Warlock Apprentice

Chapter 2911: Chapter 2912: Triggered

The two human heads awakened by little Helen did not have the hostility seen in the previous human head roses; instead, they appeared quite peaceful.

They quietly watched little Helen and listened to his emotionally charged murmuring sounds.

Initially, Angel thought that these two human head roses might understand little Helen’s words and sense his heartfelt call.

But after a while, Angel realized he was wrong.

Although their faces resembled little Helen’s parents, as Glaipnir had mentioned, little Helen’s parents are already dead, and even in dreams, what reappears is merely an illusory bubble.

Their gaze upon little Helen was peaceful and, to a certain extent, loving; however, this gaze did not fit the current situation.

If they truly had the emotions of little Helen’s parents, upon seeing little Helen’s bruised body and scarred mouth and hearing his tearful cries, they would not be so calm.

Their gaze was fixed, and their expressions mechanical, like authentic instance NPCs.

Perhaps, as instance NPCs, their purpose was to wait for little Helen to awaken them, offering little Helen emotional support?

No one could understand what little Helen was crying about, but his emotions did not carry much complaint; presumably, he wasn’t speaking about his mistreatment but rather expressing his yearning for his parents.

Perhaps little Helen himself knew that the parents before him were fake, and sharing his hardships with them was of no use.

After an unknown period, little Helen slowly ceased his lamenting.

The group looked over and saw little Helen, at some point, curling up and falling asleep beneath the two human head roses. Tears still pooled at the corners of his eyes, indicating he cried tiredly, and the emotional turmoil led to his eventual slumber.

After little Helen fell asleep, the two human head roses gazed affectionately at him and then, under everyone’s watchful eyes, their petals slowly wilted.

The exposed human heads emitted a faint halo.

Within the halo, everyone vaguely saw some dim, blurred, yet incredibly warm scenes.

Although the scenes were indistinct, one could see the protagonists in those scenes were little Helen and his parents—a series of images resembling fragmented memories spilling from a Memory Casket. Like a horse lamp, they slowly flickered before everyone.

Even though the scenes were viewed from afar, everyone could feel the overwhelming love Helen’s parents poured into little Helen.

The final moment froze in a scene of a blazing fire.

Within the fire scene, Helen’s mother shielded little Helen in a corner, unwavering even as she was engulfed by the inferno, only at the last moment mustering her strength to turn back and give little Helen a weak, sorrowful, and apologetic smile.

The entire scene froze at this moment.

The halo slowly dissipated, leaving behind little Helen still curled up and asleep on the ground.

Watching this scene, Glaipnir seemed to remember something, with a hint of nostalgia in his eyes, lowering his head in silence.

Angel did not comment on this, merely sighed gently.

Even without knowing the full story, just a glimpse was enough to feel the deep familial bond entwined in the tale. Regrettably, for little Helen, these are just fleeting moments.

Laplace, not too affected by the story, remained rational, commenting, ”Now it’s certain that Helen’s parents’ human head roses must have originated from Helen’s Dream.”

Because Bella could not have known these scenes, especially the last one, the scene within the fire involving Helen and his mother could only be known by those who experienced it, hence it must be from Helen’s Dream.

However, Laplace hadn’t found these two human head roses in Helen’s Dream earlier, so it’s possible these were scenes from Helen’s memory, just assimilated by Bella later to form the current human head roses in the ”Glutton’s Banquet.”

From this, we can see the link between the three Special Dreamlands.

In Angel’s words, this is presumably the dark line of the instance, threading through the different versions of the same instance.

After clarifying this point simply, Laplace turned to look at Glaipnir, calmly saying, ”You’re right, these two human head roses will certainly die, but not necessarily by my hand.”

Pausing, Laplace looked at Helen lying on the ground and continued, ”This sort of death—considered as... letting go? Or perhaps release? Redemption?”

”Either way, whatever it is, as long as the ultimate goal is achieved.”

Angel: ”Goal? You mean... exploration progress increased?”

Laplace nodded, ”Indeed, the exploration progress has now reached 99%.”

”99? Shouldn’t it be 97?” Angel asked perplexedly, given the previous setting of human head roses contributing 1% each, these two should have contributed 1% too, right?”

Laplace didn’t elaborate, instead directly showing the latest hints obtained.

”Special character ??? executing...”

”Current special linking Dreamland—Glutton’s Banquet, exploration progress at 95%”

”After execution ends or unveiling the mask, information within the question marks can be attained.”

This information was obtained when Laplace pointed the scale at the masked person.

