The Righteous Player(s)

Chapter 26: Can I Have A Refund?

What?

That’s unbelievable.

Previously, Salvatore urged Annan to show him the four spells Annan learned. He sat on his seat and stared at Annan blankly.

How did he do that?

An unranked wizard apprentice learned four spells in two days without anyone teaching him.

The teacher said that Don Juan was very talented, but Salvatore did not believe it at that time.

But at this moment, it was more than just “very” talented!

Teacher, what are you doing? Why didn’t you teach him even a spell?

Salvatore could see that the spell-casting traces of these four spells were faint. This meant that after the feudal lord learned these four spells, he had never used them.

The only reason would be Annan learned these four spells just recently.

With the repeated release of the spells, the corresponding curse gradually coexisted with the body, and the power of the spell grew more and more powerful. Until it became instinctive, these spells could be used without spell casting or mana consumption.

This was why the older wizard was consistently more potent, most of the time.

This did not guarantee that the old wizard would be strong. After all, he might have only learned his first spell at the age of forty or fifty. However, the young wizard must not be as strong.

Damn it.

Could Don Juan be the Mysterious Lady’s illegitimate child?

Salvatore suddenly had such a blasphemous thought.

He doubted his life spanned more than 30 years.

He still remembered that it took a total of three weeks to learn the first spell that year and successfully take up the occupation of wizard apprentice. When he solidified the candle’s flame into a red crystal, his tutor at Alteration School praised his talent and introduced him to Benjamin.

Under Benjamin’s guidance, it took him ten days to learn the second spell – detonate the crystal and turn the fragments into iron pieces. After that, Benjamin kept guiding him. The process was so long until he could turn the large piece of iron into numerous steel needles. Only then, Benjamin allowed him to learn the new spell.

That was the guided spell, [Magnetization] – to control the steel needle to fly in the air.

His next spell was challenging [Thunderstorm Field]. It took him two months to finally acquire this spell.

He could use a set of two-by-two magnetized metal to conjure high-voltage lightning that linked two steel needles. Using the crystal prepared in advance as the material, he could summon the steel needle and then conjure many electric currents.

After possessing a complete combat combo cycle, Salvatore was allowed to advance to Bronze and become an Alteration School wizard.

Every Bronze Rank Transcended must hold a considerable degree of combat power. This was to prevent them from being easily killed by ordinary people.

This was the responsibility for one’s own life, but also others.

It was because Transcended’s body must be disposed of as soon as possible.

The specific handling method was to hold another Transcended ritual, absorb the former bearer’s curse, and inherit the curse binding of the former bearer. This was one of the fastest ways to get power, and it was usually the evidence of committing murder.

Suppose a Transcended curse was not absorbed for a long time. A nightmare would emerge from it.

The nightmare that emerged from Bronze Rank Transcended alone was enough to kill ordinary people easily. After all, before becoming Transcended, human beings could not maintain a sober self in a dream. If they continue to die in the nightmare, the curse would gradually infest the human, turning the human into a twisted monster. If the human were to be lucky, he merely died.

Even if you become Transcended, you can barely stay awake and realize that you are in a dream. You may not even be able to recall your original identity.

Only those who had the gift of magic arts could stay awake in dreams.

Even for those priests, the malice, despair, pain, and anger held by the nightmare’s masters would invade them all the time. It would interfere with their decisions and make them commit choices “that were initially impossible for them to make.”

Getting Transcended Power did not automatically make someone outperform ordinary people. However, if they could not defeat ordinary people independently, no matter how talented they were, they would not be allowed to advance into a Transcended.

Every time one were to advance, he or she must share the curse binding with the world under the witness of another Transcended. This person would be the ‘secret keeper,’ usually their mentor, parent, or senior.

In other words, if you don’t get the trust and affirmation of at least one Transcended, mortals will never be able to advance to Transcended.

“Can I advance now?”

Annan asked Salvatore seriously.

“Sure…”

Salvatore found his voice a little hoarse.

No, no, it must be because of the fire outside.

He tried to suppress the jealousy and despair in his heart. As Transcended, every negative emotion was a time bomb.

“Since Don Juan is willing to trust me and choose me instead of the teacher as his secret keeper, I can’t do anything immoral to him.”

Salvatore counseled himself in his heart.

Because every Transcended needed a trustworthy secret keeper.

The reason to be trustworthy was that after the secret keeper learned their curse binding, the secret keeper could easily kill them.

