The North.
The Great Wall of Despair.
This is the end of the world. The 300-mile-long and 200-meter-high Great Wall, known as one of the nine wonders of the world, separates the seven civilized countries from the wild and raging outside the Great Wall.
The cold wind blowing from the land of eternal winter howled and roared, trying to climb over the giant wall. Outside the wall was not only snow that never melted, but also savages who were ready to invade at any time.
On top of the city wall, two new recruits of the Night's Watch, one with a sturdy build and the other tall, wearing black cloaks, were patrolling the wall side by side. If they spotted any wild men trying to climb up with their special grappling hooks, they would immediately sound the alarm to drive them away.
But nothing happened for the time being. The sturdy recruit said to the recruit who was a head shorter than him:
"Jon, please don't leave. Lord Alliser has already said that you can always find him if you regret it."
He looked at Jon, who was a little thin, with concern. He really couldn't think of how he could win over the skilled drill officer Alliser. What he couldn't understand even more was why the young man in front of him, whom he regarded as his best friend, had changed so much in just a few days.
But no matter how much he didn't understand, Jon still couldn't give him the answer he wanted, and determination and resoluteness flashed in his grey eyes.
"No need to say more, Grenn. I must leave the Great Wall."
What Grenn didn't know was that the Jon in front of him was no longer the original Jon. This soul from another world knew everything that would happen in the future.
Jon also knew that Grenn cared about him, but he had no way to tell him the reason for leaving, nor could he explain it clearly. The average person here had a level of prenatal education and could not understand advanced terms such as "time travel" and "foresight".
"But you know Alliser. This old guy will not hold back. You will be hurt! Very badly."
The so-called Lord Alliser has a long-standing grudge against Stark. In his opinion, if it weren't for Stark, he wouldn't have come to this remote place.
Although Grenn didn't know the reasons, he could see that Alliser hated Jon very much. The old man liked to give people nicknames, and the nicknames he gave to other people were all based on their physical features such as appearance and expression. For example, he gave Grenn the nickname "Dumb Bull".
When it comes to Jon, it becomes 'Master Jon', a nickname that directly refers to Jon's most sensitive identity as a bastard.
And Grenn would always remember the look in Alliser's eyes when he said that Jon must defeat him before he could leave. It was exactly the same look as the one in the lord's eyes who sentenced him to death. He was very sure that once Jon started to duel with Alliser, he would be killed by him.
Therefore, he hoped that Jon, who had Stark blood flowing in his veins, would waste his life in the stables and kitchens so that he could bully him at will, which would give him a sense of pleasure in revenge.
Originally, Jon had neither formally sworn to join the Night's Watch nor came here to atone his sins, so he could leave whenever he wanted. However, he forced Jon to stay on the grounds that there was a shortage of manpower and the situation outside the Wall had deteriorated. If Jon wanted to leave, he had to be defeated.
Jeor Mormont, Lord Commander of the Night's Watch, thought Jon's desire to leave was the restlessness of a young man, so he agreed to Alliser's proposal.
If Jon wants to leave the Wall, he must defeat Alliser!
Jon said to Grenn very apologetically: "Grenn, I'm sorry, I have no other choice, I have to leave."
When Jon traveled here and confirmed that this was the world of A Song of Ice and Fire, he knew what was going to happen next.
First of all, his adoptive father, the Duke of Winterfell, Ned Stark, will die in a palace coup in the near future, followed by the tragic War of the Five Kings. After that, the Stark family suffered a tragic fate, and Ned's eldest son Robb even died in the conspiracy.
Now that Jon knows what is going to happen, he has to find a way to prevent the disaster from happening. Ned sacrificed his own reputation and risked the liquidation of his family to adopt this 'remnant of the previous dynasty'. Jon is a man who will repay a favor and avenge a grudge, and he will never sit idly by and watch the tragedy happen.
