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Chapter.11 Meeting in a Fantasy Dream (Page 1/2)Previous ChapterbookshelfTable of contentsSave BookmarkNext Page Cthulhu Mythos.
Fictional stories named after mythology, whose texts mostly describe horrific and bizarre events and fantasy existences, strive to interpret the kind of indescribable fear that penetrates the back of the paper through vivid narration.
Although "Cthulhu" is often used as the name of the entire system and a classic image representative, it is the most well-known Old One in this myth system. In Cthulhu Mythos, the "Old Ones" are just as their name suggests. They once dominated everything billions of years ago, and then passed away silently in the gradual prosperity of modern civilization.
However, the most absolutely powerful and the most terrifying ones are neither the "Old Ones" nor the "Ancient Gods" who are hostile to the Old Ones and suspected to be in the good camp, but the powerful gods from outer space, collectively known as the "Outer Gods". The pinnacle of the "Outer Gods
" is called "Azathoth", who is a blind and foolish god, a crazy will that operates purely on instinct; below him, there are three powerful Outer Gods who are parallelly named "Three Pillar Gods".
One of them is the "Supreme Mother Goddess", Shab-Niggurath, who is known as the "Goddess of Dark Soil" and the "Black Goat of the Forest that Breeds Thousands of Offspring". Among her many incarnations and images, there happens to be one that has a frightening connection with both the "Mirror of the Moon" and the "Dreamland". "
Guardian of the Mirror of the Moon", one of the incarnations of the "Supreme Mother Goddess" Shab-Niggurath, lives in an underground space that may lead to the Dreamland!
Recalling these fictitious "useless knowledge" that has no basic support from mysticism, Klein felt a little unreal for a moment, as if he couldn't believe that the existence in the false story walked out of the text and paper, and couldn't believe that they easily invaded the reality he personally experienced.
After a few seconds that seemed short and extremely long, he came back to his senses and realized that cold sweat had already appeared on his body, soaking the clothes on his back a little.
Huh... If it was during the group running process, a character like me who has knowledge of Cthulhu mythology would probably have been asked by the KP to pass the SAN value check. (Note)
Klein exhaled a breath of foul air and gradually recovered. He used complaints to adjust his mood while letting his thoughts wander, trying to find a reasonable explanation for all the associations that aroused his associations.
Yes, the appearance of the inappropriate "Cthulhu Mythos" was not too surprising.
After all, their experience tonight was inseparable from the decryption of the "blasphemous card", and the creator of the "blasphemous card" was Emperor Roselle... a time traveler from the 21st century Earth!
It seems that it is not unimaginable for the senior time traveler to do some work and play some jokes with the props he made.
At least in the emperor's diary that Klein had read, this guy also considered the whole One Piece, which was quite a bad taste.
So...
The command spell of the "Moon Mirror", the cliff at the edge of the dream, and the design of the pull rod of some mechanical device on the edge of the cliff, Klein was almost certain that the answer pointed to by these elements was at the end of the void under the cliff, in the wonderful dimension called "Dreamland".
Although the more well-known way to enter the Dreamland is to walk down the 770 steps in the dream and enter the dreamland through a gate leading to the Enchanted Forest of the Dreamland, the emperor obviously chose a less safe and thrilling route for them.
Jumping off a cliff.
But it seems that they still have some room for choice?
Klein thought so and turned his eyes to the abrupt mechanical lever on the edge of the cliff. He intuitively had the idea of pulling it - no, or rather, the intention of placing this lever here is like a clear instruction for the visitor to use it!
As if she could see that he had some ideas about the current situation, Alice smiled silently and nodded, indicating that he could try it without worry.
So Klein approached the mechanical device that was out of tune with the open wilderness, grasped the cold metal lever, and turned it without much effort.
This action really triggered a certain mechanism, and the sound of the gears running and the slight vibration were transmitted to the senses of the body in the dream.
Klein stuck his head out and looked at the bottom of the cliff shrouded in thick fog. He listened attentively and could vaguely catch a few faint echoes from the windless silence.
Out of uneasiness about the unknown, he quickly retracted his head and returned to Alice to tell her about some of his guesses about this dream - of course, in fact, he just picked some "Cthulhu mythology knowledge" that was easy to explain, and simply stated that there might be some things under the cliff to remind her to be mentally prepared. As
the two of them communicated, the click-click-click sound of the mechanical operation gradually became clearer, passing through the thick fog that permeated the cliffs, from the void gap below to the edge of the cliff in the dream wilderness, and finally hovering in front of them.
"This is—" An elevator!
Klein barely managed to recall the words that popped up in his mind. He looked at the simple platform without a roof or walls, and found that in addition to the symbolic handrails around it, the most eye-catching thing was the object placed on the platform in the center.
At first glance, he even thought he had made a mistake; but after a closer look, he couldn't help but reveal a look of surprise on his face.
At this moment, the device with a brass metal "handle" on the platform in the center of the platform rang.
Ding-ling-ling—
an old-fashioned telephone, an antique telephone that was so old that it only appeared in movies that Klein had seen, was noisily sending them a signal to answer the call.
Someone dialed the number of this phone? Want to encourage the people standing on the cliff at the entrance to the dreamland to jump off the cliff?
Gulp.
He unconsciously swallowed the excessive saliva in his mouth due to nervousness.
"Let's go, let's go check out the situation."
Alice took the lead and walked towards the antique phone that was ringing, seemingly not caring about his slightly tense mood.
Looking at the girl's back, Klein silently labeled her as tough, and then let his curiosity override his caution, quickly catching up with her pace, and even took advantage of his long legs to step onto the metal floor of the lift platform before her.
He gave himself a shot of prevention, confident that even if the receiver of the phone made a weird and scary sound, he was fully prepared and would not be easily scared.
But when he was about to reach out and pick up the receiver, the noisy phone ringing suddenly stopped, and the surroundings fell into deathly silence again.
Klein calmed down and decisively lifted the receiver to his ear. As expected, he only heard a steady rhythm of busy beeps.
... Is this also a trick of the emperor?
Silently complaining, Klein put the receiver of the antique phone back in place, and felt the lift platform under his feet shake slightly.
Then, the familiar mechanical sound of "clicking" sounded, and the gears that were meshing with each other began to rotate, driving the mechanism at the end of the thick fog to lower the shaky and crude platform, slowly and steadily carrying the two foreign passengers and bringing them to the entrance of the dream dimension.
Since this crude lifting platform did not take the passengers' experience into consideration, Klein thought for a moment and pulled Alice, who was leaning against the edge of the platform, back to the central platform, asking her to learn from him and hold on to the specially designed handrail under the platform.Chapter.11 Meeting in a Dreamland (Page 2/2)Previous pagebookshelfTable of contentsSave BookmarkNext Chapter Who would have thought that the girl would just glance at him dimly, then turn around and look at the cliffs and thick fog outside the platform. She chuckled as she watched the monotonous scenery that was slowly descending and with almost no changes in scenery.
"Maybe soon there won't be a need to be so cautious."
Klein's heart suddenly skipped a beat, and he instinctively asked, "Why?"
"The reason... is very simple." Alice looked up at the old-fashioned phone that suddenly rang and was suddenly cut off, and pointed her index finger at her lips with a hint of meaning, "The ringing just now sounded like it was urging us to make a choice quickly, don't you think so?"
... Of course, he did consider this possibility.
But once he considered these doubts, he could no longer suppress the idea of opening his spiritual vision. Even though he knew that doing so might get some clues, and it was more likely that he would see indescribable horrors, he still tapped his teeth and let himself enter the spiritual vision.
At the moment when the spiritual vision was opened, Klein heard his own heartbeat.
The thump, thump sound exuded a breath of fear.
The space outside the lift platform was not empty fog and cliffs at all!
They... those shapeless, empty black shadows, twisted, faceless shadows surrounded the slowly descending metal platform, wandering silently, almost reminding him of vultures hovering in the air looking for carrion.
