The Watcher looked like she couldn’t wrap her head around the fact that the Kingdom of Hoxeth had fallen.

“You’re telling me the kingdom fell... hundreds of years ago? Then what was all that time I spent in this place?” She stood like a broken puppet, lost in thought.

Eventually, she reached up and touched her neck, where the bone was fully exposed. “Don’t tell me I’ve been wandering this damn forest in a dead body for centuries...”

Do-Jin stayed quiet as there wasn’t a single thing worth saying.

The Watcher turned to him with a bitter expression. “I still can’t fully believe the Kingdom of Hoxeth is gone. Part of me keeps thinking you’re lying through your teeth.”

“I can’t blame you for thinking that,” Do-Jin said. “But I’m not lying. Why the hell would I even bother making up something like that?”

“Fine. Then do you know how the kingdom actually fell?” the Watcher asked, her voice low and unsteady.

Do-Jin gave a slight nod. “If the records aren’t full of crap, it all started when the royal family’s spirit magic went to shit. The spirits that used to swear loyalty to them suddenly turned their backs and walked away, one after another, like it was nothing.”

“The spirits did...?”

“Yeah. The Hoxeth royal family was nothing without them. The spirits were the only reason they could pretend they had any right to rule. But once those spirits fucked off, they lost everything. Power, legitimacy, all of it. After that, eight tribes rose up to rip the crown off the king’s head. The whole kingdom got torn to pieces. What’s left now is just the Eight Kingdoms playing pretend on its corpse.”

The Watcher shut her eyes. It was the kind of story she never could have imagined. However, now that she’d heard it, she could picture the whole thing as if someone had drawn it for her.

Those tribe leaders... every last one of them was a power-hungry bastard. Even the king was scared of them. That’s why he went chasing after more power like a lunatic, the Watcher thought bitterly.

However, more than anything, the part about the spirits abandoning the kingdom lodged itself in her chest like a spear.

So it really was because of what we did here... The Watcher stood frozen, staring into empty space.

What came back to her wasn’t just a tragedy. It was the memory of a sin that they themselves had committed in this forest.

“You seem pretty tied to the Kingdom of Hoxeth. What about the other... I mean, the others wandering around this forest? Are they connected too?” Do-Jin asked.

It was a carefully worded question, but the Watcher just let out a bitter laugh. “You don’t have to tiptoe around it. You wanna know why we look like this, don’t you?”

She gestured toward her own throat. With a weary look in her eyes, she slowly dragged her hand across the bone, then finally looked Do-Jin in the eye.

“You were right. Every last one of us wandering this forest came from the Kingdom of Hoxeth. We were part of the king’s elite unit called the Nameless Moon.”

The idea that the wandering skeletons in the Forest That Sings of Eternity were warriors of the fallen Kingdom of Hoxeth was something Do-Jin had never even heard of in his past life.

“Then what about Tegran Begrif...?” The twist hit him so hard he blurted the name out without thinking.

It was the boss monster Do-Jin was here to kill, the target of his quest.

The Watcher’s eyes narrowed the moment she heard that name. “How the hell do you know that name?”

However, her suspicion faded quickly as she seemed to come to her own conclusion. “Well, right. I guess it would be weird if he didn’t at least get a mention in the history books since he was the strongest spiritualist and warrior in all of Hoxeth, but still... Why are you looking for Lord Tegran? Especially when you’re carrying that?”

The Watcher pointed at the egg resting gently beside Do-Jin with the tip of her chin.

“My body might be a wreck, but I can still feel it. The spirit energy coming off that thing is no joke. You don’t find that kind of pure mana in this forest anymore.”

Trying to describe a “quest” to someone who didn’t even know what Regenian was would be like trying to teach quantum physics to a caveman. Do-Jin wasn’t just dealing with a language barrier. It was an entire gap in world logic.

How the hell was he supposed to explain that he was some random dude from another world who could hear the whispers of the system itself? Everything he’d said so far could already be taken as the ramblings of a crazy bastard. One more step and he’d come off like a lunatic, so he racked his brain and tried coming up with a half-believable story on the spot.

