The Gentleman at the End
Chapter 497 - 495: Corner, Extremely Dark Land, and Abyss

Chapter 497: Chapter 495: Corner, Extremely Dark Land, and Abyss

William reflected on his own performance experience, noting that the fear he brought to the audience was based on his own childhood experiences, using the orphanage as a foundation for their interpretation.

The setting, atmosphere, and William’s portrayal of several distinctly different teachers continuously brought various pressures to the audience.

What kind of phobia was it, really?

William could not figure it out for the moment, but he could vaguely sense that a seed named ’Fear’ had begun to take root in his body. This seed would grow with the increase in the number of performances, and ultimately, it would take shape as he completed his path.

"What is fear? I still can’t fully explain or define it. It’s nothing more than a rote mimicry of the feelings the orphanage brought me... This performance having such an effect is essentially a shortcut. I must explore my own unique fear."

Compose an independent script, create a closed setting similar to an orphanage, and bestow rules that can bind the participants’ physical and mental states while performing original characters.

Only then can I obtain my own fear, rather than merely imitating the orphanage.

Phobia and my ’Madness Brain’ match very well. Once the phobia takes shape, it will inevitably assist my Madness Brain, and ’education’ would become more effective.

"Right... This is something I could ask Mr. Zock about; the phobia he possesses should already be well integrated with his Madness Brain."

Thinking this, William decided to plan his future time strictly.

"Catherine, the Magic Banquet is held before the official performance, right?"

Catherine, sitting on the edge of the bed with her black and white stockings coiled, tilted her head and twiddled her fingers. "That’s right, calculating the time, there are about 29 days left!"

"Alright, I need to plan out this period, to prepare for the upcoming Magic Banquet and even the official performance."

"Ah? You’re still thinking about the official performance? It’s already unbelievable that a newcomer like you, who just arrived less than a day ago, can participate in the Magic Banquet... The official performance is a whole different thing. You’re not able to handle it now and at most could help Uncle Jian pass some props."

"I’ll prepare a bit, just in case an opportunity arises.

By the way, I’m now going to Mr. Jian’s Magic House to inquire about the Abyss, and might make a trip to the zoo afterwards to discuss with Mr. Zock about the integration of Madness Brain and phobia. Do you want to come along?"

The word Abyss made Catherine start scratching her head rapidly, even accidentally scratching her scalp.

"Hey! You don’t need rest, do you? Since you arrived at the circus, you haven’t rested,

first making a full tour and then cooking dishes in the kitchen, and last night we had an overnight dream rehearsal. Even today’s performance encountered an accident and required a sudden change in the hypnotism strategy."

"Doesn’t the dream rehearsal equal sleeping?" William poked his own head. "My Madness Brain can find various gaps to rest."

"Not going... I don’t quite like it when Uncle Jian removes his mask to reveal the Abyss’s form.’

"Hm? Is there any difference from usual?"

"It’s just purely uncomfortable, the feeling of being stared at by those eyes. Besides, there probably aren’t many in the circus who like being watched by the Abyss.

Rumors say that those who have been observed by Uncle Jian inevitably head toward the Abyss.

As for the zoo, I don’t want to go there either. Zock, that exhibitionist, is so annoying! You go alone; I’ll just sleep here in bed waiting for you, since I only need to enter a dream to conduct various rehearsal training sessions."

Catherine, already extremely sleepy, made a goodbye gesture and then fell asleep immediately, her mouth breathing out, with black mucus dripping from the corner of her mouth.

At the same time, a strong sense of danger spread within Catherine’s body.

William had a vivid premonition that approaching Catherine at this time would result in an attack by some sort of monster and that it might be even more dangerous than when she was awake.

"Catherine has certain similarities with the Insomniac Galon.

Her ’Nightmare Tentacles’ inside her are likely also connected to creatures of another world..."

William stood up and left the room, heading for the deepest part of the Magic Area,

passing through the most inner independent pathway, standing again in front of the Black Door emitting an aura of the Abyss. This time Jian was not there to open the door himself. As William extended a finger, lightly tapping the surface of the Black Door.

Hum!

The straight corridor they were in suddenly turned upside down; William could be sure this was not due to mental influence, but a real spatial inversion.

Until the corridor flipped to a vertical state, the Black Door transformed into an Abyss opening.

Falling into it... Hum!

The moment his body fell into the Black Door, it was attacked by darkness. When he came to his senses, he had landed on something soft, perfectly sitting upright.

