Just by looking at the pages with jade and stone texture, Annan guessed that this was probably an original work.
Just looking at the cover, Annan felt a heavy weight in his brain. It was like a sore muscle after a workout.
Of course, Annan also felt this feeling before.
After reading the original scripture for some time, Annan would also experience similar feelings.
It was like feeling nauseous when seeing delicious food after being stuffed. In fact, this was a warning from the brain to the body, indicating ‘no more food’. Otherwise, the body would be stuffed to death like a goldfish.
This could also be understood as the “cooldown time” to comprehend the original scripture.
The previous Frederick should have read the book “The Law of Similarity and Prophetic Dreams”, passed out, and entered a nightmare.
Could it be Frederick’s prophetic dream?
Annan pondered.
At this moment, the plot introduction flashed in Annan’s eyes:
[Frederick fell into a nightmare after reading the original “Law of Similarity and Prophetic Dreams”]
[—abandoned streets.]
[—severed friendship.]
[—the conspiracy of the deities.]
[—the lost lover.]
[Did Frederick foresee the future in the past?]
[Or did the future Frederick recall the past before dying?]
[There is only one thing that Frederick knows…]
[According to the development in the “prophecy”, Ingrid is about to face misfortune.]
[He will do everything to prevent that unfortunate future from coming.]
After reading the introductory plot in front of him, a large amount of data flow finally unfolded in front of Annan.
[Main mission: Changing the Fate]
[Prevent Ingrid from acting alone.]
Below the main mission, a side mission acted as a clue.
Annan finally remembered.
Why did he feel an inexplicable sense of disharmony previously…
It was not because of the deserted streets.
Nor was it because of any foreign objects around.
Or he realized that he was in a nightmare…
Instead, the very reason was that Annan had already come into contact with the crucial character “Justice”, but what about his main mission?
Why didn’t it appear?
Annan had indeed encountered this situation, which happened in “Nightmare: Gallery”. The outside world part was just the location of the choosing the dungeon level.
In hindsight, what had happened was Frederick’s prophetic dream.
But if it was just his prophetic dream, it did not explain why the two prompts included Frederick and Justice upon entering.
“Ahem.” At this moment, Annan heard a light cough.
Annan noticed that the expressions of Justice and Ingrid became serious and tense. So if he realized something, he immediately stood up and looked in the direction where the voice came from.
The person coming toward them with light footsteps was an old man.
The old man had messy, gray, shoulder-length hair and wore a purple garment similar to a toga [1] worn by ancient Romans. His gray pupils were calm and tranquil like water. He wore gray cloth shoes and a dark gray lace sash draped from his left shoulder to his right waist. He had a smile on his face and exuded a faint scent of alcohol.
“Professor.” The three responded in unison.
When the old man saw the three of them, he couldn’t help but smile.
As the old man smiled, Annan caught a whiff of the intoxicating aroma of wine emanating from him. It wasn’t the stench of alcohol but rather a captivating scent that seemed to emerge from his mouth and intoxicated those who caught even the slightest whiff. It made Annan’s mind feel a bit hazy, and his cheeks flushed.
“I knew it. I felt the spindle was touched. It turned out that a distinguished guest has arrived…”
He looked like a drunken old man, showing the three of them a sincere and hearty smile. Like an exaggerated actor, he placed his right hand’s middle and ring fingers on his chest and leaned forward slightly.
Seeing this, Justice and Ingrid were at a loss.
However, Annan’s heart suddenly tightened.
That was because he saw the golden rings on the ten fingers of the old man.
Annan realized the true identity of the drunk old man in front of him — Gray Professor Seti.
In this era, Seti should be the second Idol Wizard in the world.
Seri seemed to be able to see Annan’s true identity. That was why he called him a “distinguished guest” and greeted him whimsically.
“Marvelous.”
Old Seti circled them, sniffed their scent, and narrowed his eyes happily as if savoring delicious food, “It’s the fragrance from the bugs that escaped from the cobweb.
“An escapist? A savior? A betrayer? Or a self-deluded saint?”
The old man seemingly pointed out something.
Annan narrowed his eyes slightly.
Justice and Ingrid had no idea what was happening and could only understand a small part.
