Return to reality? Annan was taken aback when the final side mission was issued to him.
What does this refer to?
Is it referring to me in the nightmare… or Evelyn Miller?
“But speaking of this name…”
This wasn’t the first time Annan heard the name — Evelyn Miller.
Benjamin used this name in the password he used to determine whether he was in a nightmare, and that name was in the first phrase.
Excluding the possibility of there existing another person with the same name, Benjamin was likely to know Evelyn. He probably even had a good memory of this name when he was younger.
“…I could have been in the past a few decades ago.” Annan was lost in thought.
So, in the original history, what happened to Evelyn Miller?
Annan first reached out to touch his left wrist, then slowly explored around it under the dim light to feel the shape and depth of the wound.
Annan couldn’t locate the injury through pain due to the [Reverse Inscription] curse’s desensitisation effect. Moreover, the blood trails connecting his left arm to the floor had dried off. He also didn’t have the option to locate the injury merely through vision because of the dim lighting. Luckily, he still managed to feel the approximate location through his sense of touch.
Soon, Annan noticed something.
“This wound…” Annan was pleased with his new findings.
Firstly, he managed to determine that this injury was not caused by rubbing the hand on the handcuffs during the attempts to break free.
It became apparent to him that the wound was a cut caused by some kind of sharp tool at the back of the hand.
Judging from the depth of this wound…
Annan reached out and felt the area around the handcuffs.
As expected, there was a thin blade over the side of the handcuff near the wall. It felt like a shaving blade — thin and soft.
Hmph, no wonder.
Annan felt that the size of this pair of handcuffs wasn’t quite right from the beginning. It was a tad bit larger, and couldn’t possibly cuff Evelyn in this area. With her slender wrist, she should be able to pull her hand out of it after struggling for a bit.
The new discovery explained to Annan why this body was half-kneeling on the ground when he entered the dungeon instance. This was the only way to distance the blade from the skin. If he were to stand up now, the blade would cut his wrist.
Annan felt around some more calmly.
He protected his skin with a layer of his clothes as he pushed the blade. Through his attempt, he found out that the blade would retract when pressure was applied.
With that, Annan immediately realized that this blade should be part of a certain mechanism.
“Where is the other end of it?”
Annan pondered for a moment, holding the left handcuff with his right hand. While keeping the blade away from the back of his left hand, he slowly stood up from the ground.
He felt some numbing sensation on his legs, but he chose to ignore it.
In the end, he followed the chain and fumbled toward the wall.
When he reached a connecting joint of the chain on the wall, he twisted it and found that it could be moved!
Annan’s eyes brightened up.
It’s here!
He reached out his hand to hold on to that designated joint and rotated it a few times. He immediately noticed that if he rotated the switch counterclockwise, the blade would protrude further and vice versa.
This didn’t feel like a device to imprison someone, but instead like some kind of torture device.
Annan kept his left palm facing up, using the gravity to put the blade underneath the back of his hand. Then, he rotated the switch clockwise.
When Annan rotated it to the end, the blade had retracted completely.
Annan didn’t hesitate to dislocate his left thumb, and pulled his left hand out of the cuff.
However, he didn’t leave this place immediately but rotated the switch in the opposite direction. He realized that the side mission [Keep your body intact.] might be hinting at this.
As expected, after Annan rotated it counterclockwise for a while, the blade protruded out again. After a while, the switch began to become a little unstable. It felt like a loosening screw.
The blade seemed to be attached to a chain. Annan continued to rotate it. When the blade was halfway out, the switch fell off along with the chain attached to it.
The chain connecting the handcuffs to the wall was severed into two.
The handcuffs on the wrist were still tightly shut. It occurred to him that he needed the key to open it, but it didn’t matter anymore.
I see. Rotating it clockwise will unscrew the chain and the blade, while rotating it counterclockwise to tighten the blade.
“In other words, if I don’t force my hand out, I need to make the switch rotate counterclockwise, allowing the blade to cut into the skin by my wrist nearly one centimeter. Only then can I take the chain off the wall.”
Annan frowned slightly. This doesn’t seem like a simple dungeon cell…
Just in case of future use, Annan took the heavy chain and blade with him.
Annan used Evelyn’s intact right hand to hold the original connecting joint, while the other end of the chain was a sharp and slender blade.
It could be used as a weapon…
After all, Annan had checked his body. Evelyn had no silverwares on her. She wasn’t a swordsman nor a wizard. Annan had no skills available to be used.
However, if the enemy was just an ordinary person, it would be enough to kill one or two people with this heavy chain.
After receiving the weapon, Annan first reset the dislocated left thumb. The contusion caused by the rough pull rendered him unable to clench his fist temporarily, but that didn’t matter much. After all, there was already a cut hindering him to utilize his full force anyway.
“Is Evelyn left-handed?” This thought came to Annan’s mind, but he quickly dispelled it.
He dragged the iron chain and wandered around the cell, but he didn’t find anything.
So, he could only drag the chain closer to the dungeon cell door.
The dungeon cell door wasn’t the typical solid metal door found in the prison, but an ordinary wooden door.
Of course, the door was locked, but it didn’t trouble Annan.
He lifted the chain and slammed it heavily on the door lock!
First hit, second hit…
When Annan hit the door lock for the sixth time, he finally smashed it open!
Annan kicked the wooden door unceremoniously and walked out.
What appeared in front of him was a corridor leading to two paths: left and right.
It was still quite dim even after escaping the cell. There was no light in the corridor.
Annan couldn’t even find candles, let alone the Green Fire lamps that could be typically found on the streets.
“Eh?” There was an exclamation.
Is it a girl?
Annan immediately turned his head to the direction of the sound, his gaze sharp.
It was not far from his left—a dark area behind the corner.
It could be because the girl heard the sound of the chain dragging on the floor, so she stopped abruptly. She didn’t utter a word and fled away from Annan immediately.
Annan squinted his eyes slightly, looking in that direction silently.
If Annan followed and caught up with her immediately at this time, he had the chance to knock the girl unconscious with his chain, and then drag her to a safe place for interrogation.
At this time, Annan suddenly recalled his second side mission [Don’t talk to anyone].
Hence, he didn’t catch up to the girl and just let the footsteps grow distant from him.
“Hmph, she ran quite fast.” Annan murmured.
Since Annan couldn’t talk to anyone, his best bet would be to move in the direction where there were no people.
So, Annan turned to the right without thinking.
He didn’t drag the chain on the floor this time, but grabbed the chain from the middle with his left hand that had recovered some strength. He appeared like a cowboy preparing to lasso a horse.
After Annan picked up the chain, he touched the chain and suddenly realized something.
He paused and squatted down.
He examined the ground carefully with his right hand.
There are water stains.
Annan also had water stains behind him. This was because Evelyn’s trousers and shoes were wet. But strangely, there wasn’t enough water in the dungeon to wet her knees.
Rather, the water came from in front of him.
Annan squinted slightly and looked back.
This should have been left by the person who exclaimed previously.
In other words, she came from the same place as me before?
Also, she should have walked from the right to the left.
I shall follow the direction of the water stains to find the next clue!
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Credits to MindMatrix for editing this chapter and improving the readability.