You said you would make games by yourself, but how did you become the richest man by doing nothing?

Since the release of "Mystery of Mistwood Village" worldwide, it has become more than just a deduction game; it has become a focal point of discussion for global players and game enthusiasts. The forbidden forest in the game has become the most mysterious place in the hearts of all players. That forest is located on the edge of the village, and according to ancient legends, the villagers have never allowed anyone to enter. Whenever players mention this place, the village elders always avoid the topic with a mysterious and wary look.

However, as the game progresses, more and more clues lead players to this mysterious forest. The players in the village gradually realize that this forest is not only a habitat for werewolves, but also hides an ancient secret deep within, which may be closely related to the village's curse.

In a new game update, the game development team quietly set up a brand new side quest in the forbidden forest. This quest requires players to collect four ancient rune fragments, each of which is closely related to an ancient ritual and curse. All the fragments are cleverly hidden in different corners of the village, and the player's goal is not only to uncover the identity behind the werewolves, but also to unravel the mystery that has been passed down in this village for centuries.

One late night, player Li Ke skillfully tracked down a suspected werewolf player in the game and discovered a trace of one of the rune fragments. This fragment was hidden in the basement of an old church in the village. The basement door was sealed with an ancient rune lock, and the pattern of the rune lock was the symbol of the forbidden forest. A strong sense of curiosity and unease surged in Li Ke's heart, and he decided to lead his teammates deep into the basement to explore the secrets of this church.

"This place doesn't look like an ordinary church," Li Ke carefully pushed open the heavy wooden door, he said in a low voice to his teammates, "I feel like there's something hidden here that people don't know about."

The atmosphere in the basement was chilling. The cracks and cobwebs on the walls made the place look old and mysterious, and in one corner, Li Ke finally found the trace of the rune fragment. Just as he was about to approach, suddenly, a tremor came from the ground, and the surrounding light began to distort.

"Did you guys hear something?" a teammate, Zhang Yu, asked nervously.

"The rune fragment activated some kind of mechanism," Li Ke's eyes were sharp, "Quick, everyone be careful!"

At that moment, the walls of the basement suddenly opened to both sides, revealing a secret passage leading to the underground. Li Ke and his teammates looked at each other, knowing that this passage was the entrance to the forbidden forest, and all the mysteries were about to be revealed.

As "Mystery of Mistwood Village" gradually entered a deeper level of deduction and exploration, the social deduction in the game became more and more complex. Different players gradually formed various alliances based on each other's reasoning. For some players, cooperation is for common victory, while for others, these alliances are more of a strategic layout, hiding unknown conspiracies.

After Li Ke and his teammates discovered the rune fragment in the basement, they decided to form a temporary alliance with other players to quickly collect more fragments. However, they soon realized that this game was not as simple as it seemed on the surface. Each player hid their own purpose, and trust and suspicion became the biggest challenges.

In their team, besides Li Ke, there was another player named Zhao Tian. Zhao Tian seemed to be an experienced old player with extremely strong reasoning skills, but his behavior in the game often had an unsettling calmness. Once, in a reasoning meeting, Zhao Tian appeared too calm when faced with questioning, without the slightest hint of panic.

"Zhao Tian, can we trust you?" Li Ke couldn't help but ask.

Zhao Tian smiled slightly, "I understand your suspicion, but reasoning requires calmness, not emotion. You need more facts and can't be swayed by emotions."

Li Ke became suspicious of Zhao Tian's words. He vaguely felt that Zhao Tian seemed to know some secrets about the forbidden forest and the rune fragments, and Zhao Tian had not fully shared this information. Li Ke secretly resolved in his heart to find out Zhao Tian's true purpose.

In a separate conversation with Zhao Tian, Li Ke deliberately revealed the clue that he had found the rune fragment in the basement of the church. He mentioned, "I found that the rune fragment in the basement may be related to an ancient ritual and may open a portal to the forbidden forest."

