When the plot-skips players into the game world

"——However, how did you learn about this ritual? It was developed by the old man... So he really did leave behind some kind of legacy, didn't he? Never mind, it doesn't matter. Since you claim you don't recognize it..."

"——Then I suppose you wouldn't care that your grandfather was cursed to death by me, right?"

The voice of Prince Wolfram the Giant echoed in Aiwass' mind.

Now Aiwass set aside his anger and impulsiveness, carefully dissected the sentence, chewing over each word and phrase.

He quickly realized that Wolfram, in his subconscious, held a great respect for his own grandfather—and believed that Jacob had left behind some kind of "legacy."

It was precisely because Wolfram confirmed that Jacob was dead, but did not know where Jacob had died, that he pretended it was he who had cursed the other to death.

If Aiwass reacted violently, it would mean he had not met Jacob and had not received the latter's legacy; conversely, if Aiwass had met Jacob, he would know it wasn't him who made the move.

As a control group, another of the Giants spoke at the same time:

"——It wasn't the curse flowing in your blood that hurt you, was it? By the way, do you know how your biological parents died?"

Aiwass was extremely dismissive of these words at the time.

He thought they didn't understand anything... but after Aiwass mocked them, the two of them didn't resist at all and just disappeared after being hit.

——They could have attacked Aiwass. The reflections of Mirage could inherit some attacking power.

But they didn't.

Because they had achieved their goal.

When Aiwass mocked them, they immediately realized... Aiwass knew how his parents died. At the same time, they deduced that Aiwass hadn't obtained Jacob's relic.

Aiwass slowly clenched his fists.

He finally understood everything.

——Aiwass had underestimated the Giant who, after losing the Path of Strength and regaining his rationality, had not gone mad after four hundred years of solitary contemplation in a sunless imprisonment.

Just because the other was a Giant and acted arrogantly.

Aiwass subconsciously projected his own stereotypes about Giants onto him—the very method Aiwass himself was most adept at using, yet he had overlooked it himself.

This was precisely because Aiwass was also arrogant.

Fortunately, it's not too late.

The other party used this method just to expose Aiwass' intelligence...

If nothing goes wrong,

they are very likely on their way, or they have already arrived at Eagle Cape Village.

And another doubt was born in Aiwass' heart—

Who exactly was his grandfather?

His "relic" that was immediately targeted by Professor Moriarty and the Giant Prince?

Aiwass didn't know the current strength of Professor Moriarty, the final boss of version 6.0, or if he had already turned dark and become a boss.

But at least he could confirm that Prince Wolfram the Giant was a fifth-level powerhouse!

And he was the one who had suddenly broken out of prison over a decade ago.

Over a decade ago—this timeline was just around the time when Jacob died.

Aiwass and his grandfather successively contracted a strange headache disease over a decade ago; Professor Moriarty recruited the Cursing Sorcerer Aziz, and Aiwass was adopted by the professor, also over a decade ago; even the royal family of Avalon started dying one after another from the second in line, Prince Wolfram the Giant's prison break, Jacob's manuscript being written, Lily's mother being assassinated by Grey Green, Yulia becoming the Phantom Demon Egg... all these events occurred "over a decade ago."

Looking back now, all might have taken place within just a couple of years.

And if traced back one or two years further, that's when the first heir to the throne of Avalon was poisoned, Avalon went to war with the Iris Flower, Avalon was invaded by the Iris Flower's land army on the tenth day of the war, Meg first made her mark and created the reputation of the "Ten-Day War," the birth of Noble Red... and the days Ibn and Nobel were recruited.

Of these events, which ones are connected to each other?

Aiwass fell into deep thought.

He felt he was still missing a key link.

However, he could at least be sure of one thing—that Jacob's manuscript did not seem so easy to find.

The upside was that others who also wanted the manuscript wouldn't find it that easily either.

Though Aiwass was late, he might have arrived the earliest.

This village was a bit peculiar.

