Welcome to Nightmare Game III

In the early morning in the snow field, after waking up to find that he had broken an arm and lost an eye, Ning Zhou felt that he would not be surprised by anything anymore.

But this illusion only lasted for less than 5 minutes.

Because, he opened the diary next to the campfire.

Turning to the first page of the diary, Ning Zhou saw familiar handwriting, which was his own handwriting:

[I am you, the future you.In other words, you who are reading the diary now are me in the past. 】

【I have to tell you one thing.Your time is turning back. Every day, your body age and memory will go back one year. Today you should be...  】

This number has been altered countless times, and Ning Zhou can clearly see the crossed out 21, [-], [-], and finally [-].

So, he is not actually this year?but...

[However, your real age should be 25 years old. 】

[When I woke up from the ice field for the first time, I remembered that I was 21 years old and had just reunited with the Qi Le people in the purgatory deep in the underground ant city. 】

[Please be sure, must, must remember his name. 】

【Because he is the love of my life. 】

The diary fell into the snow, and the pages of the book were turned during the fall, revealing a sketch of the character on the side, with his own handwriting on it: [You have to wait for him, believe in him, even if you are now, you still have to wait for him. Never knew him. 】

Ning Zhou looked at the portrait on the page of the diary in the snow in horror, as if it was a temptation from hell.

Seven years later, he fell in love with a man?

How is this possible?

This must be a deception by the devil!

He should stop and burn the diary quickly!

Ning Zhou thought hard about the knowledge he had learned from the Holy See, trying to figure out what kind of demon could imitate his handwriting and fabricate such a bizarre lie to deceive him.

However, even the most cunning devil can't steal his memory and make his past clear, right?If there is a past in the diary that only he himself knows, does that prove that it is true?

Then he should take a look at this diary, maybe the later part will reveal flaws?

Ning Zhou didn't want to admit it, but at this moment, an uncontrollable curiosity was gnawing at a young man's reason, and he was eager to know the truth.

Whether it's the devil's deception, or the future he really fell in love with a man, he should figure it out.

Thinking of this, Ning Zhou looked at the diary on the ground vigilantly.This time, he finally dared to seriously look at the portrait on that page of portraits.

It was a young man, with a side face, he was staring quietly ahead, with a faint smile on the corner of his mouth.He has a pair of exceptionally good-looking eyes with slender eyelashes and slightly drooping eye ends. There is a blurry figure reflected in the crystal pupils—he must be looking at someone.

And this focused tenderness has been completely given to the person he is staring at.

This is the look in the eyes of a lover.

This idea popped up in Ning Zhou's mind for no reason, and then he felt unbelievable—he was only at the youngest and restless age, he lived in the strict discipline of the Holy See, and received the most severe ascetic practice.

Introverted and withdrawn by nature, he never talked freely with his peers. The heavy schoolwork and training drained his time and energy, and the atmosphere of the Holy See was doomed to be romantic. He didn't even think about it carefully. What is love? .

Of course he doesn't know what kind of eyes he will have when he loves someone.

However, he was convinced that the person in the painting was looking at his lover.

Is he looking at him?

So gentle, so determined to look at him, as if he is all of him.

At this moment, he was fascinated by this gentle and strange emotion.He could fully imagine how this painting was born: It should have been a tender and rainy night, he sat in front of that person, took out paper and pen, and wanted to draw a painting for him.

The man agreed, but he was faintly shy, because he had never invited anyone to act as his model.

When the model looked at him with loving eyes, he was attracted by the amorous eyes and rosy lips, and had to force himself to look away and look at the mirror beside him.The mirror reflected his side face, so tender and affectionate under the light, he couldn't help being attracted, and drew his lover's side face.

Ning Zhou stretched out his hand involuntarily, wanting to touch the eyes of the person in the painting with his fingertips.

But the moment he touched the cold paper, he woke up suddenly, jumped up like a frightened rabbit, and the diary on his lap fell into the snow again.

This is the bewitchment of the devil!He looked at the diary vigilantly and indignantly. It must be the devil who planned this vicious scam!

It must be cunning, more cunning than the succubi that had sneaked up on him in the church a few months ago.

He will never read this diary again!

