Super Righteous Player-Chapter 1149 - 200 Annan’s Cage

The last tape had reached its end.

The old television continuously emitted a hissing noise, and on its insufficient refresh rate glass screen, the snowy display was dazzlingly flickering.

And under this faint light projection.

Annan was turned away from the television, looking down at the withered yellow pages. The young man’s perfect physique cast a shadow, covering most of the pages.

"...Mercy."

Annan repeated the word for the third time, sitting motionless.

He was momentarily bewildered.

A strange sensation overcame him, causing Annan to feel dizzy.

After being reminded, Annan finally realized something.

...So, I have always, always... harbored mercy towards them?

Whether it was Isaac or Ofelia, even Ingrid—

Facing their desperate situations, Annan felt neither anger nor sorrow, nor did he feel joy. Instead, he felt somewhat helpless, his mood calm, sprinkling down high-up mercy.

—Just like a deity.

In that case.

Annan was not only feeling mercy towards these few people trapped in a nightmare... He felt mercy towards the entire world.

Because Annan believed that people were not living happily, and that there was much room for improvement in this world—that’s why he thought so much, took so many actions.

Though Annan was merely the Duke of Winter, he equally harbored a compassionate heart for people of other nations. He even felt a kin or heavy mercy toward the players... He would find ways to resolve the players’ mental blocks, train their abilities, foster their virtues.

This was something only parents and teachers would do.

Yet, Annan had no close relations with them—in other words, Annan was a bit too meddlesome.

But he never realized where he went wrong.

This was precisely because Annan possessed the purest and most sacred principle in the universe—love.

That was not the mercy of a monk, nor the mercy of a saint.

But the mercy of a monarch.

He harbored equal love for all people of all nations, all races, and even the players from Otherworld.

He was like a king sitting on a sacred throne. Constantly empathizing with the woes of the world like a deity.

So-called loving the people as one’s children.

Because Annan considered himself a higher existence, and thereby harbored equal mercy for all beings; coupled with his inherently strong ability to act, Annan formed a brilliant personality.

He truly wanted to make the world better, truly tried to rescue every person he deemed worth saving.

Thus, people flock to Annan, support Annan, help Annan, because they saw hope in him.

The hope to make the world better.

Just as stars guard the moon—like in turbulent times, capable ministers and wise scholars gather around a wise ruler.

But if... Annan’s "brilliance" lost the part of "action," it would be left with meaningless "mercy."

Pitying the world, feeling empathy for humanity.

Just that.

He would do nothing, and he could do nothing.

It’s like stepping down from a throne and becoming a compassionate monk.

—Annan finally understood.

His own "custom" despair was that he saw everything clearly, yet still could do nothing.

No matter whose suffering someone endured, it could not shake Annan. If Annan were not in this room, but in any "instance," he was confident he could clear it successfully.

The "Madman’s Country Paradox" that could shake Isaac would not cause Annan any hesitation; the desperate situation Ingrid could not escape through trickery, if left to Annan’s careful consideration, could still be resolved.

The mechanical apocalypse that drove Ofelia to despair, with no room for communication, would become the best nourishment for Annan to assimilate knowledge.

Likewise...for the other "instances," Annan also just happened to have ways to clear them.

Because "I’m really Up to it" was not an empty phrase for Annan.

Therefore, this nightmare precisely would not cause Annan to do anything.

"I witness others suffer, yet I can do nothing..."

Annan murmured.

Why do monks always harbor a heart of mercy?

Because their power is too weak. They can do nothing, change nothing, at most, they can only save those they encounter. This type of salvation, relative to the suffering humanity, could be said to be weak to the point of being almost pale.

They could only console themselves—if they could do their part well, save those around them, it would be enough.

But that is different from the desire to save everyone. They have not the power to save everyone.

—However, Annan originally had that power.

The "Book of the Celestial Chariot" he possessed, was the key to a new era. All miracles could be initiated by Annan.

At that moment, "mercy" was no longer just "mercy"—it was "great love."

Annan, here, could access the most comprehensive information, his personal abilities were sufficient to resolve everyone’s problems, and he indeed harbored the enthusiasm to rescue others from suffering...

Annan’s room’s videotapes would gradually update with other people’s experiences, thus he wouldn’t be so bored as to have nothing to do. He would not die from hunger or thirst here, nor would any side effects of Curse Binding be triggered.

Even Annan’s heart of winter—had been unknowingly released.

Annan only realized not long ago...

This state of his could be said to be unprecedentedly complete.

More complete than white Annan and black Annan—

The Curse Binding that weakened Annan’s pain sensation had been temporarily removed; the fully evolved Curse Binding series of the heart of winter, which shielded positive or negative emotions, also lost its binding.

Today’s Annan was like a true ordinary person.

All the Curse Bindings affecting his full-hearted experience of despair had been temporarily removed.

Annan’s tender youthful body had developed completely, his energy and physical strength reaching the peak of this world. Even healthier and stronger than Annan before entering this nightmare.

Yet Annan could do nothing.

He could only sit in this room he couldn’t enter or exit, watching others step by step fall into despair.

The distance between him and others, was like the person watching TV, and the stories in the videotapes.

It was a dimensional distance.

Even if Annan tried his best, he couldn’t climb through the TV and change the fate of the characters in the "story."

—Which means, this was not a mystery room that Annan needed to find clues to leave.

Rather, it was an instance of Annan’s own.

Because this mystery room itself had no key—it was a puzzle without a solution.

It was a prison solely for Annan!