As a player, can you be normal?

Chapter 757 The Witcher Approaching
A land of dreams.

Li Nuo's first encounter with dreams was during "The Witcher." Unlike the world of illusions, the world of dreams is real, yet it cannot be entered in a normal way.

It replicates everything within the region, becoming a "city" or even a "country" hidden in the gaps of time and space.

Cha Bai sat on the grass, then slowly stood up and patted Li Nuo's shoulder.

【Magic Elimination (Magic Suppression Upgraded Version): Randomly assigns attribute values】.

"It was a trap from the very beginning."

"Yes, but it's not targeting you or me, it's indiscriminate targeting."

Li Nuo touched his lips with one hand, his pupils rapidly scanning his surroundings.

The fact that he didn't sense any malice when he first entered the city is enough to show that the people who dropped the "Cult of Triss" posters weren't targeting them, but rather casting a wide net.

“There was a group of players who discovered a ‘world within a painting’ here, but they couldn’t take the painting or get out of it. So they used some methods to influence the real world in the dream, dropping posters in the city and waiting for someone to come to them and help them sort things out. If it’s an enemy player who comes to them, that would be even better.”

Li Nuo muttered to himself.

Cha Bai asked, puzzled, "Why do you say they projected ads from a dream into reality?"

Li Nuo replied, "Idiot, the Dreamland comes from the concept of Bloodborne. The Old Gods are related to the deep sea. The poster you saw was soaking in water. Isn't that a way of using water as a medium to project things into reality?"

at the same time.

In a distant city.

Several players sat on the edge of a dirty, muddy street, guarding the city gate.

This group of players, numbering around sixty, came from the "Sky Corridor" and were scattered around the city's outskirts. They dared not enter the main city in the dream world.

Twenty of them were only about two hundred meters from the Church of Triss; they were the elite of this temporary team.

They used "invisibility" to hide in the woods on the outskirts of the city.

A man was looking at Li Nuo, who was about 100 meters away, with binoculars that could be used to "eavesdrop on conversations".

"This guy guessed everything correctly?"

"What did he say?"

“He told us everything: what happened to us, how we got the poster out of the dream, that we couldn’t escape, and how we were trying to hook up with rich guys.”

Inside the "silent" protective layer, their conversation would not be heard by others.

"That rascal……"

The man named "Gerry" hesitated to speak.

Gerry is the most capable and highest-ranking person here; only Gerry is above level 95.

"The most troublesome thing about this scenario is that after encountering other players in the corridor, it doesn't show their origins, so there's no way to determine where they came from... but that guy..."

No matter how Gerry looked at Li Nuo, he couldn't find anything strange about him.

"Check his attribute values."

The person holding the binoculars activated the skill to inspect the target panel.

"Level 89, none of the stats are strong, except for the healing stat."

"That's not him."

"Who?"

"Li Nuo".

When the name was mentioned, everyone fell silent.

If Li Nuo really comes, it will be a huge problem... The city behind them is now full of beasts and ancient gods watching them. If Li Nuo reappears, it will be like having a ghost inside the house and Jason outside.

"Why do you think it's Li Nuo? Is it his appearance? You can fake his looks."

"Hopefully not..."

Before he could even say "yes," Gerry was sucked into the mask.

Li Nuo pulled him out of the mask, pressed him to the ground, and stomped on his head.

"Don't move."

Gerry looked at Li Nuo in panic. What he wanted to ask most right now was, "How did you find me?" They had used the most advanced concealment spells to hide themselves, but Li Nuo not only saw them, but also locked onto Gerry.

It's the smell.

And a faint sense of fear in Gerry.

The Witcher's keen sense of smell, combined with Teresa's keen insight into emotional fluctuations, allows her to crack all hidden abilities.

"Friend...no harm intended."

Faced with Gerry's pleas for mercy, Lino pressed his cane against Gerry's eyes.

You are a good person.

The whispers of the Cairo aliens were warning Li Nuo.

"Tell me what happened."

Gerry was still in shock. He did sense that Li Nuo was going to kill someone, but why didn't he?

There was a noise in the woods. Li Nuo drew his pistol with his left hand, held it horizontally, and pointed the muzzle at the woods.

"I said!"

Gerry immediately confessed everything.

"We come from 'emptiness'."

Upon hearing the name "Kong," Li Nuo lowered his gun, not because of the "end" or "death" he feared most.

"continue."

Li Nuo brought out a folding stool and sat down.

Gerry knelt on the grass. His companions, seeing this, dared not advance. Gerry was the strongest among them, and his kneeling meant that the opponent was too powerful.

Faced with overly powerful enemies, players in the "Sky Corridor" will not recklessly court death; they are among the most harmless of all the corridors.