Although in ”Helen’s Dream,” Laplace knew the identity of the masked person was Helen, the related information didn’t extend into the current ”Glutton’s Banquet.”

Laplace didn’t intend to execute the masked person, just wanted to confirm their information, but the given information was incomplete, leading Laplace to attempt lifting the mask.

Once the mask was lifted, little Helen appeared.

This led to the succession of events thereafter.

However, the exploration progress hadn’t increased at this point; it really increased after the disappearance of the two human head roses.

”Special character ’Father in Memory’ discovered by relevant people.”

”Special character ’Father in Memory’ released.”

”Resentment will eventually dissipate, but sunshine and dew will forever accompany you, my dear child. Please believe, love will be eternal. — Last words before poison took effect.”

”Current special Dreamland ’Glutton’s Banquet,’ exploration progress at 97%”

...

”Special character ’Mother in Memory’ discovered by relevant people.”

”Special character ’Mother in Memory’ released.”

”Sorry, my dear child, I can only accompany you this far. Please, ensure you live on. — Last words in the fire.”

”Current special Dreamland ’Glutton’s Banquet,’ exploration progress at 99%”

These two pieces of information appeared simultaneously after the halo scenes dissipated.

From the information, it indicates that Helen’s father and mother differed from other human head roses, contributing to a 2% increase in exploration. Combined, they directly elevated exploration progress to 99%.

Furthermore, although they also ”died,” the information stated they were ”discovered by relevant people” and ”released.”

The relevant person, without a doubt, is little Helen.

Perhaps only through this method, the exploration progress could be increased by 2%.

If Laplace had simply killed them, even if exploration progress increased, it might have only been by 1%. There’s a significant chance it wouldn’t have increased at all.

From this, we can see Glaipnir’s prophecy was quite accurate.

On the other side, after viewing this information, Angel felt even more that this resembled an instance.

This is precisely the typical triggered hidden NPC.

This ”Wonderland of Dreams” authority is quite adept at playing games...

If sandbox puzzle-solving appears in future ”Special Dreamlands,” Angel would think it possible.

Leaving aside these tangential thoughts, now with exploration progress at 99%, where might the remaining 1% of exploration be? Could it be like before in Helen’s Dream, where exploration suddenly stalled at the final 1%?

Angel voiced his doubt.

Laplace answered without hesitation, ”Need life as well as death.”

Angel: ”So you believe, the last 1% of exploration lies in this statement? Is it that Helen lives or Bella lives?”

Before Laplace could respond to Angel’s question, the situation on site suddenly changed.

The three human head balloons overhead, originally engaged in a back-and-forth with Glaipnir, suddenly, without any warning, underwent a mutation.

Three human head balloons directly fused into one.

Furthermore, this human head balloon was incredibly large, almost obscuring the sky above the entire manor.

Soon after, this colossal human head balloon fell directly from the sky like a meteorite.

The terrifying force even surpassed the limits of Glaipnir, forcing Glaipnir to dodge the danger.

Even Laplace found it difficult to remain unharmed under such terrifying meteor-like force, and she had no choice but to follow Glaipnir in retreating for safety.

However, Laplace, with her speed, was able to make a choice between the unconscious Bella and the sleeping Helen and rescue one of them.

Interestingly, Laplace was equidistant from both Bella and Helen, and at the moment, she could only save one.

Saving one meant there wasn’t enough time for the other.

This was essentially external forces compelling Laplace to make a decision.

Who lives? Who dies?

Angel witnessed this scene and understood Laplace’s current predicament. He hadn’t expected the ”Wonderland of Dreams” to play out like this...

After confirming that Laplace was aware that the last 1% of the exploration degree depended on ”need of life or death,” the ”Wonderland of Dreams” simply pulled the rug from under her feet and directly staged a classic scenario in an instance game—

A plot kill!

Moreover, it wasn’t an all-kill. It forced Laplace to choose between Helen and Bella.

A choice of two, forcing you to make a swift decision, deciding the final exploration degree’s completeness based on your choice.

Angel could only say that the Wonderland of Dreams sure knew how to ’play.’

Time was exceedingly short, leaving no room for discussion among everyone, and the final decision lay in Laplace’s hands.

Under everyone’s gaze, Laplace wasted no time and dashed to Helen, pulling him away from the ”meteorite” zone.

At the moment Laplace took Helen away from the rooftop, the meteorite hit the ground, creating a cavity in the earth.

And Bella, who wasn’t saved, ended up as a meaty pulp.

The three-in-one human head balloon in the pit slowly began to burst.

