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n

n

n“Just leave. Willa, bring us to eat the chicken.”

n“The Dream Eaters are onto this Nightmare Dungeon. There’s nothing you can do about it! Even though I want to see Miss Yana wear a maid outfit or lace sheer clothes… Miss Yana is a nightmare consciousness. The Dream Eaters have their eyes on her… So… there’s really no way to get her out of it!”

n

n

nYana was the real name of the human girl in “The Giant and The Little Bee.” Many viewers in Willa’s live broadcast were also fans of this production.

nTheir hearts ached to see the female protagonist of a sweet romantic drama being forced to pick up a sword with wounds decorating her body and being dragged into such a dangerous, depressing battlefield. The enemies she was facing were even the “Dream Eaters,” whom they didn’t even dare to talk about in the live broadcast.

n“Should I really just… leave?”

nWilla sat next to the first bonfire as she wrapped her arms around her legs. She threw a stone down the valley next to the bonfire with a little discouraged look.

n

n

n“What else do you want to do? The ones who are after this Nightmare Dungeon are the Dream Eaters! If they think you’re a dangerous person, you’ll immediately be shot to death, let alone being arrested!”

n“The mission of the Dream Eaters is to destroy all the nightmare consciousnesses in this dungeon, right? What they’re doing is righteous. These nightmare consciousnesses feed on people’s lives. We shouldn’t stand in their way.”

n“Yana is also a nightmare consciousness. Do you think… she deserves to be killed?” Willa asked this question as she looked at the real-time comments in the live broadcast.

nWilla’s controversial question started a heated discussion on the bullet screen. They kept arguing whether nightmare consciousnesses should be completely eliminated or not.

n

n

nThis was also a topic that had never changed among humans ever since Nightmare Seeds first appeared.

n“If she’s willing to wear a lace sheer maid outfit, I’ll be willing to become her knight! I’ll kill whoever touches her!”

n“Who doesn’t know how to bluff? If you really want to protect her, you have to defeat Gundyr first. I bet you won’t even be able to beat Gundyr, who guards the door, after you enter Dark Souls?”

n“The ones who are truly terrifying are the Dream Eaters. Which one of you dares to fight against the Dream Eaters?”

n“Why not? We’re anonymous players when we explore Dream Dungeons. As long as we all join the Undead Legion of Farron together, even the Dream Eaters will be no match for us, no matter how many people they have.”

n“I’m willing to join the Undead Legion of Farron to protect Miss Yana’s lace sheer maid outfit.”

n

n

n“ 1”

n“ 2”

n“What are you doing?”

nWilla looked at the enthusiastic real-time comments in the live broadcast and found them funny, but she held her legs, going into silence again.

nShe was scared right now, so scared that she might not be able to sleep at night.

nThe viewers in the live broadcast had a reason to be so courageous. Even if they really joined the Undead Legion of Farron and fought with the Dream Eaters to protect the world of Dark Souls, the Dream Eaters wouldn’t know who they were in reality.

nThe problem was that the Dream Eaters had already found out Willa’s real identity.

nThis was like being registered on the FBI’s elimination list.

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n

nFear enveloped Willa’s entire body. She was desperate to find someone to talk to right now, but she didn’t know who to look for.

nShould she leave this Nightmare Dungeon and go back to eat the chicken?

nWilla thought this was the most correct choice. Once she left this Nightmare Dungeon, she would be able to return to her normal life.

nBut she felt like she shouldn’t just leave like this…

n“Do you… still want to continue?”

nSuddenly, Willa saw a comment which seemed a bit like a misfit in the bullet screen.

nThe real-time comment was sent by a user called “Cheems.”

n“I don’t know…” Willa lowered her voice and whispered, “I really don’t know what to do. If I choose to leave and quit the game right now… will Yana be eliminated by the Dream Eaters?”

n“The Dream Eaters isn’t a government organization protected by the laws of your country. Your obstructive behavior will not violate any relevant laws. Considering certain characteristics of your country, we can offer you protection if you want. Your flight tickets and visa will be prepared today.”

nCheems sent a private message to Willa. As she was reading the message, Cheems also sent her a lot of relevant ID pictures, which made her feel like the other party was serious.

n“You are?”

n“It’s not important who I am. Question: Do you still want to stay in this nightmare to fight for a group of people who don’t exist in reality?” asked Cheems.

n“Yana is a living person. At least I… think so!”

