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  “Such a beautiful night,” Jack said, holding his oil lantern as he walked toward his cabin, stepping carefully around the pumpkins and the apple trees scattered across the pumpkin field.

  The apple trees were large and thick, older than the cabin itself. They had stood on this land long before Jack arrived. They were special. Their apples were always a deep red, like the ones described in fairy tales.

  He sat down on the wooden chair on the porch and rested his feet on the railing, relaxing into the seat.

  Beside him stood a bottle of cheap rum—though from a prestigious brand called Le Fanu. A sweet and smooth rum with almost imperceptible hints of caramel. Since turning sixteen in this world, Jack had begun to explore the delicate art of tasting rum and other sweet liquors. He hated bitter alcohol that only burned his throat.

  Of course, neither in this life nor his previous one had he been a fan of alcohol. But a glass of rum under the moonlight somehow brought him peace. It reminded him of the sleepless nights with the mother he had in this life—but not the previous one. It reminded him of the father he had here—but not before. Those warm nights by the fireplace, when his mother sang strange yet beautiful songs that still lingered in his memory.

  Jack set the crystal glass on the railing—the only crystal glass in his house. It was beautiful, with a simple but meaningful engraving. On one side was a large “O,” the initial of his surname.

  His gaze wandered between the starry sky and the pumpkin fields. Sometimes it drifted toward the dark, thick apple trees scattered across the land—trees that had been here since he first arrived.

  After five years, Jack had accepted the memories of this new body as his own. Some parts were even better than his past life.

  He closed his eyes. The exhaustion and the alcohol calmed him so much that he forgot to go to bed. Even in the chair, his eyes shut and his head tilted into an uncomfortable position. Strange snores escaped his throat because of the poor posture.

  The moment his eyes closed, the beautiful moon reached the highest point in the starry sky, marking the end of a day and the beginning of a special month of the year. October had begun.

  The full moon seemed to change—as if the previous moon had vanished without notice. It was subtle, but the light was no longer purely white. It was silver. A beautiful, almost divine silver light. The stars disappeared as the moon rose high into the dark sky. Its strong glow illuminated the spider webs on Jack’s cabin, casting thin shadows over his face.

  Jack’s closed eyes tightened uncomfortably, as if the light sent a cold shiver through him.

  The nearby forest seemed to sink into deep darkness. It felt as if another world existed among the trees—one far removed from the medieval world Jack believed he lived in. A hidden and strange world overlapping with their own. A place where darkness was deeper than even the silver moon of that realm could dispel. A world where trees were not just trees, sounds were not just tricks of the ear, bad omens were not merely bad omens, and shadows were real and terrifying beings.

  Darkness stopped being merely the natural absence of light. It became something dreadful—something that craved the fear of all living beings. A shadow hungry for childish shivers and mortal fright.

  All the lanterns and candles in the village seemed to dim. In a distant farm east of Jack’s cabin, two boys whispered before sleeping.

  “Go to sleep already, Tomy. Are you still nervous because of Jack’s scare?” Terry asked with a teasing tone, dismissing his younger brother’s fear.

  “I-I’m not nervous about that crazy guy!” Tomy replied from the lower bunk.

  “Good! Then stop moving. You’re keeping me awake. Tomorrow we’re helping Dad with the goats, so just go to sleep already,” Terry declared, turning to his side and hiding under his blanket, shielding his face from the deep shadows in the room.

  Tomy, still awake, stared at the heavy shadows in the bedroom. A chilling sensation crept over him. He shut his eyes tightly, trying to fall asleep.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  From his trembling body, almost imperceptibly, a small and thin ethereal thread detached itself. Invisible to normal eyes, the delicate strand glowed faintly purple. It quickly traveled into the distance, passing through obstacles and living beings alike, until it reached Jack’s cabin.

  The strange thread entered Jack’s body—and as if it had been waiting for its arrival, something within him awakened.

  Thanks to the thread, the divine moonlight, and the aura emanating from beyond the shadows of the trees—

  All conditions were fulfilled!

  Ding!

  The sound of a bell rang loud and clear across the world. The sharp tone seemed to drive away the shadows, and the silver moon vanished, leaving only the ordinary white moon behind. Every unnatural disturbance disappeared without a trace. Everything returned to that strange world hidden behind the shadow of Greenwood Forest.

