Annan was always extremely harsh on himself.
He could sleep on command and never lingered in bed upon waking. He didn’t smoke or drink, believing that he should never eat a bite more than needed once full. He maintained a balanced nutrient intake daily; he believed playing with his phone before sleeping was bad, so once in bed, he would not open his phone at all. He stopped eating three hours before bed and wouldn’t start up a game either.
After all, he wasn’t the product manager next door; no matter how serious his work, he wouldn’t suddenly die from it.
Because he never slacked off during work hours, he was able to finish all tasks before leaving and didn’t need to work overtime late into the night. This was a good habit he had formed since his student days.
And Annan never took on any extra tasks beyond his capability—all the workload he undertook was just the right amount, which he could complete with full effort.
He was like the perfect rational machine. Precise, graceful, and flawless, his boss praised him highly, and doctors said he was very healthy.
This excellent self-control was precisely why, after losing half of his emotions, he could still maintain his normality through common sense.
After he had passed on the important messages to Priest Louis and Salvatore Hightower, he had done everything he possibly could.
The rest was out of his hands to handle well, no matter how hard he tried. Therefore, he left Louis and Salvatore Hightower to work through the night while he quickly fell sound asleep.
The familiar atmosphere of colleagues working overtime while he finished his tasks and went to bed early made Annan’s sleep especially sweet, waking up refreshed and clear-minded.
When he woke up again, players had already started to log in one after another.
Clearly, a considerable number of them had not slept at all but had logged in just as the eight-hour mark arrived.
Since Annan appeared to be still sleepy, they didn’t rudely disturb him or rush around to engage in various conversations seeking task clues. Instead, they went for breakfast, casually browsed forums, chatted, or formed groups to stroll around the city, admiring the otherworldly scenery and such.
Annan was very relieved.
It indicated that these players were quite mature.
The fact that they understood the principle of sharpening the axe not delaying the chopping of firewood meant they weren’t just some greenhorns.
Moved by this, Annan set a new task for them:
[The Old Viscount from Roth Fort indeed seeks Tan Juan Geraint’s life—as well as yours.]
[Certainly, there are powers from the Royal Capital supporting him from behind. And he has other forces secretly backing him up, but what of it? Regardless, you are not willing to concede defeat here. Your adventure is just beginning.]
[For this reason, Tan Juan Geraint has made preparations.]
[As Tan Juan said, ’This is not revenge, it’s murder.’ You have successfully thwarted an evil assassination plot, and now, it is time for your revenge.]
[Do not hesitate, do not pity, give it your all, by any means necessary—]
[For evil stands before you, and you all represent justice.]
[New Main Quest Acquired: Disaster of Roth Fort / Defending Frostwater Harbor]
[Main Quest: Disaster of Roth Fort (0/20)]
[Quest Requirement: Use your own methods to sneak into Roth Fort territory undetected (0/1), and at the right moment create havoc, preparing for Tan Juan Geraint’s plan (0/1).]
[Special Requirements (+10~100 Rating): Dependent on specific contributions]
[Special Requirement: Cannot be completed concurrently with "Defending Frostwater Harbor."]
[Main Quest: Defending Frostwater Harbor (0/20)]
[Quest Requirement: Before the plan succeeds, assist the militia in securing safety measures to ensure Frostwater Harbor is not attacked (0/1), and guarantee the survival of "Priest Louis," "Salvatore Hightower," and "Tan Juan Geraint" (0/3).]
[Special Requirements (+10~100 Rating): Dependent on specific contributions]
[Special Requirement: Cannot be completed concurrently with "Disaster of Roth Fort."]
Upon suddenly receiving the main quest, the players began a flurry of discussions on the forums.
They roughly understood that this must mean Tan Juan Geraint had awoken and, after discussing with the other two important NPCs, was determined to take revenge on Roth Fort.
The players genuinely felt this way from the bottom of their hearts.
After all, all of Frostwater Harbor was considered friendly territory.
