Author: 年终 / Nian Zhong

Translator: Kinky || https://kinkytranslations.com/

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Chapter 38: Kando

In the early hours of the morning.

Teest and Old Hunter were sound asleep in the hunter’s cabin. Nol and the couple stood outside the igloo not far away. The undead didn’t need to sleep, and Nol still had to guard against possible attacks from the shadow wolf.

Rosen had mixed feelings.

As a police officer, he should stop the actions of those two. Liang Guanghui had completely lost his dangerousness and didn’t even meet the criteria for emergency shooting.

But Rosen himself was powerless—he knew nothing about the external environment and didn’t know where to start.

Besides, there was no court or prison here. As long as Liang Guanghui believed that he wouldn’t commit a crime or kill, Rosen admitted he couldn’t obtain any effective testimonies.

Unable to provide a better solution, let alone Teest, he couldn’t even stop Nol.

“That Teest is dangerous. A normal person couldn’t possibly know about torture.” Rosen sighed. “Are you… really sure you want to go with him?”

Nol sat on a stump. Different from before, his breath now had a white mist.

“I am the producer of ‘Tahe World’, and I know everything up to two hundred years ago,” Nol responded somewhat evasively.

There was a moment of silence as Rosen and Julie exchanged a quick glance.

As Nol guessed, these two well-behaved neighbors didn’t show any anger. Rosen’s face read “sure enough “, while Julie had “no surprise there” on her forehead.

They even looked a bit pleasantly surprised.

After a while, Rosen exhaled heavily. “I’d guessed a bit. Your behavior is nothing like an ordinary employee’s. Brother, to be honest, your mind is priceless.”

“We’ll keep it a secret. Even among neighbors, this news is not suitable for spreading… When some people get angry, they can do anything.”

Julie pondered, “But I also wonder, with such abilities, you could form a more suitable team. Why specifically Teest?”

Judging by Mr. Teest’s attitude, that guy definitely wouldn’t tolerate a third teammate.

“My game has become reality. This is definitely man-made, and I could be targeted at any time. Being my companion is extremely risky.” Nol laughed, causing white mist to expel, and watched as it dissipated in the cold night. “Both of you are smart and capable. There’s no need to force yourself to stay by my side.”

‘Makes sense,’ Rosen thought. It seemed they were destined not to go together. Not to mention they lost the bet with Teest, even without the bet, Nol had no intention of teaming up with them. After about ten seconds of silence, Rosen asked, “Is Teest really trustworthy?”

“Of course not. I don’t trust him, just as he doesn’t trust me. But we are system teammates, destined not to harm each other,” Nol calmly stated. “I know what you want to ask. Teest despises both the Temple of Life and the Eternal Church. He can’t wait for me to expose their secrets. He won’t hide anything about these two religions from me.”

“And I’m very aware that I’m not that charismatic. I can’t make someone I just met risk their life for me. His willingness to investigate the truth of the world with me means he has his own agenda… Which means we are the perfect teammates.”

Nol kept a crucial reason to himself.

Teest was right. He was indeed his only respite.

That Fallen Knight never judged Nol. Nol’s words, “I need you”, weren’t just for show—he really needed someone like that, especially under the current pressure.

As for what Teest wanted from him, Nol didn’t care. They could use each other to the fullest, and that was enough.

Nol couldn’t help but touch his chest.

 To give a better burial, he created the [Ash Remnants], which ignited a hot blue flame. He then lit a similar flame in his heart. It gave him a body temperature close to a living person, accompanied by a burning pain with every heartbeat.

For long-term action with Teest, it was better to have body temperature. Teest didn’t like a touch that was too cold. At the same time, it was a reminder… Whether it was against the possible uncontrollable rage or the possibly uncontrollable attachment.

“…So, it’s not that I want to go with Teest,” Nol concluded. “We decided to move forward together.”

“That said, I think you trust him quite a bit.” Rosen massaged his temples, his round face full of resignation. With Nol’s words to this point, it wasn’t appropriate for them to question further. “Then I can only ask for some game information. The more the merrier, Julie and I will continue looking for the neighbors.”

