Universal Power System

[WARNING!] [WARNING!] WARNING!]

[System had sensed an interference with User's mind]

[(ERROR!) User perception is too low to be detectable]

It felt like Mako's head was about to get crushed from all sides as if his head was stuck inside a hydraulic press.

******************

[20 Minutes Earlier]

Mako reached the entrance to the starlight campground which was closed with only the main office being lit up.

There were several guards on patrol, but they were just regular villagers, just working to earn some money as most of them didn't even have an ability.

[Silent Steps has been activated]

Mako activated the old skill that he received from Paul before he executed Operation Jailbird and it was a perfect skill for this mission as it allowed him to walk at a moderate speed without making any noise.

He avoided all the guards as he sneaked through and once he was next to the wall, he used High Jump to easily scale the wall and land inside the campground in one jump.

Once inside, there weren't any guards so it was clear for him to look for clues without getting interfered.

However, there was also no light source as the whole camp was shut down, making it absolutely pitch black.

With there also being no moon tonight, there was no source of light to illuminate Mako's path so Mako made his own.

His hands erupted in flames and began illuminating his path as he began walking over to the campsite.

The site was completely abandoned with his right hand being the only light source that looked like a tiny floating light from the distance.

He examined the deserted campfires. Cooking utensils lay abandoned, and half-eaten meals were left on picnic tables that had started to rot and grow mold.

Tattered flags and streamers hinted at a festive event that had been cut short, leaving behind an eerie sense of suspense.

The signs of a sudden and chaotic departure were evident everywhere he looked. Tents had been left open, their zippers undone, as if the occupants had fled in a hurry.

From what the commander had briefed them about this specific location was that the shadow hadn't appeared at night for a couple of days and the villagers thought that whatever it was that bothering them was finally gone.

So the villagers celebrated by throwing a party at the campground, but unfortunately their celebration was cut short when the shadowy mist reappeared that night with greater intensity and fervor.

It was reported that this was the first time that the shadowy mist actually expanded and actively attacked them, with many villagers disappearing as they were getting swallowed by the shadowy mist.

It was after this event that the campgrounds were closed and quarantined with heavy security with no one having the courage to go back and look for all those missing people, and the threat level of the mission had been raised to a low-level D-tier.

Mako checked the nearby woods, scanning for any signs of struggle or unusual disturbances. The trees loomed ominously, their branches casting long, menacing shadows that seemed to dance in the flickering light.

***************

The trees were the borderline at which the shadowy mist would appear, but it never appeared everywhere, but rather would only appear at a certain border of the village each night.

The village had installed cameras all around the perimeter of the village to try and catch the reason behind the shadows appearing, but they were never able to observe anything as shadowy mist would just suddenly begin appearing from a location.

The shadows would instantly encase the cameras making them unable to see anything and within seconds, the camera would malfunction before shutting down.

In the end, the villagers just gave up trying and instead worked on preventing more disappearances while waiting for the requested aid to come and take care of this issue and find their missing people.

They appointed patrolers whose whole job was the patrol the borders to see where the shadow was appearing for the day and once it was identified they would quickly inform the town hall who would evacuate all people from that section for the night to ensure nobody vanished.

****************

Mako was unable to find any clues in the forest and decided to walk back towards the campground to look deeper for any clue at all that could give them a direction of what to do next.

He noticed as he walked past the campsite he had just searched that there were still people's valuables lying all on the ground which included purses, wallets, keys, and even some holo-devices but they were all broken.

If this shadow mist attack was linked to a group of rouge ability users, their agenda should have been to scare people away and steal their belongings, but here, the complete opposite is taking place which made Mako think that maybe this was something different.

However, he didn't have concrete proof to back his thinking so he proceeded with his search and just made a mental note of his assumption.

His search took him to the playground area, where swings swayed gently in the breeze, adding to the eerie ambiance. The children's laughter that should have filled the air had been replaced by a deafening silence.

Mako approached the restrooms, their doors left wide open, revealing empty stalls and broken mirrors.

