The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 263: The Key Into the Nightmare

Suuankou and Citalopram didn’t let Annan wait too long.

By 10 a.m., the two of them had arrived at the City Hall.

To their surprise, Annan arrived even earlier than them.

Although Annan slept late, he still got up at 6 a.m.

After washing up and having breakfast, he walked to the City Hall, which only took five minutes for the journey.

It was also unclear if it was because his Constitution attribute was much higher than Salvatore… or his bloodline was more complicated.

All in all, even though Annan only slept less than four hours, he was much more energetic than Salvatore sleeping six hours a day.

Of course, it might also be because Annan could make up for sleep at other times.

“Sign this for me.” Annan pointed to another set of contracts and said habitually, “Sign it here… Just sign Suuankou and Citalopram with any language you preferred. As long as it is written in your name, the contract is valid.”

The significance of these contracts was that after they were signed, even if Annan’s identity was exposed and he was no longer the feudal lord of the North Sea Territory and Roseburg’s city lord, the players would still own these houses.

Even those who came later in the office couldn’t determine the seller of the players bought the house through the procedures. Annan utilized the private seal of Roseburg Viscount, and the date on the contract was extrapolated eight or nine years ago.

I’m such a nice guy and think about the legality of housing for the players… Annan couldn’t help but sigh in his heart.

“After signing, take your keys.” Annan handed the two sets of keys to Suuankou and Citalopram, respectively.

He showed them each key. “Suuankou, you shall live upstairs of Yiyi. Citalopram, you’ll live upstairs of Jiu Er. Both of you’re living with your guarantor. Is that fine?

“The biggest key is the main entrance’s key.” Annan pointed to a key about the size of an adult man’s palm and patiently explained, “After going in through the main gate, it’s your yard. There is nothing planted in the yard as of now, and the pond isn’t dug out yet. After you leave Roseburg, you may bring back any rare plants you see here, as long as it doesn’t disturb your neighbors.

“After going in from the yard, you need this key to unlock the inner door. The first floor is your guarantor’s residence. After going up the stairs from the entrance hall is your residence. There is a small cubicle in the yard with weeding equipment and so forth. Also, feel free to convert it into a pet kennel if you wish. This key and the gate key are shared between the three of you.”

Annan added, “I won’t give you the room on the third floor to anyone until you all agree. But if you perform well in your mission, I can offer you the key to that floor. You may treat it as a room extension, storeroom, or whatnot. It’s up to you to decide.

“As for the furniture for the two of you, I already bought it for you last night. Someone will deliver it to you tonight, so remember to get someone available at home. As for the daily necessities, it involves privacy and security issues, so you have to buy them yourself.”

Annan instructed seriously.

Although he was sitting on a chair with his height not even reaching Suuankou’s chest, he had a convincing image that seemed mature.

…As expected of the son of the Grand Duke. Citalopram complimented secretly.

Suuankou was flattered.

You can’t do that! Lord Annan… No, Your Highness Annan!

You gave me a mansion as soon as we met and even furniture for free. How… how… how… can I accept it!?

Despite so, Suuankou had another thought surfaced in his mind.

He was worried that because of cultural differences, if he lamented “that’s overpolite”, then Annan might not understand that it was pleasantries and replied, “Oh, that’s fine, I’m sorry,” and took the house back.

Then, he would regret it seriously.

After the two of them thanked Annan earnestly again, he sent them back.

He didn’t stay long at City Hall.

Before lunch, Annan packed up and went home.

At Annan’s request, Vasily explained Annan’s situation to Maria.

She learned that Annan had received a direct mission from the Silver Sire, and he had to go to the capital. But, with the protection of the Silver Sire and the Paper Princess, Maria reluctantly agreed.

But she still stressed to Annan repeatedly to not stir up trouble, not wander around, and stay on a low profile. She also asked Vasily to stay with him, write a report every week, record where he went and what he did, and report his safety every three days.

After confirming that Vasily was trustworthy, Annan made a request to Vasily.

Vasily frowned slightly, “I’m proficient at removing “influences”… But the process of eliminating the influences is nothing more than ‘cancellation’ and ‘consumption’. Unfortunately, I have never heard of [the Remains of the Wheel of Divine Transporter], or nightmares about [Brilliance].”

The old ritualist had never heard of this influence, so he had no way to eliminate it.

As for [Brilliance]…

Vasily had seen nightmares with “darkness” as the keyword in books. “Brilliance” was unheard of. The name just didn’t seem related to “nightmare”.

