I Got A Title: Lord Of The Time!
Chapter 89: Walking inside the dark forest

Chapter 89: Walking inside the dark forest

Lin sat alone by the campfire, waiting for the person who might have built it to show up. But about an hour passed by his intuition, and no one appeared.

This involuntarily led him to the thought that there had never been anyone who built this campfire.

But that raised another question: who made this fire and fed it with wood just a few hours ago?

That puzzled Lin the most.

He looked up at the sky and realized that the gray moon hanging right above his head was still there, and wasn’t even planning to dip below the horizon to end this night.

"Does this place have a permanent night?" the obvious question popped into Lin’s head.

"That complicates things a bit..."

He looked at the fire and noticed it was beginning to dim, clearly indicating it wouldn’t last much longer.

"I guess there’s no point in sitting here and waiting for this so-called person any longer. I’ve already spent quite a bit of time here — it’ll be better if I keep exploring the forest and try to find the blue door," Lin made up his mind and slowly stood up.

He looked around one last time and, as expected, saw nothing. He simply turned and walked deeper into the dark forest, disappearing from view.

...

The moon cast its soft light onto the surrounding world. But the giant trees blocked it, using their massive branches to prevent the moonlight from illuminating the already dark realm.

Along this path, Lin walked with a calm mind, paying no attention to anything except his one goal — finding the blue door and finally leaving this strange place.

Even though just a few hours had passed since he arrived here, during that time, Lin had revisited many thoughts and created new ones. That at least helped him stay grounded in this silent place, where even your own breathing could be mistaken for thunder.

After all, he was still human.

"In these past few hours, I’ve tried to remember every patch of land I walked through. And I realized they’re all completely different and not repeating. So, this place doesn’t loop — it’s a real forest?"

"Could this be considered some kind of small world? Then, do the other doors also contain other small worlds? But how can these worlds exist behind a single door? And what are they hiding?" Countless questions raced through Lin’s mind, making him realize that the Mage’s castle was far more intriguing and mysterious than he had ever imagined.

"In any case, the secrets of this place can be unraveled — if I manage to get out of here. After all, it’s much easier and more comfortable to unravel mysteries in the light and safety of the castle than in this strange, dark forest that’s doing everything it can to scare you..."

Lin continued walking through the forest until he encountered another strange location.

In the distance, he saw several small buildings and long spears stuck in the ground.

He squinted to try to see more, but due to the darkness, he couldn’t make out anything else, and the scene remained unchanged.

He would have to get closer to see the full picture.

"Whatever’s over there — it’s going to be interesting, and I’m ready to act at any moment."

Lin walked forward at a normal pace, but with a clear change in his aura.

It was in full combat readiness!

It was the same as when he fought Aran with his bare hands!

With total seriousness in his eyes, Lin approached the strange place and finally saw what was truly happening there.

On a flat clearing stood three small houses, each with its own stack of firewood, tools, and other items necessary for surviving in a forest.

Though it wasn’t quite a village, the place had a stone well that would allow the people living here not to worry about clean water.

This place looked quite peaceful, but Lin saw something that turned it from ordinary — to horrifying.

Those long spears he’d seen were actually stakes, impaling the bodies of ordinary people.

There were about ten tall stakes, each with several bodies on it. Their appearance was gruesome and full of regret, as if they had wished for death to come faster and take them to another world.

"But why in this way?" Lin frowned and tried to sense the thoughts of the people who had died here.

"Caw!" A crow’s caw echoed like a bell throughout the area.

"A crow?" Lin instantly turned to look where the sound came from — but saw no one.

Not even the flapping of wings.

But Lin didn’t relax and heightened all his senses to detect anything happening near him.

"This isn’t good... As soon as I entered this place, a crow cawed out of nowhere... What’s next? Will that being that’s been watching me finally show itself?"

Looking at the entire situation, it became clear — the creature watching him had started to act. It didn’t show itself completely, but through signs and images, it was trying to frighten or unnerve him.

Lin smiled and shook his head.

"Whatever it is — I’m always ready to fight it."

Ignoring it, Lin continued inspecting the houses and the stakes with the bodies.

"Maybe... these people were affected by something? They’re the only ones I’ve met in this strange place. But they’re all dead — maybe this place did something to them? Or maybe they just ran out of food?" Lin carefully examined one of the dead people’s faces until he noticed a pattern.

Their expressions were all the same.

They all had faces of regret, hiding endless exhaustion.

It was as if they cursed their last days and wanted to die as soon as possible.

But what could have happened here to make ordinary people end up like this?

Unfortunately, there was no answer to that question.

Lin sighed and decided to check what was inside the houses and whether there was something that could have turned people into suicides.

He slowly approached one of the houses and opened the door, which creaked loudly.

Looking inside, Lin saw nothing strange. Every object was very old and covered in dust, untouched for a long time. Many items had simply eroded with time.

"Not even the smallest notes remain."

Lin sighed and was about to leave the house when he noticed a strange silhouette in the window.

There was a person standing there.

Lin frowned and slowly approached the window to get a better look at the figure near the trees.

It was a tall, thin man dressed in gray robes resembling those of a church. He stood holding an axe and stared directly at Lin.

"Quite unusual..." Lin, of course, wasn’t afraid — but still felt chills run down his spine.

Suddenly, the man began moving closer!

He ran toward the house where Lin was!