Welcome to Nightmare Game III

In the morning, Ning Zhou woke up beside the extinguished bonfire.

The morning on the snow-burning plateau was frighteningly cold, and it was so hard to open the eyes—a layer of frost stuck to the thick eyelashes, making the step of opening the eyes a challenge.

Under the sun, in the forest on the ice field, Ning Zhou slowly came to life.

From an ice sculpture frozen beside an extinguished campfire, to a human being.

where is thisNeverland?Neverland is not so cold this season.

The memory seemed to be frozen by the cold weather. Ning Zhou couldn't remember who he was for a while, but he could recall the tundra animals he had seen before - the lizards frozen by the low temperature at night, thawed out in the sunshine of the next morning , Slowly waking up, just like him now.

But he is not a lizard, Ning Zhou thought in confusion.

It took him a long time to remember who he was and where he was:

This is the fifth year he has been in Neverland. He has just completed two years of penance in the Priory, and is currently serving in the Knights. He has only recently started to perform tasks independently.A few days ago, he tracked down a high-level demon, entered the ice field all the way, and finally killed it in the cedar forest.

Yes, that's right.

Feeling that the vision in front of him was very strange, Ning Zhou stretched out his left hand, trying to touch his left eye, but then he froze.

He couldn't feel his left hand anymore.

His right hand touched the position of his left shoulder twice blankly - gone.

Touched the position of the left eye twice again - blind.

In an instant, his expression was even more confused than when he thought he had turned into a lizard.

Why, when I woke up, not only lost an arm, but also lost an eye... Was it a sneak attack by a demon?Or did he not wake up?It can't be that the weather is too cold, it's gone, right?

Surprisingly, Ning Zhou didn't panic at all, as if he should have gotten used to it long ago.

He's also really used to getting hurt.

But the strange thing is that he doesn't remember that he has suffered such a serious injury recently, and the last serious injury dates back to three months ago.

He is about to become an adult, and this important birthday made him decide to go back to Twilight Township before the founding day to see his mother's cemetery and the fireworks on the founding day.

As he approached Twilight Land, he was delayed by an incident of demonic cannibalism.He followed the demons to the human settlements in the East Pole Diocese, searching for them near the deserted church, which a wandering warbler used as a place of business.

She was stunned when a handsome boy knocked on the door of the church.

She is a poor human being. Years of hunger and poverty have prematurely polished her beauty and smoothed her shame.Whoever knocked at the door, she could smile as alluringly as she could, and offer a price that would buy half a loaf of bread.

But when she saw this young man in the uniform of the Holy See, she stared at him blankly, and dared not speak no matter what—he was too handsome and too sharp.

It makes people feel ashamed and trembling with fear.

He is like a knife that has just been tempered, exuding a compelling temperature.

But it wasn't a warm temperature, it was scorching.

He had just been beaten into shape and quenched, but he hadn't found the scabbard yet, and he didn't know how to restrain his edge.

It is true that he hasn't learned these things yet, he just started to leave the Holy See, and he can't wait to prove himself.He didn't have much mission experience yet, nor was he vigilant enough to realize that it wasn't just a human warbler hiding in this church.

And a horde of demons waiting to ambush him.

In this sudden battle, he failed to save the poor wandering warbler. Instead, he was pierced through the abdomen by the devil's sharp claws because of saving people—it was a cunning succubus who was good at sneak attacks. After being the opponent of the young man of the Holy See, he began to beg for mercy, trying to seduce him, and his charming and beautiful face looked very charming.

But it failed to impress the paladins of the Holy See, and the hard-hearted knights chopped off its head.

The succubus died unwillingly, with the knight's blood on its hands, and its tail was still wagging convulsively until it completely lost its life.

It wasn't until the last demon died that Ning Zhou found that the wound on his abdomen had been completely torn, and half of the Holy See uniform was soaked in blood contaminated by the power of the demon.

This church, which has been abandoned for many years, is already dilapidated, and the thrilling battle just now exacerbated the dilapidation here. Maybe there will be another storm, and it will start to collapse.

On the shattered stained glass windows after the wind and rain, only the remains of the angel and the Madonna were left. The sunlight passed through these broken window lattices, illuminating the scattered corpses lying on the ground, as well as the boy in the uniform of the Holy See. people.

Ning Zhou was exhausted, he used his last bit of strength to help the dead Liuying close her eyes, and he prayed for her.

Then he stumbled to the cross of the church, supported it and sat down slowly. The moment he sat down, he took a deep breath in pain, and took a few heavy breaths. Every breath was accompanied by the wound. of severe pain.

But this pain kept him awake.

He unloaded his weapon, stripped off his soiled uniform, and tore his shirt into bandages—a quick fix when the bandages ran out.

The only problem was that his shirt was made of coarse linen, and ascetics were not allowed to wear silk or cotton shirts, because they were too comfortable.They want to use material simplicity to remind themselves of their original sin and resist ubiquitous temptations.

Living is an ordeal full of trials, never get used to enjoying it.

Usually Ning Zhou doesn't think there is any problem with this rule, but when the shirt is used as a bandage, the rough linen will make the wound painful.

Fortunately, this time he was not wearing a thick woolen shirt that hurt people, Ning Zhou thought, otherwise he would have to consider cutting off the trouser legs to make bandages.

He took out the wine bottle and instinctively wanted to take a sip of the spirits, but suddenly remembered that he had repented and sworn in front of the Holy Spirit of his mother two years ago. According to the religious rules, he would not drink spirits before he became an adult.

There is still half a day before he becomes an adult.

But even half a day is not enough.

So he didn't drink, he restrained this desire, skillfully cleaned the wound with spirits, used holy water to ease the erosion of the power of the devil, and finally stitched it with sewing needles and threads, but the stitches were not smooth.

