Thriller Paradise

The four entered by the front door. The ground floor was a spacious area with a marble floor and some pillars spread artfully around the room. Many rounds lamps were embedded inside the ceiling lit up the hall. Looking around, other than the four walls and the pillars, there was nothing in the room. Right opposite from the front door, in the middle of the wall that was furthest from them, was a white door. Since the walls were gray, this block of white looked conspicuous.

"Hmm… there's still no hint even after we got in here," Autumn Zither said.

"At least we can confirm that the 'Detective Club' does not refer to this entire building," Weighty Words added.

Ambitionist looked around. "Then it is at some part of this building…"

Feng Bujue chose this moment to say, "Is there a possibility that… the 'Detective Club' is not inside this building at all? Could it be situated somewhere else?"

Ambitionist thought about it and replied, "Hmm… there is a chance of that, but…"

"But so far, the introductory cinematic is our only clue, and since this only clue points toward this building, there has to be something here that would push the plot forward," Weighty Words said.

"Even if the Detective Club is not situated here," Autumn Zither added, "there should be something related to the quest inside this building, or else… we will have to admit that the system has purposely misdirected us. Since I've started playing this game, I have not heard or encountered the system doing something like that, wasting the player's energy and time."

"Oh… you're right." Feng Bujue made a face like this just hit him, but internally, he was thinking, Not bad, they all have good analytical power and have confidence in themselves. But… having four puzzle-solving type players cooped in one scenario, is that totally random or… If it is… just what kind of scenario has to be generated to have a difficulty that matches the players' ability?

Buzz.

A sudden sound came from the back. They all whipped their heads around and saw that the front door had been blocked by a blue light wall.

"So, the exit has been sealed…"

"Hmm… But it doesn't really influence the situation that much."

They were not wrong. The three strategists looked confident and calm. They did not panic because the exit had been blocked.

Weighty Words walked closer to the wall.

"This isn't a physically manifested laser." He pointed at the four edges of the walls. "There's no device that could produce lasers around it."

Ambitionist scratched his chin.

"A light wall that appeared out of thin air and attached to a specific area…" The eyes under his glasses glowed. "A supernatural wall, I wonder if it's magic or…"

Pew!

A glowing poker card suddenly flew past everyone's eyes and struck the wall. Death Poker was swallowed up by the light and disappeared once it touched the wall. After the group saw this, they all turned around to look at the man who had thrown the poker card.

"Ya, it's definitely something that possesses non-physical energy to be able to 'swallow' a card that is made up from Sorcery energy," Feng Bujue said. "If this was just a laser, when my card hit it, it would have either exploded or it would have been sliced or bounced back. It would not have been swallowed like this."

"I say…" Weighty Words directed a helpless look at Feng Bujue. "Before you do something so dangerous, can you please ask for our opinion first?"

"What if the wall of light had exploded or self-destructed once it is attacked, or it reflected attack, we would have all been in trouble," Autumn Zither warned.

"Ah… Haha… Sorry, sorry," Feng Bujue apologized. "Because I heard you all say that this is not a laser on a physical level, I thought of giving it a test… Plus, my poker cards are not that powerful anyway."

"Is that a Sorcery Weapon?" Ambitionist did not dwell on what happened earlier but looked severely at the deck of Death Poker Feng Bujue was holding.

"Hmm?" Feng Bujue appeared startled before answering, "Yes, it's a sorcery weapon."

When Autumn Zither and Weighty Words heard that, their expression changed slightly.

"Interesting…" Ambitionist said. "You claimed that you are a more puzzle-solving player, but you have already obtained a Sorcery Weapon that is mainly for combat."

Facing this rather obvious probing, Feng Bujue showed no flaw on his face. His expression was natural. He did not freeze or change in any way. He replied like this was a question that could not be more common. "Oh, that. I was just lucky, hahaha…"

This sounded like a brush off, but it was the most correct answer. After all, gaining a Sorcery Weapon was completely serendipitous. Many combat-based players had not obtained it, so 'possessing Sorcery Weapon' was not mutually exclusive to 'a puzzle-solving based player'. At that moment, if Feng Bujue gave some kind of explanation to why he owned a sorcery weapon, then he would appear more suspicious. Brother Jue understood it well… The matter-of-fact tone, the semi-proud laugh, and a statement that meant nothing, that was how a normal player would answer, and any other answer would sell him out.

"Hmm…" Ambitionist paused for two seconds before adding, "Oh, this is good. Since we can't use our inventory, combat will be hard. But with your Sorcery Weapon, we should be much safer." After giving an empty statement, he changed the subject. "Now that the exit has been sealed, we can only go forward, right?"

"The appearance of the wall has basically proved that we have gone the right way," Autumn Zither concurred. "If the Detective Club is inside this building, there is no reason for us to leave."

Weighty Words added, "We should search the ground floor first and see if there's any other secret exit other than that white door."

Ambitionist nodded. "When you do the exploration, please pay attention to the location of the pillars, the pattern on the marble tiles, the dimensions of the floor, and so on… Even though they might not be useful, it's not wrong to collect them."

"Understood."

"Definitely."

"Haha…"

After that discussion, the four split up again and began their own investigation. But they soon realized that there was nothing interesting about this floor. Therefore, about eight minutes later, the four gathered again before the white door.