The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 573: Nightmare: Phantom Fever, Cleared!

—This should be a prophetic dream.

Let me approach it that way.

Annan quickly made his decision.

Annan didn’t want to run away, and he believed that Frederick wouldn’t want to choose to run away either.

Anyway, in the last part of the two timelines, “Frederick” was already on the verge of death.

If Annan was lost about what to choose, he just had to think about how he would act if he became the owner of the body. Then, he would act accordingly.

No matter whether Annan dodge here or not, he would die.

If this was Frederick’s memory before he died, then even if he avoided the axe that was flying towards him, how would he, who ran away in the face of Ingrid, face the Justice, who “chose to betray”?

That was probably Justice from another timeline.

If Frederick’s dream of no one on the street before was just because of the prophetic dream reflected in his mind after reading that book…

So at this moment, if he chooses to roll out and avoid the falling wall after suffering an injury. Perhaps Frederick, who had advanced to Silver Rank at a young age, would indeed not die because of this… At least he still had one life left.

He was an Idol Wizard, a rare wizard profession. He should have the ability to heal himself.

However, in this case, Ingrid’s ending would not be any different from history. That must be the wrong path.

Annan did not know Idol Spells either.

After all, he wasn’t the real Frederick, the genius iconic wizard.

“Did you have a dream…or did you wake up from a dream?”

If possible, Annan wanted to try the possibility of “both sides were real” or “both sides were dreams”.

However, time was short.

The wind from the axe was so sharp that it almost cut his cheek. The pain when the falling rock behind him hit his back was so real.

Which side to believe in?

Annan also didn’t know how to choose the third path among the two options of “dodge” and “don’t hide”.

The pure Idol Wizard of Silver Rank did not have the spells that could resolve the disaster in front of him. If the wizard was the Shaping or Edict school, there could be other possibilities.

However, Annan did not know that kind of spell. Frederick was a pure Idol Wizard. To maintain the purity of their family, they couldn’t learn spells from other schools. They did not even see a single person in infancy; they did not have anyone to talk to, and they did not learn much practical knowledge.

They were afraid of ruining the “divine nature”.

Could I have stepped into a mousetrap?

I shouldn’t have entered the alley. Is it a fake road?

As long as you come in, there are only two paths left to choose from.

All sorts of guesses emerged in Annan’s mind.

However, he didn’t move away in the end.

Since there was no other choice, Annan chose a path that would make Frederick less ashamed.

After the world became dim and the flow of time became extremely slow… About 15 seconds had passed.

A boulder fell from the sky, and hit his back heavily in the silent world.

Then, Annan’s vision went dark.

“…Ouch.”

Annan woke up suddenly and opened his eyes.

He found himself lying on the couch with data running across his eyes.

[Nightmare has been purified.]

[Purify the nightmare with the specified identity. Evaluation ratings increased.]

[The purification was completed when entering this nightmare for the first time. The evaluation ratings increased significantly.]

[Comprehensive Evaluation—B]

[Acquired Shared Experience 2800 points. Perception +1.]

[Reward for dungeon instance clearance: 5% adaptability of elements (Understanding)]

[The current awakening depth of soul elements: Brilliance (100%), Wisdom (47%), Beauty (24%), Strictness (16%), Glory (11%), Understanding (5%)]

[Hidden plot you have decrypted: 33%.]

I did not get decryption rewards.

B-level evaluation ratings… This was the lowest evaluation rating of all the nightmare dungeon instances that Annan cleared.

This showed that he was definitely on the wrong track.

This should be regarded as the standard ending, a.k.a the normal ending in games. If Annan hadn’t endured the fear of dying and fled when he was at the crossroad, it would trigger a bad ending.

“This is strange.”

Annan rubbed his temples and sat up from the sofa.

The first two hints were useless.

He cleared the level by himself, and it could even be regarded as he won by himself.

However, Annan knew that he had lost this time.

…But, what is the right way?

Since when did I look in the wrong direction?

There must be a different crossroad.

However, everything at the start was smooth. Annan went through the dungeon smoothly.

It was just unlike the last part, where the dungeon stopped for 15 seconds to let Annan think about it. When he played Frederick, he naturally walked toward the road fork.

Or should I not immerse myself too much into the character?

Annan saw that Nefertari, who was lying on the table, trembled. He knew that she must have woken up.

So, Annan shook his drowsy head, walked over, and gently patted her to help wake her up, “Are you awake, Ms. Nefertari?”

Nefertari looked up in bewilderment.

It was the first time that Annan to see the expressions of ordinary people after purifying their nightmares. It appeared as if they were in deep slumber.

The moment Nefertari looked at him, residual fear and consternation flashed in her eyes. Immediately afterward, she was confused about why she had such associations.

“…I seem to have a dream,” Nefertari looked at Annan with some hesitation, “You seem to be dead in the dream but that person doesn’t seem to be you…”

“Do you remember what happened in the nightmare?”

Annan asked Nefertari, “Any detail is fine.”

While Annan was playing Frederick, she was supposed to be playing Justice in the nightmare. The perspective and information should be different from Annan’s.

Nefertari rubbed her eyes.

Then, she put her hand on her forehead, frowned, and thought hard about it, “I don’t remember clearly. After waking up, the memory quickly disappeared. I only remember that I was strange in the dream…”

“Even a small of it helps.”

Annan chuckled and added, “Don’t worry about misleading me. I’ll verify it later on my own… You just need to provide references.”

“I understand. The mission of the Wise is to ‘propose possibilities,’ and the conclusion is to be determined by the Wise and Digger together.” Nefertari nodded and explained in a low voice.

She pondered for a while and said uncertainly, “I’m not sure whether this memory is real…

“But, I remember that you seem to have died more than once.”

Oh?

Annan immediately became energized, “Did I die twice? Was it once headshot by a throwing ax and once crushed to death by falling rocks?”

If Annan died twice in Nefertari’s memory, did that mean both timelines were real?

This proved that the two events were neither a prophetic dream nor a memory before death.

“Twice?”

Nefertari raised her head in surprise, “Twice?”

“What’s wrong?”

“But in my memory…”

The red-haired girl also realized something and gradually frowned,

“—You have died three times?”