the view of the Shrouded Town, he also noticed another thing.

Fire on the horizon.

Beyond the shadowed buildings, flames licked the air in the far distance.

It entirely enveloped the other edge of this area, opposite to where Deklan was standing.

"Another Null Zone..."

Based on the Pale Night Lady, there are two Alpha Ghosts that still reside within this forest, and they are also stronger than her. Naturally, there would be two Null Zones in this area—one should be this Shrouded Town, while the other should be the flaming area.

"I hope these two Alpha Ghosts don’t go along..."

Deklan looked left and right, searching for any sign of the group of Ghosts he had encountered earlier.

"I need to find the Blue Tower, but this place is damn stupid," He clicked his tongue in displeasure as in the Shrouded Town, the Blue Tower would be hard to find as it’s also black. "Maybe I should focus on the gem? No, I should focus on finding the Alpha Ghosts."

Since the Alpha Ghost took the Blue Tower and is humanoid, determining which Alpha Ghost took it should be his priority right now.

Fortunately, he was in his Ghost form.

His perception is higher right now, and that allowed him to sense the high concentration of mana around.

Deklan looked to the far left, where he sensed the mana concentration was at its highest, and it seemed to be coming from a building that looked like the town hall or a mansion. Either way, that should be where the first Alphah Ghost was.

"Come on, Pumple. Let’s move..."