CH 499

POSTED ON JANUARY 27, 2023 BY JACK RUSSELL

[Falling into a nightmare. The dungeon instance is being generated…]

[Detected that the current dungeon instance has a unique property: Spider Web, Fantasy]

[After dying in this dungeon instance, you will not be kicked out of the dungeon.]

[This dungeon instance will not mutate.]

[This dungeon instance will change differently when different people enter it.]

[This dungeon instance will change upon each new entry.]

[The dungeon instance difficulty is set as distorted.]

[This dungeon instance has a total of 12 save points. Each death increases the erosion rate by 1%.]

[This dungeon instance does not provide a plot introduction but has decryption rewards.]

[The dungeon instance has finished loading.]

Suuankou gradually opened his eyes.

With the further improvement in his Agility attribute, the sense of vertigo every time Suuankou entered a nightmare gradually ceased to affect him.

After the dizziness gradually dissipated, Suuankou realized that he had appeared in a forest outside the city.

The trees in the underground world looked weird. Under the light shining down from the dome walls, the twisted and deformed trees had no leaves but were covered with damp moss. They mimicked the appearance of monsters with wooden skins.

Suuankou was in the middle of this “forest”.

There was a path beneath his feet, winding its way into the forest’s depths.

A young girl’s soft voice could be heard from the 4 o’clock direction in Suuankou’s ears.

“The bystander is no different from the perpetrator. Both should be scorned.”

Then, a reminder of the side mission appeared in front of Suuankou.

[Enter Sporeggar Mill.]

At this time, bullet texts flashed in front of his eyes.

The players gloated and clicked into the stream when they again saw someone challenging [Nightmare: Sporeggar Mill].

The deceptive and misleading dungeon was not friendly to those who challenged it but was undoubtedly joyful to those who spectated it.

“—Ah! Brother Koutsu, what a rare customer!”

“—Didn’t you say that you’re obnoxious with this? Has your baby been born now?”

[TN: It’s an analogy to mock someone in Chinese culture, hinting that Brother Koutsu has been stuck with this nightmare so long that his son was born.]

“—I’m open for business. Will Brother Koutsu die 18 times today? The bet will be Chaoshan Beef Hot Pot! I’m activating the betting table in the forum. Come check it out if you’re free!”

[TN: Chaosan [1] is a location, possibly referring to a cooking style.]

What the hell! Fuck you!

If it weren’t for my inability to participate in the betting table, I would maneuver the results in my favor!

Suuankou murmured in his heart but did not stop his advancing pace.

Instead of walking forward, he turned around without looking back.

Anyway, he was somewhat familiar with it after dying so many times.

Of course, he had memorized the starting part of advancing in the dungeon.

*Breathing out* “…ha… ha… ha…”

The sound of heavy breathing and the clatter of boots onto the wet mud gradually became clearer in front of Suuankou.

Suuankou was unfazed. He just walked forward silently.

Before the man came into Suuankou’s field of vision, he slipped and fell heavily on the mud.

Suuankou took two steps forward and saw a dark-skinned man in old leather armor with gray sideburns fall to the ground. His hands were dirty when he fell to the ground.

“Jo… Job?”

After seeing Suuankou, the messenger looked up in surprise with a hint of joy on his face, “Come here, give me a hand. I’m exhausted.”

So Suuankou walked over indifferently.

“—Yeah, our Brother Messenger fell to the ground again.”

“—Brother Messenger fell before taking many steps this time.”

“—This is called respecting the old and loving the young, and let the eldest brother take two steps less.”

“—He is probably the Diving [2] Champion.”

“—It’s okay. Brother Koutsu did not stand still and wait for the messenger to come.”

“—It can’t be helped. The messenger runs slower than Brother Koutsu walking.”

The bullet texts mocked in unison.

After all, Suuankou had died so many times, which meant that the spectators also witnessed it an equal amount of times.

The players were arrogant on the first day because they did not know how challenging the dungeon was and did not turn on the live-streaming feature.

But after the three players kept dying all night long, they realized that this dungeon instance was complex. Then, they entered the dungeon with the live broadcast switched on.

The other players had also watched the process for a long time and had already memorized the process for the first segment.

They naturally knew that they would not encounter this messenger if they walked straight forward when they first entered the nightmare.

The challenger had to stand still and wait for three minutes before the messenger rushed over from behind, panting.

But no matter what time or place the dungeon challenger encountered the messenger, the messenger was bound to fall down in the challenger’s sight.

Afterward, the messenger would reach out and ask the player to pull him up.

There were even several death flags hidden here.

[Death flag: Sequence that leads to death.]

If the dungeon challenger went straight forward, he would arrive in the “Maze Forest” without a clear knowledge of direction. The ferocious underground beasts would attack those who strayed in the wrong direction.

Only by holding the token of the messenger could the dungeon challenger see through the illusion and find the actual path.

If the challenger went with the messenger, the challenger would indeed find the way. But in the next trap room, both would be wiped out due to the increased weight.

If the dungeon challenger pulled up the messenger at this time, it would also be a death flag.

In this nightmare, the dungeon challenger’s hands were “bound to be dirtied”.

According to Suuankou’s current conjecture, the messenger had to be killed outside the Maze Forest.

As for the way to do it…

Suuankou had a dagger in hand, as well as a gun. But he did not have spare gunpowder and bullets on hand.

If the dungeon challenger attacked the messenger with a dagger, the opponent would resist fiercely. During combat, the challenger would easily have their hands stained with blood. Also, if the challenger were pushed to the ground, that would be a guaranteed death.

At present, there seems to be only one solution at the start.

Suuankou stopped about three or four steps away from the messenger and killed the messenger on the spot with a precise gunshot.

After the messenger gradually stopped breathing, Suuankou turned him over with his feet. Reaching his hand carefully, he took a withered yellow leaf sandwiched between two glass plates from the victim’s pocket.

It looked like some kind of specimen.

When he touched the leaf specimen, Suuankou saw two rows of data:

[Withered Leaf]

[—It is the token of the trees, often leading those who lost.]

Immediately afterward, the world before Suuankou seemed to become more colorful.

To be more precise, it resembled the vibe of “having the color contrast rising in a software”.

A white arrow appeared on the ground, pointing forward.

Only then did Suuankou move forward.

No bullets were left in the gun, and there seemed to be no chance of picking up bullets afterward. But anyway, Suuankou decided to bring the gun along first.

Worse comes to worst, it’s better than an iron baton.

Soon, Suuankou walked into the dark forest.

The traces made by human footsteps had also disappeared. There was no sunlight in the underground world, and it was impossible to determine the direction through shadows.

However, Suuankou could still see the white arrow appear on the ground, pointing firmly in the correct direction.

When Suuankou walked in this direction, some trees in the distance gradually faded with his steps. When he walked over, a path revealed whereby it was not there previously.

Those who did not follow this direction would inevitably die.

The combat power of those ferocious beasts did not matter. As long as the challenger had their hands stained in blood or mud while fighting the beats or fleeing for his life, it translated to “them still staying alive, but are already considered dead.”

—Please kill yourself and restart again.