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〖Prison Star Calendar〗
〖Year 187, June 26〗
〖6:08 AM〗
〖Countdown to Advancement Trai: 0 days〗
〖Countdown to Confession Death: 23 days〗
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Awakening today, Tyler limited his magic energy training to a mere 500 points.
If he exhausted too much magic energy, he would have to spend additional time in the afternoon recuperating, which would interfere with his plans to embark on the trial.
The long-anticipated journey to the trial necessitated optimal conditions to ensure no regrets.
Approaching the window, Tyler surveyed the Quest Guild across the inn, feeling a trace of guilt for not informing Emilia about his plans to undertake the trial.
His silence was due, firstly, to the fact that it was the end of the month, a time when the Guild’s financial settlement would keep Emilia exceptionally busy, the reason she hadn’t visited the inn this morning.
Secondly, for the sake of Emilia’s safety, Tyler had orchestrated a series of strategic plans for the Gateway of Trials in the western suburb of Sunny Town that ensured anything but tranquility.
Due to some discrepancies between the actual situation and his initial expectations, Tyler purchased some additional materials and fabricated a new batch of smoke bombs, bringing his inventory to twenty.
Subsequently, as per the agreement, he ventured to the ornament shop to inquire if the elderly ornament maker had completed the initial prototype.
“My apologies, young man. I did my best, but the results are less than satisfactory.”
The craftsman handed over a seemingly professional pair of binoculars.
Tyler accepted them and peered out the window at the distant view. The scene was blurred, as though obscured by a mosaic.
(Emm… quite a few issues indeed…)
Although Tyler wasn’t a professional craftsman, he could discern the root of the problem.
The most significant flaw of the prototype was the impurity of the two glass lenses, likely due to the inclusion of excessive impurities during the smelting process, which affected the clarity of the image.
Additionally, due to material and temperature control, the lenses had a tint due to which the images portrayed were distorted.
Lastly, the precision of the entire set of components was questionable. The distance between the lenses as well as the curvature of the lenses themselves deviated significantly from the prototype, resulting in a blurry view.
Under normal circumstances, Tyler could have assisted the craftsman in improving the prototype. Unfortunately, he required the binoculars immediately.
“You have done well. Rest for a couple of days. I’ll come to see you later.”
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Although the performance of the binocular prototype fell short of expectations, it was serviceable in a pinch.
Right now, Tyler was in a “better something than nothing” situation.
Upon his departure from the ornament shop, Tyler serendipitously ran into Granny Kasi.
From a distance, they exchanged smiles and greetings without engaging in extensive conversation.
Everything that needed to be said had been shared the previous night.
What remained was to do his best and leave the rest to fate.
Before long, Tyler returned to the inn. Now, he had to accomplish the final task before embarking on the trial:
To use the Divine Eye of Transcendence to foresee his future death scene.
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Several days prior, Tyler had saved the notification points he had received from Emilia, intending to use them now.
Click paragraph comment for details from Chapter 138: Gird His Loins
His plan was to wait until all preparations were complete before investigating the cause of his next death.
As he activated his ability, Tyler viewed his death scene. This time, his death was slated to occur at “11:17 PM on June 27th, 187 years”, which was tonight, about 11 hours from the present.
Judging by the environment in the scene, his death would occur near the southern suburbs of Sunny Town.
The only figures in the scene were Tyler and a vaguely familiar man, with no others in sight.
In the scene, Tyler, holding the Shadow Sword Blaze Steed, seemed poised to strike, but suddenly clutched his chest, blood spilling profusely.
Tyler couldn’t determine the cause of his injury, but he could confirm that the fatal blow was indeed a strike to his heart.
He then turned his attention to the man in the scene, who had plunged a long sword into his own chest.
His expression held no remorse, only a hint of satisfaction at taking his enemy down with him.
For some reason or objective, this man had chosen to commit suicide during their combat.
(His heart was pierced in committing suicide… and I suffered a mysterious injury at the same location…)
Combining these pieces of information, Tyler quickly inferred that his cause of death was due to the man using some kind of damage-sharing ability, effectively killing them both. 𝒪𝐕𝗅xt.𝓬𝔬𝐦
Such a sinister and covert ability could indeed catch Tyler off guard. However, this also gave Tyler two necessary prerequisites:
1 This combat was most likely an unexpected encounter, so Tyler had no chance to investigate the man’s abilities in advance.
2 This man was a ruthless and reticent type, otherwise, Tyler would have had a chance to learn about his abilities through mind-reading.
Regardless, it was an incontrovertible fact that this man could not defeat Tyler, or else he wouldn’t have resorted to such drastic measures.
Now that Tyler knew his trump card, he wouldn’t give him the opportunity to use it again.
Next, Tyler observed the details of the man in the scene. He noticed a hole punctured in the man’s side, indicating that the man had likely chosen to commit suicide and drag Tyler down with him after suffering a severe injury from this blow.
Additionally, Tyler noticed the flaming emblem of a blazing stallion on the black and red cloak worn by the man.
Wasn’t this the emblem of the Scarlet Family?
(Wait, I remember now…)
The man with the long sword, dark armor, and a black cloak with a red emblem was the same man who had “killed” Tyler once in GudeTown. Tyler vividly remembered the death scene, where this man ruthlessly stabbed him from behind and stole the Pigeon Blood Ruby.
Click paragraph comment for quotes from Chapter 42: Death and Chance
(Strange, I’ve hidden the Pigeon Blood Ruby, so why does this man still want to kill me?)
(No one should know about the Pigeon Blood Ruby.)
After pondering for a while, Tyler couldn’t figure out the man’s motive for killing him. However, this was not a significant problem. As long as he knew the man’s trump card, he would have a way to deal with him when they met.
What Tyler really wanted to confirm with his Precognitive Death Scene ability was whether he would die if he acted according to his plan, and where he would die.
Now that he had confirmed that there were no problems with his plan, he could boldly go to challenge the trial for occupation advancement this afternoon.
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After having lunch, the cool boy Tyler took a good nap before riding Moto-chan to the Gateway of Trials control area in the western suburbs of Sunny Town.
From afar, even before he saw the light and shadow of the Gateway of Trials, Tyler noticed that something was amiss.
On the road leading to the control area, there were numerous scattered hoofprints, seemingly from over ten riders.
The bounty hunters from the Quest Guild wouldn’t normally move in such a large group.
(Mayor Gideon, you took the bait… sending so many people here.)