Allen, Jean, and Trinity stood in front of a dreamy path.

Trinity wasn’t feeling well. She was luckier than most others. The other Voyagers have fallen for too long. Even shadowblade was beyond salvation. Their true identities have been washed away. Trinity’s wasn’t. Allen saved her just in time. If he waited for an extra hour, she would be gone already.

“So...that’s when I realized it. We must be in some sort of dream world. I said it out loud. That must’ve been one of the qualifications for victory.”

Allen explained his reasoning to his comrades. Since they were still in this world, it was reasonable to think there were more challenges. The more the other Voyagers knew about how this works, the more likely they would be able to help.

Jean was nodding the entire time as if she realized everything only now.

As if.

In reality, Jean was the first to realize the true nature of this world. The information she gathered when she was stabbed to death in the kitchen was enough to bring her to a conclusion. Well, at least something resembling a conclusion.

First, no power and no watch. Obviously, she was in some sort of hallucination. There was no question about that. This world kill people by using their past against themselves, which meant by itself it didn't have any aggressive power. Of course, she didn't exactly know it was a nightmare, but she knew enough to make a decision.

On one hand, she could try to break out of this hallucination and probably save the other Voyagers. The exact procedures were a little confusing, but she believed she could find a way. However, she quickly realized that would be meaningless.

What would be the point? The Voyagers she saved would be grateful, but it would be too little to accomplish anything. Aside from the gratitude, Jean wouldn’t get any actual gain.

This was a Trial Mission, so where is the trial part? Sure, confronting death would be good for building willpower, but going through all this trouble just to do that seemed stupid...until she remembered how she got stabbed to death.

Death. That was the most important thing in this world. That was something everyone else have overlooked.

In most cases, Voyagers would never experience death for themselves. No matter how badly they were wounded in other worlds, they were ultimately alive. For most people, that wouldn’t be a problem, but it could be a concern for Jean.

Grim Reapresses hold the Power of Death. On one hand, she could strengthen her soul so she could manipulate more Power of Death easier and quicker, but that was just one way to empower herself.

On the other hand, she could use the Power of Death in other, more efficient ways. Right now, she could strip souls, manipulate souls, and use the Power of Death to corrode materials. But those were just the basics. Those were just elementary uses of a deadly power. They could get the job done, but sometimes they might be too slow or too energy-consuming. She needed higher level ways to kill.

But developing new ways of combat couldn’t be done by simply learning of a textbook. Death wasn’t math. You don’t just get to sit down in front of a table and do a list of practice problems and just magically gain knowledge. To apply death, one must first experience it.

The first step to being a good boxer is by learning to take a beating. The best way to learn how to torture is by being tortured. How can someone who has never died before truly master the Power of Death?

Jean could never die multiple times in normal Objective Missions. There were multiple functions in the Arena that could allow her to die as many times as she wished. Simulation Room. Challenger Tower. Gladiator Field. But in all those cases, the functions were designed to pull the Voyagers out of the simulation upon defeat. This meant Jean could never feel the pain as she bleeds out or the deep void as she loses her life. She would miss the true essence of death.

Jean knew this problem a long time ago. Her original plan was to look through the City of the Voyagers and find a suitable product or service to purchase. With the technology of the Infinite Realms at her disposal, she was sure she could find a proper way for the right price. But it turned out she didn't need to spend all those money.

This mission was almost perfect for her. She could die again and again, each time in a different way. Everytime she died, her understanding for death grew a little more sophisticated. Even now, she has came up with multiple innovations to use the Power of Death. She couldn’t implement them just yet, but that would change as soon as she returns to her body.

The mission itself posed a threat to all the other Voyagers. It was exploiting something, some emotion, from the Voyagers to overpower their consciousness and alter how they are. That was the only way they could truly threaten the Voyagers in the hallucination. Jean didn't know if the emotion exploited was anger or despair or fear, not that it matters.

Good luck exploiting a weakness that doesn’t even exist.

If she didn't know any better, Jean would even say this mission was designed for her.

Jean’s original plan was to stay in the Trial Mission as long as possible. The rest of the Voyagers could all die and it would be irrelevant. That was why she just laid low while the others futilely tried to escape.

Allen’s success in breaking everyone out was...disappointing, but Jean didn't show it on her face.