Officer Luo didn’t say “all compatriots.” He, like Nol in the past, quickly made a choice between “neighbors with only one life” and “players with immortality”.

Nol smiled.

He stood up, took out a roll of parchment: “This is exactly what I wanted to say—I want to regroup ‘Joy Garden’.”

He casually threw it, and the parchment unrolled by itself, floating in the air.

Rosen took a light ball to see, and it turned out to be a hand-drawn map. It was so precise that it looked like a print, with the place names written neatly.

“Did you draw this? You must have a very good memory.” Rosen was amazed.

“After we leave here, we will split into two groups. The destination is the Black Forest, to the north of the Grape Collar. We will meet in the Red Mist Valley of the Black Forest,” Nol said nonchalantly, pointing to a spot on the map. “Teest and I will be responsible for diverting any Eternalists that may appear, taking the standard route. You two follow this mountain range—yes, this way. I’ll also inform Lynn about this later.”

“What’s there?” Dr. Zhu asked, looking at the cross marking the destination.

“A perfect stronghold. You’ll know when you get there,” Nol replied. “The main game storyline hasn’t been triggered, so it can’t be discovered. It will be our best shelter.”

The area near the Black Forest was deserted and infested with monsters, serving as a natural barrier, and it was also great for monsters to level up. Initially, Nol wanted to use it as a temporary shelter for the neighbors, but now it seemed to have a more suitable purpose.

Regular players mostly choose to rely on the Temple of Life. Criminals with unclear backgrounds like Liang Guanghui joined the Eternal Church instead.

With unclear situations, Nol didn’t want the neighbors to hastily get involved with the “gods”—especially since the neighbors might have turned into monsters and appearing casually could be dangerous.

He wanted to become a third force outside of “God” and “Demon King”.

After explaining, Nol rolled up the map and handed it to Rosen. “If you find more neighbors, remember to bring them there too.”

Rosen took the map and carefully placed it near his chest, saying, “Thank you.”

With a clearer goal in mind, the couple looked a bit brighter. Nol wasn’t surprised. For this unfortunate couple, perhaps everything that happened was a turn for the better.

A policeman and a doctor could surely handle most situations, perhaps even better suited for rescue than Nol himself. Either way, it was a good start.

“If you’re the creator of this game, you’re almost like the ‘Creator God’ of this world,” Rosen teased. “Are you going to tell Teest? Maybe he’ll treat you better.”

“He treats me quite well now.” Nol sidestepped the topic with ease.

If only he were really the Creator God, he could just wave his hand and send everyone back to Earth. But in reality, he could only wield his letter opener and randomly persecute some folks.

Speaking of which, Teest had seen the properties of the letter opener, and he could probably guess the close relationship between Nol and the system. But he probably wouldn’t think of the exaggerated concept of “Creator God”—after all, for this world, the “system” only appeared halfway through.

Since Teest didn’t ask directly, Nol didn’t intend to say.

…No, it wasn’t that he didn’t want to say. He just hoped Teest would maintain his current attitude.

If the Mad Monk truly despised anything close to “gods”, he might lose his last refuge.

Nol didn’t want to lose this companion yet.

……

Teest woke up.

He lay on the fur rug in front of the fireplace, warmed by the fire, almost stretching lazily on the floor.

With no cultists causing trouble, this mission finally felt a bit relaxed. Old Hunter had gone out, either for firewood or to check on his white wolf. In the spacious hunter’s cabin, there were only him and Nol left—

Nol was reading a book next to him, still engrossed, with a tall pile of manuscript paper beside him. Teest suspected he had used up all his paper. Considering they’d be working together for a long time, Teest didn’t mind keeping some manuscript paper handy.

Well, that’s decided then. Teest yawned again.

“Mr. Mage.”

Teest stretched out and playfully tugged at Nol’s ankle, which now felt warm. “Did you stay up all night again?”

