Super Righteous Player
Chapter 1144 - 195: The Hell of Motion and Stillness

Chapter 1144: Chapter 195: The Hell of Motion and Stillness

Annan furrowed his brows tightly.

No matter what kind of difficulties he faced, he would never be afraid, nor would he ever give up hope.

But that premise is... Annan first needs to know what exactly he’s supposed to do.

There’s no introduction to the plot, no main mission, and no enemy that needs defeating. He’s trapped in this room, without a single clue.

Annan doesn’t even know what he can do here.

——Just stay here and watch videos?

"However, it can’t be said that there’s no progress at all..."

Annan murmured softly.

He searched the room and found a notebook.

He listed all the known information and clues in it.

Then, he temporarily suppressed the unease in his heart and continued to watch all the unfinished videotapes. He also wrote down the color corresponding to each number.

In the order that Annan watched.

"Number: 159" is a dim yellow one, which is the replica world where Isaac is.

"Number: 456" is a dark green world where the people inside didn’t survive long before dying.

"Number: 789" is the gray and white world where Ofelia is.

"Number: 147" is an orange world.

That world is full of scorching lava. The "lava’s" temperature is much higher than the world Annan is in.

The ground constantly collapses and cracks, and standing in the same place for more than five seconds will cause it to collapse directly, and even without standing in the same place, the ground that has been walked on will collapse after five minutes. And the places that have already collapsed will, after a random duration — never exceeding five hours, cause the surrounding ground to collapse too.

To survive there, one must keep moving.

Whatever they are doing, they can’t afford to stay still — they can’t stop to excrete, let alone stop to sleep.

And every so often, they encounter forks in the road — some paths lead nowhere, others force you to risk death to get through.

And if it’s a dead end, they most likely can’t turn back.

Because if they can’t return to the fork within five minutes, the path will collapse. And if they don’t find the exit, when the collapse spreads to under their feet, they will die too.

But this nightmare doesn’t force people to die straight away.

Because in various corners, one can sporadically find water, food, and potions. However, every time one uses this world’s "offerings," one would be targeted by a Lava Creature that would chase them from afar.

There are also "safe houses" scattered about. But these safe houses won’t allow the runners to rest inside, they only cause all the Lava Creatures that have locked onto them to lose their tracking the moment they enter... and that’s all.

Thus, Lava Creatures that lost their targets might appear suddenly at any corner. And anywhere they pass, the ground will directly melt and collapse. This is also how some of the "dead ends" are created.

This nightmare is not designed for a single person.

But if it were single-player, it might actually be better.

Inside, Annan saw at least twenty people — and their mere existence was a hindrance to one another. They didn’t even survive an hour before they all died in the lava.

Of course, this is also a form of demonstration.

Annan believes this indicates — if one enters this nightmare, they would have to face nineteen burdensome enemies.

And in this eternally unresting scorching hell, Annan couldn’t even see what their hope was supposed to be.

Perhaps after they walk out of this underground maze, they could return to the surface... Perhaps?

"Number: 369" is an icy blue world.

It’s a block of firm ice lying over an endless sea, and the "trial participant" of that world is frozen within the ice. He is still sentient, not dead. He can sense everything around him, but can’t break out of the ice, unable to do anything. He can only watch the ice floe slowly drifting towards the distant continent.

This time, the trial participant inside didn’t die. But Annan fast-forwarded for a long time, watching at sixteen times the normal speed — it took more than double the time of the previous tapes combined, and that little island still hadn’t grown much larger.

So, Annan temporarily gave up continuing to explore this tape.

——This is really a bladder test.

Even more tormenting than urban sewer channels...

If judging by the nature of this nightmare.

Annan guesses, when the iceberg is about to near the land, perhaps a typhoon, a tsunami, or a wave might come and slap it back in the opposite direction.

That indeed could drive someone to instant despair.

It’s like a person starting a new game in a beloved video game. This time he decided to go for the Ten Li Sword God, diligently grinding for half a month, ready to emerge from isolation — and then experiencing a corrupted save file.

Annan has personally experienced that feeling of despair.

It’s enough to turn a disciple full of passion for games on the Righteous Path into the sect leader of the Wind Spirit Moon Shadow demonic cult in an instant.

And this person would have to endure torment with an extremely long wait, unable to move at all. Annan made a rough estimate — judging by the speed, it’s certain that he wouldn’t reach the destination even in two months.

To be on standby for at least two months, unable to move or even speak, and ultimately fail at the last moment... That moment of collapse, how could it be merely a hundredfold, thousandfold more despairing than a corrupted save?

It’s the kind of despair that could instantly drive a person mad.

It wasn’t until reaching the last tape, which is number "258," the horizontal video tape.

Annan finally found Ingrid, who had entered this world before them.

And upon watching the horizontal "258," Annan finally saw a replica that could uplift his spirit.

——Because that is the very story told in "Odes to the Celestial Chariot"!

However, Annan also realized that this world was somewhat different from what was described in the book.

In that world, ascending has nothing to do with becoming divine – to ascend just means to ascend, one could also interpret it as leaving the replica.

The other difference lies in the fact that, in that place, ascending isn’t considered particularly rare. Anyone who can reach the top might be able to complete the ascension.

In that world, there exists a special technique, a judgment of their talents in that place — meaning, their endpoint has been determined from birth.

What industry they would go into, what level of education they’re going to receive, and what level of training they would undertake, all determine the heights they could reach.

This made Annan think of that technology from the Academy City.

——Aptitude Judgment.

And naturally, that world would allocate resources and assign statuses according to aptitude differences.

The protagonist has no talent at all — he only has the talent to be a mundane person or a madman.

Rather than being an insignificant person, he would rather be a madman.

Thus, he forgoes everything — embarking on a journey without knowing the end or purpose, even to himself.

Not just to resist a life of mediocrity.

——But also to rebel against this [Predetermined Fate].