“We have to keep moving.” Allen glanced around. He could only see a single path away from where the three Voyagers were. There was no going back now.

“We lost five of us in the first part. How difficult will the second part be?” Trinity was a little more pessimistic. It was obvious being broken took a great toll on her willpower. Honestly, Jean doubted if she could survive the next part.

The three Voyagers moved down the cloudy path. Allen was the first. Jean was the second. Trinity trailed behind. After at least twenty minutes of walking in silence. Jean suddenly paused.

She was no longer walking behind Allen on the path. She was standing on solid ground. Turning around, she realized Trinity was gone as well.

Either all of them got lost, or this dimension was trying to divide them up on purpose. This was a part of the rules, and the Voyagers couldn’t quite break it. All they could do was move along.

Jean waited patiently as the play unfolded.

In front of her, a figure appeared. A familiar figure who Jean hasn’t seen for a long, long time.

Purple eyes. Skin-tight suit. Long rifle.

Viper.

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“Jean…my love...” Viper leaned forward, and Jean found herself laying on her back on a soft bed. Viper slowly climbed onto the bed, getting down on Jean sweetly and softly. She caressed Jean’s cheek as she kissed Jean’s neck.

Jean’s eyes went soft. A few drops of tears dripped down her cheek.

“I’m sorry…I missed you so much...”

She whispered.

Viper has been Jean’s most loyal terran servant during the Starcraft mission, but she didn't get what she deserved. When Jean completed her mission and returned to the City of the Voyagers, Viper perished at the hand of an enraged Xel’naga Kerrigan.

In a sense, Jean owed Viper.

The female spectre grinned softly.

“It’s ok. I forgive you...as long as we are together, everything will be fine.”

Jean nodded. As Viper lowered her head to kiss the blonde in the mouth, Jean wrapped her arms around her lover’s neck.

“Yes...everything, everything will be just fine.”

Just like that, Jean snapped Viper’s neck and pushed her body off the bed.

“When the nightmare didn't work, try a bliss dream, right?”

Bliss dreams. Dreams filled with positive thoughts. If the nightmares appealed to the Voyagers’ fear, then bliss dreams appealed to their love and affection. Not that any of those made any difference to Jean.

If anything, at least the nightmares gave her a chance to explore the endless possibilities of death. This one, on the other hand…

Viper disappeared, and Jean found herself standing on a giant platform. This dimension was still trying to get into her head.

Under the platform was legions and legions of Wardens. White armors. Purple runes. All of them gave off a menacing feeling, as if they could strike down you at any moment. But in front of Jean, they were fully obedient.

But these legions were just the background. In front of them were armies of men and women in black armor. Voyagers. Armies of them. All of them carried Voyager Rifles. Their helmets were sealed shut. Almost simultaneously, they saluted Jean.

In the air, fleets of ships patrolled the skies. Jean sensed something similar to Worldships from them, except they were much smaller and much faster than Worldships. They circled around Jean as her most loyal guardsmen.

A look around told Jean she was surrounded by squads of Kashank Guardians.

“Commander.”

Jean turned around and found herself staring at Violet. She tilted her head, letting this play out.

“Commander, all the forces are ready for combat. What is your decree?”

Love didn't work, so this dimension tried to appeal to Jean’s thirst for power. Jean sighed and waved her hand. She desired strength, she desired it to the bottom of her heart, but she wasn’t desperate enough to look for it in a hallucination.

“Commander?”

“Order all units to self-destruct.”

“But commander! This is the largest armada in the Infinite Realms! It can destroy the Protectors! It can destroy everything and everyone standing in your way! It can make you the most powerful being in the world...”

“I said do it.”

Once again, upon seeing the lack of effectiveness, the surroundings changed. It was obvious Jean couldn’t be corrupted by promises of power, but the dimension continued trying relentlessly.

Appeal to desire for sex? Jean snapped the neck of the hallucinated handsome man.

Appeal to desire for family? Didn't work. The hallucination couldn’t even find who Jean’s family was in her mind.

Appeal to desire for money? Nah.

Finally, the hallucinations disappeared, and Jean was once again standing on that dreamy path. She was the first one to break free. As she sat down and waited for her comrades, she couldn’t help but realize things were a little too easy.

