Super Righteous Player

Annan quickly understood the significance of the "Book of the Celestial Chariot."

He didn't know whether all Fragments of Truth had this function or if this was a unique authority of the "Book of the Celestial Chariot"… The "authority" he had acquired was precisely what Annan needed most urgently.

—The right to control players. Or rather, the right to delete accounts.

To put it more specifically… if Annan was displeased, he could wipe out your account with just a word.

With the template of a Rare Elite golden-named monster, Annan felt extremely anxious.

Based on his basic understanding of professions, he was quite familiar with the nature of the "player" group:

Their biggest trump card in the game was their immortality.

Thus, they were fearless and unrestrained, disregarding almost all rules, acting purely on the principle of "because I feel like it." As heroes, they would sneak around and pick locks, taking whatever they saw; as superheroes, they would beat people up with other people's cars. They would randomly use weapons to kill innocent bystanders or mischievously attack chickens in the village.

They had no stand to speak of; after finishing a task for one side, they would turn around and undertake a task for the enemy. If the NPC who issued the quest could be attacked, then they might wipe both sides out; if a merchant selling or carrying valuable goods was weak in combat (and also unattractive), they might not live to see the next day; when riding horses on the streets, they never watched the road, and they never waited for traffic lights when driving…

In a nutshell, players were, in most cases, a group of terror-inducing saviors with no sense of justice.

Very few players could immerse themselves in the game environment for an immersive experience. The vast majority of players were ruthless and cold-hearted utilitarians.

For players, the only advantage they had…

…might just be their good looks.

Players always showed more tolerance towards NPCs or bosses who were attractive. They would even allow them a certain degree of redemption and a considerable amount of capriciousness, and they would have a group of enthusiastic fans.

But if they were unattractive, then they usually wouldn't have the desire to delve deeper into the NPC's story.

In this regard, players were very realistic.

And his own androgynous appearance might just be the safest…

Annan had originally held a pessimistic view about this. But after acquiring the Book of the Celestial Chariot, his thought process immediately changed.

Although he had become an NPC in this real world, he could delete other people's accounts…

That made him virtually a GM of this game.

Even after collecting the entire Book of the Celestial Chariot, he might become the lead designer of the game!

As long as he held some of the designer's authority in his hands, when it came to control over players, Annan would have great confidence.

What was this, the God of Design?

…But since that was the case.

Annan looked at the attribute that read [This function will be available in 40:33:23] and made up his mind.

He decided to go all out and create a whole persona.

He couldn't just borrow Tan Juan's identity and be a lord!

He would work hard to give himself more of a protagonist's charisma! He had to build up his swagger, ideally making players subconsciously believe that Annan was the protagonist of this game… their lovable, respectable, and relatable faction leader.

Annan took a deep breath and tentatively touched the fragment of the Book of the Celestial Chariot.

The moment it came into contact with Annan, it immediately melted into a light spot and branded itself onto the palm of Annan's right hand, forming a peculiar rune:

A black ring with just one point missing at the top. And at the gap, there was a line segment embedded vertically.

At first, Annan didn't think much of it, even considering the rune to be quite stylish.

But after looking at it for a while, he suddenly felt that the symbol resembled a computer's power button. At a casual glance, it also reminded him of a paw pad…

He even subconsciously pressed it a couple of times.

Aside from the soft and cool flesh of his palm, of course, he couldn't press anything else.

"Tch."

He shook his head, not doing anything else.

He switched his and Tan Juan's clothes and placed all the things that belonged to Tan Juan—such as the dagger, pocket watch, and letters—onto his own body.

The keepsake ring that belonged to Tan Juan's mother was also worn on his hand.

It wasn't until this moment that Annan, searching through the pockets of his own clothes, found the only token on him that belonged to "Annan".

It was a silver badge with a rather delicate wolf's head relief on it.

The wolf's head showed only one side. It looked to the right, its hair wildly flying about in a stylish manner, and the wolf's eyes were tiny sapphires of a light blue color—perhaps light blue diamonds, but Annan didn't have much knowledge about that.

This was the token belonging to the body Annan occupied.

For safety's sake, he should have tossed it into the sea without hesitation. He should forget the name Annan ever existed and live on as Tan Juan... until the right moment came.

But Annan stared at the badge for a while, then suddenly laughed out loud.

"What was I even hesitating for..."

He scorned his own cowardice and tucked the Winter family's badge into his bosom.

Fearful and indecisive. No way to become someone great.

If he feared even the natives of this world, how could he match wits with the players?

So what if his identity were exposed and someone meant him harm?

Was everyone going to treat him kindly if his identity wasn't exposed? Could backing down solve the problem?

Annan, who had just emerged from a nightmare, scoffed.

He had just gone through the experience of a loyal guard being betrayed... Now, Annan held a strong distrust in the average moral standards of the nobility of this world.

He was going to groom a group of players. They should be thankful he wasn't causing trouble, instead of expecting him to fear confrontation and back down.

There was nothing more to say.

If someone came looking for trouble, he would just deal with it.

Was it them, this group of players capable of infinite resurrection, who should be feared?

"...Well then, off you go, young master."

Annan dressed Tan Juan's corpse in his own clothes and cast it into the dark sea.

Watching it sink quickly out of sight.

With a slight upward curve of his lips, Annan revealed an elegant smile.

This smile bore an eighty percent resemblance to Tan Juan's, unnervingly similar: "As compensation for borrowing your identity...

"I'll avenge your death for you."

Tan Juan had died the night before last or last night, and by then, they were only a night's journey away from Tan Juan's new domain—Frostwater Harbor.

Based on the timing, Frostwater Harbor shouldn't be far from here. He could set off to explore after the sun rose.

To be safe, Annan finally rummaged through each room below deck to make sure the ritual had been terminated. Moreover, there was not a soul on deck, nor even a corpse... just scattered bloodstains.

As expected, the mirror and cow tongue used for the ritual had been taken by Claus. He had flushed the room with urine, so the smell of blood had faded significantly.

But what was most fatal was that Annan discovered all the cash and jewelry Tan Juan had brought, along with several pieces of artwork, had been looted.

—Claus, you're inhuman!

He even took mundane things like the toilet, comb, blanket, and pillow, leaving Annan with nothing. The only things Claus didn't take were the two rooms full of wine barrels used as ballast...

The wine might still fetch some money, but Annan really couldn't carry it all by himself...

An intense desire to rant arose in Annan's mind:

This Claus, taking away all sorts of odds and ends for living, just left Tan Juan's bunch of valuable items there untouched—does he think everyone else is a fool?

After confirming that Claus truly hadn't left behind a single coin or a morsel of food, Annan mentally tallied another point against him.

You steal my money, I'll remember that...

He took out an unopened barrel of wine, had a drink to quench his thirst and bolster his courage.

With a pile of rattling odds and ends, Annan set out on foot, his back to the newly risen morning sun, all alone.