Super Righteous Player
Chapter 365 - 362: Annan with One-Click Factory Reset_1

Chapter 365: Chapter 362: Annan with One-Click Factory Reset_1

Upon observing Annan’s seemingly distant and chilly attitude toward himself, the Faceless Poet was slightly startled for a moment.

Then, almost immediately, He realized something.

The girl with the crow mask blurted out, "Have you lost your memory now?"

"...Why would you say that?"

Annan raised an eyebrow.

Trying as best as he could to act nonchalant, he asked casually.

He had just suddenly noticed a word.

——"Already".

As if the Faceless Poet was not surprised or saddened by Annan’s lack of memory of Him... but rather that He did not expect it to happen at this time.

If this conjecture was correct...

Then there would be decisive evidence for the "other possibility" of oneself coming to this world.

Perhaps... Annan had not simply arrived on the beaches of Frostwater Harbor after his journey through worlds.

There were three pieces of evidence at present.

In "Nightmare: White Tower", Maria had inadvertently mentioned that her brother was nice, though the Winter family naturally possesses the Heart of Winter and feels no joy;

In "Nightmare: Great Hunt", the young Annan from the past made a similar choice as the present one;

And most crucially...

The Book of Truth only starts to materialize slowly after the new concept it represents has been born.

The Silver Baron could not have emerged before civilization invented "trade", just as the Red Knight could not have come into existence before "war". For the Books of Truth that sealed their divinity had not yet appeared at that time.

The fragments of the Book of Truth that appeared on Tan Juan clearly predated when Annan woke up much earlier.

If, as it may be, Annan’s journey to this world happened much earlier than he remembered—just that some incident had erased his memories within this world.

Then many things would be explained.

However, with this comes another question.

The reason for the Forbidden Ritual held by the Reflections five years prior, venturing to risk their lives for rebirth and ascension to divinity, was that there were no new, blank Books of Truth available at the time.

If the Book of Truth appeared earlier than when the event of "Nightmare: White Tower" occurred, then it seemed there would be no reason for the Reflections to take such a risk...

Yet, faced with Annan’s indirect probing, the Faceless Poet fell silent in contemplation for a while.

"I cannot tell you,"

To Annan’s surprise, the Faceless Poet finally responded like this, "It was your own decision."

"...My own decision?"

This unexpected answer startled Annan himself.

No, wait...

Annan suddenly realized something.

He remembered.

The last time he had seen Benjamin, he had learned from him that Annan had "Leviathan’s breath" lingering around him.

"Leviathan" was one of three tremendous creatures reared by the Lady Mystique.

Its status should be equivalent to that of a highest-ranking "Emissary".

If this name referred to the same entity as the "Leviathan" Annan knew from Earth, it would mean a colossal sea-breeder living deep beneath the seas. The name "Leviathan" itself connotes "crack" or "vortex".

Making assumptions solely based on the name and the identity as a "monster" isn’t rational and could lead to biased errors.

But considering the topography of where he had landed, Annan could provisionally accept that this world’s "Leviathan" indeed dwelled in the sea.

...So what if the previous Annan was prepared for this "memory loss"?

Following Annan’s modus operandi, his appearance in Frostwater Harbor should be some kind of sign. Since, even with lost memories, he practically had no need to visit Noah, and there was even less need to first stop by Frostwater Harbor... With the Decayed Husband gone and the Grandmother about to awaken, plus the protection from Maria, returning to Winter would have been a more convenient choice.

Leviathan, since it could deliver itself to Frostwater Harbor, should also be able to send him back to Winter.

Unless, Frostwater Harbor itself has some special meaning.

Annan quickly thought of something.

Because the only special thing about Frostwater Harbor was the "Nightmare: Gallery."

The Gallery’s unique mechanism, "Repetition," is a nightmare mechanism that causes the loss of memories produced earlier once one fails.

And the reason this mechanism exists is because the "Gallery" is not actually a complete event from the past.

The essence of a nightmare is the projection of the dream realm’s information based on the soul, into reality.

The special thing about the Gallery is that the soul that constitutes this nightmare—that is, Elle—under the protection of the Bone Collecter, hadn’t really died.

Elle could still acquire new memories after the fact; for her, what happens when others enter the nightmare is still "an ongoing reality."

Unlike other nightmares, which are "stories that happened in the past."

In other words...

"...is it because of the enemy’s attack?"

Annan asked tentatively.

If he truly had amnesia... then the him from the past, not letting the current him know the truth, there could only be one possibility.

That is, Annan suddenly had the need to actively discard a large amount of memory, and he also possessed key memories that couldn’t be read or viewed by a Soul Reaping wizard, so he could only choose to "restore factory settings."

Like something contaminating his memories; or in order to achieve a certain goal, fulfil a certain condition, he must forget something, and return to a state of "ignorance."

Of course, it could also simply be that he was attacked or seriously injured, and this was the only way to survive...

However, facing Annan’s inquiry, the Faceless Poet let out a somewhat sharp laugh: "That’s impossible, Annan.

"You might have forgotten a lot. I’ll divulge some information to ease your mind.

"There’s me and the Silver Baron in Noah, the respected twin goddesses in the underground federation, the Old Grandmother in Winter, the Paper Princess, the Stone Father, and the Twin-Headed Singer in the United Kingdoms, and those three True Gods in the Holy Nation... If the enemy you mentioned is the Rotten Husband, then He’s not quite up to par.

"He is too young. He has no idea what you, Annan, truly mean to this world."

"...what do I mean?"

Annan asked, puzzled.

Listening to the Faceless Poet’s words, it seemed he had interactions with many True Gods...

However, the girl wearing the crow mask paused and then decisively shook her head: "I am the God of Secrets."

"Then just mention, when can I..."

"I refuse, refuse~ I reject all the rest~"

Before Annan could finish speaking, the Faceless Poet crossed her hands in front of her and loudly sang off-key, drowning out Annan’s voice, forcefully interrupting his speech.

Watching Annan’s distressed expression, she let out a strange laugh: "I was wondering why the Paper Princess suddenly ran to Noah... turns out she was here for you. Whenever you want to see Her, just leave this place, and have a stroll on the street... The Paper Princess can smell you; you don’t need to look for Her."

"...but even if you say that..."

I still don’t have any impression of the Paper Princess at all.

"Hahahahaha, don’t be like that, Annan. Forgetting isn’t a bad thing. Knowledge has weight, the more powerful the knowledge, the heavier it is. You don’t yet have the resolve... and the ability to carry that weight."

"Isn’t silver rank enough?"

"Don’t try to get me to spill, I won’t say a word. It’s the same with the two ladies. But if you happen to come across Lady Luck, She might say a little more."

The slender girl said smilingly, her body gradually melting back into black mud, her voice also becoming increasingly vague: "Since it’s clear that now isn’t the time for reminiscing, I’ll take my leave first.

"Noah isn’t exactly a safe place at this time... but since you chose to come here, it must be part of the ladies’ strategy.

"The ladies taught us, if a secret is spoken aloud, it loses its Magic Power. Just let everything take its natural course..."

The black mire made sharp, damp sounds, laughing as it merged into the earth: "I will be watching you carefully, partner—

"—I will record all this thoroughly!"