“The guy who gave me this egg told me that if I came to this forest, I’d find a legendary spiritualist. He said his name was Tegran Begrif. Apparently, he would know what to do with this thing... like how to use it, hatch it, whatever. That’s all I was told. I don’t know the details either.”

The Watcher fell silent for a while, looking like she was chewing on Do-Jin’s words piece by piece.

Then she finally asked, “Was the guy who gave it to you... someone who really knew his way around spirit magic?”

“Yeah, he did. He messed around with fire, water, and wind. He used all kinds of spirits.”

It wasn’t even a lie. The boss monster who’d dropped the egg had been a nightmare when it came to spirit magic. If anything, Do-Jin was downplaying it.

However, as the Watcher was unaware of all that, her eyes went wide with surprise. “He could use fire, water, and wind spirits? He is just as I thought... He must’ve been a descendant of Hoxeth. Did he say anything else? Anything at all? I don’t care how small.”

“Anything else...?”

The Watcher was basically begging at this point, so Do-Jin furrowed his brow like he was trying to remember something and opened his quest log. He scanned through the contents again, just in case there was something he’d missed, anything that might count as a clue.

[The Spirit Dragon’s Legacy]

Grade: Hidden

The name of the Spirit Dragon, whose body was left behind in silence, was D’Askandar. There is someone who might know how to hatch its egg. Seek out the legendary spiritualist, Tegran Begrif.

There was only one name that looked remotely important.

“D’Askandar.” Do-Jin threw it out there just to see what would happen and it landed like a bomb.

The Watcher’s eyes widened so fast it looked like her skull would crack. She clenched her skeletal fist tight, remarking, “Guardian Spirit D’Askandar...!”

“Guardian Spirit?”

“Yes, Guardian Spirit! D’Askandar is the name of the guardian spirit that appears in the founding myth of the Kingdom of Hoxeth. You said D’Askandar, right? Then there’s no doubt about it. That guy’s a descendant of Hoxeth.”

For some reason, the Watcher looked over the moon with joy. It was hard to believe this was the same girl who’d been brooding in the dirt five minutes ago. Now, she was standing straight and practically shaking with excitement as she grabbed him by the shoulders.

“There’s no point hiding it anymore! The reason we’re stuck here, wandering like ghosts, is because of the sin we committed.”

“Sin?” Do-Jin asked, to which the Watcher gave a slow nod.

“The king feared that his power wouldn’t last forever. That’s why he craved strength, to secure an eternal reign. That’s also why he set his sights on Nua, the Great Spirit who had lived peacefully in this forest. He believed that by hunting the Divine Deer, he could gain power that would last for eternity,” the Watcher said, her voice heavy with bitterness.

She faltered before she continued in a whisper, “But that was pure greed. The moment we dealt a fatal blow to Nua, the forest became corrupted. Once it turned into a labyrinth, it slowly bled us dry.”

Her tone was weighed down with guilt. They were cursed to wander the forest forever, unable to find rest even in death.

“All of it was a disaster we brought upon ourselves. That’s why ever since I woke up in this undead state, there’s been one thing I’ve wished for. I want this forest to go back to the way it was. I want Nua’s wrath to be lifted. Only then can I finally rest.”

So that was it. That explained why the Watcher hadn’t killed the intruders outright. She wasn’t just some undead asshole guarding her turf. It was just that she didn’t want the forest to be defiled any more than it already had been. Everything made sense now.

Do-Jin stared at the excited Watcher. The ghost, clearly overcome, began spilling all her hopes and desperate longing like she’d been holding it in for centuries.

“I can’t be the only one who’s ever wished for this! No one from Hoxeth could endure being abandoned by the spirits. That’s the same as having your soul declared rotten. There have to be others who wanted to make things right. That egg... that’s the proof!” the Watcher cried, her voice breaking with desperation.

“Are you saying this egg is the proof of all that?” Do-Jin asked, his brow furrowed in doubt.

“That’s right. The spirit energy in that thing is massive, and it’s pure as hell. There’s nothing like it left in this forest. If we use it right, it might be enough to calm Nua’s wrath... maybe even restore the forest to what it used to be. That’s probably why the one who gave it to you told you to find Lord Tegran,” the Watcher explained firmly, conviction burning in her eyes.

