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Chapter 474 - 471: "Sorry, Adventurer.

Chapter 474: Chapter 471: "Sorry, Adventurer.

Su Ming’an remained silent.

He had realized that the original Sherrod was a major trap in the game instance, targeted specifically at players with identities like Su Rin’s.

After awakening, Sherrod, who desired the Red Rose, would perfectly fit into the system’s mechanisms, persuading Su Ming’an to hand over the very Red Rose that could break the game, losing the chance for a Perfect Pass.

Only if Sherrod had not only awakened but also become a true ’person’ with his own choices, would this path be truly opened.

Indeed, it could be said that the part about Sherrod’s awakening was a setup by the system, defining him merely as a ’suddenly self-aware Knight’.

If it weren’t for Su Ming’an’s consistently fair treatment and his sincere persuasions and insights, Sherrod would merely be a ’suddenly awakened, accepting the Red Rose’ character setup. He wouldn’t have personally removed the rose, which, according to the setup, he longed for.

These game instances... really are one trap inside another, a slight misstep could lead to irreversible doom.

Furthermore, the Sea Monsters attacking the city for regular Players already counted as a Perfect Pass. If it weren’t for triggering the conflict between the Soul Hunt and the Soul Clan, even completing the Maritime Banquet would suffice to clear the game without the need to fight for the city, let alone uncover the secrets behind Pulaya.

The special status of Su Rin, the Heir, was purely malicious.

...That was the closest Su Ming’an had come to failure.

Su Ming’an found it hard to imagine what choices he would have made if, in Yun Shang City, he truly reached a situation where he could neither advance nor retreat.

Would he accept the request of the Divine Su Rin and become an Observer, or would he reset the game ten times, a hundred times, or even a thousand times... in search of a slim possibility of breaking the game?

That sense of despair was unimaginable.

In the instances that followed... would he face such situations again? And if they did arise, what choices could he make?

His longing for the future had almost become an obsession. Until that moment, he really couldn’t predict.

Watching Fengchang and Su Rin about to leave through the teleportation formation on the other side, Su Ming’an suddenly spoke up.

"By the way, Fengchang, may I ask you for a favor?"

Fengchang turned around, looking at him, his expression unusually gentle.

With his favorability through the roof, his gaze towards Su Ming’an was like that of a friend through thick and thin.

Su Ming’an pointed to the teleportation formation that led to the farm.

"Could you leave through this teleportation formation?" he asked.

"Sure."

Fengchang nodded.

For him, it mattered little where he returned from. He had only checked on the situation by teleporting from the First Tribe into the Black Wall because he felt the Black Lamb Authority being taken. If he went back through this farm’s teleportation formation, it just meant a longer walk back to the First Tribe.

For Su Ming’an, a ’trustworthy friend who shares his life and death’, he could do this favor.

He stepped into the farm’s teleportation formation, and a bright white light erupted.

...

[One hour earlier]

"Did you see the writing left by JingXue Chunzi that said Su Ming’an’s strength wasn’t increased fivefold?"

At this time, four figures stood on the Central Altar. Next to them was a white Teleportation Formation. Just ten minutes ago, Su Ming’an had stepped into this area and had not returned since.

[Su Ming’an entered this Teleportation Formation; he might have gone to a temporary special instance. I think it won’t be long before he comes back.]Tong An’an said, [We should just wait here.]

"Wait, what if JingXue Chunzi was deceiving you guys?" Wang Wanyu objected.

"The altar has already been marked by six, and the other four people should be in the process of marking as well," Margaret said nonchalantly, fluttering her feather fan, "It probably won’t take an hour for them to finish marking the remaining two altars. If Su Ming’an returns with five times his strength, we’ll each flee. He can’t possibly kill us all. But... if he returns with his normal strength, then killing him will yield a huge profit. It’s worth the gamble, isn’t it?"

[I think his strength might not be as formidable as we imagined.]Tong An’an said, [His killing speed is too slow. Besides, when Margaret shined a flashlight on him just now, he didn’t catch up, which indicates there indeed might be an issue.]

"Okay," Wang Wanyu also realized this possibility was worth a gamble, especially since if they indeed managed to kill the Number One Player, it would be a tremendous victory for the overall game.

"My occupation is related to engineering; we can bury dozens of bombs around the teleportation formation. Even if his strength is multiplied by five, he’d be hindered by the bombs," Wang Wanyu suggested after a moment of silence.

