After Annan smashed away Justin’s curse vessel, Justin’s corpse quickly became thinner.
In the end, it was as skinny as a skeleton. Soon after, it shattered into a pile of waste.
“Another dungeon instance has emerged.”
Annan murmured, “But I don’t know what Justin’s obsession is.”
Fortunately, the remaining two curses had flown away by themselves.
With only Justin’s curse, the nightmare purification should not be difficult. It should be similar to the nightmare on the ship – in easy difficulty.
Annan felt that he was a game planner, neither a professional player nor a streamer. He was but an ordinary person with no game talent. Even at the time, without knowing the background setting of this world, he could easily hit A Score on a nightmare at easy difficulty.
At the level of this player group, it shouldn’t be easy to overcome a dungeon instance of this difficulty, right?
Annan was quite confident in them.
Annan would want to chop these beloved players like kitchen ingredients on the spot if the players failed.
Annan quickly cleaned up the scene. He also took the viscount’s letters and hid them on him.
As for the other books here, he didn’t need to be in a hurry.
He intended to give these books to players as mission rewards. Then, he would activate a new system function – “activating forum live broadcast.” This should be enough to shut their mouths.
Since it wasn’t Annan’s property, he felt at ease to give these rewards away.
For the players, these books would pose great value. They wouldn’t notice anything wrong. After all, the players were currently in a closed beta. Since they were on the main story questline, giving them these “necessities” was like a standard routine, just like the other games.
Knowledge was a necessity.
At the same time, players were likely to organize the information and upload them to the forum after reading these books. Worse came to worst, they would make a private post and then add a password to it.
After all, they could enter the forum anytime, anywhere. If the book’s content was entered, it was equivalent to establishing a database that could be accessed in real-time.
As the forum administrator, Annan naturally had the highest authority.
Even for Annan, checking information on forums was far more efficient than checking information offline.
It was like getting a batch of staff in charge of scanning the pictures and digitizing them without spending any money. Annan was pretty sure that when the players scanned the images, copied them, sorted them out, and saved them in Annan’s database. The players would even praise: “the feudal lord is so kind,” “the feudal lord is so generous,” and “thank you.”
Annan did not return directly to the main hall.
He had been standing at the door near the hallway, using his silent lurking technique to stick to the door.
He could hear vaguely through the door. The players seemed to have entered. They were chatting with old Alvin.
“Your feudal lord.”
“Yes, we…Black Fire…”
“There is no doubt that they are robbers.”
The voice was a little fuzzy. Only some keywords could be heard vaguely.
This seems abnormal.
Usually, Annan should have been able to hear the conversation with his Perception status at this distance. What’s more? Neither Old Viscount nor the players lowered their voices at all. Only a door separated them.
It seems that the soundproofing of the viscount manor is strengthened quite well.
Though, this level of sound insulation isn’t part of the architectural design.
This should be the work of a curse vessel.
Why is there such a need?
Is it because Old Alvin often meets with his important guests here?
Or, is it due to someone who will meet him here?
However, Old Alvin did not hear Justin’s screams when Justin was trapped by [Page Lock] because of this.
Therefore, Old Alvin also missed the last chance to escape.
Although Old Alvin couldn’t live on either.
Because Annan cautiously set one additional condition. Even if Old Alvin didn’t say the dedicated words to the players and trigger [Forgotten Secret] and [Cardioplegia], [Cardioplegia] would trigger itself after four hours.
From this perspective, Old Alvin could be considered dead already. It was just that he hadn’t noticed his death yet, and his body was still moving.
Suddenly, Annan became confused when he heard the noise in the room.
“Master Viscount?”
“Sir? What’s wrong with you?”
The players were nervous, and some sharp shrieks sounded. The voice suddenly became loud and noisy.
It’s about time.
Annan smiled silently, took a few steps back, and waited for another three or four seconds.
Then, his expression turned more confused. He strode towards the door and pushed the door open.
After Annan came back, the players suddenly became silent for a moment. Then, they immediately turned their eyes on Annan for help.
“Feudal lord, viscount…”
Delicious Wind Goose shouted.
Annan followed their gazes.
Old Alvin slumped on his chair, not knowing when he lost his life.
His eyes widened, and he couldn’t squint.
“Master Viscount?”
Annan whispered and walked over to feel Old Alvin’s pulse.
He could still feel some warmth on Old Alvin’s skin, but the viscount was already dead.
“What happened before?”
Annan made his signature cold voice and asked the players, “Did he say something before he died?”
“Yes, Master!”
Jiu Er nodded in a panic, “We just talked about the royal capital. He said to us, ‘Just like your feudal lord, he comes from.’ Then, he suddenly convulsed and died!”
“I see. He committed suicide.”
Annan put on a serious face, giving the Inspector Megure look [1]. [TN: Character From Detective Conan]
He showed the players the pale white hammer in his pocket and explained, “For safety, when I worked with him previously, we established a curse with each other. That’s we shall not harm each other or reveal our identity to a third person. But he deliberately tells you all about this.
“There is no doubt that he committed suicide.”
“But why did he commit suicide?”
Some players asked subconsciously.
Annan was silent for a while and replied in a low volume, “It could be that…”
“What?”
“No, it’s nothing.”
Annan woke up suddenly, shook his head quickly, and put on a stern look, “This is not something you can know. You are too weak.
“I will take care of it here. I saw that there are many valuable books in Alvin’s study. It would be best if you go through them. You can pick one and take it with you.”
As soon as Annan ended his words, new subtitles appeared in front of the players,
[Mission completed: Infiltrate Roseburg territory by any means and successfully blend in that place (1/1), creating chaos at the right time, assisting Don Juan Geraint’s plan (1/1)]
[Completed the main mission: The Disaster of Roseburg]
[Unlocked: Database]
[Unlocked: Live Broadcast]
[Unlocked: Prestige Store]
[Obtained Shared Experience 100.]
[Obtained Don Juan Geraint affection rate 100.]
[You all had united and defeated the Black Wizard Gerald.]
[But when you finally found Viscount Alvin Barber and were about to seek justice from him, the clue was cut off—]
[—He committed suicide.]
[You notice that Don Juan Geraint seems to have noticed something, but he refused to explain it to you.]
[This is easy to understand. You are too weak. In this Transcended world, mortals represent powerlessness.]
[Yes. You finally realized that your feudal lord is protecting you, albeit your status as a personal guard.]
[This is a shame.]
[You are deeply aware of your weakness and powerlessness.]
[Fortunately, in the battle with Gerald, you have discovered a way to improve yourself quickly.]
[—Enter the “Nightmare” and defeat the “Nightmare.”]
[So you make up your mind-]
[Obtained side mission: First Attempt in Nightmares (normal difficulty)]
[Mission requirement: Complete a nightmare (normal difficulty and above) (0/1)]
[Hint: Don Juan Geraint may know ways to enter “nightmare.”]
[The main mission on the next stage requires the “swordsman” profession to be promoted to LV10.]