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“Future Death Date”:
July 8, 187, at 3:16 p.m.
(Note: The current date is June 29)
“Content of the Future Death Scene”:
Tyler is found lying face up in an unfamiliar street, surrounded by a multitude of onlookers, none of whom he recognizes. There are no visible wounds on his body, nor are there traces of blood on the ground.
The bystanders’ expressions range from confusion to concern. They are bewildered as to why this man would collapse in pain on the street. Some, out of worry, are calling for soldiers.
Yet, no one bears the look of horror characteristic of a murder scene, even though Tyler is already dead in this instant.
At the moment of his death, Tyler’s expression is extraordinarily pained, his face reddened, one hand clutching his throat, the other clutching his chest, as if trying to stave off the impending death.
But he dies nonetheless.
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“…”
Upon viewing his future death scene, Tyler got momentarily dumbfounded.
He transcribed this “Future Death Scene” into a physical picture and scrutinized it several times, but he was unable to discern the cause of his death.
For the time being, he could only hypothesize three possibilities lacking in evidence.
The first conjecture is that he received a fatal wound to his back. However, Tyler quickly dismissed this idea. If he were wounded in the back, he wouldn’t clutch his throat and chest before dying.
Moreover, if the fatal wound were on his back, there would be visible blood, no matter how little.
The second conjecture is that he was affected by some specialized skill or curse that could seize control of his body, forcing him to kill himself. Tyler deemed this unlikely as well because if this were the case, he would be clutching his own throat with both hands. Why would one hand be on his chest? Could it be that part of his body was struggling to break free from the control?
The third hypothesis is relatively simple: he was poisoned. Unbeknownst to him, he ingested a rapidly acting poison that wrestled control away from his body, leading to his swift demise.
The second and third conjectures, while far-fetched and logically inconsistent, are not impossible.
To draw a more definitive conclusion, more clues are required.
·
After finishing his meal, Tyler returned to the inn.
With Emilia absent for the night, he could focus on his thoughts. He attempted to step out of the confines of the death scene and considered from a different angle who might have the motive to kill him.
All along, Tyler had adhered to the principle of eradicating the roots of his problems.
Those whom he has offended no longer have the opportunity to seek vengeance against him.
However, there is one “enemy” who is still very much alive: the “Singular Demon God – The Unutterable Name”, and the forces behind her, such as the Abyssal Empire and the Shadow Serpent Society.
When the Shadow Serpent Society got mentioned, Tyler recalled the “Stellar Oracle” left to him by Granny Kana, the divination rabbit. Could there be clues about this “Future Death Scene” in there?
After much contemplation, aside from the possibility that the murderer could be from the Shadow Serpent Society, Tyler has no other leads.
However, if the murderer is indeed from the Shadow Serpent Society, it ties in with the concept of “poison”, serving as a wake-up call for Tyler.
In the days to come, he would steer clear of food prepared by others.
(Everything that enters my mouth will be prepared by myself.)
But Tyler had a question: if the food is poisoned, wouldn’t his appraisal ability be able to detect it?
Practice is the sole criterion for testing truth.
Tyler immediately infused a poison potion into a piece of black bread and used his identification ability to inspect it.
He found that the name of the “Black bread” has changed to “Poisoned black bread,” and the description content had also changed.
(So it is detectable… That’s even stranger…)
Since the identification ability could detect it, Tyler believed that his chance of being poisoned is nearly nil.
Despite his doubts, Tyler did not abandon his thinking.
As the loyal fan of Chubbyemu, Tyler did come up with a method of poisoning that can circumvent the appraisal ability, and that is: “Combination Poisoning.”
Some foods are harmless when consumed separately, but when mixed with certain foods, they transform into poison. The most common poisonous food combinations include crab and persimmons, honey and tofu, and seafood and Vitamin C.
Depending on the amount consumed, severe cases can be fatal.
If the enemy were versed in this method, even Tyler’s appraisal ability might inevitably have some omissions.
(The Shadow Serpent Society… Could there truly be such a sinister adversary?)
(Regardless, it is best to first bid farewell to the days of dining out.)
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〖Prison Star Calendar〗
〖Year 187, June 30〗
〖6:00 AM〗
〖Countdown to Confession Death: 19 days〗
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Upon awakening from a night’s slumber, a new day had dawned.
Unconsciously, the date to retrieve the new equipment had arrived.
Furthermore, this day was potentially when Tyler would depart from Sunny Town.
To avoid reentering the “hell” of the declared death countdown, Tyler had calculated that if he were to leave, today would be the last possible day.
Faced with the choice, Tyler remained calm, deciding first to deplete his magic power and hone his skill proficiency to quell his anxiety.
Relying on his magic power limit of up to 4790 points, Tyler had quickly elevated his “Deceiver” skill from level 12 to level 15.
This not only augmented his wisdom by 30 points and dexterity by 5 points but also amplified the effect of his second entry “Charm Effect,” extending the level range of the objects affected from “Level 3” to “Level 4”!
After honing his skills, Tyler completed his “brain warm-up,” which allowed him to rapidly make a decision.
(I’ve decided, today I shall depart from Sunny Town.)
·
Tyler had checked out of the inn, located Branch Chief Oleg, and told him that he was willing to represent Sunny Town and head to Delis Town.
Upon hearing this, Oleg was overjoyed and rushed over to embrace Tyler, but Tyler had skillfully avoided him.
Then, Tyler had taken Oleg with him to the Quest Guild and explained the situation to Emilia in person.
·
“I’m sorry, Emilia, I only heard from the Branch Chief this morning, but apart from me, the Branch Chief has no other candidates.”
Tyler tried to phrase his words as delicately as possible, but this sudden news of his departure was undoubtedly a bolt from the blue for Emilia. 𝑜𝓥𝓵ℯxt.𝗇𝓔t
Due to the Branch Chief and everyone else being present, Emilia put on a brave face and did not show her sadness, but her legs were uncontrollably trembling.
At that moment, she was thankful that she was standing inside the front desk, where no one could see that she was propped up by her hands and had not fallen.
But just then, Banning accidentally scattered all the application documents on the table inside the front desk.
“Oh dear, I’m so sorry.”
Banning hurriedly entered the front desk, squatted down to pick them up, giving Emilia the opportunity to sit on the ground and, under the pretense of picking up the documents, allow her weakened body to catch its breath.
“…Don’t be sad, Emilia, it’s not like I’m not coming back.”
Relying on the front desk to block the view of others, Banning quietly grasped Emilia’s hand, and this grip gave her immense strength.