It went exactly as expected for Delicious Wind Goose.
After showing off their strength last night, the people from āRed Deadā approached early this morning.
The talk went well for the players from the start.
After all, the management of āRed Deadā was loose. It was not a strict organization. After confirming that the players were interested and had no intention of joining other organizations, the negotiation was done.
The āRed Deadā organization had a loose arrangement on the outside and tight management on the inside. They were not afraid of spies coming in. After all, peripheral members had almost no access to any information and had to work for nothing.
As to who would become an internal member, it all depended on their actions. However, the āBossā had the immediate decision. Their identities were even kept secret. Even the other peripheral members would not know which of their members were internal members.
But the strange thing was that the internal members were united. Not to mention the hidden spies who joined in advance, there were even no bribed betrayers among them.
Many people thought the Boss, or perhaps someone under him, was a Great Wizard proficient in Prophet School and Soul Snatch School. Thus, there was such a tight organizational structure.
However, things went beyond Delicious Wind Gooseās expectations.
It happened after they had a rough discussion about ājoining the Red Deadā.
After confirming that they were willing to join Red Dead, the person who came to talk to them suddenly changed the subject. He asked Delicious Wind Goose, or perhaps the whole group, to go to the fort sternly.
Delicious Wind Goose only found out after asking.
It was said that the āBossā instructed them before the group went out. If Delicious Wind Goose were willing to join them, he would be directly promoted to a core member. The three people who came together with Delicious Wind Goose would also be promoted to internal members.
ā¦But why?
The players were baffled.
If it happened not long after they first came to Mist Continent, they might have thought that they were blessed with the protagonistās plot armor since they were the players. However, after recognizing their status, they knew that they would be, at best, playing a supporting role.
At the same time, the players had not met the boss yet.
The āRed Deadā even knew they came to Natta County with ulterior motives.
Why would the Red Deadās leader invite them into the core of the organization when they had never met before?
If the other party could predict the future, would they not know their purpose?
In the end, the players made a decision after a discussion.
The conclusion they gave was not to spread out.
It was better to be wiped out all at once than to be defeated individually. Even though the players could brute force their way out at any time, they could also pay some sacrifice and teleport away anytime. However, Natta County was not a safe place after all. Even if a single person acquired the āRed Deadā nameplate, the person might still be unable to get food, clothing, housing, and transportation if he was not smart enough.
So although they felt something was wrong, they still went together to the āRed Deadā base in the end.
Then, they successfully met the āBossā.
To their surpriseā¦ one of the most influential people in Natta County was not a wizard.
Delicious Wind Goose was ready to face a dark spell caster like the GulādanĀ [1]Ā type.
It turned out to be Gulādan, indeed.
But it was Gulādan with his clothes offā
āHere, you can call me āBossā. You can also call me by my first name, Ike Searing-Fang.ā The person who spoke was a burly man with golden curly hair.
He was smoking a cigar, and his voice was calm and charismatic.
Ike wore a yellow linen gown with sleeves rolled up to the elbows and an off-white waistcoat with many pockets. This outfit looked like an engineer and a reporter.
His skin was bronzed, and his exposed skin was covered with scars. He was extremely muscular, and his figure was about the same size as Delicious Wind Goose or even more exaggerated. He had an inverted triangle figure like a superhero in the comic book.
At the same time, he was one head taller than Delicious Wind Goose, about 1.9 meters tall.
His arms were firm like a sailorā¦ the kind who loved spinachĀ [2].
But what was most familiar to Delicious Wind Goose was that Ike Searing-Fangās pupils looked like flowing lava, giving off a ābright dark redā feeling. He also spat out a faint white mist that smelled of sulfur when he breathed.
āThe most important thing was a heavy gold chain around Ike Searing-Fangās neck. It looked like a bunch of mahjong tiles.
With this body type, could he be a Soul Snatch Wizard or a Prophet Wizard?
Delicious Wind Goose was confident Ike could crush Yokai Sensei with one punch!
Except that Anderson might take three punches to kill, the three of them werenāt enough to contend with him.
More importantly,Ā Delicious Wind Goose had seen this last name in a nightmare: the very nightmare that made him a transcender.
There, he met a Destruction Wizard named āArthur Searing-Fangā.
His pupils and the sulfur smell in his breathing were similar to the man named Ike!