His ranking hovered around the twenties or thirties. While he seemed extremely formidable in the eyes of an average player, his reputation was vastly different from those in the top spots. Seizing this rare opportunity, he wanted to showcase his strength to the world.

If the Number One Player truly died from his bombs, it would be nothing short of an epic feat. Not only would it boost his reputation, but the equipment dropped by Su Ming’an upon death would also all be valuable items.

"What if Su Ming’an comes out right away?" Margaret still felt some fear, the experience in the pigsty leaving her somewhat traumatized.

"We’ve been chatting here for minutes, and he hasn’t appeared yet. He probably won’t appear any time soon," Wang Wanyu said, "Let’s wait nearby and see how things unfold."

They moved their position and waited several minutes near the obstacles surrounding them, but the Teleportation Formation remained quiet.

Wang Wanyu kept crafting various bombs, which were powered by his Mana Points and were effortless to make. Soon, there was a mound of mechanical bombs of all sizes before him.

He placed the colorful bombs around the perimeter of the Teleportation Formation.

In this way, regardless of which direction Su Ming’an came from, the bombs would instantly detonate, unleashing their powerful destructive force. He was confident that if Su Ming’an was in a low Health Points state, his fragile body couldn’t withstand the chain of explosions.

Shortly after, the Teleportation Formation was "decorated" completely. Various bombs, mechanical props, flowing flame energies, and clanking mini-cannons set up a highly dangerous trap around it.

"Done," Wang Wanyu said with a smile.

They hid behind nearby obstacles, waiting for their "prey" to walk into their trap, and forty minutes passed with no movement from the Teleportation Formation.

"...Did he give up on this Sacrifice Field competition and completely leave?" Margaret asked softly. After all, she wasn’t sure where the Teleportation Formation led.

"Impossible, he is the Number One Player, and the Number One Player can’t avoid all competition," Wang Wanyu said, despite having no basis for this conclusion.

[Let’s wait a bit more, maybe he is still exploring the space inside that Teleportation Formation.]Tong An’an said, [It’s a pity we can’t enter this Teleportation Formation, otherwise we could have sent something like a puppet to scout.]

During their wait, another altar lit up, only one more was needed for all eight altars to be fully activated.

Time passed minute by minute, and due to prolonged exposure to the Black Mist, they began coughing up blood.

Margaret felt dizzy and her san value had dropped to 40 points, causing symptoms like double vision, auditory hallucinations, and blurred sight. She could even feel as if someone was whispering softly to her, indistinguishable if it was the voices of people or the night wind.

"Cough, cough cough..." She coughed out a mouthful of fresh blood.

Something felt off in her body, as though something sinister was squirming through her veins, wriggling like maggots, scratching her skin as if it were nails.

"...Adventurer."

Just as she leaned against the stone, trying to eat some sweets to relieve stress, she saw the sad eyes of her Guide.

"... I’m sorry." the Guide looked at her sorrowfully, "You seem, you seem to already have..."

Margaret was startled.

She reached out her hand.

Dark, thin lines had appeared at some point and were now covering her palm, crawling up her arm. They bent and twisted, writhing like living things, entangling manically like wet seaweed, coiling over her body.

"I..." As she opened her mouth, bright red blood unexpectedly surged from her throat and spilled onto the ground.

When it hit the ground, her blood started turning black.

She stretched out her hand, grasping the stone, attempting to stand up, but her body suddenly became limp, like a flopped mud, and she could even feel her limbs anymore, as if sinking into invisible black mud.

Panic overwhelmed her heart like a flood, her eyes widened, and she could gradually not make a sound, while large amounts of black and red blood spurted out, her skin began to crack as something seemed to burst out from within, various colors of dark mire oozed out from her eyes, nose, ears, and even under her fingernails.

"Margaret, what’s wrong with you..." Wang Wanyu, hearing the noise, peeked over and saw this horrifying scene.

The Margaret dressed in a lavish Western European gown, with the demeanor of a princess, clasped the stone while the lower part of her body had completely decayed, turning into a puddle of black, stinking mud. Layers of fabric wrapped around her soft, melting body, even her originally delicate face was no longer discernible, blending into a pool of blackness.

The fingers holding the rock loosened, and her fair fingers began to decay.

