Chapter 51 – Which Production Is This Clown From?
Translator: Henyee Translations Editor: Henyee Translations
Herring didn't explore the Nightmare Dungeon of Dark Souls today. It wasn't because her body was overwhelmed, but because she found that she was getting hooked on Dark Souls.
This proved that the Nightmare Dungeon was corroding her mind more and more severely, causing signs of addiction to appear.
As one of the contractors of "Dark Side," while Herring spent more time fighting in Dark Souls, the energy "Dark Side" got from the Nightmare Dungeon of Dark Souls also increased.
Accordingly, the pollution Dark Side suffered became more serious. This was why Dark Side was also harmed after dying inside, even though it was a Dream Seed.
When the harm reflected on Herring, the dark emotions and killing desire acc.u.mulated inside her body would rise and slowly lose control.
Herring didn't suppress her killing desire. However, if she was devoured by Dark Souls' power and negative emotions, she would probably lose her sanity. She would be controlled by the Lord of Nightmare of Dark Souls.
So, Herring must vent this emotion out of her mind. The way she did that in the past was to kill other players and the bosses in Dark Side.
However, this method didn't work this time. Herring's body was already used to the fighting pace in Dark Souls. It was very uncomfortable for her to suddenly revert to the combat system in Dark Side.
"d.a.m.n it!"
Herring rushed towards a player with the daggers in her hands out of habit, but the other party directly took out an automatic rifle without saying a word and aimed at her.
In the past, Herring would have already turned on defensive superpowers like super s.h.i.+elds. Now though, she was startled for a moment. There were no guns in the world of Dark Souls!
When the bullets came, Herring instinctively did the sliding movement from Dark Souls. Midway, she realized she was in trouble.
In Dark Side, sliding wasn't invincible. She would certainly be shot by the bullets of the automatic rifle.
But she didn't… Herring dodged the barrage of bullets exceptionally smoothly.
At this moment, not only Herring froze, but even her enemy was also dumbfounded. However, before that enemy could report Herring as a cheater, her fighting instinct shortened the distance between her and her enemy. The enemy fighting with Herring was also strong.
After they got closer, her enemy pulled out a sword and prepared to engage in close combat. But once he took a slash, Herring's muscles reflexively did the rebound movement in Dark Souls again.
This was the fighting instinct that had been carved into Herring's DNA.
The rebounding movement was ridiculous. The dagger on Herring's left hand suddenly swung to the left. This was like opening her door under the battle rules in reality. Her enemy could stab her right in her heart or neck.
But at this moment, the dagger Herring swung successfully bounded off the sword of her enemy. While the other party was looking shocked, Herring immediately executed him.
The dagger in her hand pierced her enemy's chest while she pressed him down on the ground. As a large amount of blood oozed out, his Health Points dropped to zero in an instant.
What was going on? Herring had already noticed the weirdness of her body.
However, she was in a free fight, so the other enemies attacked her without giving her any chance to think.
Herring's instinct drove her to slide and avoid her enemies' attack once again. Then, she chased after the enemies, rebounded their attacks, and killed them… All these movements were combat methods in Dark Souls.
Herring didn't even need to think. She was fully indulged in the thrill of hunting and killing brought to her by the combat system of the Dark Souls series…
When she collected herself again, all living things on the map had already been killed by her. The dead bodies of other players piled up underneath her feet.
"This is…"
Herring looked at her hands covered with fresh blood. There were traces of fire burn on both of her hands.
Without her knowing, the power she was using right now wasn't from the superhero of "Dark Side" anymore, but from the undead Ashen One in Dark Souls.
"Accept the power that belongs to you, Ashen One."
A voice came all of a sudden. Herring immediately looked up… She saw someone who should never show up here.
A nightmare guardian
He was originally the next nightmare guardian Herring had to beat. After fighting with him twice, Herring felt like her sanity was being swallowed by the Nightmare Dungeon. So, she chose to return to "Dark Side" to rest.
But she had never thought this nightmare guardian would chase her down to her home.
The appearance of this nightmare consciousness here meant that the Nightmare Dungeon of Dark Souls had finally started to attack the base of the Dream Eaters, Dark Side!
Pontiff Sulyvahn was only a vanguard who came to sound them out…
The nightmare consciousness that played Pontiff Sulyvahn was one who was the best at deceiving people among the children of the Lord of Nightmare.
He came here this time to make use of Herring's addiction to Dark Souls to force all the killing desire and negative emotions out of Herring's mind…
Herring had devoured too much power, which was the unowned souls, in Dark Souls along the way. Her whole body and mind had indulged in the killing in the world of Dark Souls, and she couldn't extricate herself from it.
This made the influence of the Nightmare Dungeon on her grow gradually!