Following a tense and thrilling but not fully satisfying war after the players landed, they found themselves in a predicament where there were no monsters to fight, no instances to run, only some simple day-to-day tasks.
While the world itself was surprising and satisfying enough for them, something still seemed missing.
Now, there was nothing lacking anymore.
The main quest finally advanced to the point where monsters could be fought.
In line with what the players might think, they certainly all wanted to take a look around Roth Fort. Not only because it was a place where they could "legally kill monsters" without having to worry about lowering Tan Juan’s favor,
but also because it was like a new map... Perhaps there were some good things not available in Frostwater Harbor or new tasks that couldn’t be accepted elsewhere.
Annan knew this to be true as well.
After all, compared to Frostwater Harbor, Roth Fort was closer to the inland. Back when Frostwater Harbor had been under the Winter Principality, Roth Fort was once a border fortress of the Royal Capital, with much denser traffic links to the inland than Frostwater Harbor. Although Roth Fort was indeed smaller in size than Frostwater Harbor, it had more than twice the population.
Although in theory, Tan Juan was the lord of the entire Beihai territory, and the Viscount of Roth Fort was his vassal guard, he was after all just the third son of the Geraint family, not his father... and certainly not his grandfather.
Today, Frostwater Harbor remained the most important city in Beihai territory—after all, it was the only large port. However, with the trade with the Winter Principality embargoed, Roth Fort had become the busiest of the two.
But Annan had already guessed the players’ thoughts.
So, he set a limit of twenty people for each of the two tasks. That is to say, only half of the players could go to Roth Fort... to prevent any potential home-stealing.
A certain tactician surnamed Sun once said, "All tactics revolve around home."
Annan was concerned that after he scattered forty nails in, the other side might have the same idea as him...
After this arrangement, the players quickly found the ten with the strongest combat ability in the last battle through discussion and election... and the ten oldest, most cunning, and best at stirring trouble amongst the streamers. They were to undertake this difficult stealth mission and, by the way, act as a shopping proxy.
All three who had perfectly completed the task before were included. In contrast, Jiu’er voluntarily chose to stay behind to defend the home.
Once the players had divvied up the tasks, Annan proceeded to the Silver Duke Church with Salvatore.
"Just as a precaution,"
Salvatore explained, "During the advancement ritual, you cannot be interrupted. And no one dares to attack the church, for the power of the Silver Duke Church... anyway, you’ll be safer here."
"And you’re going to draw their fire for me?"
Annan raised an eyebrow and countered.
Salvatore’s face remained serious: "Because there really might be spies or assassins mixed in, and they should be right by my side. Otherwise, they couldn’t have been sure that I would be in the basement at that time... After all, if I was free at that moment, those black fires couldn’t have been ignited. Before being lit, they were nothing more than casting materials to me.
"If you’re worried about me, then complete your advancement as quickly as possible and come out. One more Transcendent, and Frostwater Harbor will be much safer."
Annan nodded seriously.
Then, he stood on the ritual formation that had already been outlined in advance.
The formation was composed of red gemstone dust, not yet fully shaped.
Under the watchful eye of Priest Louis, Salvatore recited a transformation spell from his school for the first time in front of Annan:
"Partridge of the east, crane of the west, sparrowhawk of the south, owl of the north. Turn black with iron, white with fire, yellow with gemstones, red with blood—"
The gemstone dust in the formation began to melt and separate. The once flat formation gained dimension, and black, yellow, white triple rings started to rotate slowly and quietly around Annan.
At that moment, Salvatore breathed a sigh of relief.
"Alright, it can ensure your safety, and we can wake you up at any time... Now, prepare to enter the nightmare."
With that, he handed a piece of paper to Annan: "Just read the name on it."
Annan took the note and whispered:
A deep voice suddenly resounded in Annan’s mind with echoes upon echoes.
The next moment, a string of data suddenly appeared before his eyes:
[Detection of an impure Nightmare Shard]
[Level Requirement: Below Gold tier]
[Occupation Requirement: None]
[Special Requirement: None]
[Requirements met, falling into nightmare in ten seconds, ten, nine...]