Super Righteous Player
Chapter 581 - 122 Tragic Playwright: I Can’t Even Watch My Own Bustle

Chapter 581: Chapter 122 Tragic Playwright: I Can’t Even Watch My Own Bustle

With Benjamin’s help,

Annan felt he was edging ever closer to the truth.

The different identities of the Idol Wizard did indeed separate with people’s perceptions... but after all, in reality, the holder of these identities was the same person.

There must be intersections among "them."

Thus, if an ordinary person knew one identity and kept investigating by following the leads, it was possible to find the other identities—this was exactly the work Annan and his team were doing now.

Hiding one of the identities was indeed a difficult task.

There’s a saying: if you would not be known to do anything, do it not.

To give one of the identities a credible persona, making people believe it’s a new identity, you would have to perform many frequent and characteristic actions. And since these actions were widely known, evidence must have been left behind.

"This was never a matter that could be completely hidden, and since Tricino could see the future—whether he relied on Prophet’s Spells, his own Wisdom, or the Divine Arts of the Tragedy Writer... in any case, he could see what’s happening at this very moment.

"So, the fact that ’you have now learned of Pope Tricino’s identity,’ must also be within his expectation,"

Annan spoke slowly, "Have you considered this?"

"Naturally."

Naifertali nodded.

"I guess, this is probably to let me adapt to the element of ’Understanding’.

"My teacher once told me that my talent lies in non-logical intuition."

Even in her speech, she still referred to Seti as "teacher": "It could roughly be understood as a kind of... well, let’s just say ’woman’s intuition’."

At this point, Naifertali smiled helplessly, "Although it may sound a bit self-aggrandizing to say this—my intuition has actually always been quite accurate.

"Even without evidence and logic, I can occasionally guess the truth directly."

"...What?"

Annan’s voice rose slightly upon hearing this.

He realized something.

Naifertali nodded at Annan, "Yes.

"It’s very similar to the manifestations of the ’Understanding’ element. So I guess... the element of Understanding in this Nightmare might have been prepared for me from the start."

Tricino threw Naifertali into a safe place but then made her bring Annan in, to participate in the plan.

His purpose must be for her to gain that... very likely Tricino’s own, the adaptability to ’Understanding’."

"You’re probably right."

Benjamin nodded slightly upon hearing this, "Pope Tricino probably really doesn’t want to get something directly from you... on the contrary, he wants you to survive.

"You are like the ’anchor’ he tied to the safety rope at his waist before jumping off the cliff."

Hearing this, Annan also looked towards Benjamin.

"If that’s the case..."

"He might want to completely sever ties with his past self," Benjamin said somberly, "That was ’Mirror’s’ initial thought. That’s why I came here.

"As He ascended during the Sublimation Ritual, traveling to the Realm of Light via the Chariot, His foresight expanded vastly for a moment—it was then that Mirror saw Pope Tricino from the ’past’ who had stolen His power.

"He used Mirror’s power to construct the Nightmare you just purified. Making such a big roundabout means he must have a plan. And the future seen by Mirror’s eyes already reveals... Tricino will ultimately betray the Angel.

Popes betraying deities is not new.

That isn’t unusual at all.

Just as fans often lose awe for their idols... Popes having access to divine scriptures is evidence that they have garnered divine attention for some reason or other.

They must be extraordinary talents in their own right to be chosen as the secret keepers of the gods. Such individuals, unless they share the same ideals or were once graced, are mostly unlikely to worship a deity sincerely.

And from another perspective... Popes actually have no duty to worship the deity. This is merely based on the moral code of secret keepers, or rather, an exchange of interests.

—Take Annan, for example.

Here, Annan also has the Divine Arts of the Betraying Angel Angelo.

From a religious perspective, Annan is now the Pope of the Betraying Angel, or in other words, the Skeleton Pope... but clearly, Annan has not the slightest reverence for the Skeleton Pope, and even desires to kick him.

"And the Tragedy Writer naturally has full awareness of this situation,"

Benjamin said in a deep voice.

The Tragedy Writer was originally the pinnacle of the Idol school of magic, the consummate figure and pioneer of the "Law of Similarity." And it was within reason for those in the Idol school to also practice Soul Reaping or be a Prophet.

Being as wise as He, He even didn’t need to use His own powers or look into the future.

The deities of this world cannot stay in places similar to the celestial realms. They are all amongst humans, although it is uncertain where exactly.

And the Tragedy Writer, He must be right next to His own Pope.

With His insight into human nature, It was impossible for Him not to see through Tricino’s double-dealing early on.

He just wanted to watch the excitement.

—Even if that excitement was His own.

The Pope betraying the deity is indeed a fine spectacle—if this process of betrayal is extended over decades, then regardless of the outcome, it would be an exceptionally outstanding "tragedy."

"To put it simply, Tricino plans to reclaim that portion of power which has weakened ’because of his own faith’,"

Annan bluntly explained for Dragon Well Tea and the others who were somewhat puzzled: "He wants to return to his strongest state. And for that purpose... he must betray ’the Tragedy Writer.’

"Yes, he’s going to kill ’Pope Tricino.’

That instant.

Dragon Well Tea’s own voice echoed in his head.

"... and according to spell verification, the person who killed Justus was Justus himself."

His pupils dilated slightly.

So... similar.

"This nightmare... let’s name it ’Phantom Fever.’ Its characteristic is ’reiteration’—which is the same characteristic as the Nightmare: Gallery,"

Annan added.

If you die, you will lose your memory.

Because in reality, all nightmares are changing.

The information one has come to know, whether misleading or not, will influence the judgments of the Purifiers. In other words, their recollections from experiencing the nightmare already interfere with their choices—they will rely more on "experience" instead of their "true heart" when acting.

The so-called "reiteration" characteristic is meant to return people to their true heart.

Because the losers don’t know what exactly needs to be done to clear the level. Ultimately, they return to "making choices with their real thoughts" and end up repeating indefinitely.

That is to say, "the reiteration of a certain event" is achieved.

Just like the Purifiers did, betraying Elle over and over again in Nightmare: Gallery.

This time’s nightmare has a similar mechanism.

"As you are aware, I can see what you see,"

Annan said earnestly to Dragon Well Tea: "This time, I need your help—"

"But I have already cleared it once. My choices will inevitably become subjective, and I am not familiar with any of you. There is bound to be misunderstanding in our cooperation... Fortunately, the Man in the Mirror is right here. Therefore, I hope to perform a ritual.

"The ’Self-Propelling Mirror Shadow’ ritual of the ’Mirror’ domain. It is a ritual used to completely transfer the key to enter the nightmare to someone else."

—In other words, to find two players with a tacit understanding to substitute.

Annan and another player would exchange secrets, and then let two players enter using their keys to substitute play. Meanwhile, Annan and the Flavorful Goose would watch from the outside—setting up a commentary booth and analyzing the details of the nightmare instance from an impartial and objective perspective.

After the analysis is complete, Annan and one player would enter the nightmare.

"I hope you can choose two people. The professions don’t matter, as I can handle the keys... There’s only one requirement: they must be in perfect sync and know each other inside out,"

Annan looked seriously at Dragon Well Tea: "I’m counting on you."