But no animal could be as numerous as these black shadows to the point of overwhelming the sky!
The black shadows were wearing rotten and old robes, and their shapes were human but not human. Their hollow faces were always facing the two foreign visitors, always following their every move, like a group of moths heading for the light.
As if they had sensed Klein's gaze, the silent and invisible black shadows became restless. The nearest few shadows even wandered close to the lift platform that was slowly descending, stretched out their rotten, disgusting, deformed claws, and caused the simple metal floor to shake violently.
Fuck!
He almost blurted out a universal Chinese curse, and immediately closed his spiritual vision to avoid stimulating those hovering shadows.
However, the shaking of the lifting platform became more and more violent, making people more and more panic-stricken, and more and more like... being torn into pieces by the group of inhuman shadows!
Klein only had time to confirm Alice's current state, and he couldn't help but open his eyes wide, watching in shock and confusion as the lifting platform under his feet was completely twisted and overturned by the shadows. The mechanical parts were all rotten and rusted, revealing a hideous skeleton that seemed to be scarred.
There was no longer any obstacle between them and the void at the bottom of the cliff, and they were about to complete this journey to the dreamland in the form of falling!
Instinctively, he found the right opportunity, used the force to kick out on the severely damaged lifting platform, adjusted his posture, and hugged Alice tightly in his arms in the weightlessness brought by the fall, as if doing so could block the endless and countless strange shadows for her, and help her separate the inhuman screams and laughter that rang in her ears.
Before his vision was covered by the bright white light that was almost dazzling, Klein closed his eyes in time.
The girl in his arms gently raised her hands and wrapped them around his back, leaving a warm touch that was enough to soothe his panic.
At the end of the long fall, the visitors from the Dreamland both fell into the water, creating a huge splash.
Unprepared, Klein choked on several mouthfuls of the chilly water. It was not until the dizziness passed that he straightened up with Alice's help and stood up from the shallow pool that was only at shoulder height.
"Go ashore first."
Compared to Klein who kept coughing, the girl, who was not embarrassed at all, quickly found the right direction and dragged him to the shore. Her movements were flexible and natural, just like a mermaid returning to freedom.
...After all, she is a witch with the power of the "deep sea", so it is normal for her to be good at swimming.
Klein said sourly in his heart, and after being brought to the shore by "Miss Mermaid", he was chilled by a gust of quiet evening breeze. He immediately could no longer care about complaining. He shivered and hugged his arms tightly, looking up blankly at the sky soaked in the night.
It's dark...? No, it's not dark, it's that they passed through the dream wilderness and came to the fantasy dreamland at night!
"Klein, look over there."
Alice called back his scattered thoughts.
Klein looked in the direction she pointed, and saw a group of palaces with brilliant lights standing in the dark night in the distance, showing their existence in a dazzling manner that completely robbed the light of the stars and the moon.
He gritted his teeth, and looked around despite the coldness that soaked his body. He soon saw the environment they were standing in.
Next to the vast flat lawn, there was a quiet and beautiful artificial lake. Not far away was a neat and beautiful marble square. The flower beds and lawns seemed to be trimmed and maintained by gardeners every day. In the distance, you could vaguely see the towering and majestic iron fences...
Palaces, royal palaces... Where in the Dreamland is there a royal palace? Damn, this knowledge is too biased. I don't seem to have any impression at all... As soon as
the corresponding judgment flashed through his mind, Klein couldn't help the itch on the tip of his nose and sneezed.
Just as he was rubbing his nose in embarrassment, a voice with a strange accent suddenly came out from between him and Alice:
"Hey, welcome, welcome, welcome, both of you! I can't wait any longer! How about we just fast forward to the beginning?"
Alice reacted before him, as if she didn't feel the chill of her wet clothes in the night breeze, and didn't care about her curvy body. She squinted at the source of the voice:
"You are--"
The moment he saw the thing on the ground, Klein felt his eyelids jump uncontrollably, and he couldn't find a suitable description for a while.
It was a doll with exquisite workmanship.
It had chestnut curly hair, bright blue eyes, and two beautiful mustaches on its thin lips. It was wearing hand-knitted retro aristocratic clothes, with complicated and delicate lace on the cuffs and collar, and riding boots with heels on its feet.
The doll, which was about 30 centimeters in size, moved its head up and down, looked at the beautiful girl in front of it who was soaking wet, and then laughed a little rudely:
"Hey, do you even need to ask this? I think I should be very famous, right?"
Before they had a chance to answer, the doll with a strong desire to perform waved its arms and made a gesture that seemed to be a friendly invitation:
"Welcome to my Versailles Palace! I am Roselle Gustav, the emperor who presides over this dream palace!"Chapter.12 Witch Hunting Night (Page 1/2)Previous ChapterbookshelfTable of contentsSave BookmarkNext Page Versailles... a palace?
Well, it's something the emperor himself would do, so it's not too surprising.
Klein pretended not to hear the second half of the Roselle doll's declaration, which was so
outrageous, and shivered as he hugged his cold arms. After glancing at Alice, who had a dull reaction and was just about to respond with an "oh", Klein looked at the Roselle doll, who had opened his arms and seemed to be expecting their surprised feedback. After thinking for less than half a second, he chose to respond with words that any normal person could organize:
"But, according to historical records, Emperor Roselle was betrayed and assassinated in 1198... and this happened more than 150 years ago."
"Of course I know that!" The Roselle doll glanced at him with some dissatisfaction, retracted his arms in dismay, and changed to a posture of standing with his hands behind his back, "But more than 150 years have passed, so now it's around 1350... Who is the current governor of Intis? Oh, wait, your accent sounds like a Loenese... What is the name of the king of Loen now, is it still William VI?"
"William VI is the former king, and the one who rules the kingdom now is his son, George III." Klein answered the Roselle doll, and keenly tasted some information from the other party's question, "...You can understand some intelligence about the real world to a certain extent?"
This... This can't help but remind him of Roselle's diary, where the emperor once described with amazing strokes a poor guy who was trapped in the depths of the storm and lost in the darkness, a mysterious existence who called himself Mr. "The Door"!
That Mr. "The Door" told the emperor Roselle many stories buried in the mist of history, and claimed that those were what he heard when he was close to the real world...
And now, the Roselle doll, which is suspected to be in the dreamland, is still active more than 150 years after the emperor himself was stabbed to death, and even knows the name of the former King of Loen decades ago...
Hiss.
Could it be that the "death" of the emperor Roselle was not a real death, but that he used some back-up methods to retain the integrity of his soul and spirit body, entered the dimension of the dreamland, "survived" in this way, and quietly waited for the opportunity to resurrect?
Judging from the contents of the diary he had read so far, Emperor Roselle was definitely a high-sequence expert. It might not be hard to imagine that he could arrange such a strange and hidden resurrection plan!
Klein filled in a lot of content in his mind in an instant, and his heart suddenly surged with excitement. He felt that he might have touched some high-level game threshold, and touched a few secrets hidden behind history, and the truth about the death of the predecessors who traveled through time.
But before Roselle's doll stood with his hands on his waist and spoke with a smug look on his face, the girl who had been silent until now interrupted his answer.
"We are not the first group of outsiders to visit your Versailles Palace, and the last time you welcomed guests was decades ago during the reign of the former King William VI of Loen. Is that right?"
Roselle's doll seemed to be stiff for a moment, but Klein was not very sure of his judgment. After all, it was difficult to see any emotions on a doll's face.
"Besides, if my guess is correct, you are not Russell Gustav himself, but a device made by Russell himself. A device that has been allocated part of his own memory and even part of his soul, and supplemented with artificially refined souls to fill the gaps. This is why you show a personality and intelligence similar to his own..."
Every time Alice took a small step forward and spoke a short paragraph of firm speculation, the Russell doll would take a few steps back, and the two bright eyeballs embedded in the doll's face would spin around.
