Chapter 1 In the Wrong Order, Skipping a Chapter

It was a night of heavy snow.

Snowflakes fell on the roof of the white monastery, making the building look even more bloated.

The identity of a patrol officer was very useful. Suren easily knocked on the monastery door.

The courtyard was also covered with thick snow, and pigeons cooed in their sleep high above.

A brown-haired nun greeted him.

"Officer Johnny, is there something you need?"

"There's been another murder on the street, and I'm worried the killer might be hiding in the monastery. Can I come in and take a look?"

"Of course."

The brown-haired nun led Suren into the monastery.

The main hall didn't have statues of gods, but rather the "Ouroboros" totem, the symbol of alchemists' faith.

Suren wanted to get some useful alchemical knowledge from these nuns, but he didn't succeed.

"Could you tell me how many nuns there are in the monastery now?"

"Six."

"I need to ask the others some questions."

"..."

"Oh, and what about Sister Alice?"

"I'm sorry, she's completing her weekly task of maintaining the seal in the basement."

"Seal?"

"..."

The conversation stopped halfway through.

At least Suren knew that these nuns were here to maintain the seal.

...

Soon, Suren walked out of the monastery.

Although he didn't see Alice, he heard a tragic love story.

The story also completed the last piece of the puzzle.

Walking down the street, he hadn't gone far when he heard the sound of footsteps crunching through the snow.

Someone was behind him.

But the gaze didn't seem malicious for the moment.

Suren calmly turned around and saw a person completely covered in a black cloak.

The cloaked figure said, "Do you think my appearance is ugly?"

The hoarse voice sounded like it came from a throat branded with a hot iron.

Then he raised his head, revealing a distorted, monstrous face.

Suren had already guessed who "it" was. His expression didn't change at all as he said calmly, "Appearance is never the key to measuring beauty. In my eyes, kindness has nothing to do with the shell."

The hints from the All-Knowing Eye's appraisal were already very clear.

Answering "ugly" or "not ugly" wasn't the answer.

Not answering wasn't the answer either.

Emotion was the correct answer.

Feelings of disgust would stimulate "it."

That was why, for Suren, the difficulty of this cursed space was "D-level."

Suren could control his emotions very well.

After a pause, he looked at the cloaked figure in front of him and sighed. "Mr. Brooke, I've heard your story, and I'm very sorry..."

The cloaked figure was silent upon hearing this.

After a long time, he said in a hoarse voice, "Sir, could you please meet me at the bell tower? I'm going to die tonight, and I have a request to ask of you..."

Without thinking, Suren agreed decisively, "Okay."

The cloaked figure in front of him was identified as [an Abbas Flesh Mountain Clone on the Verge of Complete Aberration].

Suren knew he wasn't the Hunchback of the Bell Tower.

Hearing Suren's agreement, the cloaked figure seemed relieved and disappeared into the snowy night.

Suren ignored the cloaked figure.

He went straight to the red brick bell tower, which he knew from the start was the key to breaking the situation.

There was a thick iron door at the base of the bell tower, which was now open.

Suren walked in without hesitation.

There was no elevator, so he climbed the stairs step by step.

Gradually, strange patterns appeared on the surrounding walls. They looked like autumn ivy, covering the entire wall, becoming denser as he went higher.

Later, he realized that they were dense, living blood vessels.

Further up, human organs began to wriggle on the walls: intestines, yellowish fat layers...

Even the steps under his feet turned into flesh and blood with slippery mucus, making each step wet and slick.

The air was filled with a special fishy smell of fresh organs.

Suren felt like he had entered the body of a huge monster. Just as he was about to reach the top, he saw a huge, beating heart.

This was the real difficulty in breaking this cursed space.

The first reaction of a normal person entering this bell tower would probably be to throw a grenade and destroy everything.

Stimulating "it" upstairs would have serious consequences.

Suren looked at the information he had identified, and his face didn't show any unusual color. He climbed up the bloody steps step by step.

Finally, he reached the top of the bell tower and saw a human face growing on the wall.

