As a player, can you be normal?

Chapter 753 It all started in the present past tense
In the northernmost part of the Sumeru continent, there is a place called the Cold Rift Valley.

The largest prison in the North was built here.

Surrounded by mountains on all sides, in an extremely cold location, and teeming with monsters, no one could escape from here, making it the perfect place to imprison heinous criminals.

The court hearing hall is located above the prison.

An anti-magic scientific organization established by "Bayerkinworth Academy" serves as the oversight group, here to execute judgments on those who have committed unforgivable crimes.

Piek, dressed in a black academic gown, walked down the upper corridor.

The blizzard outside the window pelted against the glass with a soft, pattering sound.

Piek stopped, took out his pocket watch to check the time, then awkwardly touched his thinning hair, adjusted his glasses, and took a deep breath.

Just a day ago, two strange guys arrived at the prison, charged with "terrorist attack." According to prison rules, the two guys would be convicted today, and most likely, they would be dragged outside and hanged, then thrown into a pot as a side dish for the prisoners.

The trial is about to begin in half an hour.

Piek, however, did not want to get involved in the trial.

"What's so difficult about it?"

A woman's voice came from behind. The newcomer had long, wavy hair, beautiful features, and was dressed in a black school uniform. A transforming battle axe was tucked into her waistband, indicating that she majored in combat.

Her name is "Lenny".

He is a monster hunter from "Bailkinworth Academy".

Monsters left behind by ancient gods exist in this world, and Lennie is a professional hunter specifically responsible for hunting them down.

She appeared as a member of the court proceedings and saw Piek standing there looking troubled. She was puzzled as to what had happened. Piek possessed a special power stemming from his early contact with the ancient gods. He had a strong sense of danger and could even foresee his wife's infidelity and her plot with her lover to assassinate him.

Piek turned to look at Lennie and nodded in greeting.

"I have a feeling that there's something wrong with the two people who are going to be tried in half an hour."

Lennie walked past him, took out a badge with the power of "time travel," and rubbed it in his palm.

“Mr. Piek’s sensitivity is still as astonishing; those two are definitely suspicious.”

"Talking as we walk."

"Ah."

The badge in Lenny's hand emitted a dark red light, and the two were teleported together to the lowest level of the prison.

The prison was built amidst a blizzard.

The prisoners stood in the cold snow. After finishing their work, they had to stand in the snow and endure the biting wind while repenting for their sins. That was the rule of the prison.

You could even say it's a giant confessional, only with terrible conditions.

Lennie and Piek walked one after the other across the elevated walkway that was monitoring the prisoners.

“Mr. Piek, the two prisoners we’re going to interrogate were thrown in by some big shot. They were in a deep coma when they arrived yesterday, but they suddenly woke up today.”

"Big man?"

"What's strange is that the important person didn't reveal his name."

"Could it be those guys who claim to be players again?"

Upon hearing Piek's words, Lennie quickly turned around and made a "shh" gesture.

“Mr. Piek, that’s a topic even more forbidden than the ancient gods!”

For hundreds of years, strange creatures have often appeared, causing trouble everywhere. They are not powerful, but they have many tricks up their sleeves, just as annoying as flying cockroaches.

One of them was captured, and by dissecting its brain, the world has come to know the species "Players".

However, due to the interference of the corridor, it was impossible to know much.

"In short, for the trial later, we just need to sentence these two to death, go through the motions, and then hand them over to the prisoner's kitchen. As for which big shot they are, it doesn't matter. So many people die every day, and who knows how many are wrongfully killed?"

Lennie walked to the door where serious offenders were held. The door was very heavy, and the soldiers opened it.

Steam sprayed out of the valve, and the door opened automatically.

Inside was a dark, blood-soaked prison.

This is deep inside the prison, where a group of prisoners are held, and they can never leave the prison for the rest of their lives.

The guards would deprive them of their freedom and creativity, but not their killing instincts towards other prisoners. Every year at the beginning of the year, nobles from neighboring countries would watch the prisoners' deadly struggles from afar, which was an essential form of entertainment during the New Year.

Lennie's heels pounded on the bloodstains on the ground as he walked deeper into the prison, where prisoners sat in their cells, gazing at the beautiful woman with the eyes of someone eyeing a meal.

Piek followed behind, his unease growing stronger. He even broke out in a cold sweat in this frigid place, the sweat instantly turning into ice crystals that fell to the ground.

"Mr. Piek, what are you so afraid of?"

No one can escape from prison.

Besides, there's Lenny here, one of the most outstanding hunters, a creature even the Old Gods would avoid.

