[ Small Resonant Bell
A small bell found in the underground labyrinth. Its sound can resonate across worlds.
The first Hunter used it as a special signal to overcome the barriers between other worlds.
Humans must use Insight to ring this strange bell, but cooperating across worlds can bring many benefits. ]
Ding-a-ling, ding-a-ling.
In the Nearl Family's mansion, Goki was in a simple and modest room—Margaret naturally wouldn't allow Goki to stay in her sister's room, so she had prepared a room for him.
Goki had just gotten into bed, the azure moon still hung high in the sky, its light spilling onto the windowsill that extended out of the room.
It was still some time before midnight. Usually, Goki would be cuddling with Skadi at this hour, watching various movies, but today, Goki wouldn't do that.
"Alright, don't worry, Skadi, I didn't get into a fight with anyone—sleep with someone else? How could that be? The Nearl Family's house is quite large, I have my own room, no girls will come in, rest assured."
"Mm, that's more like it. Come back soon—even if you sleep with other good friends, I have to be there too, understand?!"
"Yes, yes, my Princess, I'll be back tomorrow morning. You wait for me to bring you food, mua~~"
Kissing his smartphone, Goki reassured Skadi, completed the check-in, and then hung up the phone with relief.
"Ha... it's quite lonely. Sure enough, it's not that Skadi can't live without me, but that I can't live without Skadi."
Although it seemed like a girlfriend checking up, for Skadi, she cared more about whether Goki was secretly playing with other 'little friends' behind her back—that's right, her jealousy was more like that of an elementary school girl, exceptionally cute.
Lying on the soft bed, Goki twirled the small metal bell in his hand, predominantly bronze with a faint reddish tint, a helpless smile on his face.
"This is... interesting. I originally thought I was coming here to meet the parents, but I didn't meet the parents; instead, I found something left behind a thousand years ago—I wouldn't really be a thousand-year-old old man, would I? Then I'd be about the same age as Kal'tsit, which would be quite strange."
A thousand years ago, that great Knight King, like other Great Ones, accidentally obtained a part of Goki's power.
However, compared to the God of Burning Wind, this ordinary Kuranta knight girl from a thousand years ago seemed much nobler and purer—at least she remembered to repay.
Clearly, Goki's arrival in Terra was more than just a butterfly flapping its wings in South America—it probably caused more ripples than a meteor strike.
And thinking of how that ancient young knight from a thousand years ago returned his relic to Goki a thousand years later, he felt a rare sense of melancholy.
[ I'm not sure, kind Hunter. My consciousness awakened at the same time as yours. Perhaps we truly came to this world a thousand years ago, or perhaps we were simply struck by ripples of time and dispersed when crossing worlds—all of these are possible. ]
In the dream, the Nona's expression was also exceptionally serious. The topic they were discussing concerned their past experiences and the secrets of this world.
Being repeatedly hit in the face by lost parts of his power, it could be called luck before, but with so many occurrences, it still felt somewhat off.
The former Goki had gathered many of the Great Ones' authorities, becoming unimaginably powerful. Discerning fate was a piece of cake for him, otherwise he wouldn't have been able to Transmigration on his own—but now, he and the Nona could only guess.
If this were explained as the originally unified powers being inherently connected, that would be fine, but if behind all of this there was manipulation by others, no, by Gods, then it would be exceptionally dangerous, and Goki had to remain vigilant.
After all, whether it was Yharnam or Cthulhu, there would be scoundrel goddesses like the Blood Moon Queen and Nyarlathotep who loved to watch chaos unfold and manipulated everything from behind the scenes. Who knew if such existed in the Terra world?
"In short, caution is key—it's better to become stronger sooner. Then, whatever monsters appear, just cut them down, just like we used to."
[ If the Blood Moon Queen were a beautiful girl like Nona Skadi, kind Hunter, you would probably choose to become her spokesperson without hesitation—just like Nona God of Yellow Sand. ]
"Who said that? Replacing her, being raised by Nona, and still enjoying feeding play along the way, isn't that even better?"
[ Ugh—you're too much, you're annoying! Kind, perverted Hunter! I'm not talking to you anymore! ]
Sticking out her tongue at Goki in the dream, the Nona cut off the signal. Her protests were becoming increasingly soft and powerless now.
And Goki decided that after he fell asleep, he would continue to spend more time with the Nona.
