Chapter 876: Refusing to be Ordinary Doesn't Make You a Rebel Witch
Translator: RaidenTL
Chapter 876: Refusing to be Ordinary Doesn't Make You a Rebel Witch
"I find it suspicious as well. A mere club shouldn't have the authority to meddle with something of this level, unless... it's the Academy's intention..."
"The Academy's intention..." That was indeed a possibility, but I couldn't fathom why.
Why take this Secret Realm out and hand it over to a club to manage?
"Well, currently, the Witch Secret Realm Club has teamed up with the Jack-of-all-trades Club to co-host the Secret Realm exploration plan. They’ve even released a public announcement: anyone holding a [Transcendent Knowledge] fragment can use it as a ticket to enter the realm."
While I was lost in thought, Tan Han dropped another bombshell.
"What? Are you serious?" My eyes widened in surprise. I hadn't even received any information regarding this through the Tree of Great Knowledge!
"It’s true. They came clean with me this time because they want to seek a partnership. Their goal is obvious: they want to use the research data on this Great Spellbook to forcibly gather all the holders of the [Transcendent Knowledge] fragments in one place."
"Wait... why do they think that data alone is enough to make all the holders follow their lead?" I asked, frowning.
"Isn't that research data precious enough? If someone can fully digest that data and gather all the fragments, they might be able to reshape the Great Spellbook. Even if they can't, the data provides a research direction that saves a massive amount of time. Besides, the data doesn't necessarily attract the students—it attracts the Mentors behind them! Only a Mentor has the qualifications to touch the power of the Great Spellbook domain."
"No... wait, let me process this first," I said, holding up a hand.
Hearing this from Tan Han, the whole thing felt bizarre and riddled with contradictions. I didn't rule out the possibility that it was just a lapse in Tan Han’s own understanding.
The main point was that I knew very well that the transcendents from other academies avoided this [Transcendent Knowledge] like the plague!
Let alone the knowledge and data required to shape a Great Spellbook.
They didn't want to touch anything even remotely related to Luck.
Moreover, this was bait being dangled by the Witch Academy.
It was hard for them not to recall the Witches' previous scheme to use this to locate the World Navel.
"Is something wrong?" Tan Han didn't quite understand the situation; she just felt like I had missed something.
"Is this Secret Realm exploration being held in the name of the Academy, or the student body?"
"It’s being organized by a union of two major Witch Academy clubs. Naturally, it has nothing to do with the Academy officially."
"Then... the location? It’s inside the Witch Academy, right?" I asked.
If this was purely a student-led action, then this incident was no different from the Shopkeeper’s previous operation. No matter how big things got, it would stay within the Witch Academy and wouldn't involve other Transcendent Academies. Naturally, there would be no risk of leaking the connection between the World Navel and Luck.
If those students managed to gather all the fragments, they could trade directly with the Game World, resolving the hidden danger in the process.
Even if the Witch Academy wanted to interfere, the most they could do was trap a few students within their grounds. From the perspective of those transcendents, they themselves wouldn't be affected.
In fact, they could even slap a "sore loser" label on the Witch Academy.
"Of course it's in the Witch Academy. A Witch Secret Realm has to be maintained there. Moving a realm like that is a thankless, exhausting task."
"So, you plan to go in?"
"Yes, I have to. In a few days, those clubs will start building hype. With my current status, if I don't show up, who knows what kind of rumors they'll spread about me."
"Fair point. Then I wish you luck. By the way... are there any restrictions on entering this Witch Secret Realm?"
"None. Because of that, I feel my advantage is quite significant. At the very least, in terms of individual strength, I’m among the top tier." Tan Han was very confident. After all, she had forged that confidence through countless battles and victories in the Arena. Then, her tone shifted. "However, I’m also aware that I need to guard against their malice. Although they approached me for 'cooperation,' I suspect they have ill intentions."
"True. Oh, I also wanted to ask: have you looked into the general situation inside that Witch Secret Realm? Things like whether you can enter and exit freely?"
