Who Was Behind This?

The recruits were startled when they saw him walk over and block the bull's-eye, but they soon steadied themselves and quietly shifted their aim. At his command, they loosed their arrows without hesitation. After a flurry of thuds, the arrows studding the tree trunk formed a dense outline of a human figure.

The instant the recruits released their arrows, Lin Yu squeezed his eyes shut in fear after all. Of course he wanted to be a hero, to face life and death with a smile. But he discovered he simply couldn't do it. As far as he was concerned, not wetting himself on the spot was already quite an achievement.

It doesn't hurt? He slowly opened his eyes and found himself hemmed in by arrows. Every arrow the elves had fired had passed right beside his body and lodged in the tree trunk behind him, without even grazing a single hair.

Even that couldn't kill me? These rangers' aim is way too good! Are they really recruits? Lin Yu extricated himself from the arrows, then turned and stared blankly at the human-shaped outline on the trunk.

The recruits realized something was wrong. Their captain seemed to have gone mad-that was what they were all thinking. A few quick-witted ones slipped away to report to their superior, while the rest desperately tried to cover for them.

"Heh, heh, heh!" Lin Yu suddenly let out a foolish laugh, then returned to his tent in a daze.

I can't bring myself to kill myself, and my men can't bring themselves to kill me. But aren't there still Trolls? Aren't there still enemies? Surely those NPCs won't have trouble killing me? With that thought, he immediately began putting on his equipment. Only after he had finished did he remember that the Troll base was at least a day or two's journey away.

Looks like I'll have to jump off a cliff, he thought dejectedly. Why not jump off a building? Because he was out in the wilderness, with no buildings to jump from. Now that he had a plan, he stopped behaving so erratically.

Lin Yu began sorting through how all this had happened. How did I get here? First I spent all night playing WoW battlegrounds, then I went to sleep, then I had a dream-this dream I can't wake up from.

Why did this happen? That day was perfectly normal. Nothing unusual happened. Could something in the dream have caused it? What did I do in the dream? Nothing much, really. I just bragged to a bunch of NPCs. Could that have broken some taboo? Why can't I wake up?

This isn't scientific! Science, science-right, science! I can't put any faith in science here. This is a crazy world! If I use WoW's rules to explain it instead of scientific theory, what did I do wrong here?

It was as though a door had opened in Lin Yu's mind. He carefully thought over everyone he had encountered since arriving.

The ranger recruits were the first people I met. As soon as I arrived, I was leading them on a march. Thanks to the game bug in this dream, I got along with them like a fish in water. I shouldn't have offended anyone. Even if I did, ordinary NPCs like them shouldn't have that kind of power.

If it wasn't them, that only leaves Sylvanas and Lor'themar. It probably wasn't Lor'themar. We barely exchanged a few words, and I didn't offend him. He wouldn't come after me for no reason, would he? I can rule Lor'themar out.

Then that only leaves Sylvanas, that scheming queen. But other than cracking a few jokes, I shouldn't have offended her either! Still, if it wasn't her, there's no one else. It'll have to be her.

After all, she's the most devious one. Who knows what she's thinking? And she's a queen, a big boss. Maybe she has that kind of power. But how did I offend her? What did I say to her? What shouldn't I have told her?

Right! Saying something I shouldn't have said-that's the only thing that could count as a mistake. Lin Yu believed he had found the heart of the problem.

"Shouldn't have said it! Shouldn't have said it!" Lin Yu muttered, racking his brain. He didn't even notice Sylvanas, who had been standing quietly at the entrance to his tent for quite some time.

Sylvanas had originally intended not to see him that day. She had planned to lead her troops straight to Suncrown Village as soon as they finished packing up, because she still harbored doubts about what Lin Yu had told her.

But just as she and her troops left the camp gates, several of Lin Yu's recruits came running toward her, panicked and drenched in sweat, shouting, "Queen! Big boss!"

The soldiers under Sylvanas didn't understand, but she did. She ordered them to let the recruits through and was about to reprimand the newcomers for their loose tongues. Before she could speak, however, the recruits blurted out the entire story in one frantic rush.

When she heard that Lin Yu had forced his soldiers to kill him as soon as he got up that morning, Sylvanas's first thought was that he had told her something he shouldn't have, and those people had already come to force him to commit suicide.

Every hair on Sylvanas's body immediately stood on end.

Just how powerful is this organization? Their conversation had been extremely secret, and they had spoken very quietly. She had believed there was no way anyone could know about it. Yet those people had found him so quickly.