Moments later, nothing was left behind the rock but a disturbing puddle of black mire and layers of torn fabric buried in the dirt. And her Guide began to lose consciousness, walking unconsciously towards the distant darkness.

"..." Wang Wanyu stared at the scene in shock. The others who noticed the situation were also astonished.

[This, this is...]Tong An’an’s face turned pale.

Since the instance began, this was the first person to die from the Curse taking effect.

A living beauty suddenly began melting and decaying, turning into a puddle of disgusting black mire. This visually impactful scene made the viewers outside the screen start to wretch. Not to mention those within, who had the clarity of all five senses.

Wang Wanyu’s hands trembled. His san points had now dropped to 50. The lower the san points, the more likely one is to be cursed, and he was terrified he might suddenly contract the Curse. Seeing Margaret’s reaction, they practically had no time to save themselves, even if they were strong, once the Curse took hold, that person was gone.

He regretted, he shouldn’t have been greedy for those two Silver Stars. They shouldn’t have ventured out this night.

[Let’s hurry to the altar, open the gate, and head back now!]Tong An’an’s eyes were filled with fear: [Let’s not wait any longer, even if collecting some Soul Stones is fine, we shouldn’t be exposed to the Black Mist.]

"I..." Wang Wanyu too entertained the thought of leaving, while Isabella immediately got up and left the area.

He hesitated for a few minutes, and just as he thought to gather up the mechanical bombs and leave, he suddenly saw a glimmering white light.

"—Wait! We’ve made it!" he exclaimed excitedly.

The white light was coming from the Teleportation Formation — it was Su Ming’an returning!

A figure walked out from the Teleportation Formation, and before he could step clear, he stepped on a series of bombs on the ground.

...

Fengchang emerged from the Teleportation Formation, regaining his vision.

In front of him was a dark, red-tinted farm scene, shaking shadows of trees, a maize field with yellow leaves intertwining, and crows perched on a scarecrow, belonging to Old Ted’s farm, familiar to him.

Walking back to the First Tribe from here wasn’t far, and it was a good chance for him to observe the living conditions of these tribespeople.

He took a step but suddenly felt like he had stepped on something.

"Hmm...?" He paused slightly.

"Boom—!"

The next moment, quite suddenly, a loud explosion sounded.

The explosion engulfed the teleportation formation, flames instantly enveloping his body, and smoke spread, completely obscuring the surroundings.

"—Up!" From somewhere, a man’s voice, extremely high-pitched with excitement, sounded, even though the man was not visible.

Fengchang turned his head toward the direction of the sound.

He swung out his sword.

A pitch-black thin line rose in the direction of his swing, and in the blink of an eye, it swept across the entire sacrificial area, even cracking the large altar on the ground.

The dust and smoke cleared.

The approaching Wang Wanyu, along with his guide, slowly split in half, their bodies neatly severed as if cut by a string, the upper parts tumbling down following a slanted cut.

"I..." Watching Fengchang walk out of the teleportation formation, Wang Wanyu was utterly confused.

... Who the hell is this guy?

His blood splattered onto the ground a beat later.

As he fell, Wang Wanyu still didn’t understand—why did Su Ming’an go in, but someone else came out?

"You..." He spat blood and soon breathed his last.

Fengchang, with a dark expression, stepped forward, and with a swing of his sword, even Tong An’an, who was still hiding, was killed along with the rocks around her. Her defensive barrier was like paper in front of him.

At this time, Su Ming’an finally walked out of the teleportation formation.

... Fengchang was indeed useful.

But that was it. Even with high favorability, Fengchang wouldn’t intervene in the Sacrifice Field to help him hunt down those Black Sheep Players. He would only strike back if someone attacked Fengchang.

"... You really are using me as a vanguard," Fengchang said but was not angry.

With his favorability maxed out, he wouldn’t get angry over such things.

"The capable are burdened with more work," Su Ming’an smiled.

"... I think the endgame is almost set, and you should have no problems winning," Fengchang said, "I’ll leave now. The succession ceremony on the eighth day, I will wait for you at the First Tribe."

"I will arrive at the First Tribe this afternoon."

"Hmm? Good," Fengchang nodded, "I look forward to your arrival."

"By the way, about Xiber..." Su Ming’an placed the unconscious Xiber on the ground, black lines indicating a curse appearing on her arm. Her condition was very dangerous. Su Ming’an didn’t dare wake her immediately, fearing it would worsen her condition.