Even though Herring and Dark Side supporting her could digest this part of the impact, she still had to pay the price… The increased pollution of Dark Side was one of them. Moreover, Herring was more likely to be controlled by the Lord of Nightmare of Dark Souls!
Right now, Pontiff Sulyvahn had come for his King to try to ask Herring if she was willing to swear to serve their King.
But Herring's reply was…
"Get back inside!"
Herring covered her forehead. Even though there was a pain in her voice, she sounded unusually cold. She yelled with a deep voice as she looked at Sulyvahn, who was walking closer to her.
"I'm only interested in killing you! You want me to join you… and a.s.sociate with you? That's impossible!"
Even though Herring would kill her enemies brutally and dismember their bodies, she still thought she was a hero, just like the superhero she admired, Dark Side.
And Dark Souls? She indeed liked the combat system of Dark Souls and that sense of achievement she got when she defeated a strong enemy right before she died.
And yet, Herring's interest in Dark Souls didn't go further than that.
She didn't care about the world of Dark Souls that the Lord of Nightmare built or the stories behind the bosses played by the children of the Lord of Nightmare. The lives of the NPCs and other bosses were even more out of the question.
If she didn't care about them, it meant that she didn't like them. She didn't like the roles the Lord of Nightmare and its children played, so she would never have any feelings like yearning, admiration, and respect for that Lord of Nightmare. What she felt was only hatred and hostility.
This made it impossible for the Lord of Nightmare of Dark Souls to control Herring or the world where the superhero she admired, Dark Side, was.
"Well said, Herring. n.o.body will like your monsters and nightmare! They only enjoy the feeling of killing you."
A black shadow rose behind Herring. It was probably the manifestation of the consciousness of this Level S Dream Seed, Dark Side.
Herring got up again with the help of the dream consciousness of Dark Side. The shadow formed a weapon in its hand. Herring was also ready to fight with Pontiff Sulyvahn right here and now. She would kick this d.a.m.n nightmare consciousness out!
But Pontiff Sulyvahn sighed gently.
"You like the characters in Superhero World, right? Ones that have a little anti-hero tendency?"
The tone of Pontiff Sulyvahn suddenly changed, as if he were a different person. Herring froze for a while. The next second, the enormous body of Pontiff Sulyvahn abruptly disappeared…
He was replaced by a… clown?
The clown was wearing a purple suit and a green vest, but the makeup on his face seemed a bit rough, as if he hadn't reapplied it for a long time. There was a scar on the right side of his lips, which looked like it was slit open by something.
Which Nightmare Dungeon was this character from?
Herring suddenly froze. The shadow behind her had started rus.h.i.+ng towards the clown once he appeared.
This was an invasion that even the dream consciousness couldn't control. The genre of this Dream Seed right now was more suitable for this clown that appeared out of nowhere than the superhero Dark Side.
How was that possible?
While Herring was stunned, the clown slowly walked towards her. During this time, he bent his body and slightly lowered his head. When he looked at Herring… he gave her a strange sense of oppression and fear.
Suddenly, he grabbed Herring's chin, then licked the right side of his lips gently and asked with a slightly hoa.r.s.e and strange voice, "Why… so… serious?"
The clown thrust a knife into Herring's mouth. Holding the knife at the right corner of her lips, he said slowly while staring deep into Herring's eyes, "Let me… add a little smile… on your face!"
Just before the blade was about to make a cut, the black shadow suddenly devoured that clown completely. This nightmare intruder was destroyed by Dark Side…
Herring dropped to the ground. She covered her lips and kept gasping for air.
"That clown… Which production is it from?"
Herring recalled the image of that clown. He was just a normal person, but he gave her great pressure and fear and a kind of… magic that strangely made her yearn and want to follow him.
This made Herring desperate to know which production that clown came from and what his story was like.
"I want to know too…" The black shadow also looked interested in the background of the clown that appeared in a blink just then.
But now…
"You should get back to completing your mission. The invasion of the nightmares has arrived. Herring… I'll devour all those nightmares. You should defeat those monsters with your comrades… as a hero!" said the dream consciousness.
Herring nodded. She was surprised that the nightmare consciousness from Dark Souls would truly fight back.
Once the nightmare consciousness led its children into the Dream Dungeon of Dark Side, the world of Dark Souls would be left empty and unguarded.
This was the best time to attack for the Dream Eaters and other invasion organizations!
Although Herring was still curious about the background of that clown, he was most likely created by the Dream Maker behind Dark Souls as well.
Herring only needed to attack the unguarded dungeon of Dark Souls right now and catch that Dream Maker to interrogate him and urge him to update the dungeon!
I hope the story of that clown won't let me down!
Herring wiped the corners of her mouth with her hand. The feeling of being slashed by a blade was extremely clear. She had one more reason to invade Dark Souls now: urging the Dream Maker for updates!