Chapter 691: Illusory Fictional City
The masked âLily Rasputinâ on the treasure ship âSilverâ was undoubtedly Euphemia Melvin who ran away from home back then.
Until now, Annan hadnât been able to verify the accuracy of this speculation.
However, with Celeciaâs helpâŠ
Her reply convinced Annan that his deduction was right.
It was just a hunch previously, but it wouldnât hurt to check.
Anyway, in this world where âeverything would be forgotten in the next cycleâ, even if Annan made the wrong choice, it would still be fine. Although this world was created to seal the Venerated Skeleton, it served another purpose for Annan.
âIn the outside world, some comments or actions led to unexpected turns of events, resulting in an âunforeseen endingâ. In gaming terms, this could be roughly called a âsecret endingâ or an âeaster eggâ, where the biggest secrets are usually concealed.
But the main difference between real life and games was that âyou canât reload a save file in realityâ.
This meant that if you wanted to chase that âsecret endingâ, you had to let go of the âusual outcomeâ that was already in motion.
It would be a tough decision to make.
Or, precisely because players in games could reload and restart multiple times, the joy of reaching the ending might not be as grand. This was because âachieving that endingâ was the initial goal all players had when they started the game, and its value might diminish.
Compared with the outstanding and secret ending, a normal playthrough seemed ânot interesting enoughâ. Even though the outcome of the secret ending might not be as good as the regular ending, people would still pursue the secret ending. It appeared as if unlocking the secret ending was a higher form of achievement.
In this infinite nightmare loop of [Eternal Reincarnation], the nightmareâs conditions became the âload savefileâ feature.
This implied that Annan might have to use drastic measures to get intel that was usually hard to come by.
For example, Annan told Celecia his real name.
While she might temporarily obey Annanâs orders and tell him everything she knew, this also meant that obtaining certain information might become even more challenging.
There were things she could tell ordinary people, Elle, a stranger, and a passerby, but not Annan.
âThat was inevitable.
Since this cycle would eventually end and everyone would lose these memories, it would be a waste to not take advantage of such a rare opportunity to extract some valuable information.
Since it might damage Annanâs reputation among the players, Annan didnât bring Longjing Tea along this time.
To keep Longjing Teaâs wild side in check, Annan sent him back to his place â definitely the best spot for playing the part and staying safe.
Naturally, people would tend to rest at home in the evening; they would need a good reason to head out.
Annan was worried about it at first. If Euphemia returned home honestly, it would not be easy to find her residence in these high-rise buildings.
Fortunately, Euphemia Melvin was not that kind of person.
Finding her wasnât particularly difficult.
She had a distinctive appearance.
Her hair was a heavy silvery-gray, reminiscent of mercury, hanging straight down. Near the ends, though, it unexpectedly transitioned into a pinkish-purple ombre with curls.
Such a distinctive hair color was unforgettable at just one glance. Not to mention the metallic mask she wore, covering the upper half of her face, making her look like something out of a fantasy.
Annan and Celecia did not even use any transcended abilities, nor did they leverage Longjing Teaâs police authority. They just asked a few folks on the street and tracked down Euphemia the old-fashioned way.
At that moment, she was leisurely strolling through the food street â a can of coconut juice in her left hand and several steaming skewers in her right. With great gusto, she took a big bite, munching on several pieces from the skewers all at once.
Given the stack of wooden sticks poking out from her waist pouch, it seemed Euphemia had been on a food spree for a while.
âLily?â
This was such a departure from her usual look that when Ceresia laid eyes on her, she was momentarily speechless.
She asked probingly, âIs that you?â
âHi, Captain.â
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Euphemia seemed to have no doubt that âCelecia would eventually find herâ.
The moment she was called, she said hello to Celecia without hesitation, âYouâre a little late. Wasnât I your top priority? Thatâs kind of heartbreaking. I thought youâd find me soonerâŠâ
While her words conveyed sadness, her tone was laid-back, without a trace of sorrow.
She turned around. Upon seeing Elle, she paused for a moment. Then, she greeted smilingly, âHey, Little Elle⊠I didnât expect to see you here. Werenât you an angel?â
She clearly couldnât forget the sight of Elle turning into an angel and flying away.
However, she didnât seem too bothered.
Noticing that Elleâs eyes were focused on the coconut juice in her left hand, she handed it over with a smile, âItâs coconut juice, and itâs delicious. Among the drinks, this one tastes the best to me. Not only itâs fresh, itâs also sweet. Do you want to try it?â
Obviously, she had already bought a lot of drinks in this âother worldâ.
Otherwise, she wouldnât be this familiar with the drinks.
As the creator of this otherworldly nightmare, Bone Burying Grandma could either literally see the future, or she pulled bits of âmodernâ life from the playersâ memories, using them to quickly craft this slightly scaled-down âother realmâ.
Annan felt the latter reason made more sense.
In this world, some things simply didnât need to be here.
The most distinctive feature of the Mist Continent, apart from the curse, was the âritualâ that started with the Mysterious Lady.
Even if more people become aware of the power held by the âMysterious Ladyâ, it didnât make Her any less mysterious or any weaker.â
The essence of ritual was to ârentâ transcended power.
Every country agreed on controlling the secrets that could make someone a ritualist. It wasnât about weakening the ritualâs power, but because those secrets were just too dangerous.
If the ritual failed, it could lead to various disasters â earthquakes, tsunamis, torrential rains, droughts, or even explosions in buildings, continuous nightmares among the townsfolk, participants in the ritual going mad, simply shortening of lifespan, or destroying the ritual site. Regardless of the outcome, it was always troublesome.
On the other hand, holding the power of ritual would quickly inflate any ordinary personâs ego. No curse of transcendence restrained them. Besides, their mind wasnât cleansed of distractions since they didnât condense their souls like those advancing to the Silver Rank. They acted more recklessly, without consideration for the consequences.
In other words, controlling the rituals wasnât because having more ritualists would weaken the power of the rituals. It was simply that the armed forces of the kingdoms on the surface couldnât effectively deter or control these civilian ritualists to obey the law.
So, with the advancement of technology, official standardization of rituals became the inevitable path forward.
And over those centuries, new and more effective rituals had inevitably emerged. After all, rituals could be created⊠as long as they adhered to certain rules, they could be integrated into the âTruthâ system.
From Annanâs observation, this âother worldâ seemed more akin to an Earth-like worldview, but with elements adopted from the Mist Continent settings.
It almost entirely blocked the development of all non-magical rituals. It seemed more like a fictional city, built using the magical knowledge of various schools led by the transformation school, combined with the technology of Earth around the 20th century.
To create a world with mere thoughtsâŠ
The Bone Burying Grandmaâs power even made Annan feel a little nervous.
What baffled Annan: Did all twelve upright deities have equal power? Or was it just the Bone Burying Grandma who was special?
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