But now, he was more focused on the unusually ordinary small bell in his hand.
Just a few items and weapons that had drifted to Kazimierz changed the fate of the Knight King, and the fate of a certain God, even burdening the Nearl Family with a millennium-long mission.
Although the nation of Kazimierz remained in its current state, it was clear that its internal structure and foundation had undergone many different changes.
However, if the Knight King had only obtained Goki's power and weapons, she couldn't have known that Goki would come to reclaim his power in the future, nor could she have assigned tasks to the Nearl Family.
Clearly, just as King Arthur had Merlin as a teacher, this Knight King of Kazimierz also always had her own mentor.
In legends, she was an elegant and powerful ranger, righteous and kind, who helped the Knight King, then an ordinary soldier, grow rapidly, and then disappeared with the King.
"Who could it be...?"
Someone who could turn an ordinary soldier into an unrivaled Knight King in just two or three years must have been an extraordinary person.
And looking at the bell in his hand, Goki knew that perhaps that King indeed had a good teacher.
The Summoning Bell—an item that served gameplay entirely.
Just as in Dark Souls next door, you could summon Solaire of Astora to impale enemies with a Sunlight Spear, the Summoning Bell could also summon other Hunters, as well as certain NPCs, to help you attack bosses.
Of course, the boss's HP would also increase simultaneously. Sometimes, if your helpers were too weak, it was even better to go in alone.
This was a purely gameplay feature, meant to increase game enjoyment, and could even summon other players for invasion PVP, with no inherent lore explanation.
There were no parallel world Hunters in Yharnam; if NPCs helped in fights, it was Goki directly calling for people—and he was very popular, sometimes he could gather many people for a group beating.
However, this didn't mean that the Summoning Bell had no effect in the real world. In fact, the real Summoning Bell was much more powerful than its in-game counterpart.
The Old Hunter Summoning Bell summoned not beings from a parallel world, but truly departed Souls!
For a Great One, life and death were merely two states. A Great One's power could easily summon the Souls of the dead, making them fight for themself.
Goki disdained doing necromancer things, but occasionally calling a few helpers wasn't bad—especially those he had defeated.
"If I use it now, who would appear?"
Goki looked at the bell in his hand. He guessed that perhaps a few old friends had followed him to Kazimierz and become the mentor of that Knight King.
No... perhaps what followed Goki to Terra was the entire Yharnam Dream that he had destroyed?
"Forget it, let's not think about all this nonsense for now."
Thinking this, Goki mobilized the power in his body, enveloping the small Summoning Bell. Blue-black flames instantly rose, drilling into the bell.
Goki knew that now, with a gentle shake, the departed Souls would appear before him.
Skadi might throw a tantrum, but Goki didn't mind having an old friend by his side—he'd just need to pet her a few times then.
At this thought, Goki was about to shake the bell, but suddenly sensed something and immediately stopped his hand.
"Yawn... never mind, I'll sleep first."
Deliberately yawning, Goki took off his trench coat, pulled back the covers, slipped in, and closed his eyes.
Soon, a steady breathing sound came from his mouth, even mixed with some loud snores.
And quickly, a barely perceptible bump came from the nearby windowsill, as faint as the wind blowing against a window.
Then, a pair of snow-white small ears peeked out from the edge of the windowsill.
Immediately after, a Kuranta girl in a fitted outfit, her ponytail swaying, quietly slipped into the room, even taking off her boots and letting her small feet, wrapped in delicate black stockings, step directly onto the floor.
But her large brown eyes dared not look at Goki for a moment.
[ Finally, he's away from those terrifying women. No, he's too perceptive, my gaze can't escape him, I absolutely must not look directly at him. Get the sample, grab the item, and leave! ]
The girl took a deep breath, walked to Goki's bedside, and reached for the ancient, patterned sword sheath.
Although she didn't know why the client had temporarily changed the mission from surveillance to stealing an item, she was paid to do a job. As long as it wasn't a direct confrontation with that terrifying white-haired woman, she could accept any other task, provided the pay was increased.
But just as her fingers touched the sword sheath, a large hand gently grasped her wrist.
"I don't recall ordering any special services, Nona?"
With a faint smile, Goki looked at this cute little Kuranta, who was also an old acquaintance of his.
In the coming days, he would be much busier.
So, the half-month game of hide-and-seek, it was time for it to end.
"You're still too green, little Platinum."
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