Translator: Larbre Studio
Editor: Larbre Studio
The early morning sun basked the branches in its rays. Birds woke up from their nests and saw someone who was awake much earlier than them through the window.
After washing up, Yu Yi poured himself a glass of milk and ate a simple breakfast that consisted of bread. He didn’t have enough money to eat a hearty meal. After all, it was quite a while before he received his salary for the following month.
“Are there any news today?”
Picking up the remote control, he turned on the television that was left behind by the landlord. In this rental apartment, everything apart from the game console, computer, and daily necessities were owned by the landlord. All Yu Yi had to do was to pay the insubstantial rent on time.
Holding a piece of bread, Yu Yi sank into the wooden chair and flitted through the television channels absentmindedly. He should be leaving the house after the morning newscasts ended. Tapping in to work late would cause his salary to be deducted.
[The following is a news report… According to sources, cases of people going missing were happening routinely in a forest in the Southern United States. As of 4 AM Beijing time, the local police have found many victims’ bodies in the vicinity of the forest. Almost all of the victims were illegal immigrants. According to initial investigations, this is likely to be a serial murder case.]
“Hmmm? A serial murder case. I guess it’s the great United States of America after all; anything can happen there.”
He polished off the bread and picked up a glass of milk.
[According to witnesses, the serial killer is a murderer often seen holding a dagger. Dressed in a forest ranger’s attire, he reportedly has scars on his body and wears a white-colored mask.]
“Pfft!!!”
Milk flew from his nostrils. Yu Yi looked at the television intently and saw the serious expression of the newscaster. Yu Yi couldn’t believe what he was hearing.
What?! Forests in the Southern United States! Serial Killer! Forest Ranger! A male holding a dagger! Don’t you think something’s wrong here?!
He wiped the ground clean with tissue papers and turned off the television. He must be going crazy or was he in a trance? This was all a mess.
After some internal struggle, Yu Yi dressed up and rode his “Little Lamb” bicycle to his workplace. The bicycle was stolen when Yu Yi first left home. From where exactly, he didn’t remember.
Yu Yi, 20 years old. A menial labourer. Highly educated, but never been to school.
After completing a day of work distracted, he returned home and settled for a simple dinner. He picked up his phone and bombed his friend with calls.
“Hey, you there?”
[No, damn it! Pigeon, do you know what time it is now?]
“I’m online, add me later.”
[Alright, all of us are waiting for you.]
“Lots of people?”
[Ah, there’s you and me, plus Lizi and Fengye. Five of us in total, and we’ll be playing a six-player game. Oh wait, since the KP is run by AI and not humans now, it’s technically a five-player game.]
Oh, so it turned out that Yu Yi knew everyone. They had been playing TPRG games since the start. Wasn’t it that saying, “Five players form up to kick doors down.”
“Oh right, aren’t you in the U.S. now?”
[Hm, yep.]
“Have you heard about what happened at the Southern U.S. forests?” Yu Yi suddenly recalled the news he had seen in the morning.
[Oh yeah, about that. It was done by a perverted serial killer, apparently. Damn, you can’t even imagine how horrifying it was. When I went in with my colleagues, all I could see were bodies everywhere! I almost did an SC check in real life!]
“Be careful. I think something’s not right.”
[Would something like that ever be right?!]
“By the way… could you help me search for a victim named Trellis? Trellis Mitchell. Also a forest ranger.”
[Why do you care? Your friend went missing?]
“No, just wanted to double-check a few things. Just help me out, okay? I’ll go online now.”
International calls were costly, so Yu Yi didn’t want to waste all his money on one call.
He tweaked his game watch and put on his game glasses. Yu Yi’s vision slowly faded into darkness.
[Welcome to your diary, Investigator]
A black diary appeared and flipped open slowly. After selecting Yu Xing’s character card, the entire scene changed as Yu Yi spawned in his in-game villa.
Yu Yi set down the black diary in his hands and looked up. On the table before him was a cup of green tea. The aroma of tea leaves, mixed with the fragrance of flowers, emanated in the air.
“I’m quite confident in my craft. Would you like to try, Oracle?”
So I’m still in the Oracle’s character… But never mind, this is pretty good. This way, there was no need for any additional explanations or hassle. Peace was the best!
Picking up the teacup, Yu Yi placed it to his lips gently. The tea was aromatic and slightly sweet with no sign of bitterness. It was a floral tea. Just not sure what kind exactly.
[BUFF – Excitement. You have acquired a special effect. Your movement speed will increase, while your Willpower checks will be improved. This will continue throughout one instance mission.]
What?! That was a BUFF?! I can get a BUFF just by drinking tea? Wait, was this the external aid on the note? Although I can’t bring it into the instance mission, it’s still pretty nice! This is pretty good support!
“It’s so fragrant! Lifted my spirits right away!”
Yu Yi gave heartfelt compliments to the floral tea.
“That’s good to hear. If you want to learn how to make it, I could teach you. Whatever you want to learn, I could always teach you. That’s the special powers of an Oracle.”
Oh! That was awesome! I want to learn how to revive myself! I want to learn how to top up my health points! I want… Ahem…
Never mind. Any more delays, I’ll be invited to drink tea.
“Please take care of me when I’m in-game,” he told Yuming as a game invitation popped up before him. “I’ll go for a while.” He then accepted the game request.
When Yu Yi’s vision recovered, he was standing on a large parade square that was black in color. An inverted cross was burning at the center of the square. Four people stood beside him: two men and two women. Familiar faces indeed.
“Hey, the warrior is here? Eh? Just how high is your APP value?”
The female characters immediately began to walk over, giggling. However, their smiles disappeared when they saw Yu Yi’s appearance.
“18 points. How’s that? Not bad right?”
He reached out to high five the girls. This was Yu Yi’s friend over the phone, though her character was female. Although they could not generate female character cards at the start, they could change their genders by paying some money later.
“Everyone’s here. Let’s start.”
Another girl started talking as Yu Yi approached.
“So you’re Fengye? What, is this a transgender game?”
The two men were female characters, while the girls played with male characters… Was Yu Yi the only one who was normal?
“Daocao, I thought you were going to play with female characters like these two perverts here. If you were a female character, 18 points of APP value would smoothen out your games really nicely.”
“I thought my 17-point APP value was the highest. Heh.”
Just like that, the five players gathered and were ready to wreak some havoc.