“I’m not afraid of the prisoners around here… my sense of danger is creating a strong resistance to what’s inside… it’s as if countless eyes are staring intently at you in the darkness…”

Seeing Piek's pathetic state, Lennie pursed his lips helplessly.

"I am here."

"Excuse my bluntness, but that sense of danger is more than ten times stronger than yours."

Lenny gritted his teeth in annoyance.

"My Lord Triss, what utter nonsense are you spouting?!"

……

at the same time.

Deep inside the prison.

"How did he end up in jail again...?"

Li Nuo sat on a bench in the prison, staring blankly at the opposite side with dead fish eyes.

"I must have blown up a brothel in my past life, this misfortune is really karma."

Xiao Wu was lying on the bed opposite him.

Both of them were wearing brown prison uniforms. The prison had men and women living together, which was very humane.

Xiao Wu lay on the blood-stained stone bed, legs crossed, casually looking at the mission panel.

"Li Nuo, this is Bloodborne, right?"

"Yes and no."

Li Nuo leaned back. Based on past experience and the system's initial introduction to the world view, the most crucial piece of information was that "Bulma" had been there, meaning that this place could not be regarded as the Bloodborne where the Old Gods existed.

Feeling bored, Xiao Wu sat up abruptly.

"Let's break out of prison quickly."

"Wait a minute and see the system information first."

After saying that, Li Nuo walked to the front of the cage, where a woman was sitting in the cell next to it.

"Big sister, come here for a second."

The woman leaned over and licked the railing, releasing arousing female hormones. She was so beautiful that she seemed not to belong to this world, but the numerous eyeballs on her chest that blinked betrayed that she was not human.

"Would you like some service, sir?"

"want."

Li Nuo grabbed the woman's hair through the cage, pressed her hard against the cage, and released Cuihua, which rushed into the woman's mouth and burned her internal organs.

"Tell me everything you know about this prison."

The aroma of roasted offal was already emanating from the woman's mouth; she wouldn't die easily.

The prisoners held here are not human.

The woman quickly revealed everything she knew.

The prison is protected by a magical field. To prevent escape, each area of ​​the cell has an anti-magic field, and this is the deepest layer, where the anti-magic protection is strongest.

The cell doors and walls were reinforced to the point that even a Gundam would have a hard time breaking them open. Red tentacles wriggled in the cracks in the walls, suggesting that monsters related to ancient gods were probably hiding inside.

The top level of the prison has a "dream space" that is inaccessible to everyone except for special individuals.

Finally, there are the soldiers here.

They were all a group of modified warriors dressed in long black robes, seemingly unfazed by the cold. Their weapons were meat saws, clearly a style reminiscent of the Bloodborne world. However, the fact that the soldiers' clothing concealed high-tech firearms capable of firing magical bullets indicated that this world's technology tree had been haphazardly developed.

This confirms the information that "Bulma has been here," which proves that the power resisted by the World Tree has eroded this world, causing life forms such as ancient gods or intangible energies to dare not run rampant. However, the price is that the world's strength may be extremely high.

In conclusion, it's not difficult to forcefully confront them head-on, but it's not very meaningful at the moment.

Because a task notification has arrived.

……

[This is the World Tree's broadcast system. We will provide specialized explanations for players in different regions.]

[What is being released now is the most basic reward description.]

[Player-Chosen Mission: The Hunter]

[Mission Details: Kill a player to gain an equal amount of experience points and one "Random Card"]

[In short: If you want to survive and reach level 99, killing other players is safer than messing around in this world.]

……

All of you players will be assigned to the most dangerous place in the world.

[Assigned based on your individual strength]

This is the great prison of "Cold Rift Valley".

[Two people...]

Li Nuo: "Redemption Corridor, Player 5900".

Xiao Wu also read out her number.

The two still retained their numbers from the "Endless" era, as everyone else did, to remember that hatred.

[You two are probably... quite skilled, which is why you're in one of the most difficult areas.]

What's more troublesome is that you originally had other options, but a player posing as an important figure used something to immediately put your lives on a countdown.

Sure enough, some players started causing trouble with rule-based items right from the start.

Moreover, the people targeting them are most likely "Endless Corridor".

Xiao Wu thought about it and realized there was another possibility: "'Death' seems to want to kill you too."

Li Nuo frowned: "According to you, there are plenty of people who want to kill you."

They may have made quite a few enemies.

The basic information about both individuals has been explained.

[However, don't worry about unfairness. Some people are born missing an arm or a certain organ, while others are just missing equipment. You all need to find your lost body or equipment based on your current situation.]

That concludes the panel's announcement.