  Then an orange light shone before Jack—so bright that he had to open his eyes. As bright as sunlight striking directly into them.

  “Ah!”

  The sudden light startled him so badly that he lost his balance, falling backward and hitting his head against the wooden porch. His eyes widened with uncertainty—and then a smile spread across his face. A smile so genuine it could not be hidden. It was the most exciting moment of his life.

  A fleeting and strange thought crossed his mind.

  ‘This is the funniest prank in the world.’

  The orange glow in his eyes shone like a lantern in the dark.

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  Jack lay on the ground, his face illuminated by the orange glow of the system’s startup window. Soft laughter escaped him as he quickly sat up properly on the floor. His eyes fixed on the window as if afraid it might suddenly disappear. They burned from being open so long, yet his smile only grew wider.

  “Hahaha~ It’s real! It’s freaking real! HAHAHAHA~”

  He laughed with such deep emotion that his body trembled.

  The orange system window glowed intensely, and in the center, written in deep black letters, were the words:

  Night System

  Jack’s eyes traced the name. He paused, placing a hand on his chin as he thought about its meaning.

  ‘It’s not some perverted system, right? Please don’t let it be… none of the women in the village are my type.’

  The excitement vanished instantly at the thought. A cold shiver ran down his spine. He shook his head, trying to chase away the bad ideas—and the worse possibilities of an unpleasant system.

  Jack stood up, picked up the bottle and glass of rum, and entered his cabin, hiding from unwanted gazes.

  ‘They already call me crazy for singing strange songs. I don’t mind that—but I don’t want them calling me crazy for talking to myself too,’ he thought with an amused smile.

  Inside, everything was dark. Two windows flanked the door. Above the left one was a shelf holding several lanterns and candles—some old, some more modern.

  At the back left side of the cabin stood a single bed, wide enough for two people if they squeezed together. Thick bluish blankets covered it. On the right side was a light wooden rocking chair. In the center of the left wall was a brick-and-mud fireplace, perfect for keeping warm during winter.

  Jack placed the rum bottle and glass on the fireplace and sat on his bed. The system window emitted no light into the surroundings, even though to Jack’s eyes it shone brightly.

  With his index finger, he touched the startup window.

  The moment his finger made contact, a soft female laugh echoed in his ears—full of affection and amusement—yet so faint it seemed to dissolve into the wind.

  When the screen finished loading, it displayed a status window similar to one from a video game.

  Status Window

  [Race: Human]

  [Level: 0]

  [Exp: 0]

  [Physical: 0]

  [Speed: 0]

  [Lucidity: 2]

  [Dread: 5]

  Jack stared at each statistic with fervent excitement. Each one made his body tremble.

  “Wait!”

  His gaze returned to the top. He reread the numbers, stopping at the stats.

  “0… 0… 2… and 5. Why are the only two stats I recognize at zero? I don’t think I’m in bad shape. I farm pumpkins—many of them are quite heavy. It’s something I do most of the year, and I’ve done it for five years!”

  “This is unfair! Unfair! Unfair! Very unfair!”

  “I refuse to admit that I’m weak or slow!” he shouted firmly at the system. “I’m the fastest in the entire village! I can run from my house to the church in under five minutes!”

  He shook his fists at the system, threatening it to reevaluate his stats—but his provocation had no effect.

  He sighed.

  “So… double zero…”

  With a depressed expression, he looked at the other two stats.

  “Lucidity and Dread… The first one reminds me of something, but I can’t quite remember what.”

  He closed his eyes and thought deeply, but found nothing in his memories.

  At the top right corner of the screen, a small black bat icon blinked with a yellow and red exclamation mark. Jack tapped it, and the status window vanished, replaced by another.

  Missions

  New mission available!

  [Scare 5 different people indirectly]

  [Reward: 1 stat point, 5 Dread points]

  Jack smiled excitedly.

  “It’s just like a game!”

  He had seen many status windows in video games, and many systems in novels. In the end, they were like games. The systems in novels came from RPG status windows. Missions and events were practically the same.

  “So many protagonists burdened by their future. None of them laugh at the present. They have one of the most exciting and fun tools in the world.”

  “Scare people, huh? Fine! Then let’s create a scare that excites me too!”

  Jack jumped off the bed and rushed out of his cabin, heading southeast.

  Toward the Dawson house.

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