Gerry recounted what had happened.

Their group of about ninety people landed in a city on the other side of the mountains, where they found clues to the "world in the painting" pointing to this place.

So, about ninety people came over.

The Church of Triss is a connecting point, linking to the Dreamland. Someone among them triggered a trap, and the group fell into the Dreamland.

"What trap?"

Li Nuo interrupted.

Gus still finds the trap very abrupt.

"A crow flew across the sky carrying a stone in its beak. Suddenly, one of us, without knowing why, shot the crow down. The stone was a [cursed gem]. When it landed in the church, it triggered the hidden dreamland."

Calling this an accident is an understatement; it's more like a master plucked a string from behind the scenes.

Gerry and the others thought it was an ancient god in hiding.

It was actually Lennon, the player from the "Death Corridor".

Li Nuo had considered this possibility.

He insists that he is a good person, so since the other party cannot modify his experience with the notes, he will reach out to others, modify other players' experiences when necessary, and then guide them towards Li Nuo.

For example: "Gerry and his team accidentally entered a dream during their investigation," and "Perhaps their actions will have a negative impact on some good people."

After the above outline was formed.

The moment Li Nuo and his group entered this place, it became a present continuous tense.

But everything has two sides.

If this is the case, it's actually a good thing for Li Nuo and his team. Not only will it not pose too much of a problem for him, it will also help him solve the problem of rarely encountering players.

"Then...then we used water as a medium to project some miniature images here, which can be transmitted to reality. We figured that if any players or powerful natives passed by, they might come to Triss Chapel, enter the dream and merge with us. In that case, at least our group of people would have hope for survival."

Gerry recounted their clumsy plan.

At this moment, Cha Bai squatted down next to Ge Li, exuding an extremely cold killing intent.

What was the hallucination I was seeing outside the church?

There was only one thing she could not tolerate: defiling her Lord Triss.

Gerry knew he had to tell the truth, or the woman would crush his head in the next second.

Strange things often happen around the church... I don't know the specifics.

"It's best if you don't delve too deeply into the issue of the ancient gods."

Li Nuo suppressed Cha Bai's murderous intent, then changed his tone.

"So, what about painting?"

What he cared about was the main storyline's "world within the painting." "We can't enter the city of dreams."

"I probably won't dare to go in."

Li Nuo retrieved the folding stool and called out to the people in the woods.

"Come out, everyone! I have a connection with Brupp."

Upon hearing Brupper's name, everyone's fear subsided slightly.

Although Brupp is often teased for "dying again," he is still considered a formidable figure among non-super-level players in "Sky Corridor."

Gerry explained why he dared not enter the city.

"The strongest among us wasn't actually me. The initial group consisted of fifteen people, and twelve of them died after going in. The three survivors all lost their minds."

"Ruined by the ancient gods?"

"Hmm... I guess so."

Gerry's voice was deep.

"As soon as we go into the city, we hear strange noises that neither magic nor curse resistance can protect us from. At least we need to be resistant to the ancient gods to go deeper. We underestimated the danger here; they have all turned into beasts."

Li Nuo slung the box over his shoulder and looked towards the city not far away.

Half an hour ago, the city was bustling with activity. In my dream, the city was shrouded in dark clouds, so quiet that only the howls of wild beasts could be heard.

Li Nuo pulled Gri up and had them lead the way into the city.

"Speaking of which, what about Brupe and the others?"

On the way, Li Nuo gathered information about acquaintances.

"I don't know, those are important people, we can't get in touch with them."

Cha Bai, who had been silent until now, suddenly asked, "Where are Aita and Pippen?"

"That couple was taken to the 'Northern Undying Asylum'." The speaker was a girl with short black hair; her name was Ke Min.

“I have a letter here.” Ke Min took out a letter from the panel. She had met the idiot couple once before. When the couple was arrested, they sent a letter to all the “acquaintances” in the same corridor asking for help.

The Undead Asylum in the North is a classic location from Dark Souls; it is now an asylum.

Then, Gerry said something that was both funny and absurd.

"Over 90 percent of the people in the 'Corridor of the End' descended directly into the 'Northern Undead Asylum'."

"Huh?" Li Nuo was shocked. The World Tree could choose its landing location based on the character's personality?

“No, we used some methods,” Gerry said. “Everyone knows we have a grudge against ‘The End,’ so our superiors used some authority to put those lunatics in a ‘very dangerous’ area. We were planning to find an opportunity to wipe them out in one fell swoop.”

Cha Bai's initial landing location was also "Northern Undying Asylum," which was a coincidence. Moreover, there were no players in "The End" at that time because Li Nuo used [Mouth Substitute], which refreshed the landing locations of all players.