"I asked them, of course. But unfortunately, the situation in that realm is very peculiar. It seems the entire territory is covered in ice and snow, with terrifying blizzards and frost monsters. The specific internal conditions can't be scouted in advance. However, the exit issue has been confirmed—it’s a fixed-point entry and exit."
"Fixed-point, huh... that means you can't just leave whenever you want. Can space-type spells teleport you out?"
"It seems so. After all, it’s just a Secret Realm made from a severed space," Tan Han said after a moment of thought. "Xiao Han, you’re asking in such detail... don't tell me you're interested in this too? I have Absolute Zero and Ice Sealed World. If you just need a ticket, I can give Ice Sealed World back to you..."
"No need. I’m not interested in this," I declined.
Even if I were interested, I didn't have the time or energy to mess with something like this.
Sister Bai’s Dream Domain wasn't fully perfected yet, Fool's Dream hadn't become a true lifeform, the Nightmare hadn't developed a complete technique to transform into Dream State Soul Essence, and I still didn't have much of a clue regarding the conversion between reality-state and Dream State Soul Essence.
With so many problems waiting for me to solve, where would I find the energy to care about a broken Great Spellbook?
I would literally deconstruct a Great Spellbook just for the sake of Fool's Dream!
I had no desire to get involved in their little squabbles.
"I just want you to be careful. Use your trump cards when you need to. If it really comes down to the wire, you can even use my business card to call me for backup. I might not be able to go there in person, but my attacks can."
"The business card..."
"What is it?" I asked, seeing Tan Han hesitate.
"That business card you gave me... I lost it."
"Lost it?" I chuckled. "Being forgetful doesn't seem like your style, Tan Han."
As I spoke, I pulled out another business card. It was just an alchemical trinket I could refine at will, anyway.
The only important thing was the reverse-summoning guiding rune on it.
"It... was a long time ago. Back during the holiday auction. Players invaded the auction house hotel, and I lost it then."
"That time?"
I recalled the incident. That was when Tan Han had summoned me to resolve everything. At the time, the confrontation between my domain and the players' custom dungeon domain had indeed exceeded their understanding.
The clash between domains was not something they could easily withstand.
After summoning me in such an extreme situation, Tan Han had likely felt a wave of relief and forgotten everything that followed.
If she lost it then... I could understand. I wondered which lucky soul had picked it up.
* * *
"You're leaving too?" Danielle watched the departing figure, her voice thick with loneliness.
"This Main World is so boring. It’s time for me to go back and visit my two mothers. I hope they haven't added any more sisters to the family while I was gone."
"Then... let's keep in touch via the Primal Dream."
"Mhm. Actually... you should leave too. This Main World is even more tedious in your eyes. Why stay here and take this abuse?"
"I’m just... unwilling. Are you really content with being mediocre?"
"Then you should go out and see the world, instead of staying here to find—hehe, never mind."
"Just go."
"I’m off. It seems we aren't the same kind of Witch after all~ If it's the Primal Dream, then I'll see you when I see you."
Danielle didn't respond. This departure might mean they would never see each other again.
She didn't quite understand. She was a Transcendent Witch too, so why did the Witches around her leave her one by one?
"Heh... it’s just the loneliness of an individual. The path of a Rebel Witch is destined to be muddy. Those Witches content with being ordinary aren't fit to walk beside me."
Danielle comforted herself with these words.
"As a Witch, what exactly makes you think an ordinary Witch isn't fit to walk with you? Is it the Rebel Witch Project?"
"Who? It's you..." Danielle gasped in shock.
She saw the figure, and the sight immediately exerted such immense pressure that she instinctively took a half-step back.
"That’s why I say you’re truly childish. Being eccentric and placing yourself in opposition to everyone else—is that what you think the Rebel Witch Project is?"
"What do you know!" Danielle felt an instinctive loathing for the Witch before her.
It was the feeling of facing someone who seemed to possess everything she pursued with ease, yet flaunted it with total indifference. This disparity constantly stung her emotions.
"Oh? It’s not? Then... is 'refusing to be ordinary' what you think a Rebel Witch is? If so, once you become a Rebel Witch and find yourself unwilling to be mediocre, will you then walk the path of a Betrayer Rebel Witch?"