It was an aberration monster whose flesh and blood were completely integrated with the bell tower.

The Hunchback of the Bell Tower?

No,

he should be called the Bell Tower Monster.

A voice came from the hollow space below the two eyeballs, which looked like a mouth: "Sorry, did I scare you?"

Suren knew the story of this man from the nuns. He shook his head and said, "No, Mr. Brooke. You are a respectable and brave warrior."

"Yes, I don't regret joining the war."

There was a hint of pride in his voice. "If I had time, I would talk to you about that battle. But I don't have time now..."

After a pause, he continued, "Although I didn't die in battle, I was infected with aberration during a fight with a deep abyss monster... Seven days ago, I held on to my last bit of obsession and came back here, wanting to see her one last time. But unfortunately, my will can no longer stop my body from being distorted, and demons are devouring my sanity. I don't want her to see me in my current monstrous form... so I hid in this bell tower."

As Suren listened, he saw that the direction those two eyeballs were looking in was the white monastery across the way, visible through the gaps in the clock face.

In the last moments of his life, he silently watched the girl he loved.

The voice continued, "If possible, could you please help me fulfill my last wish and bring my keepsake to my beloved Alice? Tell her that I can no longer keep our appointment, and to stop waiting for me..."

"Okay."

Suren agreed and took a harmonica that came out of a fleshy tentacle, taking a look at it.

[Brooke's Harmonica]

Description: Can you help me deliver it to the girl I love the most?

Curse Characteristic: A lifelong love, is that a curse?

Detailed explanation: It's engraved with the names of Alice and Brooke; playing it can soothe Alice's soul;

Using the last of his will to finish speaking, the human face on the wall slowly closed its eyes.

The beating of the giant heart gradually stopped, and the bell tower returned to silence. Only the "click, click" of the clock hands could be heard.

How tenacious the life of an aberration monster was, but Brooke took the initiative to give up his own life.

Up to this point, the entire story of the cursed space was complete.

Watching the aberration monster, identified as [Abyss Abbas Flesh Mountain (Second-Order Silver-Level Aberration)], die, Suren breathed a long sigh of relief.

He also knew that this was the correct "D-level difficulty" solution.

A strong attack would be "A-level."

Even with the Black Scythe, such a large volume wouldn't create effective damage.

Even if the entire tower were blown up, it wouldn't necessarily kill Brooke. Instead, it would completely enrage him and turn him into a terrifying monster.

According to the original storyline, Brooke shouldn't have entrusted this harmonica until his death, which formed this obsession, hoping that someone would return this "token" to Alice.

Suren thought he probably knew who the "Weeping Witch" was.

The two symbiotic cursed spaces were like the bell tower and the monastery watching each other from afar.

...

As the signs of life of the flesh mountain disappeared, a piece of glowing flesh gradually condensed.

[Abbas's Flesh]

Detailed explanation: Second-Order Silver material, refined into a professional advancement material, can greatly improve physical strength;

Second-Order Silver materials were already very rare.

Suren put away the material, knowing that the cursed space was about to collapse.

But... the story was pretty good.

No cursed object dropped?

Without thinking too much, the scenery around Suren suddenly changed.

Then, he saw that he was back in the ruins of Dawn City.

Beside him, Tommy was looking at the black whistle in his hand with a puzzled expression.

He looked at Suren and said in surprise, "Mr. Johnny!"

Suren guessed what had happened and asked, "Did you meet the cloaked figure?"

Tommy said, "Yes... he suddenly walked into the house and asked if I thought he was ugly. I felt he was in a lot of pain, and then I chatted with him for a few words. He gave me a whistle. And then... I don't know how, but I came out."

"..."

Suren thought that sometimes, breaking through a cursed space depended on strength,

and sometimes, it really depended on your face.

No wonder he felt that the space hadn't produced a cursed object. It turned out it was with Tommy.

[Whistle of the Dead]

Quality: Gold

Description: Do you want to talk to demons?

Curse Characteristic: By using the power of demons, you will be tempted by demons;

Detailed explanation: A mysterious-type 'Spiritualist' job transfer material; job transfer conditions require a specific psychic physique;

Suren didn't know what talent Tommy had awakened, but this cursed object was a good thing.

