There is no light source around, but the moss and stains in the dead corners of the ground and walls are glowing. The light is not very bright, large blocks of shadows and darkness shroud the streets of this small town, making the already dilapidated and weird streets of the small town look even more terrifying.
Jenkins got up and checked his luggage, making sure that the sword and his backpack were there. He tied the sword on his back again, then reached into his pocket, and found the fifth round coin as expected.
This round coin is made of topaz and is the same size as the sin coin. The front that Jenkins thought was the emblem of the [Uncrowned King] as expected, and the back of the gem coin was a green leaf, which probably represented an elf.
"What the hell is this for?"
He took the coin back into the spirit.
Although he was playing cards the whole time in the last time, he still used the three abilities of [Uncrowned King], [Reading and Writing] and [Sacred Unicorn Summoning]. Counting the ones that have been used in the first four treacherous realms, Jenkins has actually used almost half of all his abilities. He couldn't help worrying about what to do if he reached the ninth floor and there was no ability left.
This feeling is a bit like being in a poker game, worrying in advance that there will be no cards available in the tenth year.
"Forget it, don't think about it so much, let's see what's going on this time first."
Grab your luggage, turn around and walk through the five-forked road for a few steps, and you will come to the real tower.
In this position, Jenkins can better observe the surrounding area. He originally thought that this strange place only included the street where he appeared, and the rest of the area was covered in darkness as the background. But when I passed through the intersection, I realized that the other four streets can also be seen in general, that is to say, these areas can be explored, and the size of the sixth strange place has expanded five times.
With such a size, for the material world, it is almost the size of a small country town.
Standing under the tower, although the appearance of the five streets is similar, there are still great differences in details, so it can be inferred that this is not a copied mirror image. After watching for a while and finding no new clues, he walked to the wooden door under the tower with his backpack in his hand. A middle-aged man in a gray-blue hat and blue jumpsuit with pockets was waiting for Jenkins.
At his feet was a dirty little cloth bag tied with a red string. On the outside of the man, there were no traces of machinery, which made Jenkins subconsciously think that this strange place had not been invaded by the difference machine. But he soon discovered that the metal components of the buttons on the man's clothes, the oil lamp in his hand, and the shovel standing beside him were all familiar. They were obviously unique metals forged by the Difference Engine.
Maybe the difference engine left little power to this strange world, but it definitely exists.
"How do I leave?"
He asked directly without nonsense, and the man immediately answered, his voice was very rough, and his words were very powerful:
"With this clock tower as the starting point, as long as you leave this town, you will be able to see the door."
"This town?"
He looked at the five surrounding streets:
"You don't want to say that these five streets are just a part of the town?"
"Yes, there is an intersection at the end of the street, and this place is much bigger than you think."
Jenkins took a deep breath, and then things seemed to get even more troublesome. Although the area of the treacherous realm is not necessarily proportional to the difficulty, all the large-scale treacherous realms he has come into contact with so far are difficult without exception.
"When acting in the town, you have to follow the rules."
said the man.
"What rules?"
"I am the bell ringer of this town, and I am obliged to tell you the rules. The most important thing is that you have to pass this movement."
He lifted the dirty little cloth bag under his feet, untied the rope, and took out a dice from it to show Jenkins, twenty-sided dice, blood-red, and the size was no different from normal dice:
"Look clearly at the floor tiles under our feet. Before each action, you need to throw a dice, and then move forward along the ground slabs according to the numbers. When you encounter an intersection, you can choose the direction at will. Be careful, be sure to follow the numbers on the dice Actions, you must not cheat, let alone walk around at will. Here, it is more dangerous than you think. Only follow the instructions of the dice, and those dangers will not come to you."
"What's the danger here?"
Jenkins looks back at the street behind him:
"The people who live here?"
"You don't need to know that."
He gestured to Jenkins to pick up the die and examine it, and then said:
"After every roll of the dice, if you stop after following the numbers and the stone slab is the door of a certain house, you can choose to knock on the door and ask the person inside if they need your help."
"What if there is no door?"
Jenkins could indeed see some dilapidated houses with no doors at all.
"Then just walk in."
"Why should I knock on the door, isn't it good to move forward?"
"Knock on the door for a chance to get new dice. If the dice run out and you don't walk out of town, I think you can guess the consequences."
