Super Righteous Player
Chapter 311 - 309 Public Nightmare_1

Chapter 311: Chapter 309 Public Nightmare_1

"This fog..."

The child frowned slightly, hesitating.

He still knew.

Beyond the "civilized circle" of this world, it had been submerged by the cursed Mist. These places were known as "Forbidden Zones."

The Mist within the Forbidden Zones was substantial, a potent curse visible to the naked eye of ordinary people.

Curses had the characteristic of flowing from areas of high concentration to areas of low concentration.

Since the souls of ordinary people do not store curses, they could barely live in the Mist for a while.

But for Transcendents, this was an insoluble poison. Any Transcendent who had reached the "Bronze Stage," whose soul was "corroded" by the curse, had the capacity to harbor more curses in their soul.

So as soon as a Transcendent entered a Forbidden Zone, they would be forced to inhale a large amount of potent curses that they could not normally dispel. To put it metaphorically, it was like casting a person into the deep sea, where under the pressure of the water, the sea would seep into every cavity.

If this door really led to a Forbidden Zone, then entering would mean a free giveaway of their lives...

Even if they could run and come back to life afterward, if it was a random teleportation portal, they might not even have a way to return.

By then, the "Wandering Child" would really begin to wander.

"We need to think of a way to test it out," the child murmured.

"...But I remember, isn’t the fog in the Forbidden Zones supposed to be Mist?"

At his side, Mahjong frowned slightly: "This is white fog, though..."

If one ignored the dark environment where nothing could be seen through the Fog Gate, it actually resembled a fairyland—the white fog was like dry ice at room temperature, filling the entire world before them, even the parts that were supposed to be the ground only showed layers of cloud-like white fog.

"That’s not necessarily the case, Tile."

Xitan Pulan shook her head slightly, speaking in a raspy voice: "Who knows how gray the Mist really is, what if the grayness of the Mist varies under different conditions?"

"...Well, you do have a point."

"—However, I really don’t think there will be any danger."

Xitan Pulan said, walking over with interest: "The reason is simple. The address and password here were given to Annan by Salvatore, and he would not harm Annan.

"And that Jude, he must be from the Heath Tower of Black. He plans to come here, certainly not to catch us, but most likely to go into the ruins.

"If the outside was really Mist, then why send a Soul Reaping Wizard to catch some people and bring things back instead of going in themselves?"

Xitan Pulan’s analysis was quite convincing.

She seemed more like the team leader than the child, who was the mascot.

And the child did not avoid this at all.

"... It looks like we will have to rely on you from now on.

"If there’s anything that requires my help, just ask. If I can do it, I will."

What he implied... was that he planned to venture in and throw his life away to scout the territory.

After all, he had already grown accustomed to this kind of operation.

Upon realizing that Xitan Pulan’s talent for observation and analysis surpassed his own, the Wandering Child decisively made a power transfer, even entrusting her with the command over himself.

Compared to Jiu’er and the others, the biggest problem for his team was that... out of these four, only one was a veteran.

That was the child.

Among these four, only he was a first-generation player.

Whether according to the real world’s status, in-game seniority, personal level, combat ability, understanding of this world, and even his real age... unquestionably, the only one fit to be the leader was the child.

The child, all along the way, had indeed been diligent and responsible.

He spent the most time online, also carried the most items on the road. Apart from the necessary sleep, he used all his other time and energy to take care of the bodies of the other three left in this world when they were offline.

It wasn’t just about playing the game for a day... He not only had to stay alert to his surroundings, but at the times when everyone was together and the chat was at its most lively, he had to go offline.

Just as before—

Just like when he used to play professionally;

Just like when he was in school doing group experiments;

And just like when he collaborated with other streamers.

The child always played position five in Dota, and when he played LOL, he was the support.

He knew his talent was limited, and his only advantage was his patience. Thus, the jobs he took on were the most boring, required the most sacrifices, but they were necessary... and very important tasks.

It wasn’t because he "liked" playing support, but because he thought it was the most "correct" thing to do.

"My decision is, you all wait here. Let me go in and scout ahead."

The slightly raspy voice of Xitan Pulan, formed from long-term smoking, was highly distinctive.