Li Nuo took off his pants and examined them for a while before finally letting out a sigh of relief: "It's still there..."

Xiao Wu voiced a disturbing thought: "I wonder if Miss Cha Bai will only have one breast left."

At this point, Li Nuoren was completely dumbfounded.

The player location panel is disabled, and the prison has a very strong anti-space magic device. By the way, magic is called "arc magic" here, but they're all pretty much the same. Anyway, the result is that you can't contact anyone else.

"Ah... ah?"

Li Nuo released the female prisoner who had been roasted by Cuihua, grabbed his hair haphazardly, and wondered if he should act impulsively.

Just then, the cage was bumped by a guy. It was a grayish-white guy who looked like a fishman. His hair was wet, he was holding a bloody arm in his hand, and his big head was pressed against the iron cage.

"Hey, hehe..."

This guy's breath smells like the deep sea.

Li Nuo and Xiao Wu looked over, taking their first real look at the prison. The floor was piled with entrails and severed limbs. The candles were handmade by the prisoners. The prisoners were allowed to move around outside their cages. If there was no food, they would eat each other. If there was no fun, they would kill each other. Two delicate-skinned people came from the Blood Pool Hell. Their dark shadows were already crowding outside the cages. They were drooling and holding butcher knives.

The two people inside the cage slightly raised their chins.

"Xiao Wu, have you ever eaten a fish-man cursed by an ancient god?"

"I like to eat it raw."

……

Lennie swore to her "Lord Triss" that she thought Piek's sense of danger this time was a bit far-fetched.

But when she looked back, she could still see Piek's body trembling more and more, as if the deeper she went, the closer she got to an endless hell.

“Pieke, why don’t you go back?”

“I’m the recorder, and I need to see the prisoner; it’s my job.”

Lenny was helpless.

Before them lay the final gate, beyond which lay the blood-soaked hell of the prison, where the most ruthless criminals of the North resided.

As the five steam doors opened.

A final fog gate appeared.

Lenny walked over, took out his badge from "Bayer Kinworth," and an eye appeared in the fog door, staring intently at the badge.

The technology of this world is built upon the power of the ancient gods.

The walls were filled with eyeballs, used to monitor the prisoners.

There are eyes in the gate; anyone trying to escape will go insane if they pass through.

The eyeball of the fog gate in front of them is an artificial ancient god created by a certain reckless scientist. Whenever this thing appears, the most dangerous prisoners in the North, represented by the fog gate, will fall into a coma, enjoy the whispers of the ancient god, and wander through dreams with Lovecraft.

The clothes worn by the people of "Bayer Kinworth" represent "acquaintance with the Old Gods," which means that the clothes have 90% resistance to curses.

So Leni and Piek were able to get behind the fog gate.

The fog door's eyeballs moved up and down as if nodding, and just as the door was about to open, the eyeballs suddenly burst, spraying Leni with a sticky substance.

The fog gate vanished in an instant.

The girl with the ponytail threw the shriveled ancient god's eyeball on the ground and looked at Lennie and Piek outside the door.

Piek was so frightened that he collapsed.

The alarm sounded.

Lenny waved to signal that the alarm was off.

Because Xiao Wu didn't make a move, but instead made a "please come in" gesture.

Li Nuo was sitting at the very back, selecting fishmen that could be used for cooking.

"Ah, you're here."

Li Nuo straightened his back, stood atop countless corpses, wiped the blood from his face, and then smiled as he stepped down from the pile of bodies.

"I was just about to cook, would you like to eat together?"

The most dangerous prison in the North holds 155 prisoners in its deepest part. They are no longer human, but a group of dangerous monsters that eat people. Today is 1888 on the continent of Sumeru. On this very day, all 154 prisoners have died. The only survivor is hanging from the rafters to keep him fresh for eating.

Courtroom meeting room.

When Lenny told her superior about it, there was a long silence in the small meeting room.

"You...you can't die, you have to pay us back."

Li Nuo and Xiao Wu, sitting opposite each other, had expressionless faces.

The officer was a Black woman, or more precisely, a dark-skinned woman, the kind Wells liked.

She is the presiding judge of the "Bayer Kinworth" Academy. Since the name of the fantasy world is hard to remember, let's just call her "Blackie".

"You... oh my god, these prisoners are going to be used for experiments, and you two killed them all, how are we supposed to conduct the experiments?"

"Well, maybe we can use them to cook."

Li Nuo offered another perspective.

"I've already cut it."

Blackie had never heard such an answer before, and found it somewhat unbelievable.

"what?"

Xiao Wu chimed in, "The large intestine has also been washed, but with blood. I guarantee that all the feces inside is gone."