"No, no, you..." The Roselle doll stopped moving, as if it had regained its composure. It put its hands in its pockets and touched its chin, observing the beautiful girl with long blond hair in front of it again. "You are definitely not from 'Steam', and you don't look like someone who has risen to 'Alchemist' through self-reliance. You are too young, and your appearance... well, I mean your looks, plus your figure, completely meet my aesthetic standards... Are you the 'Saint Candidate' that their generation has focused on training? Not bad, not bad, you have a good grasp of knowledge, you are smart and capable, but you are too aggressive, and you are trying to get information from me. The young lady is really dishonest, I like it."
As he spoke, the Roselle doll raised his right thumb to her, as if to express his approval.
They? "Saint Candidates"? What is this guy talking about? What is "Alchemist"? Is it the name of a sequence potion in a certain path?
Klein was confused.
Alice also remained silent for a few seconds, and then the corners of her mouth slightly tilted upwards, and the arc of her eyebrows and eyes also showed a soft and natural curve, revealing a harmless and well-behaved smile:
"You know the 'Saint Candidates'? Have you had contact with us... and witches in the past?"
The Roselle doll chuckled:
"More than just contact, the witch sister is really reserved in her words. Haven't you experienced the 'joyful' stage yet? I don't think so. They are confident that you can lead the newcomers. You should have the strength of Sequence 6."
Leading the newcomers... Klein caught up with the progress of Alice's conversation with the doll from his confusion, and noticed that the Roselle doll turned around and glanced at him.
... Newcomer? Are you referring to me?
Why! Do I look weak?
Indignantly, he saw Alice open her pink lips and utter a rebuttal with a smile:
"You are an old man who was born more than two hundred years ago. When you meet a beautiful girl, do you shamelessly call her "little sister"? Don't you think it's inappropriate?"
Precise strike!
The doll of Emperor Roselle shrank at a speed visible to the naked eye, sat down on the ground, hugged his head heavily and sighed.
"You can't calculate it that way. The actual age and the psychological age are different... Yes, they are different. The original me was chosen at the beginning of the design. I, Roselle Gustav, am 24 years old and a student... Oh no, I am the emperor who is in charge of this dream palace, so I am definitely not the 200-year-old man you mentioned..."
"Since you are called the emperor here, don't change the subject." Alice pointed to the palace buildings with brilliant lights in the distance and leaned forward slightly. "You haven't answered me yet, whether you have had contact with the witch? Listen carefully, I am not asking the original Roselle who created you, but you, who have independent and autonomous thinking ability."
Almost immediately standing up and pretending to wipe away the tears on his face that didn't exist at all, the Roselle doll smiled mysteriously without answering:
"Want to know? Kiss me, and I'll consider whether to tell you."
... This guy! He really dares to say anything!
Klein took a deep breath and signaled Alice with his eyes not to pay attention to this sinister doll for the time being, and let him bring back the rhythm of the conversation.
However, their eye contact seemed to have been caught by the Roselle doll, so before Klein could speak, the doll turned around with a wink and taught the newcomer he had identified in a teasing tone:
"Hey, I'm not saying this, brother, although you are lucky to have a super beautiful Beyonder teacher, which can save you a lot of detours, and the 'Assassin' sequence potions also take into account both combat and practicality... enviable Beyonder abilities, but don't say I didn't remind you, if you have any ideas about your beautiful teacher, go now while there is still a chance! Going up is a win, and you can't buy losses and regrets! When you reach Sequence 7, then it really is nothing to talk about."
Chapter.12 Witch Hunting Night (Page 2/2)Previous pagebookshelfTable of contentsSave BookmarkNext Chapter ...Huh?
Klein's expression twisted, and he felt an uncontrollable heat rising on his face. He didn't have the courage to sneak a glance at Alice's direction. Although he was sure that the words and language habits of the Emperor's doll did not conform to the current social background, it was unlikely that she could fully understand it...but 70% to 80% of the meaning could still be guessed!
"I...I don't...I don't think so. Don't talk nonsense." He tried to stay calm and defended himself.
The Roselle doll just chuckled knowingly:
"I know, I know. You don't. You don't have it. Some things are precious only when you lose them, and you will regret it... Come on, little brother, enjoy your time in my Versailles Palace before you get promoted."
The emperor doll... seemed to have preconceived that they were a teacher and apprentice of the "Assassin" path. The reason might be related to the question he didn't want to explain to Alice -
he and Alice were not the first guests to set foot in this mysterious dreamland, and the emperor doll, who was in the fantasy dreamland and couldn't leave, had come into contact with other witches here... Decades ago, he had seen a witch who had also cracked the "blasphemous card" decryption level!
Klein silently summarized his speculation in his heart, and then realized two unavoidable questions.
How did Alice get this "witch" card, and how did she infer that other witches had entered this space hidden deep in the dreamland before?
What was the reason for building this "Versailles Palace" in the fantasy dreamland, and what secrets did the emperor hide here?
The first question... is not suitable to be asked now.
He observed the quiet girl with his peripheral vision for a few seconds, and then made a judgment and focused his attention on the second question.
Quickly organizing his words in his heart, Klein followed the topic of the Roselle doll and spoke out his many doubts very naturally. He also described the various experiences he encountered after successfully deciphering the "blasphemous card", which well demonstrated the confusion and puzzlement that the low-sequence extraordinary people of "native origin" in this world should have when encountering mysterious events. The
Roselle doll was completely unaware of the performance element in this question, and spread his hands and smiled:
"Want to leave here? That's simple. As long as I nod my head in agreement, you can return to reality. But... If you do this, you will miss the knowledge, secrets, and wealth that I have hidden in the Versailles Palace. Don't you think it's a pity?"
Subconsciously turning his head to look at the magnificent palace complex in the distance that did not look dim under the night sky, Klein nodded silently, feeling that he was not surprised by the answer of the emperor doll.
"However, if you want to get my treasure, you have to follow the rules I set—"
The Roselle doll's movements suddenly became exaggerated, and it turned to the palace with an infectious momentum, swinging its hands and arms in a rhythmic tone.
"Let's play a game, a game called 'Witch Hunting Night'. If you pass it successfully, you can freely take all the treasures I left here; even if you fail to pass it, you can still get a lot of money in the process of exploring the Versailles Palace. It may be a secret manuscript I left behind, or a magic potion formula for the promotion of a 'witch', or perhaps a precious, secret but also dangerous knowledge... Choose, the opportunity is in your hands!" There
really is a treasure!
Klein's mind fluttered, and he almost nodded and agreed immediately. Fortunately, his reason stopped him in time, and he stopped nodding. He thought hard and said,
"This game... Will joining this game put us in danger?"
"Danger? Of course it will." The Roselle doll grinned, revealing a big smile, "You should have discovered that your original extraordinary abilities are no longer usable. In the process of exploration, you may experience battles, setbacks, and even death... But thank me for my kindness, and thank the kind and considerate 'Witch Friend' Roselle Gustav! The number of deaths each time you enter reaches... Well, the specific number varies from person to person, usually three to five times. As long as you reach the critical number of deaths, you will automatically exit here, and you can only come back to continue exploring when the next game is open. What do you think, isn't it a very user-friendly design?"
This is because he is afraid of dying too many times and losing all his sanity!
Klein silently complained, and added a few more questions, finally figuring out some of the rules of the game.
According to the Roselle doll, after he and Alice chose to start the "Witch Hunting Night" game challenge, this "blasphemy card" that provides a direct channel to the dream will be solidified, and the challenger's information will be recorded. The "Dream Palace" Versailles Palace will be opened at midnight every five to seven days for them to enter and explore.
If no one continues to challenge the game for a month, then this "blasphemy card" will erase the recorded challenger information, and the direct channel to the dream realm will no longer be opened to them in the future.
