[You have been pulled into a dream.]
[WLL check has been initiated. Special event detected. Check waived. Pull successful.]
So it wasn't an illusion but a dream instead. SV thought to himself whether sleeping would pull him into the dream again. He ignored the thought for now and continued to check his logs.
[You have discovered Tipeb Town's Dream.]
[A quest has been generated.]
[You have been divined.] × 3
[WLL check has been initiated. 8<1000. Check failed. Divination successful.] × 3
He chuckled; Yun Jierou had to check three times just to be sure. Following that were identification skills from her group, ending with his death.
[You have been identified.]
[INT check has been initiated. 7<567. Check failed. Identification successful.]
...
[You have been observed.]
[INT check has been initiated. 7<612. Check failed. Observation successful.]
[Possession has been initiated.]
[You have died.]
It didn't even reach the SPR check stage.
He then checked the new quest he'd unlocked.
[Quest: A town's nightmare]
[Description: Spirits have been liberated, but a curse has trapped their wills in a dream. The lovely town has yet to escape the curse. Destroy the dream. Liberate the wills.]
[Duration: 06:17:35]
[Rewards: Talent Lv +1]
SV had many doubts about the mission. But when he reached the reward part, all his doubts evaporated.
He needed this. He didn't know if talent level would be reset after death too, but he had to try. After all, if it didn't, then he'd gain a permanent advantage.
Of course, even if the reward wasn't appealing, he'd still try and complete it. He was already at the final mission, so naturally he had to complete the storyline.
He then looked at the duration and pondered seriously. Wasn't it said that the festival would be held in a week? Six hours didn't look like a week to him.
There were obviously two scenarios. One, the time passed more slowly in the dream. Two, the BOSS's plan would come to fruition in six hours.
He hoped it would be the former, as that would give him more time to prepare and understand the instance, provided he had found a way to get back into the dream.
Finally, it was the description. It mentioned that the spirits were free, but the wills were not. Thinking to himself that the previous mission was to fulfill the town's desire. It obviously wasn't for the death of the BOSS. So it could only be the liberation of their spirits. But when did he liberate their spirits?
He thought for a moment and remembered how the Fractured Spirits would melt in the water during the previous battle. So it was then. And the quest was marked complete only after he had melted all the Fractured Spirits.
So the people in the dream were only wills now? What would happen if he tried possessing one of them? If their SPR turned out to be zero, it would confirm their existence, and did that mean everyone in the dream was merely a will? Even Yun Jierou and her group?
But didn't the BOSS excel in SPR? Did he just change his entire build to WLL directly?
No matter.
He clicked on revive.
—
The scene around his corpse was a picture of serene beauty. He crouched and looked at Yun Jierou's face up close. Her veil covering her features, her clothes spread on the ground, her lashes trembling slightly in her sleep.
"You should be thankful that I am an honorable bandit; otherwise, I would've just removed your veil to see what you look like," he muttered to himself.
For a conservative woman like her, removing her veil would likely deal a great blow to her.
However, SV was an honorable bandit. He wouldn't disrespect those who respected him. That was SV's creed.
Moreover, his anger had calmed down, and given her previous help and warning, she deserved the benefit of the doubt.
That said, he still didn't understand her. Obviously, she couldn't see anything in him but somehow chose to trust him. Then, the same happened in the dream, but she chose to control him. What changed?
The problem was that many things didn't make sense if she couldn't see through him. Many of her decisions didn't make sense at all.
No matter. She'd have to do some explaining later; if not, then their little friendship would be void and null.
And although he wouldn't do anything to her, the same didn't apply to the others.
He approached the 'who do you think you are' woman and activated his talent.
He immediately turned to dust and flowed into her mouth.
[Possession has been initiated.]
As he felt himself settling into his new form, without prior warning or any sort of pain, he suddenly found himself in the death screen again.
He speechlessly checked his logs.
[SPR check has been initiated. 591>5. Check failed. Possession failed.]
[You have died.]
He didn't even have the time to feel pain; he was directly obliterated. It seemed the SPR difference played a role in the struggle, which made sense given the degree of realism in this game.
However, his actions have confirmed that their spirits have indeed remained in their bodies.
On another note, his level was reset to zero again; could he somehow bring the pills here?
Looking up at the hole in the cavern, then at the debris lying around, he didn't know if the tunnel still existed, and while he still had a character situated in the town above, he didn't know if it would be worth the trouble to drop the bottle down. Not to mention whether the pill would still be edible after dropping it from that height.
Was the bottle an ordinary bottle?
Honestly, he didn't think it was.
No matter, he'd first try and get back to the dream and then consider whether a few levels were worth anything in this setting.
