If he could wake up on his own, then he would firmly stand on the side of emotion.
Hearing Notch's words, Stephen seemed to half understand, half not, but since Notch had said so, he didn't dare to say more. He just sighed deeply.
Seeing this, Notch patted Stephen on the back to comfort him.
"It's fine. Hope is right ahead. No matter what, I'll do my best to hold on to it!"
For Notch, the answer to solving the current world's situation was right within reach. How could he give up so easily?
However, there was still one major issue ahead of him, one that deeply worried him and could easily turn into a troublesome obstacle.
After exchanging thoughts with Stephen and the player captain, Notch figured the captain must have realized their stance through their words.
After all, the fact that Notch and Stephen could put aside the long-standing feud between players and animals to venture through this trial land together already showed that they firmly stood on the side of the rules.
Stephen's earlier advice also proved how highly both he and Notch regarded the rules.
Now, even though Notch clearly understood the player captain's inner conflict, he still couldn't say for sure whether the captain could truly break free from his self-imposed restraints.
He was always pretending to be asleep, refusing to wake up.
Maybe one day he would wake up on his own, or maybe he'd just sink deeper into that dream and never come back.
If the player captain kept avoiding reality and turning a blind eye, things would become very difficult.
The player captain had already told Notch and Stephen that they planned to attack the rainforest.
Notch and Stephen knew how important the rainforest's rules were. They understood that if they wanted to protect those rules, they would have to warn the rainforest.
But would the player captain really allow them to do that?
So far, the captain hadn't shown any hostility toward them, but that might just be because he hadn't realized the subtle conflict of interest yet.
Once the trade was over and they had to go their separate ways, he might remember the risk of letting them go.
If that happened, would he really let Notch and Stephen leak their plan to attack the rainforest? The answer was almost certainly no.
If the player captain remained stubborn and refused to awaken, he would never just sit back and let them go warn the rainforest.
That thought made Notch uneasy.
They were about to reach the rainforest's border, and Notch didn't have much time left to talk to Stephen.
He slowed down slightly, moved closer, and whispered, "If things start to go wrong later, don't worry about me. Just run, run straight into the rainforest!"
Stephen looked puzzled, about to ask, but Notch gestured for him to stay quiet.
Seeing that, Stephen nodded silently.
Not long after Notch's warning, the group arrived at the rainforest's edge.
The players under the captain's command went off on their own to place trade chests around the forest perimeter.
The player captain turned around, his back facing the rainforest, and looked at Notch and Stephen calmly.
"The entire trading process goes like this. When you trade in the future..."
But before he could finish, his eyes changed suddenly, as if he had just realized something. His expression became tense and complicated.
Seeing his face change, Notch's heart tightened. The thing he'd been worried about had happened, the captain had noticed.
In the thickening tension, Notch quietly placed a hand on Stephen's back and gave two light pats.
It looked like nothing, but it was actually a secret signal between them.
As wandering merchants who roamed across the dangerous trial grounds, their identities were delicate.
They had prepared for emergencies like this, creating a set of coded signals for sudden crises.
Feeling the signal, Stephen instantly focused.
Their long-standing teamwork made him understand right away what was about to happen.
Stephen cleared his throat softly in response and turned his gaze toward the rainforest.
After all, once Notch gave the next signal, Stephen would charge into the forest as fast as he could, he didn't want anything getting in the way.
———
The player captain stared at Notch and Stephen for a long time, saying nothing.
His eyes were full of conflicting emotions, so complex that even someone as observant as Notch couldn't read them completely.
Notch thought silently to himself.
Was the captain hesitating about whether to let them go?
Or was he stalling for time, waiting for his teammates to regroup and capture them both at once?
Since he couldn't figure out the captain's true intentions, Notch didn't dare act rashly.
Just as the tension hung in the air, suddenly, a soft, cute bleating sound came from deep within the rainforest.
"Baa! Baa baa!!"
The sound came like lightning tearing through the sky.
The player captain's body jolted violently, then froze in place.
His eyes widened in shock, his face filled with disbelief, as if he were seeing something impossible.
Notch looked toward the rainforest.