In short... once you choose to challenge this copy that is open to entry after the cooling down every five to seven days, you must insist on coming in at least once a month, so as not to be blacklisted by the Roselle doll as the manager.
At the same time, the Roselle doll said that due to the dimensional gap between dreams and reality, explorers do not need to worry about their bodies in the outside world when they enter the dream - no matter how long they have been in the dream, they will open their eyes in reality when they should wake up and dilute the memories they have experienced in the dream.
Good guy, it probably doesn't have a save function.
Thinking of this, Klein made a rather optimistic assumption:
"Then if we complete the game, can we come back here?"
"Complete the game? Do you know how long it took the challenger who persisted the longest in the past to finally give up?" After being stunned for a moment, the Roselle doll laughed complacently, "Seven years! She has been exploring for seven years. During this period, she found several trustworthy friends to join the challenge together. She changed several teammates, but she didn't see the hope of completing the game. You are quite confident." Of
course, after all, I am a senior keyboard adventurer!
Klein suppressed his eagerness and turned his gaze to the silent girl, symbolically asking for her opinion:
"What do you think?"
"Hmm..." Alice nodded slightly and said in a self-talking tone, "As long as you join the game, you will have the opportunity to ask this guy for information about past challengers, and...something I care about may be answered here."
After reaching a consensus, Klein turned around, cleared his throat to draw the attention of the Roselle doll, and said very straightforwardly:
"We agree to join the game you mentioned, and you can now introduce the game... the specific rules of 'Witch Hunting Night'."
"Very good, very decisive."
The Roselle doll nodded with satisfaction, then lowered his voice and began his narration in a low and slow voice:
"Lucky tourists, you have received an invitation from Roselle Gustav, the owner of the 'Dream Palace' Versailles Palace, and have decided to attend the ball and dinner held in the palace...
However, your true identity is the 'witch hunter' hired by Roselle Gustav. The owner of the palace knows that a witch with a terrible conspiracy has sneaked into his Versailles Palace, but he cannot do it himself, and he does not know the other party's specific identity, appearance and characteristics. He can only place his hopes on you, who are famous as 'witch hunters'.
Find the witch, thwart her conspiracy to spread disasters, save the lives in the Versailles Palace, and your own future!"
Chapter.13 Witch Hunter (Page 1/2)Previous ChapterbookshelfTable of contentsSave BookmarkNext Page After completing this in-your-face introduction to the plot, the Roselle doll took out two seal-shaped tokens and handed them to the two of them, with a mysterious smile on his face:
"For more detailed attention, you can confirm it through your own 'Hunter's Medal', so I won't repeat it too much. Moreover, giving too many hints at the beginning will affect the fun. Interesting things always have to wait until you experience them yourself after the game starts, so that they are easier to be engraved into your DNA... Hehe, I mean engraved into your memory." Don't
engrave all the weird things into your DNA!
Klein didn't know what to say, so he could only silently retract his gaze from the Emperor doll, followed the other party's instructions, picked up the seal-shaped "Hunter's Medal", and opened the rule panel with the instructions in the ancient Feysac language.
After a slight buzz, the "Hunter's Medal" returned to its previous silence, and Klein noticed that an illusory light curtain appeared in his field of vision, with several paragraphs written in his most familiar native language, Loen, in the center of the light curtain.
Before taking a quick look, he first glanced at Alice's situation and found that she was also staring at the light curtain in front of her and reading silently, with a good acceptance.
So he put his mind at ease and focused on examining the text that appeared on the light curtain.
...
Rule 1. Visitors who enter the "Dream Palace" Versailles Palace will use the virtual image and identity provided by the owner of the palace, Roselle Gustav, which is different from the real world, during the exploration of the game. You can view the character details through instructions after starting the game.
Please note that you cannot choose the virtual image and identity independently in the initial stage. Before each exploration begins, you have a chance to randomly assign a character until the end of this exploration, or the character falls into an inability to act (including but not limited to death, permanent madness, severe limb disability, etc.).
If you want to use a fixed plot character, that is, the basic character template created by the owner of the palace, Roselle Gustav, or want to customize your own free character, please pay Versailles points to unlock this function.
Rule 2. Actively explore every corner of the palace and work hard to earn Versailles points!
There are many valuable collectibles in the Palace of Versailles. Please make good use of your "Hunter Medal" and stamp these collectibles with heraldic seals, so that you can get precious Versailles points.
Please note that Versailles points are the only designated currency in this game and are the wealth shared by every explorer. The points earned by the explorer will be added to the team's common assets, and the corresponding amount will be deducted from them when the individual consumes Versailles points.
After obtaining the first Versailles point reward, the "Hunter Medal" will open the mall redemption function.
Cooperate with each other and work together!
After all, the owner of the palace, Roselle Gustav, said that unity is strength!
Rule three, please explorers master the depth of role-playing and don't forget the primary task of the game.
Note that before publicizing your identity as a "witch hunter", the explorer cannot identify the witch, and even if the witch is found, it will not be able to advance the game process.
Please remember to complete the hunt as a "witch hunter"!
Rule 4: Explorers can use a designated password to call out the palace owner, Russell Gustav, and seek his help. This command can only be used up to three times in each round of exploration, and the number of times available is shared by the team.
Note: The palace owner may not be willing to solve your questions. He seems to think it is more convenient and easy to solve the person who asked the question. Please use this function with caution.
Rule 5: No one can hurt a cat.
...
Klein finished reading it, and went back to the beginning to read it again. Only then did he stop the urge to inhale, and pressed his temple to make a summary in his heart.
Except for the last rule, "Do not harm cats", which is obviously a rule of the Dreamland, the first, second, third and fourth rules are obviously set by the designer...Emperor Roselle himself.
From the pilot plot, "Witch Hunt Night" is obviously very similar to the game of tabletop adventure games, but the first rule subverts the traditional game of game - it does not allow self-created characters, and only allows players to use randomly drawn characters!
Want to use fixed characters, want to create your own characters?
Sure, play a few rounds of games first, save some in-app purchase points, and then redeem them.
Klein thought, why not just set up a krypton gold system, burn three pounds of paper money for Emperor Roselle, and you will get three points, which can be used to exchange for the right to use a low-profile gardener character; if you are more generous, burn three hundred pounds of paper money, and you will get three hundred points, and customize a tough man who can catch a knife with bare hands and break a rock with his chest, but has low intelligence...
But it seems that this world is completely out of fashion to burn ghost money... He asked himself that he would not be willing to burn real Suler and gold pound banknotes.
Forget it, let's not do the krypton gold system to become stronger, it's good now.
While silently complaining, Klein put away the light screen of the rule panel, and moved his eyes in sync with Alice, looking down at the Roselle doll on the ground.
"Have you finished reading? Well, let the game begin." Like a magic trick, the Roselle doll took out a scepter that showed its majesty and waved it twice in a pretentious manner. A strange smile that did not make people feel at ease appeared on his face. "Considering that this is your first time stepping into my Versailles Palace, I will arrange for you to have novice treatment. Hehe, enjoy it."
Before he could confirm with the Roselle doll what the so-called "novice treatment" was, Klein felt that his eyes suddenly went dark. It took him a few seconds to regain his normal vision and see clearly the environment he was in at the moment.
In just a few breaths, he had actually arrived at the main entrance of the dazzling palace in the distance under the night sky! Under his feet was a fine knitted long carpet. On the side of the road stood a guard of honor wearing majestic and upright military uniforms. Next to him stood a pretty girl who was slightly shorter than him...
Like him, she held an invitation letter with gold-plated words and an exquisite seal-shaped ornament in her hands. She was dressed like an upper-class socialite in the retro style of Intis. She was wearing a gorgeous and elegant pink dress. The design that exposed her neck and a small part of her white breasts was particularly eye-catching. The hem of her skirt was a little exaggerated.
Although they looked completely different, Klein was confirmed by her eyes that this pretty girl with brown curly hair was Alice.