Li Nuo said, "That's right, please believe us, this Miss Muto Sora is nothing but a pile of shit."

The two nodded firmly in unison, "Yes!"

"Enough!" Sister Hei covered her forehead. "Logically speaking, you should all be sentenced to death... What are we going to do?"

Because it was the work of some unknown big shot who let them in.

As I said before, it doesn't matter which big shot it is, just call them a big shot. In reality, that big shot doesn't exist. It's the players who are causing trouble with items, or rather, creating a "Redemption Corridor".

Lenny said, "We can get them both to join the 'Hunter Organization,' they're good enough."

Piek, sitting in the audience chair, nodded vigorously: "Yes, impressive!"

Blackie said helplessly, "But to be a 'hunter,' you have to understand their past experiences."

The problem is that Li Nuo and Xiao Wu actually didn't have any experience in this world. In fact, they should have, but unfortunately, an enemy player used an item on them, causing a bug that made it disappear.

"Arno~" Xiao Wu called out, "Excuse me, what crime have we committed?"

"Terrorist attack."

"I'm innocent!" Li Nuo shouted fluently.

“It’s not unfair,” Lenny said. “Seeing what you’ve done in prison, I think terrorist attacks are rather commonplace for you.”

“Let’s sort this out,” Sister Hei said. “You two, tell us about your past, and we’ll verify it.”

As she spoke, she took out a capsule from her pocket, and with a bang, the capsule burst open, turning into a "tablet computer" with exquisite patterns.

"Because a large number of migrants are unregistered, we need you to provide more details."

"Let me think about it."

Li Nuo pondered, "This is Bloodborne, so I'll just tell the story in a way that best fits the setting."

So, in front of everyone, he slapped himself.

Lenny scoffed, "You idiot, have you gone crazy from the whispers of the Old Gods?"

Li Nuo licked his teeth.

Teeth: Mouth Replacement

[Triggered (triggered by slapping myself in the face)]

Just as he was about to speak, he heard a whisper that only he could hear.

[I'm Cairo from the working group. Don't be surprised, this mouthpiece allows us to communicate directly with you.]

[Be careful, what you are about to say will take you and those around you back to that time, but the time period can't be too far off, and the setting can't be too far off either; it must all adhere to the framework of this world.]

So Lino said to Lennie.

Actually, I am your father.

If it weren't for Blackie stopping Lenny, this woman would definitely have chopped a knife into Li Nuo's head.

[Idiot! You can't even have children, that doesn't fit the plot!]

Li Nuo turned his head away.

“Okay… actually we come from Yharnam.”

This location is the main setting of Bloodborne, so there shouldn't be any problems.

But Blackie said, "Nonsense, Yanan was already sucked away by the 'Celestial Convergence'."

(Note: Yharnam, who appears in the script of The Witcher, comes from here.)

Xiao Wu was somewhat surprised that these indigenous people even knew about "celestial convergence," truly befitting a Border Prison script.

Li Nuo had no choice but to say, "We come from a small village. My wife and I live there together."

……

The voice just fell.

Li Nuo stood in a small village.

Behind him was a thatched cottage, and Cha Bai sat at the doorway.

From now on, you will return to the period you mentioned, and then... do whatever you want, but in the end, you must return to prison.

This is a "mouth double" specifically for "bragging".

……

"and many more!"

……

Xiao Wu pulled Li Nuo back to his senses.

If the audience objects, simply interrupting you will bring your consciousness back to the present moment.

Li Nuo looked at Xiao Wu with disdain.

"What are you doing?"

Xiao Wu pointed to herself.

"You play with your wife, but what about me?"

"You are a prostitute."

"Okay!"

[Impossible, nobody likes Xiao Wu]

Even Xiao Wu heard the "whispers of the Cairo aliens".

Her face stiffened: "Can't someone like me...?"

Lenny and the others didn't know what had happened, but seeing Xiao Wu's dejected look, they figured it must be some painful past.

[The main perspective should start from Li Nuo's side, after all, he's the "mouth double," Xiao Wu shouldn't get in the way.]

Li Nuo continued, "It was a beautiful, sunny afternoon."

The next second, his vision turned tea-white.

Cha Bai looked at him with a strange expression.

“I was just in a place called the ‘Northern Undead Asylum’, and suddenly I appeared here.”

Tea-white eyebrows furrowed slightly.

"Li Nuo, what are you doing?"

Li Nuo looked around and made sure there were no enemies and it wasn't a hallucination, but his head was still buzzing.

"Sis... I think I'm going to have a mental breakdown."

(End of this chapter)