“That would be nice if it actually worked out like that,” Do-Jin replied, his tone skeptical but faintly hopeful.

“It will. I’m sure of it. That’s why I’ll help you.”

The girl had clearly been wandering so long she’d lost track of how many years had passed. Her obsession burned so bright it was nearly blinding.

This quest just ballooned way past what I signed up for... Do-Jin thought wryly.

All he wanted to do was hatch an egg, and now he was knee-deep in this giant forest curse lore. However, with all the keywords lining up and everything falling into place like this, it was hard to just walk away.

Screw it. I might as well ride this thing out. I’m sure it will be better than wasting another day grinding ten mobs for garbage loot.

Do-Jin looked the Watcher in the eye. She was currently staring at him like her salvation had finally arrived.

“Alright. I still don’t know if this egg can really do all that, but if you’re offering help, I’m not gonna turn it down. You’ve been stuck in this forest longer than I’ve been alive, so you probably know it better than I do.”

The Watcher looked genuinely happy for a second. However, by the time Do-Jin finished speaking, her expression turned awkward as hell.

“What’s wrong?” Do-Jin raised an eyebrow at the way the girl suddenly avoided eye contact, awkward and fidgety.

The Watcher answered in a tone that made it painfully obvious she didn’t want to admit what she was about to say. “Well... the thing is... I don’t actually know the layout of the forest. I know how to get out, but that’s more of a... method, not like a path or anything. This forest keeps changing all the time...”

“Okay, but you at least know how to find Tegran Begrif, right? You said you’ve been here for over five hundred years,” Do-Jin pressed, narrowing his eyes.

“I told you, I don’t actually remember wandering for that long. And I’ve never met Lord Tegran, either,” the Watcher admitted, shaking her head.

Do-Jin’s expression went cold. “You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me.”

Good god! Even that dumbass Karin could at least guide me through a cave. This girl, on the other hand... The supposed great Watcher of the Forest is just a fancy tin can with no GPS.

“Let me get this straight,” he said, narrowing his eyes. “The only thing you do know is a vague method of exiting the forest. You don’t know the terrain, you don’t know how to find Tegran, and you’ve apparently spent hundreds of years here without even running into him once?”

The Watcher didn’t say a word. Do-Jin let out a short, dry laugh, not because it was funny but because it was just that far past disbelief. He brushed the Watcher’s hand off his shoulder, opened his inventory, and stuffed the egg away. Without wasting another second, he turned on his heel and started walking away.

“W-wait! I still want to help...!”

Do-Jin stopped and glanced back over his shoulder. “And how exactly are you gonna help? You just said it yourself. You don’t know where Tegran is, and you don’t even know this goddamn forest.”

The Watcher’s mouth opened, but no words came out. She fumbled for an answer, but Do-Jin’s long sigh made her flinch and clamp her mouth shut. Something about it looked kinda pitiful. If Do-Jin left things as they were, this girl seemed like the type to follow him around like a lost puppy. And having a dead girl awkwardly tailing him while trying not to get in the way sounded exhausting as hell.

After a moment of thinking it through, Do-Jin decided to give the girl a task. “Well, two of us searching is better than one, I guess. You’ve got legs, so use them. Go ahead of me and scout the area. Then come back to tell me what’s out there.”

If the Watcher found something useful, Do-Jin would head that way. If she found nothing, they could rule that direction out and move on. It’d save time either way.

The Watcher, who’d been sulking like a kicked puppy, immediately perked up and nodded eagerly. “Don’t worry! You saw how fast I was earlier, right? As long as I don’t stray too far from you, I can cover a pretty big area!”

She looked straight-up thrilled to have something to do. The heavy tone she’d been using earlier was gone. Her voice now sounded a bit light, almost chipper.

You poor bastard...

Honestly, when Do-Jin thought about it, this girl had a hell of a backstory. She probably hadn’t had a real conversation in centuries. He gave her a sidelong glance, watching her puff up like she was ready to prove herself in the 100-meter dash. Somehow, it made him kind of sad.