...Wait, something seemed to be wrong.
Klein turned his gaze back to his hands and noticed some details belatedly.
The hands holding the invitation and the "Hunter Medal" were wearing semi-transparent white lace gloves, showing a slender and delicate beauty;
looking back, he saw what he was wearing, a sky blue dress, a thin waist tightly bound by a corset, the ups and downs of his chest, and long black hair draped over his shoulders.
Klein was stunned for a moment, and then his face changed drastically. He didn't even care about the eyes of the girl next to him and the background guards, and reached out to touch under the skirt.
...No, there was nothing.
Klein was struck by lightning. Even though he knew that he was just using a virtual image in the dreamland and was only temporarily borrowing a fake female body, his thoughts seemed to be stuck in a deep quagmire, unable to move or break free, as stiff as a wooden sculpture, and a cry from the soul echoed repeatedly in his mind:
Chapter.13 Witch Hunter (Page 2/2)Previous pagebookshelfTable of contentsSave BookmarkNext Chapter Shameless emperor, you actually tricked me!
"You..."
The pretty and lovely girl seemed to be hesitant to speak, but finally sighed. Under the strange gaze of the guards, she reached out to grab Klein and dragged his wrist towards the main entrance of the palace.
After dragging her wooden companion and dealing with the reception and greetings from the servants and maids, the girl pushed open the door of an empty lounge under the instructions of the servants, and then turned around to lock the door.
After confirming that there was no one around and it was suitable for a private conversation, she turned around and approached the black-haired lady who was standing still. She couldn't help but smile and covered her lips and laughed:
"Klein, ma'am? I'm very curious about your feelings now. Is it convenient to reveal it?"
"...Not convenient!" Klein took a deep breath and exhaled. Hearing his voice full of the charm of a mature woman, he suddenly felt his stomach ache from embarrassment.
"Hmm..." The pretty girl with brown hair and green eyes walked around him twice, looking him up and down, and finally fixed her sight on the neckline of the sky blue dress and the fabric with full curves. A wicked smirk appeared on the corner of her mouth, "Interesting, come, let me see."
Klein was pulled by Alice to sit on the wide and soft sofa in a daze. He widened his eyes again and watched her press him down on the cushions unexpectedly, and watched her stretch out a pair of sinful little hands to touch his chest.
... In this situation, am I being taken advantage of? Should I scream?
Before he felt any touch, he saw the girl squinting her eyes with a smile, pulling out two thick breast pads from his corset and throwing them on the coffee table.
The change happened in an instant, and Klein watched his "chest" deflate, deflated to the point that it could no longer support the previous attractive curve, and was empty like a pair of A cups.
... Good man, how am I going to put it back in later?
After Alice's interruption, Klein finally felt a little more realistic about the current situation. He grabbed her wrist unhappily, stood up and pressed her down, his eyes moving from that unfamiliar pretty face to her slender neck, and finally to her dazzlingly fair skin.
"Playing with fire... aren't you afraid of burning yourself?"
As if to hide his shame, Klein forced a vindictive smile, raised his empty right hand in a threatening manner, and gestured.
"We're all girls now, what's there to be afraid of? You can do this anytime if you like. By the way, the role assigned to me... well, the size here should be real. I don't feel any padding in my clothes."
Alice blinked and made a statement that made his heart beat without blushing.
Seeing his dazed expression, she even curled her lips in a malicious way:
"If you want to think like this, we are not in reality now anyway. No matter what, it is just an imaginary dream experience. It will disappear when we return to reality... How about it, if you admit that you are moved, I can give in a little..."
Klein subconsciously opened his mouth:
"... No, no, this is better... forget it."
She hinted... No
, it's not, this witch's idea is too weird!
Has she ever been so enthusiastic and proactive towards me in reality?
But what she said does make sense. This is the dream dimension. Everything is a castle in the air built by fantasy and dreams. It is false and delusional...
So, so...
I should not use these empty illusions to paralyze myself!
I will talk about this matter when I return to the real world. Now I should focus on the game of "Witch Hunting Night".
... Well, after all, I still prefer to use my real, healthy male body in reality... Well, I will talk about it after I wake up!
After making up his mind and strengthening his conviction, Klein silently released his grip on Alice, picked up the Hunter's Medal that had fallen to the sunken part of the sofa, called up the rules panel, and adjusted the function to view the character information.
Seeing that he was not cooperating, Alice just stood up and smiled as she straightened her clothes. She also took her seal and said,
"I don't know if you have noticed some details and problems. For example, your strength seems to be greater than mine. I couldn't break free from the counterattack just now..."
Klein, who was looking at the character panel with the missing character name and thinking about the naming problem, heard the words and quickly glanced at the bottom of the light curtain. He was immediately attracted by two lines of eye-catching and dazzling text:
"Potion Path: Sequence 8, Instigator.
Extraordinary Abilities: Dark Vision Lv2, Eagle's Acumen Lv2 (Vision, Physical Enhancement), Fighting Skills Lv2 (Short Weapon Proficiency, Dodging, Rolling, etc.), Shadow Lurking Lv2, Full Attack Lv2, Persuasion and Induction Lv1..."
He was stunned for a moment, and instinctively compared it with the extraordinary abilities he obtained when he upgraded to Sequence 8 "Joker" through the "Fortune Teller" path, and suddenly felt an indescribable sour feeling:
... So many skills? They are all practical skills...
"Well, as expected, your identity should also be a Beyonder."
Alice said to herself, nodded slightly, and sat down close to him, motioning Klein to look at her character panel.
Like the "Unnamed Instigator", the light screen panel showed a female character panel waiting for a custom name to be entered. On the right side was a front color picture of a pretty brown-haired girl. The prominent position below the name column revealed her current Beyonder identity:
"Potion Path: Sequence 9, Apprentice.
Beyonder Ability: Open Door Lv1, Clairvoyance Lv1."
Klein glanced at the thin line of text, then looked back at the long string of eye-catching Lv2 skills of the "Instigator" in his hand, and suddenly felt much more balanced.
The battle power of the "Fortune Teller" is really not the worst... Even if they want to be at the bottom, they can drag the "Apprentice" along with them. However, in terms of escaping, the "Apprentice" is definitely more convenient. Well, but the "Fortune Teller" can use divination in advance to avoid falling into a disadvantageous situation where he needs to escape...
After a little thought, the girl who defined the name "Claire Sibley" in the name column turned her head to look at the "Instigator" who was in the middle of a brainstorming, and smiled softly with her lips covered:
"Don't look at it, let's decide on the name, we should take action as "Witch Hunters". Our target is called "Witch" by Roselle Gustav, and conservatively estimated to have the strength of Sequence 6. What's more, Sequence 6 "Joy" has no reason to actively spread disasters... Even if we use strategies, there are two low-sequence "Assassins" and "Apprentices" on one side, and a witch with absolute strength on the other. I don't need to say which side has the advantage, right?"
"Indeed, this game is quite difficult..."
Klein muttered, and couldn't help but secretly wonder if there was a possibility of upgrading, and wondered if the so-called "Versailles points" could also be used to purchase the formula for promotion...
But suddenly, he felt a little strange.
The combination of "assassin" and "apprentice"... the "witch hunter" hired by the owner of the palace, Roselle, to thwart the devil's conspiracy... the witch sect... the
Gnosis Society? The two channels of circulation within the Gnosis Society happened to be "assassin" and "apprentice"!
Recalling the records of the Nighthawks' internal information, Klein couldn't help but show a strange expression as if he had seen a ghost:
Emperor Roselle, is there something wrong with the logic of your script? How could you invite a pair of "assassins" and "apprentices" who are suspected to be from the Gnosis Society and let them hunt witches?Chapter.14 The first step of exploration (page 1/2)Previous ChapterbookshelfTable of contentsSave BookmarkNext Page Even I, who has only been a night watcher for more than two months, know that the Gnosis Society may be related to the Witch Cult and the witches. There is no reason why Emperor Roselle does not know the connection between the two, right?