Stitching on his own wounds is completely different from sewing on clothes, he thought, when sewing clothes, his hands would not shake so badly, and the "fabric" would not be so bloody.

At this time, he would regret it very much. It would be great if he could learn the magic technique well, at least he could learn the healing technique better.

However, there is no way.

He just can't learn.

After treating the wound, Ning Zhou was almost numb from the pain.Putting on his clothes again, after thinking about it, he buttoned the buttons of the Holy See uniform to the collar, because his shirt had become a bandage, and if he didn't button it up, it would be disrespectful, and he didn't want to visit his mother's grave like this .

His eyes lingered on the corpses of the demons. The beautiful head of the succubus happened to be at his feet, covered with dust and blood, without any seductive posture when alive.

Succubus are cunning and nasty, he thought.

It's not dark yet, if we set off quickly, we might be able to make it back to the Twilight Land.But when he took the first step, the severe pain from his lower abdomen made him frown, and cold sweat dripped from his forehead.

It turned out that he wasn't numb from the pain.

The light passing through the glass window was too dazzling, Ning Zhou closed his eyes, took a deep breath, and let his attention not stay on the pain, but his eyes were still hot and humid due to the pain.

He suddenly realized that he couldn't walk, and he couldn't walk anymore.

Because he was hurt badly, worse than expected.

It was getting dark, and it was already impossible to arrive at Twilight Township within six hours and greet the establishment day with the zero o'clock bell and fireworks.

This birthday, his coming-of-age ceremony, is destined to be spent in a strange place.

After realizing this reality, the spirit that supported him suddenly weakened. He sat back under the cross and slowly closed his eyes, letting the long eyelashes cover his blue eyes. Shut away the sunlight that falls on him.

He felt very tired, his wound was painful, he had a fever, and his consciousness was drowsy, and he would fall asleep at any time.

Then sleep for a while, he thought to himself, it will be fine in a while.

But he felt reconciled, he had already come here, and he was about to reach the Twilight Land, but he just couldn't make it.

The afterglow of the setting sun left the church in a panic.This dilapidated religious place is no longer holy. It is the shelter of wandering warblers, the lair of demons, and the place of belief that human beings no longer care about.

But now, it is the resting place of a young knight who strives to maintain the authority of the Holy See.

Amidst the blood on the ground, the Holy See youth under the cross was holding a knife, and fell asleep exhausted by the heat from the wound.

In the dream, he seemed to have returned to the land of twilight. As a young boy, he was eating the birthday cake his mother made for him, looking forward to the fireworks in a few hours.

But I don't know why, the cake that should be sweet and delicious has a faint smell of blood in my mouth.

He coughed a few times, and the cough brought unexpected severe pain, as if someone had pierced his abdomen, making the bloody smell in his throat even stronger.

He was driven out of the beautiful dream by the pain, and had to open his eyes with difficulty.

A bell sounded in the night.

Ning Zhou woke up, he was still having a fever, and he had no strength in his body. He could only lean on the cross, look at the stars outside the broken window of the church, and count the bells.

A total of twelve times, this is the zero o'clock bell.

Only then did he suddenly realize that the establishment day had arrived and his birthday had arrived.

But he was trapped and couldn't rush back to Twilight Township to watch a one-person fireworks.

The sense of loneliness that had been chasing him all year round surged into his heart at this moment.

He thought of the Twilight Land before he was 13 years old. Every year on this day, Maria would always accompany him to celebrate his birthday.

He will have presents, cakes, birthday wishes, love and company.

Now, these are all gone, but he still wants to go back and watch the fireworks with Maria in front of Maria's tombstone.

But even such a simple wish never came true.

Will it be like this every year in the future?

He didn't want to be like this, he didn't want to be alone all the time.

In my mind, the voice of the teacher Arnold sounded: "You will fall into various trials, and you should learn to be patient. Patience is not endurance, but you need to pray, think, and persevere in the trials. You must learn to be joyful in suffering , hope in despair, move forward in adversity, and then you will be complete and lack nothing."

Am I now complete and complete, with nothing lacking?

Ning Zhou thought, he hasn't.

But it doesn't matter, he will still have a lot of time.

After all, he just had his birthday.

In a dilapidated church, in the midst of tormenting illness, a man came of age.

He will be fine.

After dawn, he will gather his spirits, take up his weapons, and continue his journey.He will grow braver, stronger and more mature.He will be invincible and indestructible.He will be the hero all hopeless people look for.

The lingering sound of the bell is curled up and dissipated in the lonely night.

The young man who had just grown up heard the voice of "God" in a void:

[Player Ning Zhou, complete the first step of the Novice Village mission: Awakening. 】

[Unlock card slot × 2]

[The second step of the Novice Village mission: Find other demons lurking in the East Pole Diocese. 】

[Data synchronization countdown, ten, nine, eight, seven, six, five, four, three, two, one, synchronization completed. 】

From this moment on, a new trial begins.

The young Son left his sanctuary to begin the saga of his life.

He held the sword of the road tightly, carried a heavy cross on his back, passed through the rugged and difficult Valley of Tears, and climbed the steep and dangerous Mount Zion.

On the way of trial and pilgrimage, he will meet the destined person inadvertently.

From then on, no matter where he is, his soul will have a home.

He will never be alone again.

The author has something to say:

Ning Zhou was 21 years old when he appeared in the first film. He has already experienced a lot and has a mature personality. It is not obvious that he is three and a half years younger than Le Mei.But he has not always been like this. He didn't have the opportunity to write before, but now he has!

Ning Zhou is a very sharp person, the kind of sharp sword that is easy to break when it is just out of the sheath, but it already looks like the future.

Ning Zhou: The succubus is really cunning and annoying.

25-year-old Ning Zhou: ...It smells so good.