“But the guys from ‘The End’ will be just as happy as if they’re coming home,” Li Nuo said.

He's absolutely right.

Because right now, the Northern Undead Asylum has become the main base of the End Corridor in this world.

A total of 905 "Endless" lunatics gathered together, and in a mental hospital no less. Within a month, at least half of these 905 people will die.

Just imagine how terrified those two idiots must have been to be sent to a place like this, even though they might be even more terrifying than those 905 lunatics...

As they spoke, they had already reached the edge of the city.

Gerry and his companions set up camp along the edge of the city walls, keeping an eye on the movements inside the city.

The most terrifying thing about the Dreamland is that it has boundaries.

You can keep running outwards, but as you run, you might end up inside the city.

The numerous wild beasts and monsters within the city are not frightening.

What's frightening is the constant whispering.

The more you know, the more dangerous it is. Fortunately, players know a lot, especially information about the ancient gods.

Inside the city stands a towering building, the ruins of a church dedicated to the "Moon Goddess." In reality, it has long since become a museum, but in the dream, it is the most dangerous thing. It is like a medium for spreading viruses, releasing "whispering curses" centered on itself and bounded by the city walls.

The closer you are to the church ruins, the stronger the curse becomes.

But for most people, including high-level players, even the outermost curses are too much for them to withstand.

In the world protected by the World Tree, the whispers of the ancient gods stand at the highest level of curses.

Standing in front of the main entrance, after explaining everything, Gerry looked at Li Nuo with a hint of despair.

"According to the Bloodborne setting, unless we destroy the 'master' of the dream, we will not be able to get out of here."

The implication is that he feels the situation is hopeless.

The horror of the "Border Prison Script" is evident here: apart from the "super-spec" level players, everyone else is just an ordinary person.

"Furthermore, we'd better not rush in."

"What other reasons?"

Li Nuo glanced at Gerry, who was speaking.

The latter paused.

"Do you remember what I just said? The strongest among us... didn't die after going in. Three of them became puppets, and they became like the ancient gods..."

"How did you know?"

"Those three people will appear in your dreams."

It's a rather mystical answer, but in places where dreams and ancient gods exist, it becomes a very scientific one.

Li Nuo stood by the city wall, looking inside. The ground was stained with blood, and the sky was reflected in a blood-red hue.

Gerry walked over, about to say something, when his head exploded.

"what--!"

A piercing scream erupted in the silent dream.

Of the sixty players here, fifty-seven, including Gerry, had their heads blown.

In an instant, only three "empty" players remained alive, one of whom was Ke Min, the short-haired girl who knew the idiotic couple.

The reason they died was that after Li Nuo appeared, the city wall expanded outward by a few centimeters, but the echo of the curse spread for dozens of meters.

Kemin and the two people beside her survived because Kemin had the letter from the idiot couple, who were a god and a hero, and whose energy could suppress the whispers of the ancient gods.

Li Nuo and Cha Bai looked at the people lying on the ground one by one.

Neither of them showed surprise, nor did they exhibit any emotional fluctuation.

Cha Bai pointed to her head, which was smoking, indicating that she was being affected by the ancient god, albeit to a limited extent, but still in danger.

Li Nuo pointed to the church in the very center of the city.

“I can go by myself. Just take me to the top of the church.”

"Why don't we just blow this place up?"

“I’m too paranoid. I won’t feel at ease unless I kill the person who started this whole thing myself.”

Li Nuo is going to kill the ancient god here.

……

The courtroom on January 2, 1888.

When Li Nuo got to this point in his story, Blackie, Lennie, and Piek in the hall were all dumbfounded.

"Friend...you're going to kill the Ancient God?"

Blackie asked a question that seemed completely baffling to her, and then glanced at Lenny.

“Miss Lennie, you are a hunter who specializes in hunting down the Old Gods. What are your thoughts on this?”

It means that you should use your professional knowledge to analyze whether he is bragging or not.

Lenny stroked his chin, frowning in confusion.

“I… it’s hard to say. After all, there are indeed people who have hunted down ancient gods, but even for us hunters, it takes dozens of people to work together… and you’re all alone.”

Lenny meant, "Stop bragging."

Li Nuo asked them a question.

"Do you know about Kos's orphan?"

They nodded; those were ancient gods from old legends.

The ancient god Koth died on the shore of the Great Lake. His child became Koth's orphan, a violent and insane monster, and there is still no record of him being killed.

“I killed Kos’s orphans.”

The three people present looked at Li Nuo with fear in their eyes, because the lie detector in the hall did not sound. He was not bragging; he really could take on an ancient god one-on-one.

(End of this chapter)