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Chapter 2: Falling Into A Nightmare
[Falling into a nightmare. A dungeon instance is being generated…]
[The difficulty of the dungeon instance is easy. You may enter up to three times]
[Current purification progress is 0/3]
[The total erosion of the team is 3%, the difficulty of the dungeon instance increases by 3%, and the probability of nightmare mutation increases by 3%]
[This dungeon has a total of 1 checkpoint. Each death increases erosion by 1%. You will be forced out of the dungeon instance after three deaths.]
[This dungeon instance provides the plot introduction and has decryption rewards]
[Dungeon instance clear reward: Occupation (swordsman) increased by 1 level]
[Reward for Decrypting: Unknown]
[Loading Complete]
The world in front of Annan was pitch black. Only the data stream was flowing down at a rapid speed. Annan stared at each word carefully, lest he might miss any details.
Just after the words in the loading screen faded away, a faint and illusory whisper suddenly sounded in his ear:
“Betrayers must die…”
It was a young man’s voice, but it sounded like a cry from a drowned man – out of breath and full of resentment.
At the next moment, Annan suddenly felt that someone was pushing him.
“John? John, wake up!”
A harsh male voice sounded in front of him, “Why did you fall asleep!? Where did the young master go?”
“Huh? Hmm…”
Annan realized that he was sitting on the ground, asleep while leaning on the two barrels behind him.
He opened his eyes and saw a man with a beard in his forties squatting in front of him with a straight face.
The man was stern, appearing angry. But, with the fact that this man did not kick Annan to wake him up, this man’s temper should be quite good.
“Ah, I’m a little sleepy… I’m sorry…”
Annan answered vaguely.
After all, he had no idea what this person’s name was and how he was related to him. This was the only way he could respond.
But as soon as Annan spoke, he paused.
Although his internal sound when he spoke was quite different from the recording heard previously, Annan was still keenly aware that it was probably “John” who said the sentence filled with grievance.
Who is the betrayer?
What is the status of “Annan” on this ship?
When Annan replied, he was a little distracted. The middle-aged man’s voice became louder, “If you are sleepy, go and practice on your sword arts. Stop lazing around here!”
“I shouldn’t have let you stay in the cabin! You are disappointing the young master’s expectation of you! How are you going to protect Young Master Dong Jun like this? You won’t even know when he is kidnapped!”
“I’m so sorry…”
“Don’t apologize. Say ‘Yes, instructor’!”
“Yes, instructor!”
Annan followed accordingly.
He roughly understood the relationship between the two.
“Wait, Klaus…”
An immature, somewhat nervous voice sounded behind them.
The two cast their eyes.
It was a young man who had just come down from the door about fourteen or five years old.
The young nobleman named Dong Juan had short black hair and blue pupils similar to Annan, and the same fair skin. But his appearance was far less refined than Annan; he had freckles on his face, slightly high cheeks, and small eyes.
From the white and tender skin on his face, he was indeed an aristocrat’s boy. He took care of himself cleanly.
The boy clutched a bag of sugar cakes tightly. Noticing the gaze of Instructor Klaus, he put the sugar cakes behind him a little nervously and commanded calmly, “Don’t do this to John, Klaus! John didn’t mean it…”
His voice was loud at first, but he soon lost his confidence under the eyes of the middle-aged man.
Klaus just sternly explained to the noble boy politely, “I am your guard captain. The count asked me to look after you. I am responsible for your safety. In the North Sea Territory, the Geraint family’s name is far from useful compared to the royal capital. Everything can happen here.”
“I have you.”
The count’s young son didn’t care much about it, “And Sir Benjamin too. My father said that he is a Silver Rank wizard. Would there be any danger in a remote place like the Northern Sea Territory?”
“Please don’t make it difficult for me in the face of the count, Young Master Dong Juan.”
Klaus’s tone appeared more stern, “At least on the bright side, the count sent us here. Although Sir Benjamin and I are secretly protecting you, we can’t help you too much. Also, it’s dinner time soon. No more sweets.”
“Okay, I got it.”
Dong Juan·Geraint’s pouted. He responded a little irritably.
Seeing that Dong Juan didn’t seem to be convinced, Klaus changed his target completely. He ignored John but reprimanded Dong Juan severely. He only stopped talking when Dong Juan lowered his head and be obedient. He opened the door with a light hum.
“Remember to look after the young master, John. Don’t go to sleep again.”
He warned Annan in the end.
Annan responded immediately, “Yes, instructor!”
Upon seeing this, Klaus nodded in satisfaction and left.
Seeing him leaving, Dong Juan finally heaved a sigh of relief, leaned over to John, and whispered, “Klaus talks too much. Should I report to him about what I eat? Really…Thanks anyway, John. I already got that thing.”
Dong Juan pointed to his left armpit and said triumphantly, “I sewed it in the middle layer of the clothes.”
“I still think…”
Annan muttered ambiguously and didn’t say much, just trying to get some new information out.
Dong Juan’s face sank immediately, “You don’t understand. I can only rest assured when the item is close to me.”
