When the plot-skips players into the game world

Chapter 386

Chapter 386: Chapter 294: Hayna’s Future (3rd Update) Chapter 386: Chapter 294: Hayna’s Future (3rd Update) The old priest who had personally witnessed my grandfather’s death over a decade ago had long since passed away.

His son also looked to be in his forties or fifties now—as a priest who mastered the Fire Rite Skill, such an aged appearance indicated that his real age was certainly not on the low side.

Perhaps he had been in Eagle Cape Village for quite some time.

Yet, Mr.

Priest was unable to provide Aiwass with much useful information.

Because he hadn’t been in his father’s position for very long, many things were still out of reach for him.

It was possible that he knew even less than Aiwass did now.

...

The only piece of information he could give was probably about the village’s burial traditions.

“Our village doesn’t have a graveyard.”

As the priest distributed pastries to Aiwass and Lily, he softly replied, “All the remains are thrown into the swamp, no unified worship thereafter.

“That’s because remembrance and worship are acts of the Path of Dusk, and we’re just a bunch of Anonymous people who sold their souls—unanticipated in life, unforgotten in death.

People without names don’t get tombstones.”

“Then why do those children have names?”

Aiwass asked a question that had puzzled him for a long time.

But the priest just smiled, “We are but nameless wraiths trapped here, remnants forgotten by the hourglass...

but they’re different.

They’re all healthy children.”

“…Just what, exactly, made you sell your souls?”

Aiwass asked, “And why would Amber demand such a price?”

For ordinary Phantom Demons, human souls might be a scarce commodity.

Demons would even make contracts and serve humans to obtain souls.

But for a Pillar God, it’s hardly significant.

After death, souls would naturally flow into one of those nine rivers.

This resource is as natural as breathing air for humans, who wouldn’t pay anything special to breathe such ordinary air.

Unless this “air” itself held some special significance.

—What puzzled Aiwass most is why Amber would agree to such a trade?

Looking at the Dusk Power that filled the village to this day, the transaction even now was not yet complete.

Amber continued to provide a continuous stream of power, enough to affect everyone’s sense of time here.

But the priest only shook his head.

He raised a finger to his lips.

Silence.

No answer.

Or perhaps he was unable to answer.

So Aiwass had to switch the topic, beating around the bush, “What about Hayna, then?

What do you know about her?”

At last, Mr.

Priest spoke, “Among the newborns in our village, Hayna is the most special.

Without a doubt.”

Indeed, Aiwass thought.

In your village filled with the power of dusk, where both her biological father and foster father had the adaptability for the Path of Devotion, she ended up half Authority and half Transcendence...

Neither devoted nor dusk.

“I thought she’d become a priest, or a blacksmith.”

Aiwass resignedly dropped his shoulders, picked up a pastry, and popped it into his mouth without care, mumbling unclearly, “But she seems to lack the adaptability for the Path of Devotion.”

“Yes, which is why Hayna received education in authority as a child.@@@@

And their commonality lay in their ability to stay away from Eagle Cape Village for extended periods.

If his departure wasn’t an act of irresponsibility, but rather an exploration that only he could undertake...

Could it be that only with a strong “Transcendence” power could one break the stagnation and seal of the dusk power in their bloodlines, thereby living normally in the outside world?

Instantly, Aiwass understood why he had never seen Hayna in the original game.

—Because Hayna would only stay as an apprentice Inspector for half a year.

After she graduated, she would return to Eagle Cape Village, just like now.

From that point on, she would never return to Glass Island again—because she could not.

Either she would awaken an affinity for the Path of Dusk, or she would awaken her true Transcendent nature.

Either possibility would change her temperament drastically, and she would no longer enjoy the work of the Supervisory Bureau.

Then, were there any similar bosses or forces in the game?

—There indeed were.

And this time it wasn’t a boss.

In version 2.X, in Avalon, there was a rebel army of Demons named the “Hyena Gang” that controlled their territory, resisting the colonial rule of the Antimony Kingdom.

They were former Inspectors who had become Demons, leading a large pack of Undead Hunting Dogs on raids, attacking mines, bridges, and railways controlled by the Antimony people, robbing caravans, and assassinating the “new nobles” who had sided with the Antimony people.

They turned the people they killed into Undead.

Avalon, under Antimony control, had lost command over the Gryphon Squadron and the Eye of Avalon, impairing their ability to precisely monitor local intelligence like Avalon does now.

The Hyena Gang, hidden in the most desolate places and concealed by the people of Avalon, managed to evade destruction despite repeated attacks.

And the leader of the Hyena Gang was a tall and beautiful woman, “Anonymous.”

She was spirited, confident in her speech and demeanor, but covered in scars—not from a lack of prompt treatment following battles.

Scars, as reminders of injuries, were powerful symbols of Dusk.

“Anonymous” had her hair tied in a waist-length high ponytail, with dull yellow pupils.

Her tattered clothes exposed her arms and a leg, and her smile was bright and dashing.

She possessed the powers of Authority, Transcendence, and Dusk Path, and was highly popular among both players and Avalon citizens.

They were considered a quasi-ally faction.

Because you could gain “faction favor” with the Hyena Gang, and the Hyena set purchasable from the faction store was the top-tier set for Demon and Necromancer players.

It wasn’t until the establishment of Camelot that Anonymous fell as a vanguard in the strategy against the Shadowy Celestial Marshal, killed by a direct attack from the Marshal.

The Hyena Gang ultimately fell apart, with some familiar NPCs becoming part of Camelot’s police force.

...Reflecting now, she must be Hayna from another world line.

It wasn’t Aiwass’s fault for not recognizing her—the name, hairstyle, eye color, temperament, occupation, there was nothing the same except for her figure...

how could I have recognized her!

And perhaps Hayna, due to her great figure, always felt somewhat self-conscious as people often stared; she tended to slouch a bit.

That big, straightforward, cool, and aggressive sister had almost nothing in common with her—

Aiwass shook his head, scattering the hindsight musings.

Her father’s matter...

he needed to speak with Hayna about it first.

Thinking this, he bid farewell to Priest.

But when Aiwass stepped outside, he found that it had turned to dusk without him noticing.

As soon as he stepped out, his expression changed—

—Should he retreat first?

But at that moment, Aiwass paused in his steps.

The priest’s house was located near the entrance of the village to welcome outsiders, quite close to the path leading into the village.

And now, from the direction of the village entrance, Aiwass heard a boisterous and rowdy group approaching.

He frowned slightly and, holding Lily back, retreated half a step into the priest’s house.

Sure enough, it didn’t take long.

A group of people in red robes stormed in—