"Matthew, my name is Matthew Notermely."

After repeating his name at a leisurely pace, Matthew, who had been called to the director's office, spoke up somewhat sheepishly:

"The small room on the right-hand side of the storeroom opposite your office, the one with a staircase occupying half the ceiling, is my office. I usually stay in there and occasionally come out to help with some cleaning... By the way, does the bureau pay salaries every three months?"

"..."

Actually, it's weekly... but truthfully, when distributing salaries before, I didn't even remember you were here, so...

"Well, our bureau's salary payment method is quite flexible, it can be weekly or yearly, depending on how you want to receive it."

With Leon displaying a slightly odd expression, the red-haired director dryly coughed, managing to gloss over the forgotten salary issue before speaking:

"Matthew, the reason Leon and I called you over this time is to inform you about something... It seems you have been drawn into a highly dangerous mission."

After explaining the relevant parts about the Slaughter King Association and the Witch Kingdom's abnormalities, and what Prince Freckles foresaw in the future, the red-haired director seriously communicated:

"Matthew, although it's still unclear what the situation exactly is, there's one thing we can be certain of, and that's you folks might have to follow that future of being on the gallows and take a trip to the Witch Kingdom."

"Ah?"

Hearing the red-haired director's words, Matthew, whose appearance was so average that he could be lost among a crowd in a second, couldn't help but ask in surprise:

"If the Witch Kingdom is so dangerous, why do we have to go there? If we don't go to the Witch Kingdom, won't that future not occur?"

"Because if we don't go to the Witch Kingdom, although we won't be hanged, we'll encounter even more troublesome situations."

Leon picked up the conversation from the director and informed:

"Matthew, before finding you, the director and I tried some other ways, but eventually, we found that no matter what we did, as long as we didn't arrive at the Witch Kingdom at a certain time point, the four of us would fall asleep together immediately."

"Fall asleep?"

"To be more specific, you're going to enter a state of conscious eternal sleep."

Recalling the scene described by Joshua, the red-haired director sighed and then said with furrowed brows:

"What awaits you in the Witch Kingdom is a prearranged [Bedtime Story]. If you voluntarily participate, you will be part of the story, but if you refuse, then you will become a listener.

Although choosing to be part of the story imposes a lot of very harsh restrictions, if you choose to be a listener, you will only be able to sleep after the [Bedtime Story] finishes being told.

According to the past records of our bureau, you will lose control over your body, yet retain all external perceptions, becoming a being who knows everything but can do nothing—a living dead person.

During this period, you won't even have the right to choose death, unless the next [Bedtime Story] begins; otherwise, even if your souls reach the Realm of the Dead, you will still remain in a state of conscious eternal sleep."

What?!!!

Upon hearing the outcome described by the red-haired director, Matthew's ordinarily regular-looking eyes widened in a sudden shock.

Becoming a living dead person, unable to act yet retaining all senses, is undoubtedly an extremely terrifying torture; compared to this fate, being hanged might even be considered a better end.

"In any case, you all probably really have no choice but to take a trip to the Witch Kingdom."

The red-haired director conveyed reluctantly:

"After Leon informed me of the situation, I immediately sought Mr. Taurus to review past records. According to the information provided by Mr. Taurus, the one taking action on you is an ancient Pillar God, so ancient that even the abnormal objects that record its information have decayed.

The only thing we can determine now is that its 'truth name' should be [Narration of Nonexistence], and our bureau has no way to countermand its 'truth.' Stories it tells almost inevitably become reality."

Wait! Almost?

Upon hearing this, Leon couldn't help but raise an eyebrow, while the red-haired director, seemingly anticipating his reaction, turned directly to explain:

"The only exception was the third-generation director, who, when capturing a True God in the Heavenly Mountain plane, was temporarily dragged into a story by [Narration of Nonexistence]. But the third-generation director is someone who doesn't sleep, and was only half a step away from the Pillar God level, thus successfully breaking free from the influence of the [Bedtime Story].

In other words, one must have over 69 Leon Value points, have half a foot into the door of the Pillar God level, and possess abilities conflicting with the 'truth' of [Narration of Nonexistence], otherwise, one is doomed to be unable to defy the stories it narrates."

"..."

So, if the story of [Narration of Nonexistence] becomes established, everyone below the Pillar God level must be at its mercy, unable to resist at all? This ability is just too outrageous!

After hearing the red-haired director's explanation, Leon couldn't help but furrow his brows tighter, pondering increasingly that this ability was absurdly strong.

After all, besides the fact that the ability's nature was overpowered, [Bedtime Story] could also pierce through the barrier of the Watcher's Palace directly to target oneself, meaning that within the entire Clean-up Bureau, apart from the Yellow Road Director and the twelve Chiefs, [Narration of Nonexistence] could seize anyone it wanted without paying any cost—it's simply outrageous!

"There must be a cost, even if the situation with [Bedtime Story] is special and can directly affect you through [Watcher's Palace], the Slaughter King Association must have had to pay something.

Additionally, there are probably quite a few limitations within the [Bedtime Story] itself. Apart from only one story existing at a time, I suspect it may not even perfectly control the content of the story, so it's not entirely without options.

But the current problem is that we know too little about it, almost nothing beyond a name, leaving us with no clue where to begin."

Easily perceiving what Leon was thinking, the red-haired director leaned back in the seat, also with an unpleasant expression, and remarked:

"The ability of [Narration of Nonexistence] is far too hidden; if it weren't for Miss Catherine's reminder this time, I might not even have realized the existence of [Bedtime Story] until something happened to you in the Witch Kingdom.

I even have reason to suspect that the past sudden deaths of geniuses in our bureau were likely targeted by [Narration of Nonexistence], and disposed of using [Bedtime Story], and we don't even have any records about it.

The last record our bureau has concerning [Narration of Nonexistence] was left by the third-generation director, which was thousands of years ago now, and much of the record carved in stone has eroded away; no one knows its current state..."