“I’m thinking about how to safely destroy this place.” Nol looked down.

“If closing the instance is like what happened in the Three Forks Road Village, then we should be safe.” Teest, not quite ready to get up, turned to evenly warm himself by the fire. “But whether Old Hunter and the rest are safe, who knows? Maybe that headless girl will show up again.”

Nol nodded, picked up the letter opener, and examined it closely.

Seeing the glint of the letter opener, Teest slowly pulled his limbs back under the blanket and carefully pulled the furry blanket up to his chin.

Nol looked at him helplessly. He simply tore off the edge of his robe and wrapped the blade completely with the cloth strip. Only then did Teest stretch out his arm from under the blanket again, deliberately looking away as if to hide his earlier fear.

“Use it to stab Old Hunter, and maybe we can get out.” Teest coughed twice, deliberately changing the subject.

“No, if a hunter breaks off from the instance, it’s probably similar to death. The instance will look for a new hunter,” Nol explained softly. “My current thought is to wound the shadow wolf. It is the key to this instance. But…”

“But you can’t guarantee the safety of the instance’s NPC.” Teest understood.

“Mm, it’s challenging,” a voice said.

In the blink of an eye, Teest jumped up, holding the “Betrayer” tightly in his hand. Nol frowned at the source of the voice—on the top of the magic staff, a blue vertical eye was rolling around.

Teest narrowed his eyes. Compared to Nol’s eyes, the black candle’s blue eyes were more like murky seawater. He didn’t like it very much.

“There’s no need to get excited. I just had a long, long sleep. Who knew this mage could summon a dragon boss? Even ants know that Subelbot hates humans. What kind of leverage do you have on it?”

The black candle began to chatter like a machine gun, complaining like an old man in the market, completely dropping its pretentious tone when it first woke up.

“Summoning that thing consumes a lot of magic. If it wasn’t for me using my reserve, you and your unlucky notes would have been scrapped… You should really thank me, ouch.”

“As soon as I woke up, you two sneaked into this ghost of a place again. God, why is my life so miserable…”

“Who are you?” Nol, annoyed by its rambling, interrupted. “What’s your relationship with the Eternal Church?”

The candle shut up—even though Nol hadn’t yet found its mouth. It rotated its eye, taking a hard look at Nol.

“My god, are you blind?” it exclaimed a few seconds later. “I am the stub of a candle!”

Nol took a deep breath, yanked the candle off the staff, opened the window, and wound up to throw it.

“No, no, no! I was wrong, I’m sorry!” the candle screamed. “I don’t even know who I am! It’s so embarrassing to admit!”

Teest looked at it speechlessly for a moment. He put away the knife and moved back to the fireplace. “What do you mean, ‘you don’t know who you are’?”

“I don’t know my name, just that!”

After being placed back on the staff, the black candle clumsily opened its candle tears and clung to the top of the staff like an octopus. “Don’t get me wrong; my other memories are intact. I know a lot, like the weaknesses of most monsters—the vast majority!”

It said it with a touch of pride as its vertical eye intently watched the two.

Teest: “…”

Nol: “…”

This sounded familiar. Could this guy be a colleague from the game company? But Nol really couldn’t remember any colleague being this annoying.

So he continued to ask, “How are you related to the Eternal Church?”

“They are shameless thieves! I am innocent!” the candle cursed. “Those bastards broke me off the candlestick while I was sleeping and then fed me with impure death energy. Ugh, even dogs wouldn’t eat it—”

“Where were you before? I mean, when you first became conscious… My earliest memory is on ‘Earth’,” Nol carefully threw out the code.

The black candle was silent.

“Your questions are really strange.”

After a while, it slowly said, “It’s not like we’re dating. Why are you in such a hurry to ask someone’s private matters? ‘Earth’? Never heard of it. Which remote corner is that?”

Nol decisively pulled out his wedding ring. “Married, thank you. Happily, I might add. If you keep dodging the topic, I’ll bury you in wolf dung.”