Although she was only a little older than Four Dark Tiles and still somewhat of a student, her tone was unexpectedly mature.

There was no hesitation or doubt, resolute and brooking no argument, composed and convincing—

"I am somewhat undead... I might have some common topics with the undead inside. And now it’s night-time, the time when my combat power and perception abilities are at their strongest. It’s the best choice to let me scout ahead. I have the live stream on, you can directly see from my perspective."

Xitan Pulan stood in front of the Fog Gate, looking back at the other three people.

Or rather, looking back at the Wandering Child—their team leader.

Is that right...?

The child hesitated for a moment.

"...You’ve convinced me. An undead’s perspective could indeed trigger extra missions..."

Then he fell silent for a while, and said earnestly, "But I still plan to go in with you.

"It’s not stubbornness—listen to me. The biggest difference between me and the three of you is that as an old player... I have the privilege of respawning.

"As newcomers, you may not know... live streaming isn’t omnipotent. For instance, some areas within nightmares can block the signal to the live stream room. Those areas generally have the strongest curses... And look at this white mist. I’m almost certain that the live streaming signal will definitely be cut off.

"Just like what happened with Old Goose. The separation of Annan’s squad had a deep meaning... You are the only one among us who can turn into a ghost, Defu is the strongest newcomer in combat, and Four Dark Tiles is the only one among us who can detect barriers and traps.

"Only I... my strength increases in the jungle. So my position is to escort the three of you in and out. But if there’s danger inside, I can also activate my respawn privilege, indefinitely reviving in a short amount of time.

"Your existence and that of Four Dark Tiles is more significant within the ruins; Defu and I are responsible for outside the ruins. So the two of us can die, but the two of you cannot—is that okay with you, Sister Defu?"

"I understand."

Defu nodded calmly.

Seeing this scene, the pressure on Four Dark Tiles increased instead.

They want... to protect me?

Damn it!

What’s this, an atmosphere where only I am not good enough...

He clenched his teeth and muttered in a low voice, "Be extra careful."

"Let’s make it an agreement... remember this."

The child pondered for a while, then instructed, "You can monitor my level through the forum. If after entering the ruins, the live stream cuts off, and we can’t access the forum either, you come in after ten minutes.

"If it’s extremely dangerous inside and you see that Xitan Pulan and I have both lost more than one level, don’t come in. Just go offline; we’ll find a place to sleep and forcibly log out, then call to discuss in detail. However, if both of us haven’t died after ten minutes, you come straight in. If Xitan Pulan has died but I haven’t, that confirms that we have separated, or I ran away if I thought the danger was manageable. That means you can come in.

"Also—if I die within five minutes of entering and only die once, that means I’ve activated the respawn privilege after dying once and am asking for your help. You come in immediately... got it?"

The child said calmly.

Even if they couldn’t log into the forum, as in a nightmare... they needed to send warning or reinforcement signals.

This was a situation that Xitan Pulan, if going in alone to die, absolutely couldn’t achieve.

After receiving an affirmative from the two, he then held Xitan Pulan’s forearm—this was to avoid any misunderstanding between men and women, so he did not grab her hand.

It was Xitan Pulan who, unbothered, caught his hand in return and laughed lightly in a way that was ambiguous, "We’re setting off."

...It feels like mockery, somehow.

The child muttered in his mind but didn’t voice it out loud.

What happened next was indeed as he had expected—

The moment the child stepped into the Fog Gate, his live stream was immediately cut off.

And within the endless mist, prompts he had never seen before appeared in front of him, scrolling down at a rapid pace:

[Initial Influence: Whisper of Elegance not detected]

[Initial Influence: Nature’s Hymn not detected]

[High-Level Influence: Gravity of the Stars not detected]

[High-Level Influence: Moth’s Fable not detected]

[Awakened Elements not detected]

[Auster Inheritance: Jungle Walker detected]

[Additional judgment in progress...]

[Judgment Object: Otherworld beings, summons, humanoid, human, male]

[Judgment Authority: Apprentice]

[Specimen Storage Vault III-251-11 granted limited access, number of allowed entries: 1]

[Falling into a public nightmare... identity now incorporated]

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