Click! The lights turned on.

The recovered William found himself sitting on a genuine leather sofa,

Mr. Jian, wearing a mask, walked over from the side with two cups of freshly brewed tea in his hands and handed one cup to William before sitting on the opposite side of the sofa.

This was Jian’s Magic House, though entering felt like plummeting into the Abyss.

"How was the feeling of Falling into the Abyss? Although you didn’t feel fear, your mind and consciousness were instantly stripped by the extreme darkness," he said.

William scratched his head, "Yes... it’s different from the feeling in the Original Tomb."

"Of course it’s different, the Abyss in the Original Tomb was under the direct control of the First Dead Man, stable and very friendly to the dead. The Abyss formed by the Extremely Dark Land is not controlled by anyone and belongs to a completely unknown area.

The Extremely Dark Land has always been listed as a restricted area of the Old World, visited only by treasure hunters who aren’t afraid of death, or by a very few who are truly attuned to the dark and need to access the Abyss."

The chance of encountering an Abyss in the Extremely Dark Land is extremely dangerous.

"You must have come to me in search of knowledge about the Abyss; considering your fine performance today, I’ll give you a brief overview of the history of the Abyss."

"That’s necessary for your subsequent encounters with the Abyss."

"Okay!" William’s mind completely activated, ready to record every word spoken by Jian.

"Before the Evil Sun fell, its rays could penetrate 99.9% of the Old World. That remaining 0.1%, unreachable by the light, was known as the ’Corner’.

It is a place filled with sin, disorder, and chaos, an absolute Dark Zone, which even the monastery’s chase could not reach.

As a result, many wanted criminals and severe patients chose to spend the rest of their lives in the ’Corner’.

When the war of the Old World erupted, criminals and villains from the ’Corner,’ along with nameless individuals, plunged themselves into this war.

Their brutal nature saw the war as a rare gift, fighting invaders at all costs, making the ’Corner’ one of the top three deadliest places in the entire Old World.

The Evil Sun fell, marking the end of the war.

The already dark ’Corner’ became darker still, its ground littered with the bodies of criminals and foreign invaders,

Under such extreme conditions, an unknown Plague associated with darkness, chaos, and sin emerged there.

This Plague devoured all light and hope, casting a shroud of darkness that continuously eroded everything.

The ’Corner,’ now swirling with this unknown Plague, was officially renamed the ’Extremely Dark Land.’ Over time, the accumulation of the Plague in the Extremely Dark Land created numerous large and small pits.

The Abyss was formed from these pits, although the rate of evolution was very low at only 0.001%.

As for where the Abyss leads, its essence and meaning, these answers you must discover on your own, my spoken words are of no use."

From this conversation, William derived an important conclusion.

"The Corner, the Dark Zone, does that mean Mr. Jian, that you were once..."

Jian waved his hand, "No, no, no—I was neither a fugitive nor a villain. I was merely born in the ’Corner.’

Although the survival rate for newborns there is less than one in ten thousand, I was fortunate enough to survive and learned magic skills sufficient for making a living in the ’Corner,’ maintaining neutrality all the while.

Growing up with the belief that stepping out of the Corner would result in being captured by the monks, and not knowing much about the outside world, I chose to stay in the Corner even as the war erupted and the Evil Sun fell.

Until the formation of the Extremely Dark Land,

until I, along with a large number of war corpses, was accidentally involved in an Abyss that formed locally.

I don’t know how long it took, but I climbed out, and it seems I was the only one who managed to climb...

But this does not mean that I was completely detached from the Abyss.

Having spent a long time under the Abyss, its darkness eroded and changed my constitution,

most visibly in my ’Pupils,’ which assimilated into an Abyss-like state.

These eyes, although allowing me to see clearly within the Abyss, also brought with them an ineradicable curse, compelling me to wear a mask so I would not spread the Abyss’s influence to more outsiders and allow more Patients to fall into it.

The magic I was originally proficient with also transformed into a unique form of Abyss Magic, which could bring disaster if not controlled properly.

However, I consider myself lucky.

When I climbed out of the Abyss, lost my essence, and had no goals or direction,

the ’Boss’ appeared before me, giving me a sense of belonging and direction, and the home I had always dreamt of."

That’s why I love everything about the circus and I’m willing to foster more talent like you, William, or a clown with a nightmare trait like Catherine, even if she doesn’t belong to my department, I make sure she grows smoothly."