So, Annan could only mention to Vaily about the torn Truth pages.

However, Annan was a little surprised that Old Vasily wasn’t surprised by this.

Although he didn’t know Annan’s identity and he didn’t know how Annan and Rotten Man fought, he could tell that Annan had used Sage’s Stone before.

If Annan didn’t grasp the Truth, he couldn’t defeat the Rotten Man even after using the Sage’s Stone.

“I did hear some news, and it seems that a new Book of Truth has been born recently.”

Old Vasily replied, “About half a month ago, someone from the Papal Kingdom has gotten the title page of the Book of Truth — ‘Machine’. Your footprints have already crossed several countries, and you have the bloodline of a true deity. I never doubted whether you and Her Royal Highness Maria could get a new Truth Fragment.

“In 60 years of life, Your Highness — you are the best young talent I have ever met. If anyone in this world may be recognized by the Book of Truth, there your name must be in it.”

Even though Vasily had been praising and bootlicking, he really had no clue about the Book of Divine Transporter.

But, this also answered another puzzle for Annan. Vasily knew very well that Annan Austere-Winter didn’t have those guards with weird names, strange ways of doing things, and constantly respawning.

However, it all made logical sense to say that they came from the influence of Truth Fragment.

Vasily simply found it reasonable that the Truth Fragment could summon and control immortal and strange humanoids, even more, so that he thought these summonses were underwhelming. He suggested to Annan that the Truth Fragment might not be utilized to its limits yet.

Of course, that was the truth. Annan didn’t recruit players to the limits at all.

After all, he was still in an enemy country to recruit elite units—the lesser the number, the stronger the emphasis on individual strength.

However, Vasily couldn’t help Annan eliminate “the Remains of the Wheel of Divine Transporter”.

But he could do something else…

Tonight was the day Annan would fall into a new nightmare.

Even Priest Louis could tweak the ritual so that Annan’s death in a nightmare wouldn’t affect him in reality.

In comparison, Vasily was a professional ritualist.

The knowledge he possessed could give Annan various buffs according to the nightmare. For example, if Nightmare had the keyword “Frost”, he could add frost resistance on Annan; if Nightmare had the keyword “Desert”, he would provide Annan with wind-resistant and the ability to create water.

However, the keyword “Brilliance” was unheard of.

But no matter what, it shouldn’t be a big problem after strengthening Annan in all aspects.

The only distorted nightmare Annan had ever challenged was the Gallery.

Seeing that it would be another distorted nightmare, Annan’s primary goal was to survive… If he lived till he woke up, he would consider that a win already.

But, Annan had the intention to clear the distorted nightmare in one go after having Vasily’s buffs.

Annan stayed at home quietly for most of the day, waiting for the ritual to be set. Vasily used cinnabar to paint Annan’s body with weird red runes all over his body. This purpose was to make the ritual held in reality have its effect applied in the nightmare.

At sunset, Vasily activated the prepared ritual.

He lit eight candles of varying lengths one after another. August was the month of Mr. Ray, the deity of light and purification. In nightmares, He offered the strongest protection.

Soon, Annan, lying in the middle of the ritual, fell asleep.

Unlike the icy drowning experience of entering [Nightmare: Reflection], this time, Annan found it warm and soothing. It was like lying on a bed with a heater underneath and covered with a quilt that was freshly retrieved from a sunbath. At the same time, there was still a small sun in the house.

…Fuck, it’s kinda hot.

This was Annan’s only thought before he went fully asleep.

Words began to appear in front of his eyes.

[“Advanced Influence: Remains of the Wheel of Divine Transporter” has reverberated.]

[You are now entering the dream world.]

[Detected the dream key: Kafni Noah.]

[Searching for the nightmare with the keyword “Brilliance”…]

[The system has found the nightmare.]

[Falling into a nightmare. The dungeon instance is being generated.]

[Detected that the current dungeon instance has a special property: Reminiscence]

[This dungeon instance wouldn’t mutate.]

[The dungeon instance difficulty is set to [Distorted].]

[This dungeon instance has no save point. Your erosion rate is increased by 25% for each death. You will be forced out from the dungeon instance after 1 death.]

[This dungeon instance contains a plot and possibly provides decryption rewards.]

[Dungeon instance clearance reward: Any profession will be promoted by 3 levels.]

[Dungeon instance decryption rewards: Element (Brilliance) awakening level increases by 10%]

[Loading completed.]

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Credits to MindMatrix for editing this chapter and improving the readability.