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n

nWilla had never treated the dream consciousness as a virtual existence.

n“So, your answer is?”

n“Yes, I want to! I can’t stand the expression of that Dream Eater as well! I want to give her a lesson, but… but…” Willa grabbed her long hair on the sides and said with a discouraged look, “I… can’t even beat the first boss, Gundyr, right now, not to mention… fighting with her.”

n“Don’t lose hope because you met a strong enemy. Everyone in this world at the beginning was just like you. If you truly can’t defeat your enemies alone, just call their names. You… are not alone,” replied Cheems.

n“Whose names?”

nWilla found that the audiences in the live broadcast had also noticed Cheems. The real-time comments that originally kept flashing paused until cheems entered their names in the typing box.

nA line of Chinese characters flowed across the screen of the live broadcast. Willa recognized those four characters… They were…

n“The Warriors of Sunlight?” Willa murmured these four words in English.

nThis seemed like a spell, which caused a large number of markings shining with golden light to appear in the bonfire next to Willa.

nWilla lowered her head with a surprised face and looked at the dazzling golden markings and the messages from people who wrote these markings!

n“If you really can’t hold on anymore, summon me! I’ll fight alongside you! — ZZzzzX, the Warriors of Sunlight”

n“You’ve already done very well. Go one step further. If you really can’t do it, I can give you a helping hand — DoMg, the Darkmoon Knights”

n“Praise the sun! It’s best to celebrate with wine after you win! — Onion, the Warriors of Sunlight”

nThe Warriors of Sunlight were the elites from the Dream Exploration Bureau Qiu Ren had sent into the Nightmare Dungeon… Their job was to help the players who were intimidated by Gundyr with crossing the first hurdle.

nMeanwhile, Willa was looking at these golden markings next to the bonfire dumbfoundedly. At the same time, she could see some white spirits. She got up, mustered up her courage, and went to challenge Gundyr again!

nThis Nightmare Dungeon, this depressing world that was full of despair… became weirdly lively because of the Ashen Ones who kept visiting, exploring, and fighting for this world.

nIn the end, Willa found a name she was familiar with among these glowing markings.

n“If you want to summon me, be quick. I’ll be offline in an hour — Zhou Xinyu, the Warriors of Sunlight”

nWilla suddenly smiled when she saw this message. One hour later would be the time to meet Xiao Zhou to eat chicken together.

nBut now…

n“Summon the Warrior of Sunlight, Zhou?”

n“Yes

/No”

nWilla chose “yes,” and a light golden spirit was soon summoned into Willa’s world.

nXiao Zhou stared at the newbie sitting next to the bonfire with an impatient look. When he noticed it was Willa, his entire body froze.

n“I may not be able to eat chicken with you today,” Willa wiped off the tears at the corner of her eyes and said to Xiao Zhou.

n“Me… too…” Xiao Zhou scratched his head. He pointed at the Firelink Shrine far away and said, “But now, let me first teach you how to deal with Iudex Gundyr.”

n“Teach me? Not… help me?” Willa froze for a while.

n“I’m not your nanny. I also have to catch up with the progress at the High Wall of Lothric. Call me again when you meet the boss! You don’t really want me to carry you through the level, do you?”

nXiao Zhou saw Willa nod gently as he put his hand on his forehead in frustration.

nBut Willa wouldn’t care so much. When the audiences in the live broadcast saw that players could call for help, they were kind of interested.

nPlayers who were confident in their ability felt like it was definitely an extremely fulfilling thing to help new players through the levels in such a depressing, hopeless world.

nAnd those viewers, who were scared after seeing Willa suffer, also thought that Iudex Gundyr wasn’t so… horrifying anymore with Xiao Zhou’s help.

nNo matter what, long may the sun shine! A hunter was never alone!

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