Annan and Benjamin carefully descended the staircase.
Dust was everywhere on the stairs, and webs covered the ceiling above.
Fortunately, both "Evelyn," whom Annan was impersonating, and the young Benjamin were not particularly tall. Otherwise, it would have been a case of walking a couple of steps and bumping into a web, again and again... wreaking havoc in the spiders’ homes.
Even so, they dared not walk too fast.
The dust on the ground was so thick it was almost slippery—
"...This place is filthy,"
Benjamin couldn’t help but complain.
Annan spoke softly, "Do you understand its history, Benjamin?"
"I’m curious about it."
"Well, I guess I know a fair amount..."
Even though he knew there was indeed no one around, Benjamin still instinctively lowered his voice and said softly, "It should have been built over a hundred years ago. Specifically, maybe... one hundred and twenty years? Maybe one hundred and twenty-eight years, um, or one hundred and eighteen years...
"Never mind, it doesn’t matter. Anyway, it was constructed under the personal supervision of the Pale Princess. It was disguised in the name of the ’God of Song and Dance’ and served as a frontline fortress for the undead alliance—do you know what ’fortress’ means?"
At this point, Benjamin’s voice rose instinctively as he spoke nonstop, "It means that this place must have had guards before, and not just that, but also defensive weapons! I remember it should have had at least eighteen bone crossbows, and a look-out tower—this figure was roughly determined by the scholars after the Royal Capital’s investigative forces cleared out the materials, leaving behind wreckage and traces. There might have been other arrangements, but we can’t see them anymore..."
His voice grew lighter as he spoke.
Benjamin paused his steps slightly and turned back, somewhat hesitant and timid, and asked, "Do you... not like hearing about this?"
Annan reflexively said the phrase he had heard many times before.
But he quickly realized it and corrected himself with a set of more euphemistic words that Benjamin could accept,
"I’m a bit scared, Benjamin."
Annan’s voice was very low, but in the deserted corridor, it was enough for Benjamin to hear clearly: "Just talk about anything, don’t stop..."
Benjamin blinked for a moment, then attributed it to Evelyn possibly being a bit afraid of the dark.
So he simply cleared his throat and started to show off his knowledge in earnest:
"Can you imagine, Evelyn? Those eighteen huge bone crossbows the size of bed crosses, mounted on the ceiling—enemies from all directions couldn’t bypass them! It only takes four or five seconds to load an arrow, but a soul arrow will chase after its target like a wild dog! Every shot hits! Isn’t that cool? I think those who came to exterminate the undead alliance were not just the followers of the bone burial granny. Because these crossbows, they must have been prepared for ordinary people..."
"Oh right! There were evil spirits, too!"
As Benjamin reached an exciting point, his voice grew loud; he blurted out excitedly, "Did you know, Evelyn—the priests of the Pale Princess could project themselves out of their bodies just like evil spirits!
"Ordinary people couldn’t see them at all, just a white luminescence... Yes, my teacher told me that the Pale Tide is made up of evil spirits, isn’t that impressive!"
For some reason, Benjamin’s words were particularly loud in Annan’s ears.
He even suddenly felt a bit dazed—
After a sudden bout of vertigo, Annan’s grip on Benjamin’s hand suddenly slipped.
He stumbled and slid down several steps on the staircase.
Luckily, he was already close to the end, so he didn’t fall off by accident.
Annan grimaced as he slowly stood up from the ground.
He paused mid-sentence and suddenly froze.
The green light above his head had gone out.
Annan called out softly.
But in the darkness, no reply came.
He slightly furrowed his brows and instinctively opened the quest list.
Annan stopped all his movements.
[Main quest: Return Home]
[Keep Your Body Intact]
[Do Not Converse with Anyone]
"...What’s going on?"
He found it inexplicable.
Had he... come back again?
Were these two tasks still not completed?
Some kind of nesting doll technique?
Annan hesitated for a moment, whether to go back up or continue exploring below.
After some thought, he decided to move forward.
Previously, Evelyn entered the dream near the water, so after returning to the water’s edge, the dream was lifted. But now... Annan couldn’t guarantee that going back again would break the dream.
Without Benjamin’s light, going up the stairs was one thing... but going down would be troublesome.
So, Annan continued to move forward, fumbling along the wall.
Annan remembered after entering the underground, walking straight ahead to the end. After passing his original "prison," there was a right turn at the end of the corridor.
He wondered if the guard in the left corridor of the prison was still there this time...
Luckily, he was rather fortunate.
Not a single footstep was heard as Annan reached the end of the right wall corridor.
He couldn’t help but let out a sigh of relief.
Good... it should be clear.
After all, it was extremely dark here. Evelyn didn’t have Dark Vision and could only barely make out where the walls were through the faint light seeping in, just enough to avoid walking into them.
However, after Annan rounded the long corridor, he finally saw some light—
Annan grew curious, his sense of caution also rising.
The presence of a candle meant there was definitely someone there!
But as Annan crept forward in the silent underground toward the middle of the corner corridor, he suddenly heard two loud bangs from behind!
...What was that noise?
Annan’s pupils shrank slightly on the spot.
He wasn’t afraid, but he immediately stopped and crouched to make himself a smaller target.
He regretted not going back to the entrance first to pick up the bladed chain.
Still, Annan squinted his eyes slightly and sneaked back silently.
If someone was passing by here... Annan was confident enough that he could tackle and strangle the individual the moment they turned the corner!
But before Annan could slowly make his way to the corner, he suddenly paused.
Six bangs... had sounded.
Hearing a thud, Annan recognized the familiar sound of a prison door being kicked open.
Then the sound followed, chains dragging on the ground, rattling noisily.
Annan uttered softly.
His scalp tingled for a moment—
In that instant, Annan seemed to grasp something.
The soft gasp of a girl around the corner...
The fresh water marks on the floor...
The task requirement not to speak to anyone...
What he saw when he first entered the instance... was his present self!
Without a second thought, Annan ran towards where the light was—
Following this logic, the person lighting the candle at the end of the corner could very well be "Evelyn"!