The world, tainted by disease,
Filled with bizarre entities and unusual powers,
Alongside a mysterious organization waiting ahead,
An endless unknown lies in wait to be explored.
Due to his excitement, Yi Chen only slept four hours last night. Perhaps because he had acquired a "disease trait," he felt neither tired nor fatigued, his spirit and appearance in top form.
As he stepped out of the cemetery gate,
He expected fresh air, warm sunlight, and lively townsfolk bustling about.
The street scene was hardly any better than the cemetery.
Just then, a cheerful scratching sound came from his shoulder.
A furry black creature, resembling a small, black mass of flesh, seemed to have just woken up,
Its mouth wide open, revealing black-and-white eyes that rubbed together like it was stretching after a nap.
Two thin black hands waved back and forth in a gentle motion.
"Finally, out of that cursed cemetery, this is great! Before we begin our adventure, let's grab something to eat... it's been ages since I last had a meal."
"Sure, what do you want to eat?"
"Grapes, loads of grapes..."
When the black mass said "grapes," it pointed to its own eyes, and Yi Chen understood what it really meant by "grapes."
Not finding it strange at all, he thought about his own world before, where people enjoyed eating foods like fish eyes or roasted pig eyes.
"Alright, but let’s first visit a clothing store."
Currently, Yi Chen was only wearing a shabby, torn shirt,
With holes in the sleeves and rips along the waist and pants.
With this body of "William Behrens," unbathed and unwashed for several days, he would be the lowest of the low even among the homeless.
Walking down the town’s relatively broad streets,
With no one cleaning for ages, the gaps between cobblestones were filled with sunflower seed shells, dirty water, and decaying insect remains.
Foot traffic had dwindled over the years, and many shops had long since closed.
The few remaining shops barely survived and could shut down at any moment.
Seeing this, Yi Chen couldn’t help but doubt if there really would be a decent clothing store around.
At the corner of an alleyway, a building distinct from the surrounding houses caught his eye.
Primarily black and heavily Gothic in style, it stood tall and slender.
In the narrow windows, figures seemed to be secretly watching the outside world.
The overall appearance was refined and somber, resembling a noble’s residence from a big city, clashing with this dilapidated town.
The brass-framed plaque by the door read - [Maurice & Sad]
Thanks to the enhanced vision provided by the small black creature, Yi Chen could see the high-end clothing inside through the window.
“This should be the high-end clothing store Mr. Wilbert mentioned,” he thought.
"Such a store must cost a lot to run daily; it’s hard to imagine the townsfolk affording anything here. Why would a shop even exist?"
Carrying these doubts, Yi Chen made his way through the filthy street, under the gaze of the masked residents, and pushed open the clothing store’s front door.
After lacing up the black Oxford shoes,
the lady tied a black tie for him,
and when he saw his new image in the mirror, Yi Chen felt a renewed sense of vigor.