There stood a round, fluffy little sheep right at the forest's edge, staring anxiously toward the captain's direction.
That gentle bleating just now must have come from it.
Notch's heart leapt in joy.
"It's Bread Sheep!!"
Judging from the captain's reaction, that sheep had to be the Bread Sheep he'd mentioned earlier.
Notch hadn't expected it to show up now, especially since the captain had just said he deliberately adjusted the schedule to avoid it.
As Notch was thinking, Bread Sheep bleated again.
"Baa baa… baa baa baa?…"
"Baa baa baa!!! Baa baa baa baa…"
Even though Notch didn't understand sheep language, he could feel the urgency in its tone.
He glanced at the captain, his body was trembling slightly, clearly struggling to contain his emotions.
Yet he still didn't turn around to look. That made Notch anxious.
Notch looked at Stephen, who was already watching him.
Their eyes met, and they understood each other instantly.
Stephen spoke up.
"Can't understand it? I'll roughly translate for you."
He cleared his throat and mimicked Bread Sheep's tone.
"These days, where have you been?!"
"I've been looking everywhere for you! I even asked my friends about you, but they all said they didn't recognize you…"
"I thought something happened to you! I was so worried!"
"Thank goodness you're okay. Please don't disappear again! You really scared me!"
Hearing Stephen's words, the player captain felt as if his chest had been struck by a hammer, rising and falling violently.
Bread Sheep's few simple words were like a blade piercing straight into his heart.
The weight of those words crashed through his defenses like raging waves.
Especially the line, "These days, I've been looking everywhere for you."
It exploded in his mind like a bomb.
It meant that no matter whose turn it was for duty, Bread Sheep still came to the trading area every day, quietly waiting for him.
The captain had thought that avoiding Bread Sheep's shift would slowly create distance between them.
But he never imagined that even when Bread Sheep wasn't on duty, it would still come, just for a chance to see him.
That kind of sincerity and persistence filled the captain with guilt.
Bread Sheep never asked for anything in return, never cared about hardship. All it wanted was to see its friend again.
Its feelings were pure, without even a trace of selfish motive.
Even after so long without seeing him, Bread Sheep had never doubted him, only worried something had happened to him.
Yet the captain, out of pride, kept avoiding it.
His chest rose and fell harder and harder, as if about to burst.
His eyes grew wet, filled with emotion.
But still, he kept his back to Stephen and Bread Sheep, refusing to turn around.
Stephen frowned.
Was what Bread Sheep said still not enough to move him?
He thought about saying something more to push the captain over the edge, but then, the captain suddenly took a deep breath, as if making a hard choice.
Finally, he turned around and walked slowly toward Bread Sheep.
When he got close, he crouched down and leaned forward slightly. After a short hesitation, he reached out his hand.
Seeing his movement, Bread Sheep's eyes showed a flash of worry, it seemed to sense what might happen next.
"Baa baa baa!!!"
With an urgent bleat, Bread Sheep mustered all its courage and stretched its head out of the rainforest.
In that moment, the captain's heart shattered completely.
Bread Sheep's words had already hit him hard, but this action broke him entirely.
He couldn't understand its language, but he knew exactly what it meant, Bread Sheep was trying to protect him.
According to the rainforest's rules, players were forbidden to step inside. By reaching out his hand earlier, he had nearly broken that rule.
Bread Sheep knew the danger, so it stuck its head out first, to help him stay safe.
It had always been timid. Even after getting to know him better, it never dared get too close to the border.
But now, it had gathered all its courage to reach out.
The captain's hand trembled uncontrollably. He forced it still and gently stroked Bread Sheep's soft wool.
The moment his fingers touched it, a wave of relief and comfort swept through him.
He looked at Bread Sheep, his eyes filled with warmth, almost overflowing.
"I'm sorry… for making you worry…"
"I promise, this will never happen again."
As he spoke, faint murmurs rose around him, players whispering among themselves.
They were the captain's subordinates, returning after collecting trade goods, now gathering nearby.
Hearing them, the captain instinctively tried to pull his hand back, but when he realized what he was doing, he stopped.
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