Judging by the soldiers' account, those people must have arrived practically the moment she left. They must have talked to Lin Yu all night, forcing him to submit through some unknown means. Otherwise, she would never have believed that someone like Lin Yu would commit suicide.

Who exactly are these people? After they kill him, will I be their next target? But even if I have to die, I have to know who they are.

He seemed to have leaked only a little information to her, yet it had led to such serious consequences, and he was actually willing to commit suicide. That made Sylvanas believe the secret was genuine all the more.

But she believed she couldn't die yet, and neither could Lin Yu. Someone among the High Elves had to know about this. Otherwise, she would be betraying her people!

So, after hearing the soldiers' report, she immediately ordered all her troops to seal off the camp, inside and out. Only after placing them on the highest alert did she hurry to Lin Yu's tent with a squad of soldiers.

As soon as she lifted the tent flap, she saw Lin Yu pacing back and forth in distress, muttering the same words over and over: "Shouldn't have said it. Shouldn't have said it."

This immediately confirmed her suspicions. She thought Lin Yu regretted telling her that secret. Seeing that he was in no immediate danger, she felt reassured and stood at the entrance without disturbing him, wanting to see what he would do next.

At that moment, Lin Yu was completely immersed in his thoughts and paid no attention to anything around him. How could he have noticed all those people at the entrance? Never mind noticing them-to everyone else, he looked more like a soulless body pacing back and forth.

Suddenly, he stopped, raised his head, and pointed at the roof of the tent. His eyes widened in fury as he roared, "Nozdormu, you Bronze Dragon bastard! Fuck you!"

The one thing he absolutely shouldn't have spoken about was the future. The future fell under the authority of the Timekeeper, the Bronze Dragon Nozdormu. Therefore, the only one he could have offended was Nozdormu. Lin Yu also felt that only he had the power to trap him here.

Lin Yu stuck to his conclusion. He couldn't care less whether he was falsely accusing Nozdormu! In any case, whether anyone else believed it or not, he certainly did.

But-

His furious shout stunned all the elves at the entrance. Sylvanas in particular looked as though she might collapse at any moment.

Her face had gone pale, and one thought kept repeating in her mind. The secret came from the Timekeeper, Nozdormu. The secret came from the Timekeeper, Nozdormu. Everything in that secret is true. It's all real.

Convinced he had figured everything out, Lin Yu felt much better after his involuntary outburst. Only then did he suddenly notice the crowd of elves standing dumbstruck at his tent entrance.

Seeing Sylvanas swaying in front of the other elves, her face pale and her eyes unfocused, he found it strange. He didn't care that they had witnessed his embarrassing display. He walked up to her, raised both hands, and waved them before her eyes, but she didn't react.

He looked past Sylvanas at the elves behind her and asked, "What's wrong with her? Has she gone stupid?"

When the elves all shook their heads, he turned his gaze back to Sylvanas. She still looked dazed, but her face had become terribly pale. Scratching his head, he muttered, "How did this happen? Is she possessed?"

"Hey! Sylvanas! Wake up! It's morning! Time to get out of bed!" he called.

Sylvanas didn't react at all. The elves behind her, on the other hand, all hung their heads in exasperation.

"That didn't work! Why won't she snap out of it?" Lin Yu muttered again. Suddenly, he cupped Sylvanas's face in both hands and shouted, "It's raining! Bring in the laundry!"

The elves behind Sylvanas pulled a bewildering assortment of expressions. Yet that classic line actually snapped her out of her daze. Her eyes suddenly widened as she stared at Lin Yu.

Lin Yu sheepishly withdrew his hands and gave her an embarrassed smile. "I was only trying to wake you up. Don't get the wrong idea. Ask them if you don't believe me!" He pointed at the elves behind her.

Sylvanas didn't turn around.

"All right! I admit it. You can't just go around touching a woman's face. Just my bad luck. Hit me if you want. I won't fight back. Not like I could beat you anyway," Lin Yu said helplessly.

"Did those people come to see you?" Sylvanas suddenly asked.

"See me? Those people? What people?" Lin Yu was baffled.

"Why were you trying to kill yourself just now?" Sylvanas countered. She believed there must be a reason he refused to answer.

"Didn't feel like living. Wanted to try dying and see what happened," Lin Yu said casually.

"Fine! I understand!" Sylvanas was now certain of her conclusion. "From this moment on, you are not to leave my sight."

"Huh?" Lin Yu had no idea what she meant.

The bystanders listening to their conversation were even more bewildered. They had absolutely no idea what the two were talking about.

"Pass on my orders! Cancel all scheduled assignments. The troops are to make all haste to Tranquillien!" Sylvanas suddenly commanded.