After tasting this simple and easy-to-understand truth, Klein's mind suddenly became active, and the strangeness he had vaguely felt before gradually surfaced on the surface of his subconscious mind, presenting an orderly logical analysis.
They would come to the palace in this fantasy dreamland and meet the doll-like "Emperor Roselle" - well, let's not know whether this is the "fantasy dreamland" he knows, or other mysterious products that seem to be true or not, anyway, let's just think so for now - what is the source of all this?
Yes, the cause is clear and easy to understand, it is precisely because of the "blasphemous card", and it is the one corresponding to the "witch" path.
But this is very strange, isn't it?
The Emperor Roselle doll seems to have a preconceived default positioning for him and Alice who entered the fantasy dreamland.
He might have mistaken them for members of the Witch Cult... No, even if they were not members of the Witch Cult, the Emperor Doll seemed to be very sure that they were all "assassins", or Beyonders of the "Witch" Path, and even imagined an outrageous master-disciple relationship.
However, look at the theme of the game given by the Emperor Doll, look at this dangerous name, "Night of Hunting Witches"?
What kind of strange and evil taste is this? Let Beyonders of the "Witch" Path deal with mid- and high-sequence strongmen of the same path?
Should the game be given an alias of "Rebellious Spiritual Knowledge Society"?
In addition, in order to attract visitors to participate in the game, the Emperor Doll even used the tempting words of "As long as you explore, you may get precious rewards even without clearing the level" to shake the visitors' desire to explore the Dreamland.
Presumably, the predecessors who entered this Dream Palace before them, including the witch who persisted for seven years before regretfully giving up the game qualification, had also heard the same remarks and actually gained some benefits from it, so they continued to bite the delicious bait given by the Emperor Doll with such enthusiasm and motivation.
If the game theme changes every time you enter here, or if the Emperor doll just randomly selects one from many themes and accidentally assigns it to the "Witch Hunting Night" game for him and Alice, then the problem should be another matter. But as far as Klein's current personal feelings are concerned, he prefers the last possibility - "Witch Hunting Night" is the only challenge theme here.
However, the information at hand is too little to support a more thorough and rigorous reasoning structure...
Klein sighed lightly, tapped the metal shell surface of the "Hunter Medal" with his fingers a few times, and tried to search for a name in his mind and fill in the blank column of the character panel.
Arno Victor Dorian.
A professional assassin, inspired by a series of game masterpieces that he likes very much, it happens to take place in a certain generation of stories in the country...
Well, it's very appropriate and perfect.
After all, in the original plot of the game, Arno has a childhood sweetheart and the leader of the Knights Templar, whose name happens to be "?0?7lise".
Well, although Alice beside him has already decided on the pseudonym "Claire".
... And after all, Alice is just a pseudonym she uses.
Thinking about some random things in his mind, Klein scanned the light screen panel with text and paused at several key columns that caught his attention.
Identity: Guest.
Sanity value: 95/100.
General skills: Disguise Lv4, Lockpicking Lv3, Mysticism (not fully learned).
Versailles points: - (not obtained).
"In addition to not setting a health bar and not displaying character attributes in digital form, it is different from the group play in the form of board games. It seems that there is no need to use dice to determine the direction of events. It all depends on the individual performance of the players..."
After he groaned and pinched his eyebrows, he suddenly felt an urge to try, so he followed this idea and clicked his teeth to try to open his own "fortune teller" path of spiritual vision.
The moment the spiritual vision switch was switched on with the hint switch, a dark and gloomy picture seemed to flash before his eyes, but all the colors and lines seemed to be like a corpse that had been soaked in a specimen bottle for a long time, floating with a vague pale feeling and squeezed together. Just looking at it can bring a kind of nausea.
The abnormality was fleeting, as fast as an optical illusion caused by tension.
Klein observed the entire magnificent lounge and did not see any abnormal phenomena; so he turned to look at Alice who was studying the "Hunter Medal" and observed that her emotions were still dominated by calm, thoughtful blue. Although she lacked the enthusiasm of warm colors, she had positive and bright white to make up for the remaining emotional blank.
However, he did not think that the fleeting picture before was purely an illusion.
Using clairvoyance in this fantasy full of mysteries...may not be an eye of insight that can easily break through the level, but more likely a one-way ticket to the hell of madness.
Klein did not forget the tip of the iceberg revealed by the first rule - if the character he is using now falls into a state of being unable to move...that is, falling into a bad situation such as death, permanent madness, severe limb disability, etc., he will have to "start over".
Considering the Beyonder status of this character, once the sanity falls below the critical value and falls into madness, it is very likely that he will lose control and become a monster, entering a state of attacking teammates and enemies...
Speaking of which, why was my sanity not full of 100 points at the beginning? Was 5 points deducted from it before?
...Is it because I couldn't accept myself as a woman before and suffered a mental shock? It can't be counted like this. I have calmed down my shock at that time. Can't you help me get it back?
After sorting out his general thoughts, he silently complained about the designer's stinginess and turned off his spiritual vision. Klein stood up and picked up the two thick cushions that he couldn't face from the coffee table. He fell into deep thought:
How should I put them back?
"What's wrong? Don't know where to start? Do you need my help?" Alice's voice came from behind at the right time, with a fragrant and soft warm touch against his back.
An emotion that was more intense and burning than shame climbed up his chest and reached his brain, causing Klein to stiffen in embarrassment:
"You..."
His mind was blank for a few moments as if it had crashed. When he came to his senses, he heard his own voice automatically answering:
"...Then you, don't take this opportunity to tease me."
The girl laughed lightly as if she had heard a lame joke.
She untied her arms around his waist and came to the front to take the two bra pads. Her green eyes curved into a playful and playful arc:
"Look, there's a blank space in front of your dress. It's unnatural, is n't it?"
"Don't you see who caused it?" There was no need to repeat her seemingly kind reminder. Klein resisted the urge to roll his eyes and accuse someone of a crime he had committed.
"Okay, okay, cooperate a little," Alice blinked, without any awareness or guilt of being the culprit. She changed her tone as if it was a matter of course, "While I'm helping you put your dress together, we can just exchange information about the characters... and decide on a course of action later."
Chapter.14 The first step of exploration (page 2/2)Previous pagebookshelfTable of contentsSave BookmarkNext Chapter "Action plan... do you mean, should we choose to act together or explore separately?" Klein almost immediately responded.
"Yes, so we need to confirm our 'newbie preferential status' and confirm each other's carrying skills. Although the following is just my personal guess... I think that the character we draw next time may not have the advantages of the current character. We should take advantage of the 'newbie period' now, collect the points mentioned by Roselle, and unlock the exchange function."
Her thoughts coincided with his considerations.
So in the next five minutes, Klein suppressed his embarrassment and let the girl help take care of the clothes while exchanging information with her, and grasped some obscure hints from the character panels of the two.
Alice was playing the role of an "apprentice" path extraordinary person at this time. Her identity was the same as his guest. Her sanity was a full value of 100, and her general skills were relatively rich, which was in sharp contrast to the pitiful extraordinary ability of only two.
On the screen that displayed the name "Claire Sibley", the following words were written:
General skills: Mysticism Lv5, Reconnaissance Lv4, Speech Lv4, Medicine Lv4, Stealth Lv3, Disguise Lv3...
Except for the lack of combat power, this character with the ability to explore, first aid, and escape is simply a perfect auxiliary character.
And so, the method of attack is also determined.
"Yano" who has combat capabilities and "Claire" who is purely an auxiliary route should obviously explore in a combined form. Acting separately is simply courting death.
After returning to a dignified demeanor, Klein adjusted his mentality, put away the invitation and the "Hunter Medal", and opened the door of the lounge without hesitation. He and Alice came to the long and winding corridor together, and walked slowly along the various landscape oil paintings hanging on the wall along the way.
