"Ugh, I feel like I'm going to vomit."
Upon leaving my room, the smell of decaying corpses intensified along with the appearance of a thin, light green mist.
Feeling a strange sense of déjà vu due to the familiar smell, I headed down towards the ground floor.
"Cough... cough cough..."
"Damn, the smell has become unbearable."
Noticing the increasing intensity of the smell and the thickening of the green mist as I approached the ground floor.
I clenched my teeth in frustration while tearing off a piece of my shirt and wrapping it around my nose and mouth.
"Can't any of my cycles end peacefully?"
Upon reaching the ground floor, I found everyone in the inn gathered there, covering their faces due to the foul smell.
"Mr. Tung, do you know what's happening here?"
"Cough cough cough... Oh, Salim, I was just about to send someone to check on you."
The innkeeper, Mr. Tung, was standing in the middle of the group of guests with a piece of cloth covering his mouth, yet I'm sure he was smiling his annoying smile underneath it.
"We were planning to go out to check what's happening. Do you want to join us?"
"Of course."
I nodded my head towards Mr. Tung as I went to stand with the group of guests.
"Well, since almost everyone is here, I suppose it's time to go out."
Mr. Tung spoke while opening the inn's door to the street filled with green mist.
"Damn, where is this cursed smell coming from?"
It wasn't just the guests of Mr. Tung's inn; most of the inhabitants of Ras Al-Hoot Island had come out to search for the source of the corpse smell and the green mist, which seemed to be coming from the direction of the port.
"Cough... cough... cough... I feel like I'm going to die from this smell."
"Wait, what's that on your skin!"
Someone screamed, pointing to a fishman's skin covered with green spots.
Upon noticing the green spots appearing on the skin of one of the fishmen, I couldn't help but feel shivers running down my spine.
"This strangely resembles plague spots."
"Cough... cough... What do you mean?"
The fishman began to cough violently while writhing in pain, trying to look at the green spots on his body.
But his body structure didn't help him.
"Stop moving. I know these symptoms."
Suddenly, an old man with an academic appearance emerged from the middle of the crowd, approaching the fishman.
The fishman calmed down upon seeing the old man and allowed him to examine his body.
"As I expected."
"Do you know what's happening, Mr. So?"
The old pharmacist answered while examining the green marks on the fishman's body.
"Yes, the marks you see now are symptoms of Rotting Infection, an uncommon disease. I wouldn't have known about it if I hadn't encountered it in my youth."
"One gets infected mostly if exposed to a lethal amount of Corpse Qi for a long time, such as living near a cemetery or a place full of corpses."
"Corpse Qi?"
It seemed that most of the crowd didn't fully understand the pharmacist Mr. So's words, but no one interrupted his explanation.
"Usually, Rotting Infection is easy to treat. All you have to do is consume a plant containing large life energy to expel the Corpse Qi from the body."
While speaking, he took out a random plant from his bag and offered it to the fishman.
"But the problem now is that we are surrounded by a huge amount of Corpse Qi."
Upon hearing this, everyone fell silent.
"Are you saying we should leave the island?"
"Not just the island; we need to get as far away as possible from the source of the mist. Corpse Qi emanates from decaying corpses, and the sudden appearance of this unnatural amount means there is either a high-level Undead nearby or a Corpse Farm, and both possibilities are horrific."
"What are you saying, Mr. So? Do you want us to leave our homes where we've lived since childhood and where our fathers lived before us? This is impossible."
"Yes, if the cause of this phenomenon is the passing of a Corpse Farm, all we have to do is wait for it to pass, and the phenomenon will end."
"Listen to yourselves, you fools! How do you know what's approaching isn't an Undead monster that will destroy the island?"
"Even if it's an Undead monster, we die resisting it instead of running away like cowards."
"Yes, and even if we run away, where do you want us to flee to?"
"It's better to die than to become refugees or slaves on another island."
"Stop talking nonsense. Do you want to die that much?"
Different voices of argument spread through the crowd between those who wanted to stay and those who wanted to flee.
"Fools."
For me, who has a guess about the source of the mist and the dense Corpse Qi, I can only suppress my annoyance at the fools who want to stay.
"Enough."
Suddenly, a loud sound, akin to the rumble of thunder, echoed, silencing the arguing crowd.
The speaker stood out prominently in the middle of the crowd, looking like an adult among a group of children.
"Is that an Orc?"
Feeling puzzled by the speaker's appearance, which resembled the Orcs I've seen in movies and anime, I couldn't help but focus on his words.
"As Mr. So said, staying on the island is no longer an option. We will do nothing but die slowly, rotting here."
Before anyone could object, the giant Orc quickly continued.
"And of course, there are those who prefer to die on the island where they were born rather than leave, just as there are those who cannot bear the hardship of travel and prefer to stay here, clinging to the hope that the catastrophe will end. Therefore, I will not force anyone to leave. Those who want to leave may go, and those who want to stay can stay."
The crowd fell silent for a bit before everyone began agreeing with the giant Orc's words without further argument.
"As the Governor says."
"So this is the Governor of Ras Al-Hoot Island."
I had heard about the Governor several times during my stay on the island, but this was the first time I saw him.
After everyone agreed that part of the population would leave, families began bidding each other farewell, and the elderly and disabled prepared to return to their homes, awaiting death or a miracle to end this catastrophe.
And the crowd split into two parts: one part heading towards the port,
while the other part remained in the city covered with green mist.