An "Gold Quality" ancient relic was definitely a rare profession.

He hadn't heard of "Spiritualist," but it was definitely not simple.

Tommy asked, holding the whistle, "Mr. Johnny, what is this whistle, and why did the cloaked figure give it to me? I feel like it suits me very well..."

"A rare gold job transfer material. Put it away."

Suren didn't say much, because at this moment, the scene he had expected was unfolding on the ruins of the monastery opposite them.

...

Loud arguments could be heard.

"We signed an equal exploration contract! Why is the Oliver family making us test the cursed space for you!"

"Damn it, Battle Blade Squad! You're violating the Wilderness Hunter Covenant!"

"They never intended to let us get out alive..."

"..."

Outside the monastery not far away, dozens of people from the Battle Blade Squad were holding guns, driving three groups of freelance Wilderness Hunters, including the "Drunken Bastards," into the monastery, seemingly forcing them to test the cursed space.

At this moment, they also discovered Suren and Tommy, who had appeared out of thin air.

In an instant, everyone looked over, their guns and cannons pointed at them.

Tommy, seeing his father among them, rushed up in anger, "Let go of my dad!"

The situation in front of them was exactly as Suren had predicted.

The Battle Blade Squad finally dropped their pretense. Dozens of malicious gazes made one's scalp tingle.

With the situation critical, Suren snorted coldly in his heart. Subconsciously, he hooked the silk thread in his hand, instinctively wanting to control the Abomination to kill the Battle Blade Squad's second-order leader first, and then snipe the others guerrilla-style.

But in the next second, he glanced at his hand and stopped subconsciously.

Then, a look of confusion appeared on his face.

He looked down at his hand again, tried to perform that awkward finger-winding movement, and discovered the problem.

Looking at the surrounding environment again, and then at his hand.

He finally realized something: "Huh... so it's a dream. When did I get caught? Was it the moment I came out just now?"

The "Weeping Witch's" main method was killing people in their dreams.

Suren had never been careless from the beginning.

He used a special conditioned reflex to confirm that the scene in front of him was a dream of his own creation.

...

Normally, people who are dreaming aren't aware that they are in a dream.

But being able to realize that you are in a dream can be achieved through certain training techniques.

Suren had done this kind of training in order to control the dangerous personality that would appear in his sleep and harm others.

It was that finger-winding movement he had done earlier. He had repeatedly told himself before going to sleep: "When I am in a dream, I will look at my fingers and realize that I am dreaming."

(Note: Lucid dreaming, similar to 'Carlos Castaneda's Techniques,' with some modifications, don't take it too seriously)

Then, through this long-term training,

it had become a conditioned reflex.

Now, although everything in front of him was incredibly real, Suren was sure that he was in a dream.

...

In front of him, the Battle Blade Squad had already caught Tommy and were crowding around him.

Suren smiled and chuckled.

The dream version of himself must be alive.

So they might shoot, but he definitely wouldn't die.

Facing the countless gun muzzles around him, he didn't resist. A mad smile appeared in the corner of his eyes.

Once he confirmed that he was in a dream, nothing mattered anymore.

He took out a gun, pointed it at his chin, and pulled the trigger without hesitation.

He was very skilled, obviously not the first time.

...

Everything went black.

It was like waking up from a nightmare.

Suren looked at the surrounding environment.

It was a snowy crossroads.

"Mr. Johnny? Where are we?"

Beside him, a little boy wearing thin clothes tentatively called out. He was carrying a basket of matches.

The Little Match Girl?

This familiar scene had appeared in front of him again.

But because of the lack of dream memory, he only felt that the scene was familiar, as if it had happened before, but he didn't realize anything.

"Dawn City a thousand years ago..."

Suren muttered, wanting to reply to Tommy with "cursed space."

But suddenly, he subconsciously looked at his hand, then looked around again. His expression instantly became serious, as if something had triggered a conditioned reflex, realizing something: "Dream?"

