Mu You tried having his character push the door open.
[You tried to push the door open and enter, but the entrance to the Witch's House was sealed with a magic lock. Even with every ounce of your strength, you couldn't open it so much as a crack.]
"Sure enough, a magic lock!"
Mu You wasn't surprised. He opened the panel and tapped 'Heartlock Unseal.'
[You wanted to force the entrance to the Witch's House open with an unlocking spell, but the Witch's spellcasting level was extremely high. Your chance of success was only one in a hundred thousand. Confirm attempt?]
"Yikes, one in a hundred thousand..."
The corner of Mu You's eye twitched.
As expected of a lock set by the Witch. Even a high-level unlocking spell had only a one-in-a-hundred-thousand chance of breaking it. That alone showed just how powerful she was!
"Confirm."
Mu You tapped confirm. Anyone else would have given up right there. A one-in-a-hundred-thousand chance was practically no different from zero.
But he had the Time Pocket Watch, so he could still give it a shot.
[You cast the unlocking spell, but the door remained unchanged. Unlocking failed!]
"Rewind!"
[You cast the unlocking spell, but the door remained unchanged. Unlocking failed!]
"Again!"
[You cast the unlocking spell, but the door remained unchanged. Unlocking failed!]
And so Mu You began his endless cycle of rewinding and unlocking.
Pressing the Pocket Watch cost nothing, and rewinding restored the mana he'd spent. Even time remained confined to the same five-second window, so he didn't have to worry about time passing or running out of mana.
In theory, probability meant nothing before the Time Pocket Watch. However low the odds, as long as they weren't zero, he could turn them into 100% through endless attempts!
-Provided, of course, that he had enough patience and willpower.
Mu You soon realized that he'd underestimated what one in a hundred thousand really meant.
The Time Pocket Watch could rewind many things, but there was one thing it couldn't undo: his memories. Repeating the same task tens of thousands of times took an unparalleled toll on his mind!
For the first few hundred rewinds, and even the first few thousand, Mu You's mind still worked fairly clearly.
But as the count rapidly climbed into the tens of thousands, his awareness gradually grew muddled. Amid endless, mechanical repetition, the human mind could easily slip into a blank state.
Mu You could no longer remember how many times he'd rewound. Tens of thousands? Over a hundred thousand? All he knew was that he kept pressing the Pocket Watch, then mechanically tapping 'Confirm' on his phone.
Two simple actions, repeated countless times, had nearly turned his brain to mush...
Just as Mu You was on the verge of a mental breakdown from all the unlocking attempts, the unchanging screen finally showed a slight difference for the first time.
[You cast the unlocking spell, and the door suddenly sprang open a crack. Unlocking succeeded!]
"Uh..."
Mu You's finger was already resting on the Pocket Watch's button, a hair away from pressing it.
Fortunately, he reacted quickly enough to stop himself in time, breaking out in a cold sweat.
He read the message several times to make sure he'd truly succeeded and wasn't hallucinating. Tears streamed down his face. After over a hundred thousand attempts, he'd finally done it!
It had worked, yes, but the process was utterly torturous. Mu You swore that unless absolutely necessary, he'd never put himself through such mind-wrecking drudgery again!
Only after taking several deep breaths and gulping down a large glass of cold water did Mu You recover. He hurried back to the game and guided his character into the house.
Even if the Witch was sleeping inside and would furiously grind his bones to dust upon discovering an intruder, he had to take a look around. Otherwise, all that mental torture would have been for nothing!
[You pushed open the door and entered the Witch's House, only to find the building empty and lifeless. A thick layer of dust covered the floor and every tabletop. The walls had yellowed and blackened, and the books on the rotting shelves had all been chewed to tatters by insects-not a single volume remained intact. Thick cobwebs covered the ceiling and every corner. All the signs pointed to one thing: no one had lived here for a very long time!]
"Huh..."
Mu You stared in surprise. Just how long had the Witch been away?
For insects to have eaten through all the books on her shelves, she must have been gone for at least several years, right?
He'd thought the Witch had merely stepped out and would return soon. Even if she'd gone traveling for a few months, surely she would come back to check on the place.
But now it seemed that wasn't the case at all.
If she hadn't returned home for years, the Witch had either died somewhere or settled down elsewhere...
But the game hasn't prompted me to inherit an unclaimed estate, so she probably isn't dead yet, right? Mu You thought, then had his character perform a 'Search.'
[You searched the building and discovered five intact bottles of poison in the Potion Room!] [Witch's Poison: A highly toxic potion specially developed by the Witch to deal with the Werewolf. Its scent held a fatal attraction for the Werewolf. Lifespan -5 upon consumption; lifespan -10 if consumed by the Werewolf.]
"Poison!"
Mu You's eyes lit up at the latest notification.
He'd found exactly the poison he needed, and five bottles at once! At least his trip hadn't been wasted!
Mu You hurriedly tapped 'Search' again, hoping to uncover some other treasures.
[You searched the building, but unfortunately, every item had rotted or deteriorated. You found nothing usable.] [Pumpkin Lantern special effect triggered!] [Under the cyan glow of the Pumpkin Lantern, you discovered some strange traces in the basement of the Witch's House.] [In a corner of the basement that should have been empty, the light faintly revealed the outline of a transparent cloak.] [You approached and lifted the cloak. It turned out to be an Invisibility Cloak! Beneath it lay a perfectly preserved book!] [You obtained one 'Invisibility Cloak' and one 'Anthony Vivian's Black Magic Research Journal.']
"Oh?"
After reading the first line, Mu You had given up hope. He hadn't expected the Pumpkin Lantern, which had done nothing for the past two days, to suddenly deliver such a lavish gift!
The Invisibility Cloak needed no explanation. Its use was obvious.
As for the second item...
"Anthony Vivian-that should be the Witch's name... But black magic research? Doesn't black magic usually mean something evil? So she's a dark witch who studies black magic?"
Mu You's expression turned odd.
Of course, that wasn't a problem for him. Black magic or white magic, he didn't care. If it could make him stronger, he'd take it!
Mu You eagerly tapped the 'Research Log.'
A hardcover book-shaped box, a full three inches thick, appeared in his hands. The words 'Black Magic Research Journal' were engraved across its cover in large Star Spirit Language lettering.
"A book this thick... How many spells must it contain!"
Mu You swallowed, feeling as though he'd discovered a dragon's hoard.
He took a deep breath and opened the lid of the book-shaped box, brimming with excitement.
And then...
Empty!
It was actually empty!!
Mu You stared at the empty box, dumbfounded for a full half minute, before finally coming to his senses. "What the heck?"
All that excitement for nothing-it was just an empty box. And she'd even deliberately hidden it beneath an Invisibility Cloak. Was she trying to mess with people?
Mu You had a powerful urge to burn the box on the spot.
Fortunately, he had sharp eyes. After picking it up, he soon noticed a line of small Star Spirit Language lettering engraved on the bottom.
He hurriedly fetched the Star Spirit Dictionary and translated it.
[Want to learn black magic? Go find it! Head to the Dark Forest a hundred li beyond Peaceful Village, then walk straight north. Deep in the forest stands a small wooden cabin. I've buried everything there!]
Before you continue