Super Righteous Player
Chapter 596 - 137: The Whole Truth_1

Chapter 596: Chapter 137: The Whole Truth_1

"Are you saying... the real Frederick realized he was in a nightmare? And then spilled all the intelligence to you?"

Having just woken up, Thirteen Fragrances gradually understood the situation after listening to Husky’s narration, supplemented by the barrage comments.

So he cast a somewhat eerie glance at Husky.

"Not bad, Brother Husky."

——Are you that much in demand, you mutt? How come even when I’m not around, someone promptly comes out of the woodwork to take care of you... as if the whole world is conspiring to prevent Husky from standing on his own four paws.

Could this be the legendary being loved by the world... the dog?

"Yeah, but I didn’t understand a thing. Do you have any clue?"

Husky asked candidly.

As he spoke, he passed over a lamb chop.

"Give me some water first, my mouth is so dry."

Thirteen Fragrances complained but still took the lamb chop.

Leaning on the bed, he pondered for a while, then slowly said, "We can be sure of a few things at the moment.

"Firstly, from the very beginning, ’Professor Wolf’ was Professor Gray. According to the stories outside, it should have been Frederick who became Professor Wolf. But considering the main quest on your side, which includes a step to save Frederick... I can conclude that Frederick Melvin is also dead."

"Frederick is dead too?"

Husky was startled. "Does that mean... all three of us brothers are dead?"

"...Three?"

Thirteen Fragrances was taken aback for a moment, not catching on to where the number three had come from.

But he quickly realized what it meant.

...Oh, Ingrid.

So he nodded. "You’re right.

"I think it went like this—Professor Gray orchestrated a scheme. He made Justus see that if Ingrid wasn’t killed, she could endanger Frederick’s safety. And he convinced him this possibility was real.

"So, he had Justus ’time travel’ back and kill Ingrid, ’changing’ the past... Do you see the problem?"

"So..."

Husky held the joke with a grave look on his face.

Thirteen Fragrances twitched the corner of his mouth, reminding him, "Don’t forget, Ingrid is already dead in the ’historical ending’."

Before entering the nightmare, they had already learned that both "Ingrid" and "Justus" were indeed dead.

Ingrid was one of the few victims of that year’s earthquake; while Justus was found with more than ten stab wounds, ruled a suicide.

"—So, what ’fate’ did Justus change?"

The events were already unfolding in the direction he desired.

Or rather, history was originally such.

He really had nothing to change to begin with.

"The fundamental problem is, this is the third layer of the dreamscape."

Thirteen Fragrances answered.

"...That’s why there are three layers of nightmares."

Meanwhile, outside of the nightmare, Annan also explained this to Delicious Wind Goose by his side.

Annan let out a slow sigh.

Accompanied by the deep exhale, a visible complexity of emotions, like grey smoke, was slowly pushed out of Annan’s lungs.

Practically at the instant Thirteen Fragrances and his group entered the shallowest layer of the nightmare,

Annan had already completely unraveled the nightmare.

"Its hidden mechanisms aren’t hard to understand. In fact, they’re even simpler than the Gallery Nightmare."

So much so that he just had to mull over it for a while to see through it.

Of course, it might also be precisely because he was an outsider that he could see things clearly.

Annan glanced at the still somewhat puzzled Delicious Wind Goose and simply said, "If you’re confused about this, then that’s a good thing... because you care so much about what ’the truth’ is, that’s why you’re confused."

"...I still don’t quite understand."

Delicious Wind Goose paused, then still bowed his head and spoke directly.

He didn’t like pretending to understand something when he didn’t.

The nightmare always revolved around those three people.

"This is a matter of ’understanding’"

Annan—or rather, "Giralda," gently tapped his right temple with his middle finger, causing a hard knocking sound, "What you lack is understanding. The thinking that surpasses logic... The thought that transcends what is seen."

The key to unraveling the nightmare was, astonishingly, placed within the nightmare itself.

In other words,

"Please allow me to hold the suspense a bit longer, and save the most important part for last. Like setting the rich main course after the soup."

"Let me start from the beginning—"

Annan’s mouth curved into a smile.

And in the nightmare, Tricino said something similar:

"After knowing the true identity of Professor Wolf, we naturally come to wonder—who then is Frederick who was stripped of his surname?"

"Is it Professor Gray?"

Husky sat obediently by the bed and couldn’t help but ask, "Was it him who killed those three people and then stole Frederick’s identity?"

"That is correct... but also incorrect."

Tricino sighed, his expression somewhat complex, "It should be said that ’Frederick Wolfheart’ is one of Professor Gray’s identities."

"We know that Ingrid has long been dead. And Justus has been dead for some time, too, with the autopsy result being ’suicide’."

"There is a typical narrative trick here..."

He looked at Husky and said slowly, "Initially, we assumed Justus was killed by Frederick because ’Frederick’ became a disciple of the tragic playwright and received power, and Frederick was the last person Justus saw."

"But later we also got the information that Justus and Frederick didn’t have such a poor relationship. And Frederick might have also been harmed."

"From that moment on, we have to decisively abandon the preconceived judgment that ’Justus was murdered by Frederick and then disguised as a suicide.’ Because our new information conflicts with the basis of the old speculation."

Why could a silver-ranked Idol Wizard, known for defense and vitality, murder The Unfallen Shield, someone of a higher rank than himself?

Why, after so many years, has no one realized that Frederick was the murderer of The Unfallen Shield?

The answer is too simple.

It’s just that prejudices and preconceptions made Naifertali, Annan, and the players all overlook this possibility.

——The true murderer of Justus was not Frederick.

Did Professor Gray really have the ability to send Justus back in time to save Frederick?

Clearly, he did not. It might have been possible, barely, if The Man in the Mirror personally took action, using the mirrors he had set up in the "past".

But Professor Gray certainly couldn’t do that.

This means, from that time on... or even before then, Justus was already in the midst of a dream.

He "saw" the "possibility" of Frederick dying because of Ingrid.

——The so-called "Dream Eater."

Of course, what it consumes isn’t just [dreams].

"Let’s put it simply,"

Annan’s fingers interlocked, the middle-aged man with black hair and eyes spoke in a calm and reliable voice, "Frederick Melvin and Justus didn’t die at the same time."

"The time of Frederick Melvin’s death... was even before Justus’."

"The ’possibility’ that Justus saw, if Ingrid had not died, the future he wanted to change—"

"It was always in Frederick’s nightmare."

Yes.

"——The order of death is reversed."

Tricino said simply.

It wasn’t "Frederick following Justus to the coal ash barren land."

The real purpose of Justus’ journey to the coal ash barren land... was at the behest of Professor Gray, to collect the body of his only friend, Frederick Melvin.

It was the second layer of the nightmare they had just escaped from, the one about "saving Ingrid."

And the creator of this nightmare...

It was "Professor Gray."

Or rather, "Dream Eater" Tricino Seti.