The bell ringer said in a cold tone, and Jenkins nodded to express his understanding. He lowered his head to check the dice in his hand. It wasn't metal, stone or even bone, but it looked like coagulated blood.
"A dice can only be thrown once, and I can give you 10."
He also stuffed the bag to Jenkins, and there were nine other coins in the bag:
"If you can't leave the town after throwing it away, then stay and find a house where you stopped. Town, you are welcome."
"After knocking on the door, what's the way to get extra dice? I can't rob, can I? I'm a dignified gentleman."
"After knocking on the door, the residents of the town may give you some tasks. You can ignore them and move on, or you can help them. They will give you what you want."
"Something like Monopoly."
Jenkins thought in his heart, touched his pocket, and took out a Seed of Blasphemy:
"So do you sell dice?"
According to the length of the street he visually estimated, if he was unlucky, 10 dice would probably cover one street, but the scope of the town was obviously not just one street.
"One piece of this is exchanged for 10 dice."
But Jenkins did not exchange the crime currency. He put away the Blasphemy Seed and pointed to the sword behind him:
"So is the barter business okay?"
"The sword, 30 pieces, the cocoon that wraps the sword, 7 pieces (Note)."
Of course, Jenkins did not exchange out the newly acquired weapon, but used the extra cocoon and other odds and ends in the backpack to exchange a total of 10 dice with the bell ringer, so that he had 20 dice.
Not changing more is of course not because he is stingy, but this strange situation has just begun, and he wants to know more details before making a plan. After all, the residents of the town also have dice in their hands.
"Speaking of...?"
Jenkins spoke while looking at the tower door behind the other party. The door leaned against the door, as if it had been removed from the door frame and leaned against the wall of the clock tower. With this appearance, it seems that with a cough, the door may crash to the ground.
"Since you are the bell ringer of the town, do you have more information about the town? Can you sell me some?"
The bell ringer looked at Jenkins and shook his head slowly:
"I don't care what hostile relationship you have with the machine that invaded here, but no matter who, don't try to spy on the truth of this town. This place is much more terrifying than you imagined, savior, you shouldn't be here too much Effortless. This place... should sleep forever."
"You know I'm the savior? Huh? Have you seen the difference engine? Are you not its subordinate or captive?"
Jenkins questioned, the tone of the other party did not seem to be on the side of the difference engine.
"I'm not anybody's prisoner, I just work for this town."
The other party was telling the truth.
"But its power does affect here, it's just that it doesn't matter at all, it set some traps for you, and that has nothing to do with me."
said the Bell Ringer, and brought the conversation back to the Jenkins task:
"During your actions, don't try to defy the dice to guide you, and don't make any loud noises that might disturb the town, otherwise you will probably never be able to leave. All you need to do is escape from here, don't do anything unnecessary things."
Jenkins heard something wrong from the other party's words. In the strange world he experienced, the host of the strange world has always encouraged people to take risks and harvest. This is the first time he has heard the words of preventing intruders from taking risks. explain.
Perhaps this is the rule here, so the bell ringer has to say, but Jenkins has some haze in his heart. There may not be a complete beast of disaster hidden here like a puppet theater, but it may not be simple here.
Ms. World Tree and Jenkins talked about the disaster that has not been sealed at all. Among them, the mythical witch and the moon-eating civet have appeared, the world tree itself, the end of the disaster in the third era, and the special disaster paradox , It doesn't seem to be hiding in this kind of place.
"What's the most dangerous thing here?"
Jenkins couldn't figure it out, so he asked the bell ringer directly. I thought that even if the other party answered, they would be vague and half-hidden, but I didn't expect the bell ringer to answer directly:
"There are many dangerous things in this world. I know what you're worried about. That machine did throw in some tricky things, but the dangers in this town are no worse than those tricky things. I've said it once Now, you shouldn't find out what's in the town, you just need to know, what you don't need to know has nothing to do with you."
"Troublesome things" should refer to the power of the disaster beast, and the real danger is the hidden power of the town.
"What's the tricky thing?"
Jenkins asked directly, and the latter also gave an honest answer:
"A worm that lives in blood."
"Scarlet Mayfly?"
Jenkins was taken aback. He didn't expect this thing to appear, but after thinking about it, he was surprised again:
"You said that the things in the town are more terrifying than part of the power of the scarlet mayfly?"