"According to what the doll that looks like Emperor Roselle said..." After a brief recollection, Klein suppressed the idea of using divination to confirm a safe route, and spoke in a low voice based on rational thinking, "There is a ball and dinner party in the palace, so if we intend to continue to play the role of a guest, we should go to the banquet hall and the ballroom to see, maybe we can get clues from communicating with others... Of course, we can also ignore the ball and dinner party and directly explore the rooms in the palace to find the collections mentioned by the emperor."
"At this stage, the main purpose is to collect collections, and don't forget that the people who talk to the palace are not just those guests who are keen on pleasure," Alice waved her index finger and glanced at the corner in front of her. "Isn't there a good candidate who knows the structure and layout of the palace most clearly over there?"
Klein followed her line of sight and saw a maid with her back to them.
Similar to the female attendant who received and guided them before, this maid holding a white cloth to wipe the corners of the oil painting frame was dressed in simple black and white clothes. She seemed to be used to her position. She chose to stand in the gap between the lights. She was quite inconspicuous and could easily be overlooked by the passing guests.
Considering that both of them had the ability to negotiate, Klein hesitated for a moment before taking the initiative to communicate with the maid, wanting to quickly familiarize himself with the persuasion and induction abilities of the "instigator".
"Ah... guest, do you want to visit the study of the owner of the palace?" The maid stopped her cleaning work and showed an embarrassment on her face. "It's not impossible. After all, Emperor Roselle said that all the rooms in the palace will be open to guests, but..."
"Is there any difficulty?" Klein smiled as he mobilized the instincts that the potion had brought to this body, and used his extraordinary ability to enhance persuasion and conviction, making this now pretty face look friendly and approachable.
"In fact... it's like this, my guest is now in the central building of the palace, and Emperor Roselle's study is located in both the East and West Pavilions. If the two guests want to visit the study, I can only lead the two guests halfway, that is, in front of the corridor leading to the East and West Pavilions..."
said the maid with a red heart mark printed on the pocket of her white apron.
Hearing this, Klein was about to strike while the iron was hot and persuade the other party to take them to the so-called pavilion, but suddenly he felt the girl behind him quietly step forward half a step, and gently pulled his skirt under the cover of her wide skirt.
"Sorry, I may have to trouble you to wait for a while."
After smiling apologetically at the maid who was interrupted, Klein turned around and followed Alice back to the other side of the corner, where the cleaning maid's vision was blind. He raised his eyebrows with a little doubt:
Why did she use the code of "the situation has changed" to warn me?
Hooking her finger, indicating that he should bend down and move closer to her, Alice lowered her voice and whispered with a warm breath beside the long black hair of "instigator" Klein:
"Her emotional changes are a bit strange. In the short time when I started talking to you, I tasted smugness, greed, and a little hidden, extremely weak... eagerness."
"...Your ability to prey on emotions is still there?" And you can distinguish specific emotions...
Klein was slightly stunned, and then he reacted. His "Fortune Teller" level of clairvoyance is also an additional ability that has not been recorded in the character panel. It is naturally possible that Alice still retains some abilities.
This... This is comparable to the big plug-in in the game that always succeeds in psychology examinations!
And now, this emotional and psychological expert said that the maid was secretly happy, greedy, and eager when she talked to him...
For no reason, Klein felt an indescribable chill climbing up his back.
"So," Alice was not affected by his interruption, pursed her lips, and continued to speak softly, "Just now I took the opportunity to open my psychic vision and take a look at her... Well, I remember you said that the psychic vision of the 'apprentice' is not very strong, so it can only see the color of the aura and the state of the corresponding organs, right?" The
psychic vision of the "apprentice" is not as strong as that of the "secret peeper" and "diviner". It is impossible to see through the presentation of the "astral body". It is good enough to be able to distinguish the color of the aura.
Klein took a silent breath:
"...What did you see?"
"Hmm." Alice seemed to organize her words, and then slowly said, "The maid's head and brain lacked color, and the green belonging to the heart and regulatory system also completely disappeared... There should be no thoughts or emotions in her skull."
Chapter.15 Open the door (page 1/2)Previous ChapterbookshelfTable of contentsSave BookmarkNext Page Without the color of the head and brain, and without the heart and regulatory system, the body can't be called a living body!
... The premise is that they are in reality at this time.
Thinking of this, Klein took a deep breath, adjusted his mental state, turned on his spiritual vision, and glanced in that direction as if unintentionally.
In the fleeting glance like a broom star sweeping across the night sky, he felt his vision swallowed by the abyss.
It was a thick emotional color that almost completely covered the color of the aura.
No, it was no longer a color.
If the aura and emotional color of a normal person are like a coordinated and balanced painting, then the scene he just saw was like an abstract oil painting with some kind of dirt as paint and smeared on the canvas. It was filled with a kind of madness and suffocation that ordinary people could not understand, and the brushstrokes were suppressed and dark, and there was no positive element at all. Klein had
no doubt that if he stared at the negative vortex for a while longer, he would definitely be pierced by the madness and disorder that came at him, and go straight to his mind along the invisible nerves and blood vessels in his body, and be in tune with the chaos.
Therefore, he immediately closed his spiritual vision, took two steps back with lingering fear, kept his sight in the same direction, and lowered his voice to tell Alice his guess:
"She is indeed not quite right. I think we'd better ask someone else for directions."
In the center of the vortex of negative emotions, tentacles with smugness, greed, and eagerness stretched out, which was simply a glaring abnormality.
If it weren't for the fact that the game had just started, they currently had too little intelligence and rules, and they didn't carry any weapons. Klein even thought that this maid might be a neutral NPC disguised as a monster, and he might get some rewards by beating her and touching her corpse...
Forget it, let's be safe. If he rashly made hostile attacks, who knows if he would be hostile to and hunted down by all the non-player units in this palace?
"Well, I have an idea."
At this moment, Alice waved her hand, then moved closer to him and whispered a few words in his ear.
After the discussion was completed, Klein was still in charge of the conversation. He calmed down his discomfort, smiled gently and returned to the maid who had stood there motionless and was reluctant to even blink.
"Sorry, I kept you waiting for so long." He showed a proper apologetic expression and pointed to the direction of his female companion. "My friend suddenly felt unwell and wanted to find a place to rest for a while. Could you please tell us which way is the nearest lounge?"
"The lounge? I can take the two guests there." The pretty young maid said dutifully that she would lead the way for them.
Klein used his persuasive ability as an "instigator" and deepened his fake smile:
"No, I won't disturb you. Just point me in a direction. We can find it."
"This..." After a long moment of hesitation, the young servant in black and white maid clothes finally nodded, wiped his hands with his apron, and pointed to the corridor on the right side of the corner. "Go down this corridor. The room with a mechanical gear pattern on the door is the lounge."
After pretending to thank the cleaning maid, Klein turned around and exchanged a glance with Alice without any abnormality. Then he walked with her in the direction the maid pointed out - stepping into the corridor in the opposite direction of the direction they came from.
Obviously, the maid was lying, because they walked out of the lounge closest to this place and arrived here after less than a minute of walking. After
walking along the corridor for about two minutes, Klein stopped and forced a smile at Alice to confirm that he had not missed the mechanical gear pattern on any door.
"If we really find the room with the mechanical gear pattern later, should we go in and take a look?"
"The premise is that we find it..." Alice pondered for a moment, and suddenly turned to mention a detail that Klein might not know. "When I first entered the palace, I also asked the maids and the page for directions. Nothing unexpected happened at the time. The pageants never tried to deceive me, nor did they offer to lead the way for us. I found the vacant lounge smoothly..." They
asked for directions twice and encountered two different situations. What kind of pattern was hidden in them? The two of them still didn't know.
It was useless to think too much about something that they had no clue about, so Klein turned his sight and looked at the door closest to them on the left side of the corridor.
