Chapter 204: Chapter 98: Taboo: Dream Corridor
"In my younger years, while traveling the Holy Land Continent, I entered many a Secret Land."
"For instance, I once explored the depths beneath Ogrande City and encountered the terrifying Double-Ringed Snake."
"I also infiltrated the Forbidden Bloodline Secret Cult to steal the Forbidden Blood of a fearsome Upper Ranker, only to become corrupted and tainted by it."
"I even witnessed the construction of the Saint Grelle Steam Spirit Kingdom and carved an immortal Sacred Mark upon the tapestry of the Empire."
"Naturally, I left many traces of my own in these places."
"For example, I once visited the Taboo: Dream Corridor, which was jointly constructed by the Forbidden Apostles, and left behind my very own Jade Dream Realm."
They walked on, following a secluded jade path.
Mr. Rekano spoke intermittently.
Zorn listened, lost in thought.
’Saintisman established the Steam Spirit Realm and created the Steam Sacred Mark long ago. As the war expands, he will naturally carve a War Sacred Mark within his kingdom.’
’And as the Lord of War, Joe Moriff will rapidly absorb the nourishment provided by the war and grow at an incredible pace.’
’More importantly... he will acquire a vast amount of the War Sacred Marks carved by the conflict.’
’As the first World-level BOSS, I had to painstakingly perform blood sacrifices on others just to gather enough Sacred Marks.’
’But as the second World-level BOSS, Joe Moriff can basically just lie back and grow stronger as long as the war rages on.’
’The war has been going on for some time now. The Lord of War, Moriff, has probably already advanced to the Middle Rank Level.’
’When the two Steam Empires clash in a steam-powered war, Joe Moriff will definitely be there.’
’Soon...’
Zorn rubbed his palm.
’I’ll have to face the second World-level BOSS.’
’If possible, I’ll kill him once first. It’s not like the guy can truly die, anyway.’
’Also, I saw in the papers a while ago that the Nightmare Angel has been making a name for itself in the Imperial Alliance.’
’As expected, just like always. A terrifying angel that seems to have clawed its way out of a nightmare.’
’The moment it appeared, its terrifying form alone was enough to cause nightmare corruption.’
’Plunging the entire World into nightmares is that Nightmare Angel’s specialty.’
’I don’t really have any grudges with that Nightmare Angel.’
’In a way, we’re allies at this stage.’
’In any case, the Lord of War must die.’
’If the Lord of War doesn’t die, the entire World will inevitably be consumed by war.’
The two of them walked on. The surrounding jade paths transitioned from day to dusk, and finally plunged into the deep of night.
The night is the time closest to dreams.
Ahead, the hazy, emerald-green silhouette of a corridor was faintly visible, its illusory outline constantly shifting.
"The Taboo: Dream Corridor is just ahead."
"After you enter, I will guide you to a certain extent, but you must also be wary of tempting voices in disguise."
"Your Spirit Body is powerful and stealthy enough. As long as you’re careful inside, you should be fine."
"Of course, that’s all assuming you don’t touch the Dream Black Box while sleepwalking, so to speak."
"The moment you touch the Dream Black Box, the Dream Corridor will detect you and begin a frenzied hunt."
"Remember, you must escape back here. If you don’t, not only will you die, but I’ll be implicated as well."
"Understood!"
Zorn nodded solemnly.
’Zorn had entered the "Taboo: Dream Corridor"—constructed by those damned members of Saintisman’s Forbidden Bloodline Sect—more times than he could count.’
’Entering the Dream Corridor was like coming home.’
’It had all sorts of terrifying Dream Creatures, powerful Forbidden Dream Bodies, and even the death-bringing Nightmare Death God.’
’Every Player who wanted to get stronger had to grind the Dream Corridor hundreds, if not thousands, of times.’
’Clearing the Dream Corridor without taking any damage at Level 10 was standard procedure for a top-tier Player.’
’Although Zorn was only Level Six right now.’
’He had a BOSS template.’
’He couldn’t say he’d clear it without a scratch.’
’But he was very confident he could make it back alive.’
His highly stealthy Holy Witch Spirit Body descended silently into the depths of the Taboo: Dream Corridor.
Zorn looked around for a moment, then, like a Dream Spirit Body, he moved toward the depths of the Taboo: Dream Corridor.
Reaching a crossroads in the corridor, Zorn stopped and waited for a moment.
"The left path."
Rekano’s voice, from the Dream Realm, echoed faintly in Zorn’s ear.
Zorn took the left path.
After this was repeated three times, the Dream Corridor ahead grew darker and more profound.
"Go back. Return to the previous intersection."
Rekano’s dream-like whisper sounded again.
"Don’t trust him. Go forward. That’s a mimicry from the dream, an interference."
"Go forward and to the right. Both of those voices are interference. Don’t believe them."
"Forward is correct!"
"..."
As Zorn tried to listen carefully, the bizarre, dream-like whispers grew louder and louder, then became a deafening RUMBLE... as if the mountains were collapsing and the earth was splitting apart.
The entire dream world even began to tremble slightly.
Zorn frowned slightly.
’He knew his level was relatively low and that he would be subject to interference from the Taboo: Dream Corridor after entering.’
’But he hadn’t expected it to come so quickly.’
He shook his head decisively.
He blocked out all the strange and bizarre voices from the Dream Realm.
Including, of course, Rekano’s real guidance.
’He didn’t actually need the guidance.’
’After all, he was far more familiar with this place than Rekano was.’
Now free to act on his own, Zorn moved quickly and efficiently.
It didn’t matter if he took a few wrong turns; he needed to develop a deep understanding of the overall hidden structure of this particular version of the Taboo: Dream Corridor.
That way, his escape later would be much easier and faster.