Teest, who was taking a sip of soup on the side, almost choked.

It seemed like this guy wasn’t a colleague. Nol’s remaining goodwill was about to run out. If the candle wasn’t a fellow from Earth, then more urgent matters needed to be addressed.

“Come on, repeat after me,” Nol said. “The Goddess of Life and the Eternal Son are trash.”

Having someone blaspheme so bluntly for the first time, the candle was shocked into a short, “Uh.”

Teest really choked this time. He banged on the table, coughing and laughing, tears almost coming out.

“Repeat,” Nol demanded. “We’ll talk about other things after repeating. If you can’t do that, there’s nothing for us to discuss.”

Next, he was about to find a base for the neighbors, and he certainly couldn’t have a strange follower by his side.

Anyway, the Eternal Son is undoubtedly trash, and the Goddess of Life was questionable. But if the Goddess was well-intentioned, she could tolerate such an offense.

“Goddess of Life, Tilia, is trash. Eternal Son, Anstis, trash. Is that enough? I’ve insulted them by their full names!”

The black candle finally settled down. “Now, can we finally discuss important matters?”

“First, thank you for providing me with the summoning method and magic power.”

Nol said politely as he sat back in his chair and placed the candle next to the soup bowl. “Second… since you claim to be knowledgeable, how much do you know about this instance?”

“Instance? Do you mean this space?” The black candle pondered for a moment. “If I’m not mistaken, it seems you want to save the people here…”

“It’s not ‘us’, it’s him,” Teest murmured.

“Don’t interrupt.” Nol stuffed a piece of cheese into Teest’s mouth and turned his gaze back to the candle. “… Go on.”

“You can save them,” the candle said. “To my knowledge, there are two ways to destroy such a special space.”

“The first is for the rules to close the space actively. In this case, all intelligent life within the space will be wiped out, and no one can escape.”

…Just like the situation in the novice village. Nol exchanged glances with Test, realizing the candle did have some insights.

“I guess what you’re looking for is the second method, artificial destruction.”

The candle spoke leisurely. “Find the ‘core’ of the special space and kill or destroy it—in this case, creatures living in the space for a long time will be safe. However, once they leave the special space, intelligent beings will lose all related memories.”

‘…Just like Mrs. Petty, who left the novice village,’ Nol thought.

Even if she was fortunate enough to survive from the headless woman, her memories would revert to those of “five-year-old Rebecca”. So far, everything the candle said was correct.

“In my opinion, being alive is good enough. Why be picky?” the black candle said. “If you think the shadow wolf is the key, try it. Maybe it will solve the problem.”

Teest tapped his spoon and nodded seriously. “Destroy the instance, save the people, everyone’s happy.”

“No.”

Nol said calmly.

“The survivors will find themselves waking up in a completely unfamiliar place, their appearance completely changed, and unknowingly losing important friends… I don’t like this outcome either.”

Teest shrugged nonchalantly and continued eating his soup.

Beside the soup bowl, the candle silently watched Nol. “…You are truly a capricious person.”

“Then you’ll have to put up with me, Candle,” Nol replied.

“Calling me ‘Candle’ is too crude,” The black candle said. “I’ve thought of several grandiose names for myself. You can call me Sexton or Sweenid…”

“These names are too long… How about ‘Kando*’?”

*Clarity: Compared to Sexton (赛克斯托恩) or Sweenid (斯威恩尼德) Kando (坎多) is much shorter… and it’s basically a homophone for candle (in English).

After thinking for a few seconds, Nol decisively said, “Yes, let’s call him Kando.”

To his surprise, the black candle didn’t make a fuss. It was silent for a long time, and its blue vertical eye slightly curved. Perhaps it was just his imagination, but Nol felt that its presence seemed stronger than before, less out of place.

“Thank you for giving me a name,” the black candle said cheerfully. “I really—really like it.”

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The author has something to say:

The second supporting character makes its appearance!

Nol, on the path to becoming the head of an evil organization (?)

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