After Justin died, he left a very high-quality nightmare for Annan and his team.
According to the Lord Bread’s intelligence, the name of this replica is "Nightmare: Witch-Hunt," a relatively rare type of cooperative nightmare.
The entry condition for this replica is any Bronze-rank Wizard school member plus four mortal Swordsmen. Satisfying either condition allows entry, replacing one of the individuals.
For example, Lord Bread replaced a Swordsman—because a mortal Swordsman was replaced by this Priest whose strength obviously exceeded the standard, his experience in clearing the replica was of no real significance to Annan.
But he could provide Annan with the process of the instance.
——These five people would have to confront Justin in his prime.
Justin possessed a mysterious ritual known as "Hunt Notice."
If a formal declaration of hunt notice is issued to the opponent three days in advance, and the opponent opens and reads the hunt letter, the hunter can gradually lock onto the opponent’s breath and soul during these three days.
If after three days, the opponent has not fled the city, they will become the hunter’s target by the time the sun sets on the seventh day.
Before the hunter attacks the target, they are psychologically invisible to the anchored hunt target.
That means they are completely undetectable by the target, even if seen through other means, the existence would be ignored. However, if others are nearby, they can see the hunter normally.
At the same time, the hunter’s brain would constantly receive the specific location of the hunt target. Even if the target is invisible or hiding, the hunter would know their direction.
By this time, Justin had already successfully hunted two Transcendents and had begun to construct his tactical system.
But he was clearly getting ahead of himself.
——After studying a young Destruction Wizard, he tentatively issued a "Hunt Notice" to him, hoping to obtain the other party’s Curse Binding.
If the other party left, then Justin would let him go. But if he didn’t take Justin seriously, Justin would try to see if he could hunt him.
And this Destruction Wizard, like his temperamental classmate, didn’t back down either.
Although he was only Bronze-rank, he chose not to flee.
After receiving Justin’s hunt notice, he immediately hired four elite Swordsmen in a fit of rage. As the three-day deadline approached, he found a relatively open area (because he was a Destruction Wizard), prepared medicine, food, and water, set traps, planted four human-shaped True Sight eyes, and planned to fight Justin to the death.
It was a very aggressive move, to say the least.
In the end, Justin obviously did not finish off this Wizard... because his stored curses did not include one for the Wizard.
He might even have been hammered into a panicked retreat by the irate guy.
Perhaps, because of this incident, it made such a deep impression on Justin’s mind.
"Justin" himself was significantly enhanced in this nightmare.
Not only did his body become very strong and his strength increased tremendously, but his resistance to burning and explosions also greatly improved. Furthermore, since he had the trait of Cursed Sensitive Skin, he would immediately feel a stinging sensation if targeted by transcendent powers, which also made him immune to sneak attack damage bonuses.
At the same time, the curse bindings he carried were calculated just before his death. Overloaded Hunger, Loss of Pain Perception, Break Free, and "Death is but a Dream" were all present.
This replica only required five people to work together—with the Wizard responsible for dealing damage and protecting the mortals, and the mortals responsible for spotting. They could find an opportunity to kill Justin.
Upon hearing Annan’s introduction to "Nightmare: Witch-Hunt," the players all became excited one by one.
This replica... seems quite fun!
The most excited were Yi Yi and Jiu’er.
These two female players happened to be the type whose brains couldn’t keep up with their reactions... In the previous nightmare instances, they either got stuck or lost san.
And rarely encountering a replica where they could rush up and slash at people got them excited all of a sudden.
Immediately, Annan, according to the players’ progress in their strategies, sent a batch of goodwill to all players. After obtaining permission from the four, he reclaimed a large amount of goodwill from four players—and provided three "class change" prerequisites.
After listening to these three requirements, the players had an epiphany.
"Indeed, the Gallery replica really isn’t convenient for completing an advancement task..."
"I think the main issue is not being able to find weapons."
"No, the main problem is not being able to find enemies..."
After quietly discussing for a while, the four suddenly realized something.
Gourmet Goose asked Annan, "This Nightmare: Witch Hunt, how much has it been purified?"
"There’s about eight times left, which is enough for us to go through one cycle of purification."
Annan knew very well what they were thinking and greatly admired the behavior of sharing the spoils, offering his comrades not just meat, but also a sip of the broth.
And happily, he distributed some goodwill to them, salvaging their nearly reset goodwill back up a notch.
"You four can discuss which professions you plan to advance to over these three days. My personal opinion is that you should try to have all three professions covered."
Annan instructed, "After three days, in the morning, purify the Nightmare: Gallery as quickly as possible. Then we’ll head to Roth Fort.
"I will personally preside over the advancement ceremony for you."
——I’ll take you guys on.
You just lay back and wait for the loot.
Annan was full of confidence.
However, the players were not very trusting of Annan’s combat abilities...
"——Why do I feel is Dead by Daylight?"
"——Obviously it’s not. Dead by Daylight is where one butcher finds four people, this is the four of us finding a butcher..."
"——And we also have to protect Lord Tan Juan."
"——Right, we need to keep at least two people with Lord Tan Juan. Otherwise, he might get swapped out..."
"——We can’t spread out too far either, because by the mechanics, we’re definitely not able to beat the butcher."
"——But even if we can’t beat him, we still need to work on our blocking stats and such..."
"——Hold on, isn’t there a conflict between not taking damage and protecting Tan Juan?"
"——Tan Juan will definitely hold us back, so going unharmed is unrealistic. We have to prepare for both, try to avoid damage while also working on our blocking attempts..."
The four players had started an encrypted thread, discussing fervently yet silently.
They clearly didn’t have much trust in Annan’s combat experience.
After all, Annan looked too young... Instead of a captain, he seemed more like an Athena.
Yes, the Athena that needed protection.
But what they obviously didn’t know was...
Their "Athena", His Excellency, was currently squinting and sneaking peeks at their thread.
Like a teacher who’s silently watching through the back window, ghost-like, spying inside the classroom...
...Fine. Since you see me as Athena, then if the boss is too easy later on, I’ll just personally spice things up for you.
Annan squinted his eyes, silently calculating in his mind.
No no, this isn’t about holding grudges.
This is a selfless dedication of love—
You should know, the players’ performance in this instance will directly determine their Curse Binding.
So Annan... of course, wants them to perform more~
Thus, they will receive rarer and more powerful Curse Bindings!
Where else could one find a teammate like Annan, with realistic acting, strength that backs up the façade, and who isn’t afraid of getting hit?
Soon, the long three-day wait came to an end.
The four of them logged on, rushed through the Nightmare: Gallery in an hour and a half, and hastily headed for the carriage.
Annan was looking at them with a smile, "Hmm, you guys are pretty efficient. It’s still early. After we get to Roth Fort, we can go find Bishop Daryl for a lunch treat. If your advancements go smoothly...
"How about we go for the Roth Fort special barbecue