Under the effects of his Upper Rank: Ringed Snake’s Eye,
Zorn sped forward, darting about the Dream Corridor like a headless fly.
Sensing Zorn’s chaotic movements, Rekano’s brow furrowed so deeply the wrinkles almost merged into one.
’He’s only Level Six... Was it too reckless to let him enter?’
For a moment, he even began to doubt himself.
But what he didn’t know was that Zorn, who appeared to be flying about randomly, was actually piecing together the deep framework of the Taboo: Dream Corridor.
Back when he was a Player,
the hundreds of normal, accessible "Dream Houses" within the Taboo: Dream Corridor,
and the dozen or so hidden "Dream Houses"...
Essentially everything that could be discovered had already been thoroughly uncovered by the Players.
To Zorn, the regular Dream Houses held practically no secrets.
Soon, in his chaotic flight, Zorn stumbled by chance right to the outside of the Level 10 Forbidden Archbishop’s Dream Gate.
Taking a deep breath, Zorn slowly pushed open the Dream Gate.
The house inside the Dream Gate was exceptionally simple.
On the left was a slumbering Level 10 Dream Death God.
Thanks to the help of Rekano’s Jade Dream Realm,
Zorn’s intrusion didn’t startle the various monsters guarding the dream, such as the Dream Death God.
If Zorn were to make any move here, he would face a deadly pursuit from these terrifying monsters.
In the center was the Dream Forgetting Pool, used to store frenzied memories.
And on the right was the Dream Black Box—Zorn’s target.
Even if Zorn opened the Dream Black Box himself, he wouldn’t be able to find what he needed.
But with Rekano, it was a different story.
The Jade Dream Realm accompanied Zorn.
When the Dream Black Box was opened, Rekano could rapidly read the massive amount of information inside.
Quickly preparing various Magic Spells, Zorn then directly opened the Dream Black Box.
The instant the Dream Black Box opened,
"SHIIING!"
an impossibly sharp scythe blade sliced through the air, looking as if it would tear the world before Zorn’s eyes asunder.
Using his Shadow Boots to leap into a shadowy corner, Zorn could feel a faint ache on his neck.
’As expected of a Level 10 Dream Death God.’
’That strike was truly the stuff of nightmares.’
The cold, murderous Dream Death God turned to face Zorn again, its scythe slashing down once more, so fast it was like an illusory afterimage.
A large, purple hand quickly condensed from the dreamscape.
CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!
Three illusory, hazy Death God Blades were blocked directly by Zorn’s Rune Hand.
Then, the magnificent Rune Hand descended, attempting to crush the Level 10 Dream Death God.
The gray, mist-like Cloak of Death billowed out, and numerous eerie, pale faces emerged from it, blocking the advance of Zorn’s Rune Hand.
"ROAR! ROAR! ROAR!"
"URGH..."
"AWOOO..."
As the two were locked in a stalemate, waves of bizarre and grotesque noises came from outside.
The entire Dream Corridor had come alive.
Facing so many enemies, Zorn frowned slightly.
Just as he was about to release his Black Mist and go all out,
"CLICK!"
The Dream Black Box in the house slammed shut on its own.
Hearing the sound, Zorn wasted no more time and immediately rammed through the door of the Dream House.
At this point, all sorts of strange Dream Creatures had appeared in the Taboo: Dream Corridor.
When Zorn burst out, terrifying Golden Arms began sprouting from the floor, the walls, and the ceiling throughout the entire Dream Corridor.
In an instant, the Dream Corridor was overgrown with Golden Arms.
It was like a golden dreamscape.
These terrifying Golden Arms, both large and small, suddenly exerted their strength, restraining all the bizarre Dream Creatures, whether they were strong or weak.
The Dream Corridor, which had been completely blocked by these dream monsters,
now had a safe path carved directly through it by Zorn’s Ancient God Curse.
"Go!"
Zorn sped down the corridor.
Wherever Zorn went, Golden Arms grew in his wake.
Although these Golden Arms didn’t have much attack power, they were incredibly tough and durable, so restraining the strange Dream Creatures for a short time was no problem at all.
This created a remarkably easy escape route for Zorn.
Darting all the way, Zorn encountered little resistance and found the path tinged with a jade-like aura.
Following that jade path for another moment, he broke free from the Dream Corridor and safely stepped onto the Jade Road.
At that moment, Rekano, who was waiting outside the Jade Dream Realm, had a somewhat strange expression on his old, wrinkled face.
"You just ran around randomly, found the location, got the information, and then darted all the way back out just like that?"
"What’s wrong? Can’t I just be lucky?"
Zorn spread his hands and smiled.
"Just tell me, is the mission complete or not!"
For a moment, Rekano, utterly baffled by what had just transpired in the Taboo: Dream Corridor, was left speechless.
He studied Zorn carefully for a moment before remarking with a sigh,
"The favor the goddess of luck has shown you is truly breathtaking!"
But he couldn’t detect any trace of luck on Zorn.
This powerful, Level Six Evil Spirit Member before him was shrouded in a thick fog that he could not see through.
After carefully probing and recalling for a moment, Rekano looked at Zorn and said in a very serious tone,
"’Forest’ and ’Mist Giant.’"
"This is the very important information I saw in the depths of the dream’s outline."
"Forest... Mist Giant."
Zorn’s eyes flashed for a moment, and he nodded.
"I think I know what they’re planning to do."
"Also..."
Zorn paused, then took out a sealed envelope and handed it to Rekano.
Taking a deep breath, Rekano accepted the letter with slightly trembling hands.
He could already feel that it truly contained the key information he needed to complete the Jade Pattern Key.
"Thank you!"
He looked again at the young member before him, his voice filled with immense gratitude.
