A System That Keeps Having Diarrhea

[Someone has plucked the strings of fate. When the countdown ends, the "miracle" named "Hardship" will return and descend upon this land.]

"'The miracle' of 'Hardship' will return and descend..."

Colin felt his mood grow somewhat heavier. The phrasing of the prompt was rather peculiar—a "miracle" named "Hardship."

What kind of entity could be summed up by the two words "Hardship"?

Not something like "The Sufferer," "The Burden-Bearer," "Ashes and Silver," and so on...

Simply two words: "Hardship."

"Could it be another divine descent?"

Colin recalled an honorific. If there was anything that could represent all forms of suffering, it was undoubtedly...

"The Mother of Hardship and Thorns."

That deity who bestows all miraculous hardships...

All current "miracles" originated from this unknown, high-ranking existence.

Yet, aside from the fact that "Hardship Miracles" stemmed from Her, not a single piece of information existed about Her, making Her the most enigmatic of all.

"Could She still be alive?"

Colin remembered that toward the end of the "Era of Hardship," an apocalypse had erupted. Everything, dead or alive, as long as it hadn't turned to bare bones, had transformed into aberrant entities.

And then there was nothing more...

He had always assumed that this supreme apex of the "Era of Hardship" had perished as well.

But now, it seemed not to be the case...

"It's very likely that, much like the 'Night,' She has been in some special state and unable to arrive easily. But who plucked the ripples of fate?"

[You realize that you are not the one who initiated this destined event...]

Not me? Then who is it? Who has so much time on their hands to go looking for trouble?

Do they not have enough problems already?

Colin felt a headache coming on. "I'm afraid, just like the Night, the countdown has been running for a long time, and it's only showing up now..."

He continued to trigger his prompts, attempting to ascertain the status of the "Mother of Hardship and Thorns" and whether She was the one slated to descend.

Unsurprisingly, Colin gained nothing, receiving only garbage data.

However, though there was no explicit information, it could be basically confirmed that this quest's direction was related to the "Mother of Hardship and Thorns."

Moreover, Colin had a strong hunch that Her return was highly probable.

In that instant...

A flash of inspiration struck Colin's mind... Is this Cimino's plan? Does he want people like them to prevent the descent and return of the "Mother of Hardship and Thorns"?

Although he had roughly figured out the reason behind Cimino's assistance, he was still not entirely clear about the other's more specific motives...

Now, it seemed... the reason had surfaced?

"What would happen if I didn't go there?"

[You surmise that things that once happened will play out once more, and history will return to its starting point...]

Things that once happened—meaning the unknown catastrophe that brought an end to the Era of Hardship?

Colin thought for a moment and found that history contained too many incomprehensible contradictions, so he decided not to dwell on it for now, saving it for the future when he possessed more information.

After all, there was still nearly half a year left before the countdown ended.

Half a year is quite "long"...

Judging by the current rate of development...

"He might even have an orbital cannon built by then."

Colin muttered to himself, though he knew the chances of that were slim; he was just casually venting.

At present, what truly required urgency was the lifting of the "regional isolation" in three days, by which time countless alien entities would surely seize the opportunity to pillage...

What were the enemies like?

What were their numbers?

What was their strength?

He had to prepare for all of this.

At that moment, however, Colin suddenly thought of something: Were there "gray fog walls" between the regions?

He looked out the window.

Outside, it was as bright as day. The holy light hung high above the entire island, casting a pure and brilliant radiance, illuminating every corner of the island like a giant dome lamp.

The illumination at this height served merely to "light up the area and drive away the fog," avoiding the trigger of overly troublesome "holy light fanaticism."

Nevertheless, it also provided Colin with a vague, panoramic perception of the entire island.

Within the range of his perception, he sensed none of the "gray fog walls" described by other survivors.

Even outside the coastline, there was no such sensation...

Never mind... This matter was no longer of paramount importance anyway.

Before withdrawing his consciousness and perception, Colin "glanced" outside the island and found that it was still nighttime—a truly ordinary night in every sense.

"Dawn is just an hour away..."

Colin began to faintly sense an extreme exhaustion, hunger in his stomach, and a hollow feeling in his mind.

And these were merely physiological reactions.

Even more distressing was a sense of... existential emptiness in his soul.

Colin inexplicably felt as though he could vanish at any moment.

Even though he knew none of this would actually happen, the bizarre sensation persisted.

Right at that moment, the line of un-faded blood-red text in Colin's mind shifted once again.

Soon, new content appeared in his consciousness.

[The system's functions such as the "Chat Channel" and "Trading Market" are about to reopen.]

Enduring his fatigue, Colin checked the update. "It's finally restored. After being down for so long, it seems the 'Night' really did have a massive impact on it, but being able to open it at all is a good thing..."

At that moment, among the remaining territories, the surviving people burst into ecstatic cheers upon seeing this message.

In the very beginning, everyone had been isolated as individual units, and it was solely thanks to the chat channel that they had managed to hold on.

After all, humans are social animals...

However, the cheers and jubilation abruptly cut short.

They realized they might have been celebrating too soon.

[Due to the influence of the "Unknown," the "World Channel" within the "Chat Channel" will be open for a limited time, specifically one day every weekend...]

Ah, this... Colin was also momentarily stunned.

[Additionally, regional chat functions such as the "Regional Channel" and "Personal Channel" will be restored after dawn.]

[Furthermore, when ten sheepskin scrolls collected from survivors of other regions are obtained, this region can be integrated with other regional channels...]

[When the overall integration progress among various regions reaches fifty percent, the system will fully restore the "World Channel" function.]

"Is the system trying to save itself?"

Upon seeing this massive block of information, Colin instantly thought of this possibility, and he realized...

"Aren't the sheepskin scrolls themselves creations of the system? Is it currently unable to even retrieve its own creations? It actually needs us to help it establish connections?"

Although Colin had previously realized that the system's situation must be dire, he hadn't expected it to be in such a wretched state, unable even to reclaim its own items...

[The "Bounty" system will be completely abolished upon dawn, reverted back to the "Trading Market," and will, along with the "World Channel," be open once a week.]

[Additionally, to promote integration progress, a new quest is about to be issued: "Civilization Reconstruction Project"...]

Another new quest?