If you didn't come by that little path introduced by an acquaintance, you wouldn't discover it at all—the later a power relaxed communication with the ordinary townsfolk, the later they got the exact coordinates of Eagle Cape Village.

Aiwass was somewhat regretful for sending the two Mrs. Gryphons back.

But there was no helping it... At that time, he didn't know the subsequent developments would turn out like this.

After standing in place and politely inquiring a little more about the details, Aiwass finally bid farewell to Old William.

Although Hayna couldn't understand what Aiwass and Grandpa William were discussing, she and her Gryphon Liz were having a great time, so she didn't feel bored.

They had been standing and talking for at least twenty minutes.

But when Aiwass looked up, he noticed that the sky was still at twilight—and when Aiwass and his company followed Hayna to her house, the sky there was still stuck in twilight.

"...Such a long dusk."

Even Sherlock couldn't help but complain, "This is definitely not normal, is it?"

"Huh?"

Hayna appeared somewhat baffled, "Is it... very long?"

Aiwass raised an eyebrow and countered, "Don't you think it's long? Is there any difference compared to your experience on Glass Island?"

Hayna looked confused, "Is there?"

Upon hearing this, Sherlock took out a silver pocket watch from his embrace.

He opened it to confirm the time.

But soon, his expression darkened.

"Indeed, it's not long."

Sherlock slowly said, "From when we first saw Hayna until now, it's been less than three minutes."

Upon hearing this, Lily froze in place.

And Aiwass also asked in a serious tone, "Are you certain, Detective? Did you get the time wrong?"

Never mind how long Aiwass and the old Inspector had been talking... it took more than three minutes just to walk over from the north end of the village!

"I know it seems unbelievable. But I'm certain only three minutes have passed."

Sherlock stated earnestly, "I started timing since we saw the light again."

Upon hearing this, even Hayna began to sense that something was amiss, "Could it be... something has interfered with your pocket watch? I do feel like we haven't met for long... otherwise, I'd have certainly felt bored and urged you to hurry up."

A sense of dread settled in Aiwass's heart.

He exchanged a look with Sherlock and then said solemnly, "Senior, I may know... why you are often late."

"...Are you saying that my perception of time is wrong?"

Hayna was taken aback.

She was about to object but then suddenly recalled—the first time she experienced the "symptom" of getting so lost in reading that she lost track of time was after she left her hometown to attend middle school in Flute Town.

Back then, she was often told by her classmates that she was a child cursed by an hourglass—whether she was reading, practicing swordsmanship, or running, she felt as if hours had slipped by before she knew it.

It was as if she had merely spaced out for a moment, and time had jumped to the end.

Time seemed to slip away all too easily for her.

She had no sensation of it, felt no fatigue, nor did she slack off or get distracted...

Because for her, it simply hadn't taken that long at all.

Moreover, during her elementary school days, she never experienced this strange "prodigy disease."

...So, could the issue not lie in "age" but rather in "location"?

As long as she was away from her hometown, she would experience this strange "time perception confusion."

This anomaly made her academic performance exceptional, but it also hindered her work and caused her considerable trouble.

And as she spent more and more time away from home, her deviant timing gradually returned to a baseline...

The best example was how she could run a few hours ahead of time when she first met Aiwass; now she had managed to control it to within half an hour.

For a moment, Hayna didn't know what to say.

She felt an absurd yet terrifying sensation wash over her—

Could it be that, unlike the children joking about her being "cursed by the hourglass," she was truly cursed by the Amber God?

Just then, she absentmindedly looked up.

The others too, as if sensing something, lifted their heads in unison.

To their astonishment—they noticed that a deep moon had somehow reflected across the sky.

Night had fallen, though none of those present had been aware of it. It was Hayna who first realized something was wrong.

Ever since entering Eagle Cape Village, everyone's sense of time had been off.
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"Run quickly!"

Hayna's face changed instantly, "If we don't get inside by night... sometimes, we'll encounter the night marching undead army!"