He clicked on revive and spawned directly on top of the woman. He looked down on her and wondered what would happen if someone else was standing in his respawn position. Would the respawn point be readjusted?
No matter.
He approached the lake and tried possessing it again. After all, all the spirits melted in this thing, so the wills must also be here, right?
As his hand touched the water, he turned to dust and merged with the lake.
[Possession has been initiated.]
As his dust spread to every corner of the lake once more, he was suddenly back at the death screen again.
SV expressionlessly looked at his logs.
[SPR check has been initiated. 211>5. Check failed. Possession failed.]
[You have died.]
He narrowed his eyes; a value of 211 looked strange no matter how he thought about it. It was too low. But when he remembered how the BOSS and himself were weakening as the Fractured Spirits were dissolving into the lake, he guessed that the BOSS might have possessed the lake.
Did that mean his body was soulless?
SV clicked on revive and brought the BOSS's corpse ashore before trying to possess it. His dust flowed into the BOSS's body.
[Possession has been initiated.]
Once again, he was back at the death screen. SV frowned and looked at his logs for the umpteenth time.
[SPR check has been initiated. 211>5. Check failed. Possession failed.]
[You have died.]
Another 211. He didn't think it was a coincidence that the two values matched. Did the BOSS put half his spirit into the lake?
He couldn't think of another answer for the moment.
Anyway, there remained one final thing for him to try; otherwise, he'd have to try and see if sleeping would get him back into the dream. Not to mention how unreliable that method was; he couldn't even guarantee when he'd wake up if the method failed. It was all time lost.
The remaining thing was to naturally take a look at the formation under the lake. He could see it emanating its usual black color.
However, he needed a vessel to avoid needing to breathe underwater, and the only viable vessel was his corpse.
He approached the corpse, and for the first time in a while, he succeeded in his possession.
As his dust settled in his corpse, he felt himself in control. He stiffly sat up and dived straight into the lake.
Typically, water pressure increased by one atmosphere for every ten meters. And normally, diving thirty meters was a massive feat.
However, thankfully for SV, his dead body that he inhabited was already physically very fit, and the lack of need for breathing and damage tolerance increased the limit of his descent to beyond human standards. Hence, he managed to reach the depth of the lake with ease.
Of course, the lake wasn't that deep anyway, and a normal human with some proper equipment could have reached the bottom without problems.
Looking at the formation colored a deep black and its light-consuming halo, he immediately touched it. However, nothing happened.
He was silent for a moment before punching it several times but received no response. The light didn't waver at all.
SV seriously considered whether punching it continuously for 6 hours straight would yield any results but dismissed the thought.
He could only sigh and head back up.
On the surface he immediately dispossessed his husk and stretched his muscles.
He then looked around and started stroking his beard. Looking at the BOSS, he narrowed his eyes and went to punch him.
What he expected was to feel his hands hitting steel, but the sensation was strangely human.
Did high attributes not mean higher defense?
Confused, he went and punched the 'who do you think you are' woman in the nose.
"Oof," he shook his hand, feeling that a crack had formed in his knuckles.
He then stared at the BOSS. His SPR was clearly high, so what was wrong with the rest of his stats?
No matter.
A sinister smile plastered itself on his lips as he approached the debris nearby, carrying a suitably sized rock with him.
"No hard feelings," he said as he smashed the rock on the BOSS's head.
The BOSS head was smashed to pieces. SV waited a moment, but no notification popped up. He stared at the BOSS's corpse for a long time.
Honestly, the more he looked, the more he got a feeling of deja vu. If he touched it, would a red light drill into his glabella? Surely not, right?
He crouched down and narrowed his eyes as he hesitatingly touched the corpse. Fortunately, or maybe unfortunately, nothing happened.
SV thought for a moment before taking the rock and starting to smash every part of his body.
The ordeal lasted a couple of minutes, and by the end of it, the BOSS had become one with the floor, with blood and flesh everywhere. He, on the other hand, had his arms numb, his back slightly hurting, and was panting slightly.
He touched it several times but didn't understand why he hadn't died yet. Where was the BOSS's spirit hiding?
Honestly, if his possession wasn't on cooldown, he would've liked to try and see what'd happen. Unfortunate. And he didn't have a good way to commit suicide to reset the cooldown.
Drown in the lake? Or hit himself with the rock? Bruh, he wasn't a masochist, nor was he crazy. He couldn't bring himself to. If only there was a weapon around.
He sighed as he plopped to the floor, looking at the BOSS or what had become of him.
[Duration: 05:47:21]
The clock was ticking, and he had made zero progress.
He quit his account and logged into Dead Undead.