If no one knew its own curse binding, then the curse would not be bound. Every use of transcended power would erode itself. Conversely, the more secret keepers there were, the stronger the Oath Power.

This curse binding was not only the rope that bound the owner’s behavior but also the armor that protected the owner from being eroded by the curse.

Oaths and curses were the dualities of this world.

“So, when can we hold the ritual?”

Annan frowned slightly and asked urgently, “Roseburg’s viscount is trying to harm me. I must get enough power to protect myself as soon as possible.”

“Don’t worry. Since I choose to be your secret keeper, I can be regarded as your half mentor. I will settle your troubles before leaving.”

Salvatore promised, “As long as I am alive, you will not suffer.”

With that said, he explained to Annan what a secret keeper was as well as the relationship and obligations between the secret keeper and the bounded person.

One of the obligations was that the bounded person had to collect the secret keeper’s dead body. Of course, there were many bonded people under Salvatore’s name. It might not be Annan’s turn yet. But as a tradition, he still had to make it clear.

Annan nodded after listening.

“Alright.”

Annan replied readily, “I can trust you.”

I can’t help it even if you’re not trustable.

Annan felt helpless too. At least until his identity was revealed, Salvatore must be trustable.

He had only seen such a Transcended who could be tentatively regarded as an ally. Besides, he had to obtain sufficient power and status before the players arrived.

Otherwise, it would be difficult for Annan to manage them.

When my identity is revealed, I could get another secret keeper.But, let’s forget about this now.

Annan squinted slightly, thinking for a moment, and still vetoed the idea.

It was better to be more forthright and choose a curse binding that was harder to violate. The most important thing was not to be self-contradictory. For example, Benjamin’s first curse binding was quite tricky to violate.

Of course, the most important thing was to see the curse binding option he would get.

According to Salvatore’s previous introduction, the permanent curse binding received during the advancement was not a choice of oneself, and others did not mandatorily grant it. Instead, the curse binding would be picked from the several ones based on what the person did in the advancement nightmare.

The better the nightmare was completed, the stronger the power brought by curse binding and the broader the curse binding itself. Conversely, if the nightmare completion were low, the curse binding would be specific, and the power offered would be poor.

“Since you are in a hurry to advance, then I will stay up all night tonight.”

Salvatore sighed, barely opened his sleepy eyes, and muttered in a low voice,

“Don Juan, bring me the winter clothes. I’ll go to the basement to analyze the Black Fire samples to see who sold this item to Roseburg’s viscount. This item must be handled with soundproofing and cooling. Otherwise, there is a possibility of explosion.”

“About how long?”

“It’s quite fast – in about seven or eight hours. Anyway, it’s not yet the time for me to go to bed after processing it.”

With two dark circles under his eyes, the young mayor, who looked like Gaara [1], took over the winter clothes, sighed again, and said grumpily, “Don’t bother me! I’m going to work. Please don’t bother me afterward, too. I’ll talk about it tomorrow morning!”

Soon, Salvatore entered the soundproof and insulated basement.

Annan looked at his watch. It wasn’t 7 o’clock yet. So, he ate dinner first, then came back to continue his reading.

He planned to stay awake for the time being today. He wanted to see what would happen at midnight.

It was not until 11 o’clock in the might that some prompts flashed in front of his eyes.

[00:59:59 until the closed beta starts.]

[Activating the players’ forum.]

[Activating NPC template.]

[Activating the affection rate adjustment function.]

[According to the current template “Elite Rare (Gold),” acquiring the corresponding authorities.]

[Activating the right to release side missions.]

[Activating the authority to publish individual missions.]

[Detected Truth Fragment – Book of Divine Transporter.]

[Current Book of Divine Transporter holder: 1]

[Obtain temporary authority: Main mission distribution rights, player forum administrator status, creator’s perspective (map function)]

[Please write the initial plot.]

[Please confirm the character creation rules.]

[Please confirm rules governing the players’ choice.]

[Please specify the place where the players will land.]

[Please confirm the players’ system permissions.]

[Please draw the user interface of the players’ system.]

Seeing such a long list of prompts, Annan was utterly stunned.

What the hell?

I have transmigrated to another world. Yet, I still need to continue my work as a game planner.

Is being a planner my fate?

Worse still, I only have one hour left before the server commences. In the end, the scriptwriting hasn’t even started yet? The UI work isn’t done too.

Which Almighty God made this game?

Can you be a little more professional?

Can I have a refund?