Zhao Tian's eyes flickered slightly, as if he was scrutinizing Li Ke for a moment. He replied calmly: "Portal? Are you sure you know what you're talking about? Some things, once you enter, you can never return."

Li Ke's heart skipped a beat. These words seemed to imply Zhao Tian's deep understanding of the forbidden forest. Zhao Tian's calmness made Li Ke even more suspicious of his true identity. Is he a teammate or an enemy?

As the rune fragments were gradually revealed, the players finally pieced together the truth behind the village's ancient curse. The symbols on the runes were compared with the ancient books passed down in the village, slowly revealing the true meaning of the forbidden forest.

It turned out that the forbidden forest was not simply a werewolf habitat, it was once an ancient sacrificial ritual site. Hundreds of years ago, the village elders, in order to protect the village from foreign enemies, summoned ancient gods and used mysterious magical powers to transform the forest into a sealed space. Only at a specific moment would the rune fragments be activated, opening the seal and releasing the sealed ancient power.

After Li Ke and his teammates collected all the rune fragments, they finally found the secret entrance to the forbidden forest. Their mood was extremely complicated, because this moment meant that they were about to enter a completely strange and unknown world.

"Everyone ready? After entering the forest, we will no longer be able to return to the original world," Li Ke stood at the door, staring at the gradually opening portal.

"No matter what, we have to go in!" Zhang Yu said, his eyes full of determination. "We've come this far, retreating will only make us miss the truth."

Li Ke took a deep breath and led the team into the portal. The light of the portal illuminated their faces, and almost instantly, the whole world began to blur, and then they were sucked into a new space.

When they crossed the portal and entered the forbidden forest, everyone was shocked. The scene before them was completely different from anything they had seen before. The trees in the forest were tall and twisted, and the air was filled with an unspeakable smell, like the intertwining of rotten leaves and some ancient mysterious power.

Every step seemed unusually heavy, as if every tree and every stone in the forest was watching them. Li Ke felt an unprecedented pressure, as if he was bound by an invisible force.

"This forest is too... eerie," Zhang Yu said in a low voice.

"We have to be careful, there's more than just werewolves here," Li Ke's voice was full of vigilance, "What these rune fragments are hiding is probably an even more terrifying secret."

Just as they were deep into the forest, Zhao Tian suddenly turned around and whispered to Li Ke: "What's hidden here is not only werewolves, but also ancient evil spirits, they are more dangerous than werewolves. Are you ready to face everything?"

Li Ke's heart tightened, the Zhao Tian in front of him did not seem like an ordinary teammate. Although he appeared calm on the surface, Li Ke could not let go of the doubts in his heart. Zhao Tian knew much more than he showed. Perhaps he had an unknown connection with this forest long ago.

"We are here to find the truth, no matter how great the danger, we must continue to move forward," Li Ke tightly held the rune fragment in his hand and led the team towards the depths of the forest.

And Zhao Tian still had a subtle smile behind his back. He knew that everything had just begun...

As Li Ke and her teammates ventured deeper into the Forbidden Forest, they gradually felt an unprecedented sense of oppression in their hearts. Deep in the forest, huge ancient trees towered into the clouds, their branches intertwined, blocking out the sky and the sun, so that almost no sunlight could penetrate the dense leaves. With every step, the dry branches and fallen leaves underfoot made a faint sound, as if someone were secretly watching their every move in the darkness.

"Something's more and more wrong here," Zhang Yu's voice was low, obviously also sensing the abnormality of this forest. As he spoke, he vigilantly looked around.

"I feel it too," Li Ke frowned slightly. She knew that there was more to this forest than just werewolves, or rather, werewolves were just the enemy on the surface. The deeper, hidden fear and unknown behind the forest were what they really had to face.

"These trees..." Zhao Tian's voice took on a strange, low tone for some reason, "They... don't seem to grow naturally." He stopped, a complex look flashing in his eyes. "There's a strange power guiding them."

