Four Split Personalities

"A hidden mission?"

Yu Chen blinked.

"A hidden mission?"

Cordova’s tiger-like body shook.

"A hidden mission?"

Xia Lian tugged at her ear, a bit puzzled.

[Hidden mission?!]

Motan startled himself.

Yes, he startled himself too. Although he had been dragging time earlier, wondering what reason to use for his explanation, his mind ended up blank. So, he blurted out something about a ’hidden mission’ and shocked himself.

But even so, he had to brace himself to see it through...

"Yes, a hidden mission."

Motan nodded as if it were a matter of fact, while his brain cells accelerated at eighty kilometers per second, carefully concealing the process as he said, "It’s like... something similar to a... nightmare... which randomly appears when my consciousness separates from this world."

"That’s really unheard of."

Xia Lian furrowed her brows. Though she had a rough idea from what she’d heard from the trio about ’otherworlders’ - that their souls could travel back and forth between her world and another one, and also knew that they often received some mysterious missions (tasks) that, upon completion, could grant them various benefits including enhancements in strength, it was still somewhat difficult for her to understand.

However, Motan and the others hadn’t specifically mentioned that appearing in the Realm of Innocence was playing a game. After all, other dimensions, soul traversal, the voice of heaven... these concepts were more acceptable to someone as well-traveled as Xia Lian, given that she had listened to divine pronouncements many times. But, to tell her "The Realm of Innocence is an entire dimension lower than the real world" would not only be hard to comprehend, if she did understand, it would only invite more trouble.

After all, finding out your neighbor, Uncle Yu, is an alien is understandable, but it’s harder to accept that you might be a character from a piece of literature, a film, a game, or even a comedy routine, and that Uncle Yu is the one reading the novel, watching the movie, playing the game, or the one performing the punchlines.

Therefore, even though they explained most traits of otherworlders... which is to say, players, they unanimously (actually, it was Motan’s suggestion in a friend message) didn’t mention anything related to ’dimensional’ issues. If it was really hard to explain, they’d just gloss over it; nevertheless, for Xia Lian, this was already a lot to take in, so she didn’t care about these minor details.

Now, back to the main topic...

Despite Xia Lian showing a certain degree of confusion, Cordova and Yu Chen understood Motan’s meaning instantly and even genuinely agreed with him.

Having been wholly immersed in the game for nearly three months, they were acutely aware of how easy it was for the game to take wild turns. Such quirky, personal missions rarely appeared in other games, but for a spiritual simulation game like the Realm of Innocence, it was an everyday occurrence. By now, they had lost count of how many times they’d been given tasks specifically tailored for them.

As for the eeriness of the task, for someone like Cordova who had traversed into Rune Creations due to an excessive number of deaths, this was nothing out of the ordinary.

So, both of them quickly embraced this setting.

As for Xia Lian, after thinking it over for more than half a minute, she reluctantly nodded, indicating she roughly understood, and then asked curiously, "So... about your ’hidden mission,’ did it tell you how to deal with that... nightmare?"

"Unfortunately."

Motan had by now almost rounded out the settings in his mind and spoke without hesitation, "I really don’t know that. The mission just tells me such a thing exists, and that it’s independent and difficult to eliminate. Even though its ’death’ won’t have any effect on me personally, it will reappear in some random place after a while and might become even stronger. So, for now, the simplest method is to imprison it, like before, hopefully forever."

Xia Lian pondered for a moment, then nodded gently, "Okay, then. I trust your character and will try to do as you say, but I must report the full story to the Pope. Is that alright?"

"No problem, as the monster has no connection to me except that it can’t appear when I’m ’awake’." Motan forced a smile and then reminded, "However, regarding the ’otherworlders,’ I hope we don’t let too many people know. After all, our existence is too special, and if handled improperly..."

Xia Lian cut him off, standing up with a hint of detachment, "Don’t worry, we won’t publicly broadcast this sort of thing. After all, I’m still quite confused about it myself."

"That’s good."

Motan nodded slightly, saying softly, "Thank you for your trouble."

"It’s not a big deal really. That monster was captured by us to begin with, and you’re part of the Church of the Dawn, but..."

Xia Lian hesitated, then said in a grave tone, "I don’t think this matter can be kept secret for long."

Motan chuckled dryly, spreading his hands, "I agree, but let’s worry about the future later."