After clearing "Nightmare: Gallery—Elle Morrison," it seemed possible to start an assault from the third floor.
For Annan, this was indeed good news.
At least the next time he challenged this copy, he could save a lot of time... No need to run up floor by floor.
The save point function had actually caught Annan’s attention the first time he entered "Nightmare: Gallery," but he had not granted the players access to this authority... Just by looking at the prompts issued to players when entering the copy, one could tell that Annan had indeed castrated some of the system functions.
——It could perfectly well be awarded back later.
As long as the players did not know about this feature from the start, they naturally wouldn’t feel dissatisfied. Instead, they would think the planners were attentive, truly earnest in heeding feedback, and that updates came very timely...
Like that certain company that loves to split half of the game content into DLC.
After noticing the save point thing, Annan realized... that even in the beginning "Nightmare: Betrayer," there seemed to be a save point.
But before that, Annan had never found where exactly the "save point" was.
What’s it used for anyway?
Does it allow you to revive at that location after death?
Then why not simply call it a resurrection point?
Now Annan finally understood...
The significance of the save point would only become apparent after clearing the nightmare, upon entering it the second time.
This was undoubtedly good news.
Because "Nightmare: Betrayer" had a special requirement: "No casting ability allowed."
And Annan was now a bronze-ranked Cripple Wizard.
Annan’s previous idea was to find something that could temporarily seal his casting abilities, or simply impose a Curse Binding on himself to temporarily prohibit his own ability to cast spells.
But now it seems, maybe he could continue directly from the previous save... Return to the place where he had cleared the level?
Or maybe an even earlier point?
"...What’s this supposed to be?"
Annan was speechless.
After awakening from the nightmare, did he go to the bathroom and then return to start the sequel?
However, Annan ultimately returned to the first floor.
This time, he planned to rid the second-floor nightmare first—this way, the next time he entered the copy, he could try to tackle the fourth-floor nightmare.
Annan wanted to see if clearing all the subplot nightmares could possibly grant access to a hidden ending...
——The changes in this nightmare imbued Annan with confidence.
Let’s skip the repetitive parts.
But when Annan walked into the last corridor of the first floor.
On what should have been an empty display cabinet...
The very diary that should have appeared on the third floor!
Annan murmured quietly.
The last time he cleared the copy, it wasn’t without leaving a trace.
The "exhibits" from the floors he had cleared would continue to exist afterward.
A rogue method of clearing the game suddenly emerged in Annan’s mind:
If he cleared the fourth-floor nightmare first... Would Annan be able to get a weapon right on the first floor?
...No, this might not be underhanded at all.
Delicious Wind Goose’s strategy suddenly sprung to mind in Annan.
According to the original strategy, if you obtained a coat on the first floor, a dagger on the second floor, and then successfully counter-killed the hammer-wielding Joseph on the third floor...
Only after reaching the end of the fourth level will players not be blocked and counter-killed inside the door by Hammer Bro.
Regardless of whether the door leads to the nightmare or to the fifth level, it’s required that players must kill Joseph before the third level.
Otherwise, the fourth level will result in a plot-driven death.
At that time, Tasty Goose was completely unable to control his own body.
Starting from the fifth level, the enemy that the player, acting as "Amos," faced was no longer "Hammer Bro."
So, following the normal train of thought.
If players have already cleared the fourth level, then after getting the gun, they could easily counter-kill Joseph, who breaks through the wall on the second level.
...Because Joseph’s hammer wasn’t insta-killing everyone he saw; he wasn’t overwhelmingly strong. The only reason the hammer could smash through walls was simply due to its special effect. He himself was still a frail wizard, and moreover, a "Decree Wizard" who had to speak out loud to cast spells.
With tactical surprise on their side, second level players could completely kill him with a gunshot right after he broke through the wall.
That way, there would be no need to run throughout the second and third levels.
The fourth level didn’t require running in the first place.
In this manner, players could maintain their healthiest state by the time they reached the fifth level...
"So the fifth or the sixth level, is there a health check mechanism..."
For instance, a mechanism where if the health is below a certain threshold, clearing the level is definitely impossible?
That’s why Priest Louis could pass so easily.
Because Amos had silver coins on him, and there were silver objects hanging from the chandeliers. It was also easy to replenish silver objects in the following levels...
Louis probably just topped up his health right after entering the door, realizing it wasn’t full.
Then he could run at full speed without worrying about internal injuries.
On the second level, he could escape the pursuit at top speed.
In the third level, he ran to the end at full speed and would directly enter the next layer before Amos appeared.
On the fourth level, he could use the Divine Art "Sharp Object" to obtain a weapon and directly kill the demon, hound, and Amos.
It meant that he skipped the mechanics of the first four levels completely...
But ordinary players definitely couldn’t achieve this.
If they ran like that, they would have died countless times already.
"So he just brute-forced his way through without understanding any mechanics..."
Annan grimaced with a twinge.
If it wasn’t for not knowing how the priests fought the nightmare back in the day... would he believe in walkthroughs written by such cheaters?
The personal abilities of a priest of the True God were basically all focused on clearing nightmares.
Just like those walkthrough authors who say, "This boss is easy, just remember to dodge the skills, don’t get greedy with attacks, and avoid the skills."
But the real challenge is, how on earth do you dodge his skills!
However, if Priest Louis doesn’t understand the mechanics, it also means that Silver Baron’s church definitely doesn’t know the true ending of this dungeon.
That is to say, they are unaware of the Skeleton Count’s conspiracy...
Then Annan could only rely on himself.
He had to clear all the sub-nightmares here.
So, when he re-enters the first level, the display cases here should contain everything from the first to the sixth levels.
Although there are also things like tomatoes and diaries that are not very useful.
But there should also be the pistols or rifles from the fourth level!
Even the collectibles from the fifth or sixth level that Annan hasn’t yet seen!
They might just be the key items used to reverse the plot on level negative one!