Tommy's eyes went blank.

He watched as Suren pulled out a pistol, pointed it at his temple, and exclaimed, wanting to stop him, "Mr. Johnny, what are you doing!"

Before he could finish speaking, Suren, with a smile on his face, pulled the trigger without hesitation.

The more you talk, the deeper you fall into the dream, the harder it is to get out.

There was another "bang."

Everything went black.

It was like waking up from a nightmare.

...

This time, the scene changed.

It was a dilapidated monastery, surrounded by thick fog. Only the scene inside the monastery was real.

In the monastery's main hall, a silver-haired nun more than five meters tall was attacking several humans with her hair that could grow longer.

There were seven people, five of whom were second-order professionals, and two of whom were crowd control mages.

Four of the five second-order professionals had familiar faces: Lloyd the "Illusionist," Longfellow the "Blood Crow" from the Crow Gang, Bloom the leader of the Battle Blade Squad, and Toinby the "Mechanical Tyrannosaurus" from the Steam Party. The last one was an unknown mage in a robe.

The other two first-order professionals also had very rare crowd control abilities. One used a "Thorn Entanglement" spell, controlling the tall nun's legs, showing a special talent for manipulating plants. The other emitted a "Slow Ray" that slowed the nun's movements, also a special ability.

While the seven surrounded the "Weeping Witch," Lloyd the "Illusionist" kept shouting and commanding.

"Send another group of people into the witch's dream to stimulate her into the second state. That way, killing her will get us 'Infinite Hair'!"

"Quick, control her! Her hair length is limited now, injure her first!!!"

"Don't hit the head, the materials need to be extracted and the head must be intact!"

"..."

With the cooperation of the seven, the tall nun was already covered in wounds.

In the next second, without knowing what had happened, the surrounding fog gradually turned red.

The nun, who had originally had snow-white skin, suddenly turned red all over.

"The witch has gone berserk and entered the second state?"

Suren was shocked as he watched the scene in front of him.

He had learned about the "Weeping Witch's" abilities in detail from Mr. Black. Seeing this scene, he immediately realized what these people were doing.

...

"Such a big show, am I dreaming?"

Looking at the unreal scene in front of him, Suren didn't believe his eyes and the thought popped into his head instinctively.

He looked down at his hand, but found that it was... the real world?!

Realizing this, suddenly, his memories seemed to reconnect.

Suren instantly remembered the experience in the [Hunchback of the Bell Tower] space, and the memories of committing suicide twice to get out of the dream.

Looking at the environment in front of him again, the True Sight Eye appraised the results.

[White Monastery]

Detailed explanation: A special triggered cursed space. If you can't tell the difference between dreams, the danger level will be "T-level." Kill the witch to get out.

"This is the real world!"

Suren was surprised.

This time, he didn't pull out his gun and commit suicide.

But at the same time, he guessed, "I must have been sucked into this space as soon as I came out of the [Hunchback of the Bell Tower] space. Did I trigger some large-scale spatial entanglement? What did these guys do?"

He guessed that these guys in front of him had used some special cursed object, which caused the [Weeping Witch's Cursed Space] to cover all the spaces in the nearby area on a large scale.

This was why he was plunged into the witch's dream as soon as he came out of the other space.

"How long have I been in the cursed space? When did these guys come?"

Suren's mind was filled with doubts.

But he knew that he couldn't afford to think about it in detail at the moment.

Recognizing the origins of these people, Suren instantly understood that they were members of the Oliver family's Wilderness Hunter Squad!

To get the hair material, they directly sent five second-order professionals?

What a big deal...

The power of the top inner-city consortium was indeed well-deserved.

They not only wanted to kill monsters and get materials, but now they also wanted to deliberately stimulate this "Weeping Witch" to go berserk, to get higher-level materials?

The [Gold-level] aberration that he identified earlier would definitely be [Lord-level] after the second stage!

Want to get "Infinite Hair"?

Suren instantly connected the information he had just captured with everything he saw in front of him, understood something, and suddenly his eyes became ill-intentioned: "Tsk tsk... what a big deal!"