Ingrid explained in a panic, “Professor! Frederick entered the nightmare. It’s true! It’s just that he woke up again—”
When Ingrid said this, she gently pulled Annan’s right little finger and said pleadingly, “Speak up…”
“That’s right, professor!”
Justice’s voice was so loud that it overwhelmed Ingrid immediately.
He yelled, “Frey has fallen asleep! It’s dangerous!”
Hearing this, Gray Professor just smiled slightly.
Seti smiled at Annan, “Did you have a dream…or did you wake up from a dream?”
“I had a nightmare first and then woke up from the nightmare.”
Ingrid, on the side, quickly waved her hands and explained.
Annan was just silent for a while.
Annan asked probingly, “What do you think?”
“It isn’t about what I think, but what you think.”
Gray Professor said slowly.
Seti looked into Annan’s pupils, “You want to stop hatred and misfortune. But that’s wrong.
“You think so because you have the heart of a dragon. The heart of a dragon is powerful, more robust than the heart of a jackal, more potent than the heart of a man, and stronger than the heart of a lion. But humans don’t have such strong hearts. Only hatred can give people long-lasting strength.
“We are just mortals and not born dragons.” Annan was silent.
He slowly raised his head and stared at Gray Professor.
Annan became increasingly certain that the gray pupils of “Gray Professor” had already penetrated Frederick’s body and saw the inner essence.
However, the other two didn’t understand.
On the contrary, Justice looked at Professor Gray with shining eyes, focusing on the surface of the professor’s views, which might have sounded “cool” to the young man. However, he clearly did not understand what Professor Gray was implying.
This dialogue crossed the boundary between dreams and reality and the boundary of time
that spanned decades.
After a moment of silence, Annan asked, “What do you think?”
Constrained by the rule that “dreamers could not show that they had discovered this was a nightmare,” the Gray Professor could not reveal it blatantly to Annan. Instead, he could only put it in vague words.
In other words, it was up to Annan to realize it himself.
The last one who saw through that he was the dreamer seemed to be the Man in the Mirror.
From this point of view, Gray Professor and Michelangelo were not too far apart.
The corners of Gray Professor’s mouth raised slightly.
The gray pupils of his eyes were full of amusement, but there was not a trace of a human figure reflected in them.
He spoke in a self-absorbed manner, Let me peacefully enter the grave— you only need to pray.”
“The unfortunate person will inevitably offer themselves to the furnace of misfortune. My hands will be burned and become stronger; my feet will be burned and become agile. My pupils will be burned like glass, and I will be able to gaze upon the Divine Transporter.”
“…it seems like a poem by Austere-Winter?”
In the silence, Ingrid guessed aloud.
Seti smiled and looked at her.
“And what about the later part? Do you remember, Ingrid?”
“I gaze at the sun, seeking the light sealed in my pupils.”
Instead, Annan continued in a cold voice, “But when I looked at the sun, all I shed were tears… I knew in my heart that my body was just ordinary.
“In the melting pot of the Light Realm, my body was burnt to nothingness, my teeth rotted, and my skin and flesh dissolved—
“I cry because of this — I am mortal!”
In “Nightmare: Wolf’s Kiss,” he heard pieces of the poem.
Later, with the help of the Paper Princess, he found the full text of the long poem.
It told the story of a berserker who fanatically pursued the “Divine Transporter”, deliberately tortured himself with the pain of the mortal world, wanted to make himself transcend and ascend to the Light Realm with the Divine Transporter.
This knowledge carried weight. Therefore, many people thought this was a reference to those transcenders who had no talent but to pursue the path of becoming a deity.
—The ascendancy ritual was usually compared to the “Divine Transporter”. Likewise, the process of the ascension to a deity was compared to “being sent into the Light Realm by the Divine Transporter”.
What Gray Professor recited was the opening part of the poem.
Berserker bid farewell to his parents, full of confidence and ready to embark on a journey of seeking pain.
What Annan responded to was the context near the two-third mark. It was about a Berserker who had experienced many hardships and eventually realized he was still a mortal who could not board the Divine Transporter. All hopes were lost.
The ritualists usually interpreted this as implying that even with strong desires, one could not ascend without stepping into the Golden Rank and instead would bring ruin to oneself.
Annan remembered the content of this poem because of its name.
The name of this book was…
“Praise the Name of the Divine Transporter”.