Super Righteous Player
Chapter 599 - 140 - Nightmare: Gemini, Cleared!_1

Chapter 599: Chapter 140 - Nightmare: Gemini, Cleared!_1

Annan was filled with countless emotions.

For the first time, he saw a nightmare capable of forming a paradoxical Cycle, one that could directly deadlock the purifiers. This made Annan even more wary of the mechanism known as "nightmare."

Especially after he figured out the method to clear the nightmare, he couldn’t help but admire Professor Gray’s craftsmanship.

The nightmare he designed was simply too intricate.

It even hinted at the way to clear it from the very beginning—

The part about exchanging three secrets had already hinted at the strategies for the three challenges.

First was fairness and symmetry—hinting that Room 206 was the correct exit, which was also the easiest challenge.

Only if the two people knew each other well enough could they recognize each other’s true identities in the second challenge and obtain enough information... and each person had to rely on their own strength to clear the stage so that both could reach the third challenge simultaneously.

The test of the third challenge seemed to be the simplest.

—Let the one playing "Justus" kill "Frederick," then commit suicide.

If the players were directly faced with such a choice, there wouldn’t be any difficulty.

But after learning the information from the second challenge, the two purifiers would instinctively doubt, "If we do this, will we also be locked in this nightmare?" Thus, they wouldn’t dare to act rashly.

"Frederick" would suspect whether the other party would honestly commit suicide as agreed. Whereas "Justus" would worry if they truly committed suicide, would they end up like the real Justus, trapped in the nightmare—after all, "Frederick," no matter what, wouldn’t have to face the consequences.

If they were strangers, not trusting each other enough, they would have already started arguing here.

What made Annan certain of this was something Naifertali had said.

She mentioned that "Frederick" had died three times. This meant she had become an "Awakener"... and had successfully locked herself in.

The nightmare she experienced was clearly a lot longer than Annan’s.

And they had almost woken up at the same time.

So, after dying in the dream, Annan must have waited for Naifertali for a while.

Normally, when ejected from a nightmare, one would wake up immediately.

Why would Annan wait? The answer was probably only one.

It was because he actually had one more chance to revive.

Even the players who could disregard life and death, and who even trusted each other—Husky and Thirteen Fragrances—were so conflicted at this moment.

How could the natives of this world easily entrust their own life and death to another person’s "promise?"

Only if Annan trusted Naifertali, Thirteen Fragrances trusted Annan, Husky trusted Thirteen Fragrances, and Thirteen Fragrances also trusted Husky, could this nightmare be barely cleared.

The distance between people was perhaps another layer of tragedy that Professor Gray wanted to show to the tragedy writer.

That is the tragedy offstage.

Annan was gradually understanding why Naifertali referred to this nightmare as "Phantom Flame."

Frederick had indeed been revived.

The protagonist of this nightmare was Justus from the start.

The so-called Phantom Flame... was the temperature of Justus’s palm that was almost scorching enough to burn Annan’s shoulder.

—That was the phantom heat of a friend’s blood, lingering on one’s fingertips.

All of a sudden, Annan recalled the reaction of the real Justus the first time he entered the nightmare.

The moment Annan tentatively said, "You still can’t forget Ingrid," Justus had turned back and stared hard at Annan.

...Come to think of it.

Though Justus had killed Ingrid many times for Frederick’s sake,

Ingrid was also the one he secretly loved.

Therefore, Justus was intoxicated by the dream where "both Frederick and Ingrid were alive," and denied the reality where "both Frederick and Ingrid were dead." This was his first step into the tragedy theater.

And it also proved... that Justus did not disregard Ingrid.

It was just that comparatively, he cared more about Frederick.

Killing Ingrid again and again in pain, only to bury himself deeper; when he finally resolved to wake up and killed Frederick by his own hand... that was when the nightmare was born.

He died.

"Phantom Flame... huh."

Annan murmured, "That’s such an ironic and almost sorrowful name.

"I suppose the name of this nightmare was also given by Professor Gray. Every time he mentioned the name ’Phantom Flame,’ it was another mockery of Justus."

If a better name were to be given...

"...Your Highness Annan, You said that the name of a nightmare is just a title, right?"

The Delicacy Goose suddenly spoke up, "Why don’t we call this nightmare ’Gemini’?"

...The legend of Gemini?

The friendship between the divine son and the human son, indeed fitting.

Upon hearing this, Annan pondered for a moment and silently nodded in agreement.

This world also had a sky full of stars not unlike that of Earth. Aside from the Sun having unique properties, the stars and the Moon were no different... It’s just that the night sky was extraordinarily bright.

But it wasn’t the modern eighty-eight constellations, but sixty—and some spaces were still unnamed. And there were slight differences in constellation names between this world and Earth.

For instance, there was no Scorpius here, but Corvus instead; no Capricornus, but Leviathan.

This world had its Gemini too. However, the story of Gemini in this world involved "historical"-level secret knowledge, and considering the gravity of those secrets, Annan had not studied them.

After all, it was just a name they used among themselves.

Justus had already suffered enough.

At least Annan and the players did not wish to mock this man who had initially been motivated by a small greed for "both friendship and love," yet endured an endless Cycle of neither life nor death.

This "Unfallen Shield" who had once saved many people.

Thirteen Fragrances made no resistance.

— With a forceful punch, Husky sent Thirteen Fragrances’ head flying straight off.

The head soared, striking against the wall.

Blood bloomed like a lotus, staining the newspaper portrait of "Justus" on the wall with vivid red, smearing it as if it were a demon’s visage.

After Thirteen Fragrances was killed by Husky, the screen on his side turned to black.

But just as they had expected... even though Thirteen Fragrances was clearly dead and one kick from this nightmare meant expulsion, he was still lying there unconscious.

On Husky’s side, the words "[You have decided]" began to twist rapidly.

Finally, their entire shape transformed.

"[I have been enlightened]."

It said so.

The next moment, the scene before Husky’s eyes changed.

He appeared in a new place.

"...Changing the past is no simple matter."

Professor Seti’s voice rose before his eyes, "After you go back, remember not to alter anything unnecessary... Well, okay. It seems I don’t need to waste words on this."

The old man with grey hair and eyes, still reeking of alcohol, smiled warmly at Husky, "You’ve finally come to your senses."

Seti still wore the purple robe reminiscent of an ancient Roman sage, his hands naturally outspread to his sides, "It wasn’t easy. Who knows how many times you’ve looped... Have you decided to leave the nightmare?

"Then kill me. I won’t resist."

"Huh?"

Husky let out a sneer, "You still trying to deceive me at this point, you old charlatan?"

He clenched his fist.

The fist of Justus, still hot and powerful.

This was a fist swung to save a friend.

And at this moment, Husky’s eyes shone with a brilliant, wise light, "Or is it that you finally have something... you can’t see?"

Seti’s expression subtly changed.

Husky’s lips curled upward, "You don’t need to tempt me. Whatever you say won’t change my determination—I’ll commit suicide, and then let someone else leave this place. It’s the trust between him and me.

"But before that..."

Husky opened his mouth wide.

He revealed the cold and sharp teeth of Justus.

"I say, you shameless old thing. Enjoying the spectacle from the sidelines, are you?"

A wolf-like ferocity glinted in Husky’s eyes, "Before I’ve had my fill of fun and decided to leave...

"— I’m going to give you the beating of your life!"

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