Upon surveying the woodland ahead through his binoculars, Tyler discerned several indistinct figures.
It appeared that Mayor Gideon had opted for a high-risk, high-reward strategy, dispatching men to the scene regardless of potential traps.
With this maneuver, Tyler had successfully diverted the mayor’s attention from the Quest Guild. The advancement of the situation would now wholly depend on his adeptness.
.
Due to the limited clarity of the binoculars, Tyler continued towards the woodland for approximately fifty meters.
For reasons unknown, perhaps due to straining his eyes, upon lifting the binoculars once again, a twinge of pain shot through his right eye, though it soon diminished.
Tyler could now discern, scattered sparsely within the woodland, four luminous cuboids — the so-called “Gateway of Trials”.
Usually, there should have been Quest Guild staff members supervising the area surrounding the “Gateway of Trials”, yet now, not a soul was to be found within the woodland.
Inferring from the hoofprints and figures he had observed earlier, Tyler estimated that Mayor Gideon’s men must have cleared the area in advance.
At this moment, these men, presumably belonging to the mayor, were lurking within the woodland, awaiting the appearance of the so-called “black-clothed archer”.
Unfortunately, even if their strategy was accurate, their inept execution rendered it useless.
From Tyler’s perspective, this group gathered by the mayor was rather mediocre, devoid of the knowledge on how to truly conceal themselves within the woodland.
Furthermore, as a hunter, Tyler now possessed ample experience in outdoor wilderness (ahem, not the kind you’re thinking of). Even wildlife camouflaged with protective colors couldn’t evade his detection, let alone these greenhorns.
Therefore, Tyler was completely immune to their ambush, and he could easily make a clean getaway right now.
However, despite being fully aware of the tiger’s den, Tyler chose to march into it.
He intended to charge into the Gateway of Trials in full view of these men, thereby keeping them occupied here to ensure the safety of the Quest Guild.
(White… orange…)
Before commencing his charge, Tyler utilized his binoculars to confirm the location distribution of the Trial Gates within the woodland.
Within his field of vision, there were a total of three Trial Gates:
“The first-level difficulty white trial”;
“The third-level difficulty orange trial”;
And “the fifth-level difficulty purple trial”.
(Lucky, there’s a white trial to enter.)
Tyler sighed in relief. Actually, without pre-booking with the Quest Guild and coming directly, he was worried that there wouldn’t be an easy white trial available.
(Silly Nissen: Wow, a white trial, why don’t you rush in?)
(Tyler: Hmm.)
Tyler responded to the stupid loli but remained stationary.
(Silly Nissen: What?… You’re not scared, are you, Tyler?)
(Tyler: I’m not scared, I’m giving you a chance.)
Tyler uttered these “strange” words, leaving the stupid loli perplexed.
(Silly Nissen: Eh? What chance?)
(Tyler: The chance to confess your mistake to me.)
As soon as Tyler said this, the stupid loli immediately fell silent.
Although she replied with a puzzled tone a few seconds into her silence, “Hm? What confession of mistake? Tyler, are you mistaken?”
Tyler already knew that his guess was correct.
(Tyler: Priscilla Nissen, we’ve already spoken so frankly, it’s pointless for you to pretend anymore.)
Tyler could directly confront the stupid loli regardless of whether she admitted it or not.
(Tyler: Be honest, did you tamper with my vision?)
(Silly Nissen: Huh? What are you talking about?)
(Tyler: Then let me ask you, what color is the trial in the three o’clock direction?)
(Silly Nissen: …White… It’s white…) 𝒪𝐕𝗅xt.𝓬𝔬𝐦
Tyler gave a cold “hmph” and covered his right eye, looking only with his left.
At this moment, in his left eye, the trial gate in the three o’clock direction was unmistakably purple, but when Tyler removed the cover from his right eye, the trial gate turned white again.
The problem was with the right eye.
The one that had twitched with pain earlier was also the right eye.
And Tyler’s right eye was no longer his own.
The current name for this right eye was the Divine Eye of Transcendence, and it was also inhabited by a stupid loli.
The problem was self-evident.
In fact, as early as when the task difficulty selection appeared “bugged”, Tyler had already suspected the stupid loli.
This time, when the “right eye pain” occurred again, Tyler guessed that it must have been the good doing of the stupid loli.
Click paragraph comment for quotes from Chapter 5: Deceptive Mishap
(Tyler: Priscilla Nissen, the evidence is already conclusive, why don’t we lay our cards on the table? I believe our interests still align, don’t they?)
Upon Tyler’s thorough exposure of the “blinding magic” ruse, stupid loli finally abandoned her feigned ignorance, taken aback by how swiftly Tyler had seen through her.
(Silly Nissen: Alright, I admit it, I did tamper with your vision.)
(Tyler: And you also meddled with the task difficulty selection before, didn’t you?)
(Silly Nissen: Yes, that was also me.)
Caught red-handed by Tyler, Silly Nissen had no choice but to confess.
She told Tyler that she had intentionally made him choose the highest difficulty before, banking on a desperate gamble.
After all, in a world where every task is impossible, failure was inevitable regardless. It seemed better to aim for the highest reward — should he succeed, he would turn the tables.
This time, she wanted Tyler to challenge the fifth-level difficulty purple trial because she believed that Tyler could succeed.
(Tyler: Hmm, but if I fail and die, wouldn’t all my previous efforts be in vain? Wouldn’t it be better to choose the white trial, advance steadily and continue to grow stronger?)
(Silly Nissen: Well, it’s not bad… but with one-time trials like these, once you choose, the gap is there forever. So I thought…)
As she continued, stupid loli became somewhat incoherent. She wanted Tyler to know that she didn’t intend to harm him this time, but she also knew that reason didn’t side with her.
Stupid loli understood that you only get one shot at advancement trials, and failure meant death. In such a situation, choosing the first-level difficulty white trial was undoubtedly the safest route.
But if one didn’t aim to be the strongest… could they really complete the impossible task in the end?
She was torn, and in her internal struggle, she chose to apologize to Tyler.
(Silly Nissen: Um, I’m sorry, I won’t do it again… Don’t be mad, Tyler… I genuinely think you can do it, that’s why I resorted to such measures…)
Stupid loli didn’t hope to regain Tyler’s trust, but she hoped at least to secure his determination to push forward.
Hearing stupid loli’s timid words, Tyler, in contrast, laughed.
(Tyler: There’s nothing to be mad about. If I were to be fooled by you, a stupid loli, twice, then I would be truly angry… Alright, stop bothering me, I need to get moving.)
Stupid loli voluntarily ceased her blinding magic, and Tyler’s eyesight returned to normal.
He rode Moto-chan to a location with open views, preparing to enter the trial control area.
At this point, stupid loli felt puzzled.
Tyler was supposed to go to the white trial, so why did he approach the location closest to the purple trial instead?