Volume 4 - CH 66.2

Baldie is still silent. He is currently in an… odd state of mind, like he was doubting reality itself, despite the fact that he was just telling them to get a move on, his attention wasn’t actually on this Nightmare then, or now.

Because he is too preoccupied thinking about the utility card’s effect on his psyche, and his thought digressed from that.

He wants to ask, if those kinds of effects from the utility card, is common, or rare in the entire Tower?

He hopes it’s the latter, but his experience tells him, the former is likely correct.

This makes him feel ominous.

Nobody has paid much attention to the side effects on Missiontakers from the utility cards, because they are in the mindset that this is a game, with utility cards merely being items in that game.

What changes could they even bring?

But after experiencing this subtle but significant change himself, Baldie can only feel his hairs standing on end. Even Biceps could tell it; did he seriously not notice?

He did not. Before that, he did not consciously acknowledge that he was affected by that utility card, or did he think any of his actions were out of ordinary, whether it was hiding stuff from the other Missiontakers, or feuding with Collector.

… Somehow, he is also unable to imagine, if he wasn’t affected by the utility card, how he would have interacted and resolved this matter.

The change is unseen. He does not feel anything wrong with himself. He feels like this is part of who he is, naturally.

Just like Wu Jian and Collector’s amnesia in which they do not feel any of their memories are missing, they are also convinced this is how it is.

——The brain does not suspect itself.

Along the way, Baldie is quieter than usual, but the others haven’t an idea what he’s thinking about.

Anyway, in response to Mu Jiashi, Baldie decided to go against his ‘nature,’ and honestly tell them what happened after some thought.

He tells him, “in the first run of the Nightmare, a third of the Missiontakers start losing their memories; two thirds in the second run; everyone in the third run.

When any single Missiontaker has forgotten all their memories of the Nightmare entirely, it restarts.”

Mu Jiashi seems shocked, before knitting his brows, asking, “all memories, referring to only that particular run, or of all the runs?”

Baldie dryly replies, “all the runs,” and he bitterly smiles, adding, “those Missiontakers who have forgotten everything the previous run, as soon as the next run begins, they start forgetting about their current run… again, until everything is forgotten.”

Mu Jiashi really could not hold himself back from making an absurdly frightened look.

Even Xü Beijin, hearing that from the stream, is furrowing his brows as well, feeling pity for the Missiontakers.

The viewers do not seem to get why they are both so concerned, though.

Xü Beijin explains, “this means that, as the Missiontakers forget everything in turn, their hold over differing amounts of information will fuel conflict; and because they, all of them, will eventually forget everything about this Nightmare, this means…

A certain run later, they will actually think, that they are in their first run.”

The viewers respond by typing exclamation marks, and going,

“endless loop???”

… Exactly. A futile, repeated process, just like the mythical Sisyphus who has to keep repeating rolling a stone uphill, where it rolls back downhill, and so he has to move downhill once again to move it uphill.

That was the punishment of the Gods for Sisyphus, though; what implications are there in this Nightmare, for the action of repeatedly forgetting and recollecting information?

Something seems to flash through Xü Beijin’s mind; he feels a familiarity, but he does not know why he is feeling that.

At the same time, he worries about something else.

In this Nightmare, with Missiontakers set to all forget about everything some time, where they would actually start to think they’re in the first run and know nothing about the Nightmare, if this kept happening, wouldn’t that be equivalent to the Missiontakers having succumbed to the Nightmare, forever?

So it seems that, in this Nightmare, the Missiontakers look to be much more likely than other Nightmares to succumb, and for the Nightmare to then Collapse.

It worries Xü Beijin.

While Missiontakers succumbing sounds like it doesn’t have too much to do with them, as it is rare for Actors to encounter such an event, especially if they can still tell the characters they are Acting apart from who they are.

But seeing such a cruel turn of fate happening right before his eyes still make him feel unhappy and worried.

… They are all humans, after all.

He sighs quietly.

He has already parted with Dai Wu, who looks like he has a rather important role in this Nightmare. Maybe he’s the second-in-command to Black Robe, as he’s now busy with other things——At least, the Server has arranged for him to be busy.

It certainly is hard, though, for Xü Beijin to imagine someone like Dai Wu yelling ‘humans are the Impurities of the Earth’ or something similar.

He looks more the kind that doesn’t care if they really are Impurities or not, as long as he is living life to the fullest.

Xü Beijin, meanwhile…

Doesn’t think that much of the sentence or its implications.

He knows full well that humans are full of countless thoughts and views, sometimes even holding contradictory ones at once——For example, you say that Humans are Impurities of the Earth, which causes the Gods to punish humans, then how is that you, a human, was not punished alongside them?

All the noisy, messy, conflicting noises, surrounding Xü Beijin’s ears, dull down to nothingness.

That said, if that is what is being repeated in a Tower’s Nightmare, it would cause his thoughts to drift in a certain direction, for sure.

Xü Beijin is blanking out again as his mind recalls something else.

When he comes to, though, on the stream, all six Missiontakers are on the roof of the building already.

The Missiontakers have already dragged Fei and Collector to the edge of the rooftop when the Missiontakers arrived, and they are there right as Fei was pushed over!

“Fei…!” Wu Jian watched Fei disappear off the side with a face full of terror, he lunges to the edge of the rooftop, yelling out in shock, “what happened?! Why did you push her off?!”

Clearly, he’s forgotten about what Mu Jiashi just told him, about the trial and sentencing that happened in the amusement park.

Mu Jiashi closes his eyes, feeling exhausted. He does not even know if his own memories are complete anymore; it is all unfathomable.

How could people doubt their own brains? Doubt their own past, their own memories? To doubt them is to doubt their sense of self.

In this Nightmare, that is exactly what is necessary for them, however.

The survivors have paused because of the sudden appearance of these Missiontakers. Still holding Collector down, they are chastising the Missiontakers for their recklessness barging up here, but because the Missiontakers caught them by surprise, they also seem a bit lost right now.

That is when…

“Huh…” Amidst the silence, is Collector’s voice. He sounds like he is just waking up from a stupor, “quite the tense starting point for a Nightmare, no?”

Mu Jiashi immediately turns in his direction.

He can see Collector looking genuinely intrigued and also slightly baffled. He really seems to be curious why the Missiontakers are in a standoff with the Tower residents in a Nightmare as soon as he opened his eyes.

He has forgotten everything in the first run of the Nightmare.

… The Nightmare is restarting!

The moment Mu Jiashi turned towards Wu Jian, also wishing to confirm whether he has lost his memories for the first run entirely, his vision goes dark.

The Nightmare, has restarted.