The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 524: Only The Spider Is Safe Inside The Web

“Let me see if my judgment is correct,” said Annan slowly.

Since there was only one chance to clear the dungeon instance, Annan’s original plan was to burn the mill before entering. However, this approach was not reliable.

Annan was susceptible to merely getting a “Normal Ending” that way.

It was better to avoid following the predestined route to solve the mystery.

Instead, Annan would like to do it the other way around.

Annan had already learned from Nefertari about the tragedy of Miller Ian and his family.

Due to the Black Widow Follower Deward’s conspiracy, the curse was imbued into the mushrooms. In order to save themselves or due to past conflicts, the lumberjacks pointed the blame at the only family who did not become poisoned, the “Ians,” in hopes of obtaining the “cure” from their liver.”

In the end, the loggers murdered the Ian family. The corpses of the Ian family turned into poisonous spores engulfing the mushroom mill, devouring everyone in it, and a nightmare was born from it: Sporeggar Mill.

Everything came to this point because Messenger Grover was late. Yes, he brought Master Seti’s mail, but it was too late.

It was a seemingly reasonable development.

However, there came a problem if the incident was observed from three perspectives.

Since the messenger had looked for Master Seti, why did Deward not flee immediately?

Master Seti was the strongest Idol Wizard in the Underground Federation. He was a true Gold Rank Wizard — a “veteran wizard” and an elderly ritualist.

Why did Deward dare to stay here? Would he think his plot could fool Master Seti?

Or, did Deward presume that Master Seti would not return with the messenger? Or did he know when the messenger would return?

Also…

“Messenger Grover.” Annan asked, “Did you go to Master Seti?”

“Of course—”

Grover took a step forward and spoke emotionally, “Three days! Master Seti is arriving in three days!”

Facing this exaggerated performance, Annan asked calmly, “Is there any point in waiting for him to come?”

All the infected, the lumberjacks, had all died in Sporeggar Mill. The poison no longer spread but was confined within the house. Was there a need for Master Seti to “cleanse” the poison?

Also, since the lumberjacks suspected someone deliberately poisoned them, why didn’t they suspect that Black Widow Believers were among the crowd?

Or did they have no suspicion about it? Has no one ever suspected it?

Thinking about this, things were already very close to the truth.

Hearing this, Grover froze for a moment.

He looked at Annan, turned silent for a long time, and suddenly laughed.

“It seems that I have succeeded in the end.” He said cryptically.

It was also tantamount to admitting his crime.

Apparently, Grover realized that this place was a nightmare.

“But how did you figure it out?” Grover asked with interest, “How many times have you attempted?”

Annan did not answer the second question.

He just replied calmly, “It’s very simple. The parties involved are all dead.”

Then, who leaked the information about “the loggers suspected that someone had poisoned them” and “they went to seek an explanation”?

Or perhaps…

Was Deward dead? How did they determine that Deward was dead? Did they use the ritual to determine that the person “Deward” has passed away?

So, how to prove that Black Widow’s believer was the deceased “Deward”?

After eliminating all impossible answers, the remainder was the correct answer. Not to mention, there was no second answer in front of Annan.

Since the only survivor of the incident was “Messenger” Grover, this contradictory and odd narrative could only come from Grover!

Since Annan knew something was wrong with Grover, assuming he was the mastermind behind the incident and tracing back to the past… everything became clear.

Supposed Deward and Grover were originally accomplices. That would reveal the answers to everything.

Why did Deward, assuming the man who sent the message was called “Deward”, spread the news that “the messenger had escaped”?

That was because he did not want these people to wait quietly for Master Seti to arrive.

Why was Deward so arrogant, even knowing that Master Seti might come at any time?

That was because he knew that the messenger had not looked for Master Seti or that the master would not arrive in time.

Why did the lumberjacks not suspect that this was the work of Black Widow? Supposed Deward, the lumberjacks, and the miller’s family had died in Sporeggar Mill. Supposed, they died without an intact corpse.

Who was “Job” which was the character the dungeon challenger controlled?

The answer was straightforward, just as Little Bear hinted.

The first question she asked was, “Who are you?”.

This was to imply, “Why is there a character named [Job]?”.

The second question was, “Giving the name of a dead person—the bystander’s name, the perpetrator’s name, and the belated messenger’s name.”

There was still only one answer to this question.

He was not only a “bystander”, but also a “perpetrator”, and also a “belated messenger”.

What they described as the same person.

Thus, why did Job, who got lost in the forest and never entered the mill, not become “one of the survivors”?

“That was because Grover killed [Job].”

Annan replied slowly, “Even if the person is dead, the dead body revealed is disproportionate.

“Job had to end up dying in Sporeggar Mill. Otherwise, people would have noticed there was an extra person.

“Through this point of view, many hints were revealed.

“The fairy tale themed puzzles, a ‘gentle’ system that only increased 1% erosion rate per death, deliberately leaked ‘logout points’ and the abundance of save points.

“They were the subconscious efforts of the nightmare host to ‘stop Job from entering Sporeggar Mill’.”

Annan explained slowly.

Under his narration, the ground began to tremble, and the forest started to shed into pieces.

There was no need to “enter the world of fairy tales”.

That was just the main body of the nightmare, a hint given to the dungeon purifier.

Generally speaking, nightmares were wounds inflicted on the world by the deceased transcenders. The nightmare’s will would trick the dungeon purifier into a trap. Thus, the nightmare and its purifier were hostile to each other.

But there was a problem.

What if the nightmare host did not want to harm others?

The checkpoint in the middle was to persuade the dungeon challengers to quit.

Why moving forward with the messenger would guarantee failure?

This was what Suuankou should have noticed long ago, the most apparent hint.

“It’s time to go back and make up for the lessons.”

In addition, there were many hints:

Candy House had “two people”;

The “fairy tale” was a facade;

The guide had no facial features.

These questions were repeatedly thrown to the nightmare purifiers, reminding them, “Who is guiding the way?”

However, it became pretty unfortunate.

For many years, no one could understand this desperate, silent cry for help.

For the one who guided the way—

“It’s a spider.” Annan sighed, “I also hope I guessed wrong, but unfortunately… it seems I guessed right.

“Then, this can become troublesome.”

Behind him, the forest fell apart, and the earth returned to dust.

Except for a small piece of land where Annan was situated, the surrounding world had been reduced to a spider’s web.

It looked like a sweet and delicious cake.

Annan turned around.

The gigantic spider stared at him.

Ah, yes.

“I have also missed another hint,” Annan murmured.

Within the [Spider Web], only the spider would be safe and sound.