āStop looking at me. Iām not a wizard.ā
Ike, who called himself āBossā, grinned and exhaled a plume of white smoke mixed with the smell of cigars and sulfur. The cinnamon smell almost covered up the scent of sulfurā¦
But as it happened, Delicious Wind Goose had a keen sense of smell.
āI canāt tell you about my specific profession. But Iām definitely not a wizard.ā
Ike Searing-Fang smiled lowly and spoke in a charming, masucline voice, āI think you must be very curious. Of course, Iām not a wizard, but how can I judge that you are credible?ā
No, Iām not curious at all.
Weāre just here to spend our day, Bossā¦
Delicious Wind Goose thought that from the bottom of his heart.
But he remained expressionless on his face and nodded slowly.
His body was about the same size as Ikeās. The silver bracelet on his wrist looked intimidating if he did not talk much and pretended to be cool.
āTo tell you the truth, this is a ritual we held. Itās also a large-scale artificial nightmare created by me myself.ā
Ike said slowly, āI need you, Delicious Wind Goose. You are a Silver Rank transcender who has just advanced or a ritualist who has seen a true deity. The most important thing is that you are not a wizard. So, you perfectly meet the victory conditions of this ritual.ā
Why must it not be a wizard?
Why me?
Delicious Wind Goose was suspicious.
But he did not ask much.
Presumably, the other party would not say it out either.
Delicious Wind Goose said directly to the point, āSo, what should I do?ā
Ike grinned, revealing an unabashedly happy smile, āDonāt worry. Youāll know when the time comes.ā
Three hours laterā¦
The four of them were respectfully invited into a luxurious villa with the ākeyā provided by Ike.
Of course, this luxury was also quite relative.
Compared with the villas they had seen in the capital, it was naturally not as good.
But in Natta County, Delicious Wind Goose believed this might be the best thing Ike or āBossā could come up with.
Ike requested that the player could try to purify the nightmare he designed. It would be best if they could pass the level.
What the hell are they going to do?
How did he do it, artificially creating a nightmare?
He is not a wizard, but how can he achieve that?
And what does that even mean?
Delicious Wind Goose was puzzled.
It looked like some kind of conspiracy. But the other party was too frank, which made them a little undecided.
Andā¦
That was a nightmare!
It was the element for the teleportation waypoint that granted experience and level-up rewards.
The nightmare itself was pretty interesting too.
It was quite enticing.
The courage as players also stopped them from backing down before trying.
After all, they could be resurrected.
After the players discussed it, they planned to have three people enter the nightmare to see the situation themselves.
They could use it to establish a teleportation waypoint if all went well.
Of course, just in caseā¦ they could not have the entire team enter the nightmare.
They left the only priest, Yokai Sensei, in charge of the vigil.
Yokai Senseiās duty was not to protect his comrades.
Instead, when the enemy launched an assault, he would strike first to kill all his teammates.
He was the priest of the upright deity, and there was no way he could be controlled.
However, if the curse vessel of a transcender were stolen, the person would lose most of his transcended abilities in an instant.
It was a safety precaution even though they thought there was no point in plotting against them or kidnapping them. At the same time, it was highly probable that Ike was Gold Rank. Even if he werenāt, it would not be difficult for him to deal with them.
But this place was Natta County, after all.
The players could not trust the others easily.
āAre you ready?ā Dove had exchanged eyes with Anderson.
āDonāt worry. Iām watching.ā
Yokai Sensei patted the gun and said in a deep voice, āI think you should start a live broadcast. We should let the free players spectate you, and that feature helps keep a record of it.ā
Delicious Wind Goose nodded and turned on the live broadcast readily, āThat makes sense.ā
He then cuffed the metal bracelet on his wrist and leaned back. For some reason, the metal bracelets looked like handcuffs, but nothing connected the two cuffs.
This was the first time players entered an unexplored nightmare while actively using the ādream keyā as an item.
Based on Ike, this seemed like a nightmare that enabled a party-finding feature or something like that.
A nightmare that three people could enter togetherā
āThis seems to be called a [co-op nightmare].ā
Delicious Wind Goose muttered, his consciousness gradually becoming blurred.
His first reaction was:Ā This boss did not scam me. So itās really a nightmare?
Between drowsiness and waking, he felt his limbs bound by inexplicable power. It was like being chained to a cold chair.