Dark clouds swallow the last traces of moonlight, plunging the already eerie streets into deeper darkness.
The pale moonlight fades completely as the Mist rolls in without warning. The sound of steady footsteps echoes faintly in the distance from within the thick fog.
The footsteps draw closer, steadily approaching you two.
A tall figure emerges from the darkness and stands before you.
Swirling mist obscures the stranger's face, making it impossible to read her expression.
The fog is so thick. Aren't you scared?
And you are...?
But something stirs within the Mist before you can respond.
Using the thick mist as cover, a monstrous shadow creeps up behind you and extends its razor-sharp tentacles to strike at your back.
Behind you, [player name]!
Rargh—
Before you can turn around, the shadow monster's menacing presence is already upon you.
At the same time, the stranger's lance sweeps upward, cutting down the monster lunging at your back.
Dammit!
The moment you break free, you quickly dodge back, raise your weapon, and take aim at the monster lurking in the Mist.
The bullet pierces straight through the shadow creature's tentacle, and the severed appendage tears away from the creature's body and spirals past you.
Guh—raaargh—
More shadow monsters emerge from the thick mist, their piercing shrieks echoing as they hunger for human sanity.
Bullet after bullet tears through the creatures, their shattered forms collapsing and dissolving into pools of viscous fluid.
The street offers no light, and even the moon has vanished from the night sky. In this impenetrable darkness where details blur, the battle against the monsters becomes exponentially harder.
You quickly empty your magazine, and the sound of more monsters closing in fills your ears while you reload. Before you know it, they are right on top of you.
The lance sweeps in a wide arc, cutting down every monster that has rushed within striking distance.
Do your job!
Protected by the lance's sweeping strikes, you find momentary respite from the swarming shadows and seize the chance to reload, sliding in a fresh magazine and chambering the next round.
As the sounds of more monsters emerge from the dark fog, you raise your gun to aim behind the stranger.
The instant you fire, she ducks aside in perfect sync, her lance already slashing through another monster that has been creeping up on Eileena.
Without realizing it, the three of you have fallen into a rhythm with one another, your strikes flowing seamlessly as you drive back the shadow creatures lurking in the fog.
Your rapport comes about so naturally that it feels impossible that you and this aloof stranger have only just met. The heat of battle even makes you forget you were at each other's throats moments ago.
Finally, the creatures lurking in the fog fall to your coordinated assault, reduced to nothing more than lifeless tentacles and slime pooling on the ground. The inhuman shrieks that filled the air finally fade to silence.
Even your cold, aloof "ally" looks at you with a hint of appreciation and knowing recognition.
That brief battle was all the introduction you need. You both know exactly who you're dealing with now.
I'm glad you accepted my commission, [player name].
I'm Sheriff Veronica, your client.
A pleasure working with you, [player name]... and your little "assistant."
This isn't the kind of case you can crack simply by following clues.
I need you to examine the corpse... and then help me track down the killer.
