Chapter 21: The Pacifist
Everyone chattered, reporting to their master and chief.
In short, after the anomaly occurred, almost all the town’s residents instantly fell into a deep sleep, struggling in endless nightmares.
Occasionally, a resident would wake up unexpectedly and try to rouse their sleeping family members, but to no avail. So they would go out to the streets to seek help.
Finally, they encountered the swordsmen of Richard Tennar.
At that time, the entire Richard Tennar Swordsman Group had been scattered and randomly teleported throughout the town. So, as they walked the streets, gathering their scattered swordsmen and the awakened residents, they set up camp in the church at the center of the town.
Then the chief and second-in-command set off to find their master, while the rest continued exploring the town, searching for a way to awaken the sleeping residents.
The final results were:
Master found.
Town explored, nothing discovered.
Sleeping residents couldn’t be awakened.
In fact, even the residents who woke up accidentally couldn’t explain what they had encountered in their dreams or what triggered their awakening. The only thing they could remember were the endless nightmares.
“Actually, there may not be a key method to awaken the sleeping residents.” One swordsman said doubtfully. “Maybe these residents just woke up by chance?”
“You can’t say that,” Nuremberg retorted. “Before confirming that we cannot awaken these sleeping residents, we should try every means to wake them up, instead of just watching them struggle in nightmares.”
“But we’ve tried all the possible methods.” Another swordsman said, “Noise, shaking, spinning, calls from loved ones, tickling their noses with feathers, and pouring chili water into their mouths, none of these methods worked.”
Pouring chili water into their mouths… Asker shuddered inwardly, wondering which unlucky person had enjoyed that treatment.
“Since these methods don’t work, let’s try methods we haven’t tried yet!” Nuremberg said firmly. “Where there’s a will, there’s a way!”
“Resign yourself to fate, and you court destruction; strive with all your might, and there’s a chance of survival.” The old Sword Saint began to recite poetry again, living up to his title of “King of Recitation.”
The swordsmen replied helplessly, “Master is right.”
“Hey,” Hans walked up to an awake townsperson and asked, “In your nightmare, what exactly happened? Do you remember anything?”
“Monsters…” the resident said with a mournful face, trembling. “Monsters everywhere…”
“What kind of monsters? Be more specific, can they be killed? Will they bleed when killed? Will they scream?” Hans continued to ask.
“Hans!” Nuremberg scolded him. “Don’t frighten the ordinary people!”
“I wasn’t trying to frighten anyone, I just want to know the truth.” Hans slowly stood up. “Or do our two chiefs have any brighter ideas?”
Two chiefs? The swordsmen were stunned, their gazes falling on Asker.
They thought that this man who had entered with their Master and the others was a townsperson they had rescued along the way.
A new chief? You must be joking! We’ve never even seen him before!
Nuremberg, oblivious to their hostility, turned to Asker:
“Chief Asker, do you have any opinions?”
“Opinions, well…” Asker paused. “Did you all encounter any monsters outside the town before teleporting here?”
“I suspect every monster outside corresponds to a sleeping resident in this town. They are the materialization of the most feared image in their consciousness, and also their mental prison, the reason why their physical bodies have fallen into slumber.”
“Killing a monster outside is equivalent to releasing a trapped mental body, and correspondingly, a resident here will wake up. The residents here who have awakened are all because the corresponding monsters outside were killed by mercenaries.”
“What evidence do you have for this reasoning?” one of the swordsmen asked.
“It’s a guess, no evidence,” Asker admitted readily.
“Then how can you prove it?” The swordsman asked bluntly. “If, as you say, the monsters outside correspond to the sleeping residents here, then you have to find a corresponding monster-resident pair, and then kill the monster in front of us to see if the corresponding resident wakes up. Only then can you verify your claim.”
This was, of course, impossible. Not to mention confirming which monster corresponded to which resident, the fact that they hadn’t found a way to leave this small world yet meant that this conjecture couldn’t be verified at all.
Asker couldn’t just say, “Based on my rich experience in the gaming industry, I can determine that this is the dungeon’s mechanism,” could he?
So he chuckled and said, “Then what do you think the truth is?”
“How would I know?” the other party said sarcastically. “I’m not the chief.”
“Hey!” Hans scolded. “Martin, how dare you speak to him like that! Do you want a beating?!”
Are you kidding me, this is the man who could withstand Master’s sonic boom attack, Martin, are you courting death?!
Swordsman Martin didn’t understand Hans’s implication, but simply sneered: “I have no objections to being beaten up by the Second-in-command. After all, your swordsmanship is far superior to mine.”
“However, if any random stranger can become the chief of our Swordsman Group, then what’s the point of our ranking?”
Asker sighed: “Medea…”
Then he paused, realizing Medea wasn’t with him. This provocative guy hadn’t been influenced by Desire manipulation.
No way, do I really have a face that attracts aggro?
“Chief Asker’s appointment was Master’s decision,” Nuremberg frowned.
“Master also has moments of clouded judgment,” Martin sneered.
“Hey, are you going to make a move?” Hans leaned close to Asker and whispered, “This Martin is ranked fifteenth in the group, very arrogant, I’ve long disliked him. But I hope you’ll show some mercy. I think breaking his arms and legs and hanging him up is enough, no need to kill him.”
“Do I look like a murderer?” Asker said, bewildered.
Was it necessary? This Martin was just unwilling to admit defeat, any organization would encounter similar problems with a parachuted-in executive.
However, Asker was just an honorary chief, not a real one with actual power. He naturally didn’t need to make an example of this guy to establish his authority.
“You do.” Hans said seriously. “You’re so young, yet you can withstand Master’s sonic boom attacks. You must be a battle-hardened warrior, a fanatic who treats combat like eating and drinking, otherwise your current strength is inexplicable.”
Asker: …
“Actually, I’m a pacifist,” Asker said.
“Haha,” Hans said.
“You don’t believe me?” Asker asked.
“I’ve never seen a pacifist armed to the teeth.” Hans looked him up and down, his chin in his hand. “Spear, axe, swords, pistol, and even throwing knives and a dagger… How do you promote your pacifist ideals? By killing anyone who disobeys?”
“Not really,” Asker said. “I carry so many weapons because different weapons have different uses.”
“What uses?” Hans asked.
“For those who talk too much,” Asker said. “Spear through the heart, sword through the belly, axe to the feet, dagger to skin them, pistol to the head… let them choose their preferred method of suicide.”
Hans: …
And you say you’re a pacifist!
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