As sunlight poured down, vast streams of visible information quickly gathered above the special dreamland.

With the shedding of this information flow, the special dreamland ”Glutton’s Banquet” also declared its conclusion.

As for what happens after the conclusion, whether the instance will continue to mutate or there will be other circumstances, it would depend on the information Laplace and Glaipnir would receive.

...

Under Angel’s watch, the miniature garden gradually filled with white mist.

Within it, Laplace and Glaipnir disappeared from view, evidently returning to the outside world.

However, little Helen was left in the white mist.

He curled up his body, seemingly still asleep, while the white mist slowly enveloped him until he was completely concealed.

Angel did not continue to venture into the white mist but instead retreated from the Box Garden perspective.

His gaze first and foremost landed on Laplace and Glaipnir in the distance. As expected, after finishing the instance, they were immediately expelled.

However, Angel’s focus wasn’t on the two of them.

It was on the whip-shaped crystal creations.

Last time, after Helen’s Dream concluded, the crystal creations bloomed.

This time, after the conclusion of the Glutton’s Banquet, would the crystal creations undergo any transmutation?

Angel lowered his head to observe the condition of the crystal creations. Yet upon lowering his head, he found... the crystal creations were gone.

The crystal creations indeed can conceal themselves, but they typically appear for three to five minutes before concealing, so vanishing this quickly seems unlikely.

Could it be... not a concealment?

If it wasn’t concealment, does it mean Laplace thoroughly cleared this instance?

With this thought, Angel raised his head to look at Laplace.

Laplace understood Angel’s expression and gently nodded in response to his expectant gaze.

”It’s actually 100%?!” Angel couldn’t help but exclaim repeatedly, hesitating for a moment before he couldn’t resist asking, ”How... how did you judge?”

Laplace: ”You mean the final choice?”

Angel nodded, the final choice between Helen or Bella. If it were him, perhaps he would have hesitated a bit. How did Laplace make such a decisive choice?

Laplace: ”Choices are merely extensions of logic, and this choice actually only required consideration of two logics.”

The first logic is the extension of ”Helen’s Dream.”

Prior, in ”Helen’s Dream,” Laplace once killed the masked man, who was Helen; however, killing Helen did not advance the exploration degree, which remained at 99%. That indicated that killing Helen wouldn’t increase the exploration degree.

To allow Helen’s Dream to achieve perfect exploration, Helen must not die.

And according to Glaipnir’s revelation, to achieve 100% exploration in ”Glutton’s Banquet,” they had to make up for the previous flaw in ”Helen’s Dream.”

Since Helen mustn’t die, obviously, the one who must die is Bella.

The second logic is deduced from the ”existence purpose” of the special dreamland.

After the ”Jealous Harpy” information was leaked, the story background of Helen’s Dream was fully revealed.

Helen, in his dream, fantasized himself as the powerful masked man.

Through the masked man, he punished everyone who had abused him, including the Fan Family’s former butler, former head maid, former cook, and Bella.

One could say that Helen’s Dream was a fantasy revenge dream.

Since it is a revenge dream, naturally, his revenge must be fulfilled to make the dream complete.

While ”Bella’s Beautiful Dream” and ”Glutton’s Banquet” likely revolve around gluttony, plainly speaking, it’s about eating to the fullest — here, eating does involve consuming humans, but it lacks revenge elements and certainly doesn’t require killing Helen.

Instead, the Glutton must kill Laplace and Glaipnir since they were on her menu.

The solution to the special dreamland couldn’t possibly really let the two of them die, so if it’s not them, the dead one must be Bella.

Whichever logic you follow, the final answer is Bella dies. Since Bella dies, Helen must live.

This explains why Laplace chose to save Helen without hesitation.

The results proved her choice was correct.

When she saved Helen in the ”plot kill,” the last 1% of the exploration degree was finally fulfilled.

...

After listening to Laplace’s explanation, Angel also displayed an expression of enlightenment.

Indeed, considering various factors, ultimately ’Bella dies, Helen lives’ was the most plausible answer.

Moreover, from an emotional standpoint, Angel also hoped Helen would ultimately survive. Although everything occurring here was merely a trivial, unreal dream for Helen, granting Helen a beautiful dream was a form of solace.

Setting aside these slightly melancholic thoughts, Angel turned his gaze back to Laplace.

Since the special dreamland of ”Glutton’s Banquet” had ended, according to the previous situation in ”Helen’s Dream,” this time should also reward the clearing party with corresponding hints and rewards.

What will the rewards be this time?

Given the 100% exploration degree, the reward should be better than the last, right?