"You’re so good at labeling people... You think you're so great! You just have a few hundred or thousand years more accumulation than me. At the end of the day, you're just a lunatic who flaunts her power. You only have the title of Rebel Witch because you killed a Betrayer by chance."
"Pfft... Hahaha! Hahaha..." Hearing Danielle’s words, Sheryl burst into unrefined laughter.
She realized she had still overestimated the girl's understanding.
When Danielle claimed the only difference between them was that Sheryl had been lucky enough to kill a Betrayer Rebel Witch, all further argument became meaningless.
Hunting a Betrayer Rebel Witch was a ritual to achieve the status, not the means by which a Witch became one!
When a Witch had the resolve to become a Rebel Witch, everything she did was an embodiment of the Rebel Witch Project's philosophy.
The so-called title was merely a trivial bit of recognition earned on the path of practicing that philosophy.
But... does a Rebel Witch need recognition?
Admittedly, there were those within the Rebel Witch community who killed a Betrayer first and only then walked the path.
But killing a Betrayer Rebel Witch wasn't an act of glory; it was a reflection on the concept and identity of the Witch race.
What exactly caused a Witch to walk the path of a Betrayer?
Was it a flaw in the racial identity?
Or was that Witch herself a pathetic mistake?
Regardless, it was up to the Rebel Witches to correct it!
If it was a flaw in the Witch race's concepts, they would correct the entire race.
If it was the fault of an individual Witch... then they would correct that specific anomaly.
No exceptions.
Sheryl saw two errors in Danielle simultaneously.
One stemmed from her own stupidity, and the other... from the complacency of the Main World.
It was difficult for a true Rebel Witch with a critical eye to be born out of such comfort.
Sheryl didn't want to speak in absolutes, but the Witch before her was clearly not an exception.
When Danielle chose not to leave the Main World, she should have laid down her Rebel Witch Project along with that choice.
In Sheryl's eyes, only one stupid decision stood between Danielle and becoming a Betrayer Rebel Witch.
Of course, Sheryl hadn't come here for "entrapment." A Danielle who wasn't even in the Saint Realm wasn't worth that much effort.
Sheryl was simply moving up the timeline of what was about to happen... and dealing with the hidden danger at the lowest possible cost.
"What are you laughing at!"
"Haha... I’m laughing at how stupid you are, how dense you are. I’m laughing at myself—laughing at why I’m wasting my time on you."
This was the most sincere expression of Sheryl's heart at that moment, but Danielle clearly didn't see it that way.
"You..."
"Is 'impotent rage' the only thing you're capable of?"
Sheryl’s tone shifted instantly. Using only the order and pressure of her Saint Realm Domain, she directly suppressed Danielle, making the girl vividly aware of the gap between them.
This feeling of being "forced" to be calm was truly unpleasant.
"Perhaps you should know something. Not long ago, the Academy released an announcement to every Witch regarding a breakthrough in the Primitive Dream Realm."
"But what you don't know is... just how terrifying that technical breakthrough was. Remember the Dreamscape Calamity in the Expansion Realm? This breakthrough reached a level sufficient to control that horrific disaster."
"That... that’s impossible!" Danielle’s pupils contracted. Even if she hadn't witnessed those methods personally, she had heard of the results.
"Is that impossible? Then... what if I told you the Witch who mastered this technique is named Bai Yu? Would you find it even harder to believe?"
"Bai... Yu?"
"Yes, the Bai Yu you know. The little lover of that Little Witch. The Bai Yu who forged an invincible posture through Time-Sense Body Cultivation." Sheryl twisted the knife.
"Come now~ Let me see. Compared to a Witch like that, what answer will someone as 'ordinary' as you give?"
Sheryl emphasized the word "ordinary," repeatedly striking at the most fragile part of Danielle’s heart.
The Witch named Bai Yu had walked the "Ordinary Subject" path that Danielle looked down upon most, yet she had ultimately surpassed this "Provisional Rebel Witch" who considered herself extraordinary. What a dramatic irony.
Under this constant cognitive dissonance, Danielle would be trapped in endless self-doubt... until she truly calmed down. Only then would all the answers be revealed.