"What do you mean?" Li Ke turned around, her gaze vigilantly locked on Zhao Tian.

Zhao Tian was silent for a moment, and finally shook his head, "You don't understand. This... is far more than a simple forest. It's controlled by some ancient power." His words were filled with an unspeakable sense of threat, as if hinting that he knew far more than they imagined.

Li Ke and Zhang Yu looked at each other, a question floating in their hearts - what exactly does Zhao Tian know? He seemed to know far more about this forest than they had imagined.

"We have to keep moving forward," Li Ke didn't ask any more questions. Although she had more doubts about Zhao Tian, she knew that their task was to find the truth in the Forbidden Forest, not to stagnate here.

The three continued to move forward, the increasingly deep forest making it almost impossible for them to tell the direction. Every few steps, they heard the low wind in the depths of the forest, as if something were whispering in the wind. Gradually, the surrounding atmosphere became more and more oppressive.

Just as they entered an open space, suddenly, Li Ke's eyes lit up - she saw a huge stone tablet, on which were engraved strange symbols and totems, seemingly telling some ancient story. Li Ke quickly walked over and reached out to touch the stone tablet. The cold touch of the stone tablet made her palms feel cold.

"How... could there be such a thing here?" Li Ke muttered to herself. She carefully looked at every symbol on the stone tablet, and a strong premonition suddenly rose in her heart: this was the last clue they were looking for.

"That's... a rune?" Zhang Yu stepped forward, his eyes flashing with surprise, "I've never seen such complex symbols."

Zhao Tian was silent for a moment, then suddenly opened his mouth, "This is not a rune, this is an ancient forbidden technique. It hides a huge secret." His voice was devoid of emotion, as if he were telling them a fact he already knew.

"What exactly do you know?" Li Ke finally couldn't help but question, her tone full of anger and doubt.

Zhao Tian turned his head, his eyes still cold, "You see these symbols, they are not just simple words, but... seals." As he spoke, he gently stroked a line of runes on the stone tablet, "These symbols were once used by ancient priests to seal evil spirits. The Forbidden Forest is a huge sealed space, and all the evil spirits are locked here."

Li Ke's heart sank, she had just realized that what Zhao Tian said was not groundless. She suddenly recalled the legends she had heard about the Forbidden Forest before - this forest was not just a habitat around the village, it was once a place used to seal ancient evil forces.

"If these seals really exist," Li Ke's voice was full of shock, "then we are now... breaking the seals?"

Zhao Tian nodded, "What's hidden behind this forest is not just werewolves. The real evil forces have been sealed here for hundreds of years, and the rune fragments are the keys to unlocking the seals. You shouldn't touch them."

Li Ke was stunned, a deep sense of fear suddenly rising in her heart - what if everything they had done had inadvertently released some kind of evil force? What should they do?

"We can't turn back," Zhang Yu suddenly interjected, his voice firm. "We've come this far, we can't stop."

Li Ke took a deep breath and shook her head, "No matter how much is unknown ahead, we must continue." She tightly grasped the rune fragment in her hand, feeling the inexplicable power it emitted, as if it was telling her that everything was not accidental.

Continuing forward, Li Ke and her teammates finally came to a vacant meadow, surrounded by tall ancient trees. She saw a huge altar, covered with blood-red symbols, and in the center of the altar, there was an ancient crystal, it emitted a faint light, as if attracting all attention.

"This... is the core of the seal," Zhao Tian said in a low voice, his tone full of awe, "This crystal was once used by ancient priests as a source of power to seal evil spirits. All the rune fragments and symbols are closely linked to it."

Li Ke's heart beat faster, she knew that they were standing at the most critical node of this adventure. The light emitted by the crystal illuminated the entire altar, shining on the surrounding ancient trees and grass, as if injecting a mysterious force into the entire forest.

"Must we... touch it?" Zhang Yu looked at the crystal, his eyes full of doubt. (End of this chapter)