After that, he sighed.
“On this ship, except you, none of the guards are mine. They are either sent by my father or my two brothers. I have no one to trust except you, John.”
“I will protect you.”
Annan heard this and immediately made an emotional expression, saying righteously, “You can trust me completely.”
Although John’s tone felt a bit weird, Dong Juan nodded with confidence, “Then, I will be counting on you. By the way, John, you continue to stay here and pretend to sleep. Remember to take care of my package. Don’t let people come near it. I’ll come back after dinner.
“I suspect that someone wants to steal it. If someone wants to approach, chase him away and tell me in private who the person is.”
“Got it.”
Annan had an idea and responded softly.
If anyone wants to get close… Isn’t Klaus one of them?
But Dong Juan hadn’t doubted him yet. So, Annan was smart and didn’t say much.
He just thought for a moment and said casually, “Yes, young master. Klaus just asked me where the other black-haired and blue-eyed child on this ship is. How should I answer?”
“…Black hair and blue eyes?”
Dong Juan was stunned upon hearing those words, “Impossible. This is the characteristic of the people from the North. Only the Chilly Austere Dukedom’s civilians will have black hair and blue eyes. If it weren’t for my mother… In short, there is no such person on this ship.”
Having said this, he frowned slightly and confirmed, “Are you sure that Klaus asked that?”
“Yes.”
Annan replied solemnly, “Should I reply to him like this?”
“No, don’t worry. If he mentions it again, you will say that there is no such person at all, although there is indeed no one.”
The black-haired boy was a little uneasy and asked again, “Don’t tell him what I just told you.”
“Yes.”
After Annan got the information he wanted, he kept silent to avoid speaking out the wrong words.
Is there no such person on this ship?
In other words, “I” was not killed on this ship. En, that’s right, this ship did not go through a shipwreck at all but was looted and killed by traitors.
In this case…
Annan glanced at Dong Juan with an idea in his heart.
Maybe I can replace his existence.
Now, I need to get more information about this world, especially Dong Juan’s secret…
Watching Dong Juan go to the door and left, Annan felt the faint feeling of being hit by a brick again. But, this time, Annan was getting used to it.
He shook his head. A large stream of data emerged before his eyes.
[Even Count Geraint can’t protect his youngest son – Don Juan·Geraint. Perhaps, he send Dong Juan to the most remote North Sea Territory, which is the last escape route he laid for his son.]
[The most important city in the Northern Sea Territory is the Chilly Austere Dukedom’s Freezing Water Port. If the Geraint family can survive the next catastrophe, then the youngest son can naturally return to the capital; if the Geraint family suffers a catastrophe, he can at least escape to the neighboring country’s sphere of influence and seek asylum.]
[But obviously, poor Dong Juan Gerainte failed to reach the Freezing Water Port alive]
[His most loyal guard, John, suffers the same fate—]
After these lines faded away, new words appeared before Annan again:
[Main mission: Complete John’s unattained last wish]
Immediately, a large piece of smaller words appeared below this line:
[Find out the true identity of the betrayer]
[Live until dinner starts]
[Stop Dong Juan Geraint from drinking the poisonous wine]
“…Betrayer.”
Annan went into deep thoughts.
He suddenly remembered the resentful whisper that sounded underwater when he first entered the dungeon instance.
“Betrayers must die…”
For now, Annan believed that the most suspicious one seemed to be the guard captain, Klaus.
John was instructed to pretend to sleep in the room for the very reason to stay near the room naturally. In this way, if he were bumped into by someone, he wouldn’t alert the person. From this point of view, Young Master Dong Juan was still somewhat witty.
However, he didn’t seem to believe that the guard captain hired by his father was the one who planned to steal his treasure. On the contrary, the chatter just now raised the young master suspicious of Klaus.
At least in Dong Juan’s view, Klaus had no motive to take his treasures. Klaus might have bad intentions about his origin.
“…The difficulty of decryption is indeed only at a simple level.”
Taking a look at the three mission details derived from the main mission, Annan sighed.
Forget it. After all, this game involves my safety. I need to be a little serious.
He narrowed his eyes slightly and started planning, “If I were John, what would I do?
“John is a loyal guard. He may be the only person who is loyal to Dong Juan. Taking this into consideration, he may have never left this place.”
“So, he probably didn’t know who betrayed Dong Juan until he died. He was killed before dinner started. But, he knew that Dong Juan would be poisoned.”
Annan didn’t miss the details.
John was the only one who died on the deck. There was only one spot stained with blood on the deck – the location under John.
Therefore, John left the room in the end. The moment John left the room was the timeline when he was betrayed and died.
On the other hand, if I want to fulfill John’s last wish, I shall not stay still at this place. Otherwise, the story that happened to John will be repeated.
I have three chances at most, so I have to get some useful and beneficial information.
If I can obtain information about who on the ship are traitors, when and where they plan to do it… This information will be useful for the next life.
Squatting here would not help me learn anything.
I need to leave this place.
——But, Dong Juan shouldn’t find out about it.
Annan was more firm with his plan.