Ning Zhou touched the knife tied to the outside of his thigh, but found that the knife was not there, only a sword stuck in the scabbard.Ning Zhou pulled out his sword and was surprised to find that it was a broken sword.

This sword...

This holy power...

Ning Zhou raised the broken sword, and the sword's owner's name—Maria was engraved on the blade near the hilt.

Ning Zhou suddenly recalled that her teacher Arnold said that since she killed the Destroyer Demon King in the holy city, her mother never used a sword again—the holy sword that had been with her for many years and the body of the Destroyer Demon King stayed in the holy city.

But if it was really Mother's sword, why was it in his hand?

Could it be that what was said in the diary is true, the current him is not, but he has returned because of going back in time.In the future, he has been to the holy city, so he got his mother's sword?

Ning Zhou looked at the diary hesitantly, he pursed his lips and frowned.

He must find out the truth.

………………

The truth was even more shocking than expected. Shocked, Ning Zhou had to put down the diary and take a sip of wine to calm down for a while every time he turned a page.

This unbelievable shock made him forget both hunger and cold.

Three years later, at the age of 21, he entered a gender-changing mission, and he became a girl.

He met the destined "her" in the mission?

"She" is from Qi Le?

It turned out that they met like this...

Ning Zhou gritted his teeth and finished reading this bizarre and tortuous first love story. When he saw that three years later, he spent all his savings and bought an expensive sapphire ring to propose marriage, but saw "him" on the steel bridge, he finally endured. Can't stop.

Ning Zhou stood up, picked up the wine bottle stuck in the snow, and drank the rest of the spirit in one go.

The alcohol that burned his throat like a raging fire, not only could not calm his embarrassment and anger, but made his internal organs burn.

The more it burns, the more it cannot be quelled.

Almost in a fit of exasperation, he dropped the bottle and slammed his fist on the cedar tree.

This punch, which contained extraordinary power, caused the cedar tree to snap apart, the giant tree fell slowly, and the snow on the branches fell with a clatter, drenching his head and face all over his body.

Ning Zhou, who had turned into a half "snowman", stood motionless in the snowdrift, and the coldness all over his body did not quench his wild thoughts.

He seemed to be possessed, imagining the stories in the diary uncontrollably, and even had the appearance of "her" in his mind-because this diary was accompanied by an illustration drawn by himself, in which was a smiling A sweet and lovely girl, with a firm and brave heart hidden under her weak and pitiful appearance - "she" died three times for him.

At this moment, Ning Zhou thought to himself: "If he is really a girl, maybe I will really fall in love with her."

Suddenly a deep and hoarse voice in the soul asked: "Are you moved by her beauty?"

"Of course not!" Ning Zhou refuted the voice without hesitation.

He has seen countless beautiful skins.The succubus he killed in the abandoned church not long ago had an extremely beautiful face.It seduced him, but he never wavered a bit.

The voice in the soul continued to question him: "But if you love his passion, devotion and sacrifice. What do these virtues of the soul have to do with his gender?"

Ning Zhou's heart trembled, he was stopped by the questioning voice, and he couldn't answer for a while.

"But this is not allowed." For a long time, he could only justify in this way.

The voice in the soul was a little more mockingly cold: "If you are not allowed, won't you be moved?"

"Of course! I shouldn't!" Ning Zhou shouted silently.

"You were 13 years old the first time you drank spirits secretly. Is this allowed?" The voice in the soul asked with a sneer.

According to the regulations of the Holy See, minors are prohibited from drinking spirits, and they are only allowed to drink light alcohol.

Did he comply?

He did not.

The 13-year-old Ning Zhou has just arrived at the Holy See of Neverland. The expectation that enveloped him is so strong that it forms a dazzling halo. In the halo, he is the future of the Holy See, the savior of mankind, and the person who dispels the haze of the world. of light.

But he is not.

He is not.

He has no talent for magic.No matter how hard he tried, he couldn't be like his mother.

He is neither pious nor sure, he is a mortal who has not received the grace of God.

That huge setback was devastating, as a young man trying desperately to live up to the expectations, but no matter how hard he tried, he couldn't.

This is how the tragedy happened. Everyone believed that the hero should save the world, and he should save the world as a matter of course, but he couldn't.