Eventually, his exploration led him to a small, artificial pond at the center of the campground. The water's surface was still, reflecting the glow of his hand. He knelt down to inspect it, hoping to find some clue, and what he found was quite nauseating and weird.

He noticed that all the fish in the pond were dead which was quite odd as the pond was built to be its own ecosystem meaning that the fish could sustain themselves in that environment so they shouldn't be dead.

It was quite an odd thing and Mako didn't know how this would link with the shadowy mist, but still made a mental note of it before moving on.

After spending 20 minutes methodically searching the campsite, he finally entered the main office, hoping to find some recording of the event taking place or any clues in general that might shed light on the disappearances.

However as he entered the office, he was left in shock as all the devices inside the office had their screens cracked and had blackened exteriors which showed that there was a fire inside.

All the monitoring equipment, the main computer, and all the hard drives were completely fried leaving Mako with nothing to search for.

However, the very state of this office was a huge red flag in Mako's brain as he couldn't believe that all of these computers caught on fire at the same time.

First of all, it was incredibly hard to destroy computers from the inside out anymore as the hardware had been improved and refined so greatly over the centuries.

Secondly, there was no sign of temperament of any kind from the outside which further solidified the fact that all the devices had simultaneously short-circuited somehow and caught on fire, erasing all data that was stored on them.

Mako didn't know what to make of this but knew that this all was definitely related somehow as the villagers themselves wouldn't destroy equipment that was quite expensive to replace.

Walking out of the main office, Mako realized that besides the disappearances, there was also a lot of other weird phenomenon going on in the surroundings that were affected leading Mako to strongly believe that this wasn't just some rouge ability users messing around, but something more serious.

Just as the realization began to sink in that something was deeply wrong, the forest around him seemed to respond to his growing anxiety. The ambient sounds of the night faded into an unsettling silence. Then, a sudden, piercing screech shattered the stillness, echoing from all directions. It was a haunting, otherworldly sound that sent shivers down Mako's spine.

Mako froze, his hand casting flickering light into the surrounding darkness as he strained to identify the source of the screech. The sound was unnatural, and its echoes seemed to bounce off the trees and other objects before bouncing back at him, disorienting him further. He couldn't pinpoint the direction it was coming from, and the unsettling feeling of being watched washed over him.

The screech was so ghastly and irritating that Mako wanted to rip his own ears out. It was ten times worse than the time Mako faced those cicada snakes during the recruitment test.

Mako quickly opened up the system and commanded it to turn off his hearing again just like during his encounter with the cicada snakes.

[Temporarily blocking User's sense of hearing]

The system message flashed in front of his eyes and yet he didn't receive the relief he was looking for as the screech continued to be heard.

"WHAT IS GOING ON!" Mako shouted as the pain became unbearable but he couldn't even hear his own voice anymore as he had definitely gone deaf.

Whatever it was that was attacking Mako, it was attacking him mentally not by using a sensory attack which was why going deaf didn't work.

[WARNING!] [WARNING!] WARNING!]

[System had sensed an interference with User's mind]

[(ERROR!) User perception is too low to be detectable]

It felt like Mako's head was about to get crushed from all sides as if his head was stuck inside a hydraulic press.

Blood was dripping down Mako's nose and mouth as he was continuously tortured by the screech that didn't look like it would end anytime soon.

Mako was losing consciousness as the pain was becoming too much to handle; however, before he completely lost his mind and collapsed onto the ground, Mako tried one last thing that he could think of to do in the moment.

[DARE DEVIL has been activated]

[Select Your Trade]

500,000 EXP --> (30) Temporary Attribute points ?

250,000 EXP --> 10% Omni Boost ?

750,000 EXP --> (1) Basic Full Heal ?

1,000,000 EXP --> (1) Full Rage Bar ?

500,000 EXP --> (2) Random Temporary Ability Skills ?

[Your selection has been locked in]

[-500,00 EXP]

[+30 Temporary Attribute Points]

"ADD THEM ALL TO MENTALITY!" Mako ordered as he struggled to maintain his consciousness.

[30 Temporary Attribute Points have been added to Mentaility]

[User's Mentality is now 80]

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Silence!