Her first two Objective Missions were difficult. They took her years of planning and countless battles. She was almost killed many times. But for this third mission, the Trial Mission that should’ve been more challenging than any Objective Mission, she felt like it was a pushover. Sure, she had to be killed hundreds of times, but that was because she allowed it. If she wanted to, she could pass the previous two parts in a few days.

Ok. That might be easily explained. She was emotionless, and this mission was targeting emotions. It wasn’t designed to be easy. It was just easy because Jean was special. Just look at the other Voyagers: they were easily corrupted under the endless cycles of death. Fine.

But wait a second. She got the Power of Death right after her second Objective Mission, and now, in the following mission, she was given a chance to experience hundreds of different types of deaths and understand the laws of Death? Not only so, it was in an environment where she just happened to be completely impervious? This...this felt a little too...scheduled.

Of course, it could be a coincidence. It could also be that whatever entity assigns the missions to the Voyagers saw the upgrade Jean purchased and decided to give her a suitable mission. After all, the stronger the Voyagers were, the better it was for the Protectors.

Unless...Jean suddenly remembered the change in attitude in Death. When she first arrived in the Realm of the Dead, Death acted as if she was going to die for certain, but after the transformation, Death said she was just joking. Toss aside the possibility that Death was just a sarcastic entity, and the only conclusion was that something, someone, stepped in during her transformation and ensured her survival.

As for who that someone is...how did she get the idea of going for the Power of Death? She learned of the power at the Memoriam, but who gave her the idea to go there? Who told her the Wardens and the Purifiers might not be enough?

Welch...Protector Corporal Welch…the Protector Corps...

Jean has always knew something was up with Protector Welch. From what she learned, all the other Voyagers were welcomed by AIs or shades, but she was greeted by Welch. Why? Why would a Protector come and personally welcome her?

Jean knew she was a belle, but she didn't think the Protectors, with all their might and power, would be worried about a single woman. They could destroy worlds. Is finding a date really so hard?

She did make a fortune in her recruit mission, but once again, she didn't think that was enough to attract the attention of a Protector.

Jean could feel a net closing in around her. A conspiracy. The Protectors were using her like a chess piece for something and she knew it.

Concerning, but not exactly a bad thing.

Chess pieces still have their usage. At least until she fulfills her task, she would not be allowed to die. Not only so, for some reason, the Protectors needed to make her as powerful as possible as quickly as possible. Otherwise, Welch wouldn’t have set her on her current path.

If she wasn’t a chess piece, she would probably be killed by the Reapress transformation. If she wasn’t a chess piece, she would be spending god knows how many coins trying to experience death. Instead, she was given a free go in this carefully chosen Trial Mission.

She was fine with being used. For now, her interest aligns with that of the Protectors. She needed to use this chance to get as much profit as possible so that when the day comes when the Protectors have no more use of her, when they wish to dispose of her, she had a chance to resist.

Another figure formed beside Jean. Allen. He looked exhausted and worn down, but he was alive, and that was all that mattered. The two remained in silence and waited for another half an hour, but the third Voyager never came.

Somewhere in the dimension, Trinity wrapped her arms around her family. She knew exactly what was happening. Her parents were dead. Her brother was dead. What existed in front of her was nothing but a few images taken from her subconscious, and by choosing to stay with them, she has doomed herself as well.

But the Voyager was fine with it. She was tired. Throughout her days as a Voyager, she has done things the old her would never believe. She needed a break from this endless, hopeless war.

Compared to being killed in a random corner of the Infinite Realms or being erased for failing to complete a mission, she would rather die in the arms of her family.

Allen sighed. He could see both himself and Jean starting to disappear. Obviously, this was the last round. Overall, the Trial Mission wasn’t as complicated as Objective Missions, but the mental burden it placed on him was agonizing. The willpower needed to pull him away from everything he ever wanted was astonishing.

He glanced at Jean. He had to admit he might’ve underestimated her. She survived round 1 when everyone else have fallen. She passed round 2 even quicker than him. She was definitely not as weak as she seems.

Doesn’t matter. It’s all over now.

The two survivors disappeared from that dimension. The next moment, they appeared in the Dream Realm. There, they expected to be teleported back to the City of the Voyagers. After all, their mission was a success.

But as soon as he appeared again and saw what was going on, Allen wanted to curse life.

“What the bloody hell…”