This may be a recurring nightmare that would make ordinary people’s hair stand on end.
But for Annan, it actually aroused his interest——
When I first came out of "prison", the "eh" I heard was the sound I made now.
But how does this nightmare know that it will happen to be here at this time?
Is this really a time loop dream?
It would be fine if this was a nightmare caused by the influence of the man in the mirror... But is it obviously just the pale princess's nightmare?
The Pale Princess has no abilities related to time and mirroring...
Or... the direction of this nightmare's "distortion" is time and mirroring?
Is it because I have been in contact with Benjamin from the future...or is it because I hold a mirror personally gifted by the man in the mirror?
Many possibilities appeared in Annan's mind at the same time.
But it also made him no longer timid.
If this candle is lit by my future self——
Annan quickly ran to the end of the corridor.
His steps paused slightly.
What was in front of him was still as long as before, and it took him ten seconds to run at full strength to reach the end of the corridor.
This time, there was a table in the middle of the corridor. On the table was a letter and a pile of white candles of the same thickness and height. The only candle that was lit seemed to have been lit not long ago, and only a quarter of it was burned.
Seeing this, Annan was a little disappointed.
In Annan's view, if this is indeed an infinite loop of matryoshka dolls, my future self will definitely be here holding a candle, waiting for me to come over, and then form a team to play.
After all, only Annan himself knows him best...
……Um?
Annan frowned slightly.
wrong.
He had chosen to run here before, looking for the "third Evelin" just because he was worried that he would not be able to convince the "first Evelin" about "I am you" without communication.
It's entirely possible that he was a monster who turned into Evelin - even to say the least, before the first Evelin, or the first Annan saw Evelin's appearance in the lake... he saw a face full of scars
, approaching her with water stains all over her body and not speaking a word, he might really kill her as a monster.
Annan has such confidence in himself.
That's why he chose to find his third self.
If the third self exists, he should know that the second self can already believe "this is a matryoshka doll book".
So the second self is different from the first self in that he is trustworthy.
So, why didn't he show up here?
Is it because it's not necessary, or...can't?
Annan frowned, walked to the table, and opened the envelope.
There were a few short sentences on the envelope. Just by looking at the fluent cursive handwriting, Annan could be sure that it was not written by himself:
"The pursuit of love without destiny,
"Imprisoned in the body of life,
"The wandering dancer pursuing beauty and freedom——
"Pan Bai already knows your purpose of coming,
"Through this door,
"Dedicate your remaining soul to the pale."
The words in the envelope declared the end.
...This is, "successfully completing the sacrificial ceremony"?
Annan was in a daze.
There is too much information in this letter.
Wandering dancer, remnant soul...
Could it be that Evelin is actually dead?
So what is the situation with Evelin in reality?
Annan also suddenly realized another very important thing:
This is...whose nightmare?
This dungeon is on hard difficulty.
In other words, his master should be a silver-level transcendent...
Obviously, Evelin is not.
At least the current Evelin is not...she has not even reached the path of apprenticeship, and in terms of attributes, she is not even level 1.
However, Annan's pause and reflection here is not without value.
He clearly saw that the candle had moved down about one-eighth of its height.
——This candle burns so fast, it’s so unnatural.
This was Annan's first thought.
His second thought also emerged:
He only paused here for half a minute, and one-eighth of the candle was burned out.
——Understood, it should take four minutes to burn out all the candles.
In other words, another "Annan of a certain week" has only left here for a minute and a half!
...but why is he hiding from himself?
Without thinking, Annan took the candle out of the candlestick and fixed it on the table.
He held the sharp candlestick as a weapon and rushed to the end of the corridor——
Then he opened the door.
But the moment he opened the door, Annan was stunned.
At the end of this basement, in the room at the end of the unnatural winding road...
But there are densely packed, seventy or eighty white candles with the same height and thickness - each candle burns at a different height.
And in the center of the room surrounded by candles, it was illuminated like the middle of day.
——But it is a guillotine.
Moreover, it is a rather gorgeous guillotine built on an altar with layers of cake-like upwards.
It has a pure white wooden exterior, engraved with white runes, and inlaid with various gems. The tilted guillotine dragged to the highest point by the rope is crystal-colored... On both sides of the guillotine, there are wedding-gown-like shapes.
White gauze.
In front of the guillotine, there was a white lace basket. It looked like it was used to hold flowers... but Annan knew that it was supposed to be used to hold the head.
Looking from a distance, you might think this is a giraffe bride wearing a wedding dress.
Annan carefully searched around the room, but could not find any exit. There was no blood on the guillotine, and there was no head in the basket.
——But this is obviously a dead end.
There is nothing in the room that can be investigated.
Just when Annan stood in front of the guillotine, pondering whether to try to turn around...
Suddenly, a strange yet familiar low voice came from behind him:
"——Annan, don't move, don't look back!"
That's Evelyn's voice!
In other words, that is my own voice!
Annan knows very well - but where the hell did you come from?
But because the other party had already spoken, Annan could only stand silently.
what happened?
Could it be that my future self is tasked with killing my present self?
And the "self" behind him continues to make demands:
"Get on the ground yourself, hurry up... Bah, you don't have to stick your butt out. Well, in order for you to trust me, I will mention a key word, player and planner. Okay? Get on the ground quickly, don't waste time..."
waste time?
Annan thought about it, then he obeyed the voice of the man behind him and lay on the guillotine. He stared intently at the white flower basket in front of him in trance.
…You’re not going to let me cut the rope myself, are you?
At this moment, Annan heard the very clear sound of the rope being cut.
Then there was the sound of the guillotine suddenly falling——
"Ouch..."
Annan heard Benjamin's cries of pain that he tried to suppress.
The next moment, Annan suddenly opened his eyes.
Only then did he notice that he and Benjamin had fallen at the bottom of the stairs - the lamp fell aside. And he had been soaked before, and now the clothes on his hands were covered with dust... All of this dust had turned into
Mud, giving off an extremely uncomfortable feeling.
Annan thought so and stretched out his hand to help Benjamin up.
He subconsciously did not touch Benjamin with his muddy hands.
But at this time, Benjamin grabbed Evelin's hand tightly and staggered up from the ground.
"Ouch...this..."
He whispered a few words of pain, and then gently advised: "It's okay, it's okay, nothing is broken..."
…From what you’re saying, my foot slipped and I pulled you off?
Annan quickly recognized the meaning of young Benjamin.
Otherwise, he would definitely complain about why the ground was so slippery - he didn't dare to complain too much, but comforted Evelin immediately, probably because the pot belonged to Evelin.
Was it when I was unconscious and lost control of my body?
Annan subconsciously opened the task panel.
Sure enough, the mission changed again:
[Main mission: Return to the dream]
【Gain Benjamin's trust】
[Successfully completed the sacrificial ceremony]
【Do not go home】
Annan subconsciously grinned, not because his body hurt, but because his balls hurt - although he might not have this function for the time being.