The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 421: Annan’s Real Nightmare

So, that’s the real main mission.

After the false dream collapsed, Annan finally entered his real nightmare.

What was presented to him was a world on the verge of being broken.

Looking down, it was a bottomless abyss.

A broken wall, like a vast ship, was slowly sinking downward.

The direction of gravity was unreal. There were even some horizontally flipped ruins that were turned upside down 180 degrees.

“Looks like the opening scene where a demon will pop out and chat with me.” Annan couldn’t help but complain.

He was now near the bottom of the pit. Looking up, there were paintings of different sizes hanging on many broken stone walls of different heights.

But unlike “Nightmare: Gallery”, the content on each painting here was simple.

It was either the eyes, the ears, or the mouth.

The eyes and mouth opened and closed at varying intervals.

Those facial features should be extracted from people Annan had encountered.

Annan had figured that out just because he noticed Salvatore’s trademark tired eyes with dark circles at a glance among the many portraits.

To be honest, Annan did not see many people who lacked sleep to this extent and had not died yet.

Annan looked up. The dark red sky had an icy blue eyeball replacing the position where the sun would typically be.

If Annan guessed correctly, that was his pupil.

An ice-blue light beam scanned the ground, following the direction of the eyeball. The ground struck by the light beam had a thin layer of the ice surface in the blink of an eye. Then, it quickly dissipated after the eye looked away.

“So, is this a parkour game?” Annan murmured somewhat unexpectedly, “Do I need to avoid this light? If I get hit, will I die or something?”

How do I collect these fear fragments?

At this stage, Annan had collected three pieces.

Two of them should be obtained from the two nightmare fragments. The third piece could be Annan’s fears.

Suddenly, Annan noticed that two paintings in the distance were burned. There was also a painting with a dagger emitting a rainbow-colored light on it. He was assured that it was his “other eye”.

“I got it now.” Annan narrowed his eyes slightly.

If everyone’s memory fragments would generate a sub-nightmare, there should be 63 nightmare fragments here.

Then, the mechanism of entering the nightmare fragments must be obvious.

The entrances were these paintings.

For the paintings made up of the eyes, ears, and mouths of people, which Annan did not recognize, there was a high probability of them being the fragments Salvatore added.

Could it be that because I had participated in the Gallery nightmare, its manifestations had also changed according to my subconscious?

“—Well.” At this moment, the eye in the sky glanced over.

Annan did not take any chances and hid in the nearest cover immediately.

He glanced around, took two steps forward, and jumped up.

The inverted gravity was quite obvious.

Annan jumped halfway and was “sucked” to the left. In other words, he was falling toward the debris on the left with the wall in Annan’s direction.

Just in case, Annan chose to flip his body dexterously like a cat and landed on the ground lightly in a posture on all fours.

He stood still, relieved his dizziness, and rushed forward again.

After a few jumps, Annan leaned against the wall behind him.

This was to prevent himself from being caught by the eyeball in the sky when he entered a nightmare fragment.

The problem now is…

Where the hell is Dream Stealer Danton hiding?

Could he be in a fragment? Well, there’s no end to them.

Or do I have to collect at least seven fear fragments to find Danton?

But if I don’t catch Danton, will he change the nightmare again?

Annan pondered as he quietly glanced at the painting in front of him.

If he guessed correctly, there should be an entrance to the escape room in these paintings.

“Are these Benjamin’s eyes? Whose mouth is this? Looks like Kafni… But here are Kafni’s eyes.”

Ah, it’s this—

Finally, Annan noticed an unfamiliar pupil.

Annan had never seen such cold gray pupils. He would have memories of it if he encountered one.

Those gray eyes in the painting quickly sensed Annan’s gaze.

The moment its eyes met Annan’s.

All the paintings with “mouths” suddenly made sounds simultaneously.

Shouting, roaring, and crying assaulted Annan from all directions.

This time, there was no jitter like a TV with a poor signal, but his whole vision went dark.

By the time the light came back, Annan had gotten a new body.

This time it was a young woman with a good figure.

She wore a white turtleneck and slippers; it seemed Annan was in her home.

Annan glanced out the window, suddenly startled, a little lost.

Outside the window were a blue sky and white clouds.

Annan had never seen such a clear, jewel-like sky.

Noah’s sky resembled those in industrial cities. Although the sky was visible, what you see after raising your head would be gray. That was due to the excessive factory.

There was only a whistling blizzard above the dome barrier for the Austere-Winter’s skies.

But in this place…

Annan couldn’t help but walk toward the window.

“Um…” She was not quite used to her new body, but fortunately, she still had no problem walking.

Looking out from the window, the beautiful scenery made her a little lost.

It was a spectacle that closely resembled the pattern of modern high-rise buildings.

At first glance, the buildings had at least ten floors. They existed in either a group of four or a duo. In the middle of each group of high-rise buildings, some things looked like elevators and glass straws.

Gold and silver tunnels protruded from these pipes, winding around adjacent buildings like blood veins while emitting light. Perhaps because of the color matching, it did not feel disgusting and gave a sacred feeling under the sun.

Annan also saw two massive statues. They were at least twenty stories high (roughly a hundred meters or so).

One of the statues was a heroic knight riding a red horse, wearing red armor and a red helmet. He held a massive, exaggerated six-bladed spear in his backhand, looking like he was about to smash the tip of the spear into someone in front of him at any time. That weapon was like a combination of a spear and a mace. It was highly deadly, whether it was a piercing attack or a slashing attack.

The other one was a barefoot child with white hair and white robes with long hair. From the view at the back, it was a little unclear whether it was a man or woman. He spread his hands forward, palms up, and bowed his head slightly as if he was saying something.

——Annan knew at a glance that it was Red Knight and Mr. Ray.

Is this the Papal Kingdom?