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Chapter 565: Misplaced Secret
POSTED ON MAY 1, 2023 BY JACK RUSSELL
This is strange.
Annan’s keen intuition alerted him that everything in front of him revealed a strange and inexplicable sense of disharmony.
The citizens disappeared without warning.
Together with everything they carried, they disappeared from the world simultaneously.
Is this the effect of nightmare distortion?
“Is it the same outside?”
Annan whispered to Justice.
Although no one was around, he subconsciously lowered his voice in this eerie silence.
The robust Justice nodded solemnly.
“I just went outside to take a look. At least there is no one in the street… or in the store next door.”
Justice pointed to the second floor: “I went to Room 201 to take a look, and when I knocked on the door, there was no response.
“What do you think, Freder?”
Justice also did not know much about the situation and was a little nervous.
Justice lowered his head to look at Annan and asked Annan for advice earnestly, “Shall we… break in and take a look?”
“How about you?”
Annan asked back, “What do you think?”
“I wonder now… is this a [nightmare]?”
Justice frowned slightly.
As a mercenary in the underground city, he encountered many major events.
When encountering such a weird situation without any clue, his first reaction was, “Could this be a distorted nightmare world?”
“We’d better identify each other’s identity first, Freder.”
Justice stared at Annan and said slowly, “The three secrets we exchanged back then… Do you still remember?”
…Is that thing originally used here?
Annan suddenly realized.
But he soon became worried again.
Annan couldn’t know the three secrets of Justice.
However, it was not Nefertari, who entered the nightmare with Annan, who controlled Justice’s body.
It was good and bad at the same time.
Since Nefertari, as a mortal, could not stay awake in a dream, the Justice right now could be regarded as the Justice in history. With that, Annan could dig up information from Justice, and it would be helpful to clear the dungeon.
However, at the same time, it also meant that this turned a “teammate controllable character” into an uncontrollable NPC.
If Annan could not answer this question, Annan’s “first live” in this dungeon would be over.
When Justice patted Annan’s shoulder previously, Annan felt a tinge of pain.
If Annan’s guess was correct, Justice might have broke his shoulder blade. Still, Justice immediately shifted the injury back on himself.
It seemed Justice did not need to exert any transcended power on Annan.
Frederick’s body was simply too fragile.
Frederick did not have any level in the melee profession at all. Most likely, he had no physical training and a poor constitution. At this distance, Annan suspected that as long as Justice slapped him lightly, Annan would be dead on the spot with his head turning into a propeller.
However, in the face of this dead-end, Annan did not show any panic.
Annan’s pupils had no hesitation or fear, and he just replied calmly, “Of course, I remember…how did we get here?”
“Each person says one thing. In the first round, you say your own secret; in the second round, you say the other person’s secret to prevent deception. Then leave one round, just in case. If it matches, it means this is not a nightmare… or the person who entered the nightmare is not you or me.”
Justice said slowly, “Who starts first?”
Annan replied calmly, “You first.”
Annan suddenly realized why the feature of this nightmare was the same “reenactment” characteristic as “Nightmare: Gallery”.
The reenactment characteristic of the nightmare would cause amnesia after death. It was like actually having a dream… After waking up, you would only be left with a vague memory.
If its unique property was not “reenactment”, then the person who entered this nightmare could repeat this event sequence for several rounds to empty out all the secrets of Justice or Frederick.
Conversely, since this event sequence was here, it could be understood as the dungeon challenger would not die here.
Nightmares must have an ending, and they could definitely be purified. Like in Mario Maker, no matter how difficult a level was, you must pass it once before you could upload it.
There was no such thing as a nightmare that could not be purified because that meant that the world within the nightmare would never end. In other words, it would become a “file” with an infinite volume. This itself was a bug.
Even a sinister nightmare like Sporeggar Mill, whose purpose was to kill the purifiers, had the right path to resolve the nightmare after all.
Where Sporeggar Mill was villainous was in its deceptive difficulty.
It was not that defeating the nightmare was hard. Instead, as a nightmare at the difficulty of distortion, it labeled itself as hard difficulty. The death penalty was extremely severe. This would lead to a lack of information for those who conquer this nightmare.
The nightmare could only be cleared once, considering that “someone might purify this nightmare”. Therefore, the actual secret would stay hidden, and the nightmare would be automatically destroyed as long as it was cleared once. It was like a safe that would self-destruct once opened.
If Sporeggar Mill could really be unsolvable, then there was no need for the spider to set up this “nightmare with only one drop of blood” at all.
Since you can prepare to run away, it means that you are not 100% confident.
However, looking at it now, with Frederick’s Constitution… it was absolutely impossible for him to outrun Justice. Therefore, the only chance to escape should be when Frederick leaves the house.
However, the chance was slim.
Once the chase started, it was just too hard to run away from a Gold Rank transcender in a deserted city.
As a matter of fact, even though Justice was apparent with his “main tank” role, Justice’s profession was lurker when he was in Bronze Rank.
Therefore, this event sequence should be a necessary plot point – an inescapable dialogue…
Where is my chance to survive?
“First, I have an intense desire to kill,” Justice said slowly.
Annan frowned.
Is the Protector, known as the “Shield of Unfallen”, a born killer?
That was indeed a secret that Annan did not expect.
But how should I respond?
Looking into Justice’s eyes, Annan said slowly: “[I can gain power by killing enemies].”
This was the secret that Annan exchanged with Nefertari from the outside before entering the nightmare.
However, it was definitely not Frederick’s secret.
Strangely enough, facing this secret, Justice felt no sense of disharmony.
“Second,” Justice said slowly, “You, Frederick… and Ingrid are secret lovers.”
—Ingrid.
This was the second time Annan had heard the name.
It was supposed to be a girl’s name.
In the CG just now, when Justice was bragging about his strength, he accidentally mentioned this name. However, Frederick quickly cut it off.
It seems like…
Is this girl dead?
The three of them used to be in the 7th class, right? A typical love triangle relationship between two bros and a girl… Then, did the girl just suddenly dies?
Annan was thinking quickly in his mind, but his expression remained unchanged.
“Secondly, your teacher, Bone Healer’ Seti, lost the power of elements after repairing the sacred bone.”
Annan slowly spoke the second secret that Nefertari gave him.
Oddly enough, it still met Justice’s requirements.
It was as if Justice didn’t hear Annan’s words. Instead, he breathed a sigh of relief, and his gaze at Annan immediately relaxed.
“Now, at least the possibility that one of us is the purifier of the nightmare can be ruled out. We are still ourselves.”
—Nonsense, because we are both purifiers of nightmares, but you have fucking amnesia.
Annan said silently in his heart.
However, Annan only showed an expression of approval on his face, “But there is still the possibility of ‘this is a nightmare world’.
“To be safe, I suggest not treating it as a nightmare to avoid unnecessary injuries.”
“Relax, Freder.”
Justice disagreed, “With me, you won’t get hurt.
“Let’s find out. What kind of conspiracy is all this?”
After Justice finished speaking, he no longer hesitated.
Justic walked straight out.
Annan watched his back and followed him silently.
—It’s not an illusion.
Annan confirmed in his heart.
Although Justice hid it well, the anger in his heart suddenly rose at that moment—as if he was irritated by something.
However, Annan obviously didn’t say anything wrong.
Could it be what he said?
…Could it be that you thought of Ingrid?
The lesser I express myself, the lesser mistakes there will be.
Annan didn’t say a word but pulled down the hood behind him to cover half of his face.
I have to play it by ear this time.