Powerlessness is not a sin, but expecting too much makes it a sin.

He was trapped in the swamp called expectation, and the harder he struggled, the more he sank.

In the unbearable self-blame and guilt, he was silently suffocating.

He tossed and turned countless cold nights, and even when he fell asleep, he kept waking up. He always dreamed that he was climbing a mountain, his hands were bleeding, his muscles were cramping, and his endless efforts were exhausting him.

Then he fell, and fell, and the weightlessness woke him up in spasms, cold sweat soaking his back.

He began to drink, and got half drunk, and the alcohol brought a moment of peace, and he could finally stop struggling and find a moment of sleep in his weariness.

He began to skip class, to avoid the disappointed eyes of those disappointed expectations.

He hid in the corner of the church and painted paintings, and when he had the opportunity to leave Neverland, he exchanged those paintings with traveling merchants for wine.He doesn't want to communicate with anyone. If he must choose a communication partner, he would rather talk to the penguin.

These days of evasion, depravity, and rebellion lasted for three years.

Until, at the age of 16, he saw the Holy Spirit of his mother. After a tragic loss-the teacher took him and his classmates to leave Neverland, and practiced how to track demons in a nearby parish.This was a not-so-dangerous practical course, but an accident happened, and the teacher and a dozen of his classmates lost their lives.

He survived, and at the moment of life and death, his teacher chose to protect him.Because he was Mary's son, he was expected, he had this expensive privilege, even though he never desired it.

"Maria..."

At the end of his life, his teacher murmured the name of the Holy Nun, as if everything had returned to the days when Mary was still in the Holy See.

She stroked his cheek with blood-stained hands, and she looked at him with unquenchable expectations in her eyes.

Everyone in the Holy See can die for him because he is hope.

But he, who is burdened with great expectations, can do nothing. He can neither save the teacher's life, nor protect everyone.

For three years, he escaped the world through painting and fell asleep in alcohol. Such self-sacrifice and depravity became a price he could not bear at this moment.

If he could work harder, if he could be stronger... maybe he could save everyone.

The privileges he once had will eventually have to be paid for by him.

Return to Ningzhou in the Holy See, and confess in front of the Pope.

His Majesty the Pope put the scepter on the pendant on his chest. It was a relic left to him by Mary, and it contained a powerful source of protection.

Under the guidance of the Pope, the Holy Spirit of Mary appeared like an angel, healed his wounds with a kiss full of maternal love, and ended his youthful absurdity.

He cried and confessed to the Holy Spirit of his mother, pouring out his thoughts and love for her, and he swore that he would repent.

He will quit drinking, delve into the scriptures, and study magic arts hard. He will work ten times and a hundred times harder than before, and he will make a clean break with the past.

He handed over his stash of spirits to the Pope, swearing that he would never drink again.

He will no longer escape, no matter how many expectations people give him, he is unwilling to live up to it.

He must do it.

The Pope agreed to his repentance: "Then practice penance. Use the test methods of the disciples of the Holy See Priory. They are all strong, firm, and faithful monks. It is asceticism and trials that forged their souls. Let them have strong strength and firm will, even if they step barefoot through the burning bushes, their faith will not be shaken. Are you willing to try?"

He raised his head, the blue eyes washed by tears of confession showed the courage to move forward.

Those were the eyes of a young man who had been defeated by the cruel reality, but got up strong.

"I am willing."

So, facing the questioning from the voice in his soul, Ning Zhou answered calmly: "But I repented."

From the time he swore off alcohol to the time he came of age, he never drank again.

He repented of it, and he did it.

"This time, you haven't," said the voice in your soul, "Only love, you will never repent. Because love is not your refuge from reality, it is your courage and faith. As long as you have it, you will never repent. They will overcome obstacles for love."

This sentence seemed to be a curse-like prophecy, pronouncing his fate.

In that great sense of fate, Ning Zhou seemed to feel something.

"Who are you?" Ning Zhou asked.

In the dark, he saw that the voice in the soul took shape. It was a resolute figure, standing in the darkness and blood, but still the embodiment of courage and faith.

The man opened his eyes, and it was a scarlet right eye.

"Keep reading and finish this diary. You will know who I am."