"I wonder what the rooms on both sides look like..."
"You'll know after you take a look, but I don't think things will go so smoothly."
Alice said, and went straight over to press the door handle to try to push away the obstacle in front of her.
The door lock made a stubborn clanging cry, refusing to offer even the slightest concession.
Klein instinctively remembered a skill on his character panel. He was delighted, but then quickly became embarrassed:
"I have the lock picking skill!... Uh, but it seems that we don't have any lock picking tools..."
"Shouldn't I think of the 'apprentice''s' door opening ability at this time?"
Alice raised her wrist, put her palm on the edge of the door handle, frowned slightly, and activated the extraordinary power engraved in her body. A
wonderful feeling traveled through her body. At this moment, the girl became a phantom wandering between reality and illusion. Without taking a step or moving, she walked through the closed door and disappeared in front of Klein.
About two or three seconds later, he heard the mechanical braking sound of the door handle being pressed down and the gears inside the door lock rotating. Along with it, he heard the girl's complaint with dissatisfaction:
"What? I thought I could open a passage directly on the door, or unlock the door lock... In this way, I will be the only one who can go through the door and the wall, right?"
The door was pulled open from the inside with a creak, and the brown-haired girl's pretty and cute face appeared in the center of the shadow background illuminated by the corridor light, embellishing vivid colors.
"And the cost is not low... I can probably use the ability of 'opening the door' seven or eight times in a row at most. If you want to use it again, you must rest for a while."
She pursed her lips and signaled Klein, who had dark vision, to explore the dark room behind him.
The search soon yielded results.
In this utility room where cleaning servants seemed to place cleaning tools, there was almost nothing of value.
Rags, brooms, mops, feather dusters, sinks for washing, and a faint damp smell that penetrated into the nose.
It should be said that, except for a figure painting hanging on the wall that was out of tune with the whole environment, this was just an ordinary utility room.
But Klein observed the figure for a long time, but could not tell anything from the face of the lady dressed in court clothes; in order to rule out the possibility of a hidden compartment behind the painting, he even moved the painting away and knocked on the area that was obviously whiter than the rest of the wall.
However, it turned out that he seemed to be worrying too much.
Seeing this, Alice suggested:
"Let's change the room and take a look."
In front of the other three tightly closed doors nearby, they unlocked the door in the same way, and also checked another utility room with almost the same layout and layout, and two rooms that looked like servants' dressing rooms.Chapter.15 Open the door (page 2/2)Previous pagebookshelfTable of contentsSave BookmarkNext Chapter Just like the first room, apart from the fact that each of them has oil paintings of human figures, there is nothing of value in these three rooms. They are just servants' rooms that are as ordinary as can be.
"My 'door opening' ability will not be used in the short term. I need to reserve enough times for unexpected situations." Alice said this, and took a last look at the room. Her eyes lingered on the portrait of a plump lady in court costume, and then she turned back to the corridor without any nostalgia.
Although he had a spiritual intuition about those paintings, seeing that Alice did not express any opinions, Klein had to remember these strange paintings and prepared to follow her footsteps and leave.
But just as he was about to turn around, something seemed to move in his visual range that had adapted to the darkness.
The movement of turning around paused instantly. Klein looked to the right behind him as if his joints were rusty, looking at the wall with the oil paintings of human figures, and at the same time, he was greeted by a pair of... eyes looking at him.
A pair of eyes rooted in the oil paintings, with clear black and white.
The plump lady in court clothes was smiling, her expression as gentle as Mona Lisa, but the eyes that should have been dead changed their original direction, like a ghost that chose to devour people and followed the figure of the person in the room.
The chill almost instantly climbed up Klein's back.
"By the way, K... Yano?" As if she remembered something, Alice walked back to the door and was slightly surprised to see Klein, who kept turning around and didn't move. Then she followed his line of sight to look at the painting, looking at the plump lady in the painting who was no different from before.
...Is it, is it an illusion? No, it's impossible. I saw clearly just now that the smiling, plump woman in the painting was staring at me...
When he thought about how he had taken down the painting before to test whether there were any hidden compartments or secret doors behind the wall, Klein felt that the parts of his hands that had touched the painting frame were stained with some dirt that shouldn't be touched. He felt that a rotten claw or a dry and terrifying head might reach out from the painting at any time and pull his soul into the world in the painting...
"Nothing, let's, let's get out of here."
Not daring to let his unbridled thoughts run wild, he quickly pulled Alice out of the room and closed the door quickly and forcefully.
"We'll probably have to wait until later to find out something about these rooms." Klein let out a breath of fear. He didn't even dare to stay outside these four rooms. He held the girl's wrist and walked quickly forward in the corridor. He briefly described to her the scene he had seen before, "... In short, I don't know where this corridor will lead to, but if we turn back, we will meet that abnormal maid again. I have an inexplicable intuition that it's better for us not to see her again."
Alice thought about it and nodded in understanding:
"Well, it seems that on the way to looking for collectibles, we must pay attention to the dangers from the surroundings. The knowledge and information corresponding to weapons and monsters are also very important. As for the map, I will remember the route we have taken and draw a map in my mind, so as long as we continue to explore, we will naturally become familiar with the environment." Drawing a
map in the mind... Are you really not showing off your memory to me?
Klein, who was still in shock, silently complained in his heart, rubbed his temples as if nothing had happened, and suggested:
"Then do we have a way to get back to crowded places, such as the ballroom or the banquet restaurant? Guests should gather in those places, right?"
"Let me think about it." Alice nodded her lips, her face showing a thoughtful look. "Well, I'm afraid this direction won't work now. We will be getting further and further away from the main hall for entertaining outside guests."
"...The cleaning maid in question just now deliberately pointed us in a direction away from the main hall." Klein walked forward while thinking and putting forward his own hypothesis. "So this corridor may not have any doors with mechanical gear patterns. Instead, it may be... the only way to a certain annex?"
"According to her, Roselle's study is located in the east and west annex, but considering that the maid's attitude is not honest, the authenticity of this information is still in doubt. Even the two possibilities of whether there are annex in the palace should be considered separately." Alice nodded slightly and said in a calm tone.
After the two walked a distance in the discussion, they stopped in front of a door that was obviously different from other rooms.
It was a heavy door that opened in two directions. I don't know if it was coated with a layer of gold foil that matched this luxurious palace, or if it was made of gold. The relief decoration was mainly mysterious eye-shaped patterns, supplemented by chaotic streamlined stripes, which looked weirdly extravagant.
"This, it feels like..." It feels like opening the door is entering a boss battle...
Klein held back the second half of the sentence that might make Alice confused, and wanted to change it to an expression that she could understand.
"It feels like this door is almost telling us that there is a treasure in the room behind the door, but we have to wait until the monster guarding the treasure is defeated before we can get it." As she said this, Alice touched the back of her neck, half-closed her eyes and smiled at him, "Is that what you want to say?"
"You've said everything, what else can I say, complain about Emperor Roselle's bad taste?" Klein sighed.
"Not impossible." Alice joked, then turned her eyes and looked at the heavy door shining with golden light. "So have you considered it? Do you want to go in and take a look?"
Klein, who always followed his heart's judgment when in doubt, was almost choked by the girl's recklessness today.
"...What do you think? We don't have any weapons that can cause harm to the enemy, and you actually think that this kind of thing needs to be considered?"
"Just take a look. At worst, we can't go in. It's okay to stand outside the door and take a look, right?"
"Just take a look..." Klein pondered for a moment, and reluctantly nodded to agree with her proposal. "Okay, just take a look. If you find any danger, prepare to escape immediately. Is that okay?"
"Of course." The girl smiled, put down her hand that was pressing on the back of her neck, and prepared to push open the closed double door.
At this moment, when she turned and walked forward, Klein saw something that shouldn't be growing there through the narrow gap between her brown, slightly curly long hair.
A black and white eyeball grew on the back of the girl's neck.