Of course, another very important point is that within three to five years, the famous Night King will lead his army of the living dead southward and turn the whole world into a paradise for the White Walkers and the Wights. The thousand or so people on the Wall alone will not be able to resist at all, which means that staying here is no different from waiting to die.
Grenn stretched out his thick-knuckled hand to grab Jon's shoulder and said in a worried tone, "But how can you beat Alliser? That old man is our drill sergeant!"
But Jon once again insisted on his desire to leave.
Grenn had tried to persuade Jon countless times in the past few days, but seeing that he was still so stubborn, he angrily distanced himself from him and walked ahead of Jon.
Looking at Grenn's back, Jon felt warm in his heart. Thanks to him, he was able to relieve his loneliness and fear.
Fortunately, Jon was not naked. He closed his eyes and a line of familiar Chinese characters appeared in his mind.
[Recognition point (leaving the Great Wall): 26/40]
Below the characters are three cards emitting a hazy glow, one blue and two white.
To put it simply, the so-called Recognition point is to let others know what you have done, and anyone who identifies with you can be converted into an identification point.
Once a certain amount is accumulated, it will be used for the 'lottery'. The prize pool is the three light balls below, which contain generals from the Three Kingdoms period. Judging from their colors, they should all be third- and fourth-rate generals who will be killed at the first sight.
However, Jon was not disappointed. You have to know that the Three Kingdoms was an era when gods were everywhere. Anyone who could show up and leave his name must have at least led an army. His personal martial arts must be good. At least he should have no problem facing the old man Alliser.
He didn't dare to think about the Five Tiger Generals and the Five Elite Generals, and he didn't have much hope for the likes of Yan Liang and Wen Chou. As long as he could draw Guan Erye's "human-shaped knife rack" Zhou Cang, he would be satisfied.
So in Jon's view, even if he only drew white cards, he would be more confident when facing Alliser. As for gaining recognition points, he just had to find a way to let more people know about his plan to leave the Wall. As for whether they opposed or agreed, or whether they just wanted to have fun, that was not something he could control.
For example, in Castle Black where Jon is now, which is the headquarters of the Night's Watch, almost four or five hundred people know that Jon is going to leave the Wall, but less than thirty people agree with him.
There are still about two days before the duel with Alliser, and Jon has placed his hopes on the Shadow Tower, the second largest stronghold of the Night's Watch, with about three hundred people.
Tomorrow is the day when Castle Black will resupply the Shadow Tower. All he has to do is follow the team transporting supplies to the Shadow Tower and let the soldiers there know that he will be leaving the Great Wall. He should be able to gain some recognition.
So Jon placed his hopes of winning the tourney at the Shadow Tower.
On the other side, Alliser and Jeor were also discussing Jon.
"Sir, I suggest that we lock him up for a few more days to stop the other brats from having those inappropriate thoughts."
Alliser's lips curled up with a hint of amusement, and he enthusiastically suggested to Jeor that in his opinion, there was absolutely no possibility that Jon would defeat him. He wanted to completely remove the arrogance from Jon and make him understand that he was not a noble young master, but just a bastard!
It would be the same even if the father of this illegitimate child was the Duke of Winterfell!
Joer thought about it and agreed to his proposal.
"Don't hurt him too badly, it will be difficult to treat him."
After getting Joer's recognition, Alliser felt secretly delighted. After leaving Geo, an uncontrollable sneer appeared on his face.
He believed it was irresponsible for a 'potential deserter' like Jon to want to go to the battlefield, let alone join the elite rangers of the Night's Watch.
Alliser thought that the best arrangement for Jon was to stay in the castle honestly and become a cook or a blacksmith, but Jeor would not arrange someone with good swordsmanship to do these things, which would be a waste for the Night's Watch, which is already short of manpower.
But what if Jon's wrists or ankles aren't as flexible as they once were?
Alliser thought sinisterly in his heart, as if he had already seen Jon's miserable appearance running around in the kitchen all day.