His gaze hardened slightly.
"It's worth it."
Without another second of hesitation, he raised his hand.
"Purchase."
The screen flickered.
[Gold Coins: 9023 → 3023]
For a brief moment, everything went still.
Then, it started.
Outside the villa, the stone walls surrounding the town trembled.
At first, it was subtle.
A low vibration that ran through the ground, barely noticeable unless someone was standing close enough to feel it beneath their feet.
Then the sound came.
A deep, grinding noise, like something ancient waking up after a long sleep.
Beyond the garden, past the quiet greenery, the outer walls began to change.
The solid stone didn't crack.
It shifted.
The surface rippled as faint black veins spread across it, thin at first, then thicker, branching out like roots digging through the structure, seeping into every part of the wall as the color slowly darkened from dull gray into something deeper.
Something dead.
The air grew heavier.
