Chapter 32: Order Cards (7)
Su Qiong remained silent for a long time.
Among the review panel, a short, round “man” stood up. His rainbow-striped costume bulged outward, making him look like an overinflated balloon from a distance.
Grinning, he removed his mask.
Behind it was a clown’s face painted in colorful greasepaint.
His purplish-red lips curved into an exaggerated arc, fixed in a permanent smile.
The Smiling Clown approached Su Qiong. Inside the diamond-shaped paint around his eyes, his eyeballs rolled upward and locked cheerfully onto him.
“Welcome to Mr. Clown’s Smile Theater.” The Smiling Clown bowed with gentlemanly elegance, though his gaze was anything but friendly.
The teammates who had been preparing to leave turned back and warily studied the clown who had suddenly appeared.
“My honored guest, are you ready to share a dance with Mr. Clown?” The clown’s gaze clung to Su Qiong as his grin stretched wider, sending chills down everyone’s spine.
Su Qiong sighed helplessly and looked at the prompt again.
[System: Congratulations. You have reached Final Ending Nine—The Mediocre Detective.]
[Hint: Ending One and Ending Nine are parallel endings. Players may choose to rewind their progress and trigger another ending. Upon reaching Ending One, every murderer must undergo Mr. Clown’s trial. Upon reaching Ending Nine, the detective must undergo Mr. Clown’s trial alone.]
[Hint: The trial requires dancing with Mr. Clown. This trial may result in the player’s death. Please choose carefully.]
Su Qiong had originally planned to send everyone else away and remain behind to dance with Mr. Clown alone.
The system had only said it might kill a player. It had never said it might kill an NPC.
He should be fine… right?
“What does that mean?”
“Why does Little Pastry have to dance with that weird clown?”
A vaguely understood the situation and said, “He failed to identify the murderer.”
“…”
By the end of the story, every character had possessed the possibility of being the killer.
In every mystery game, the detective and murderer stood on opposing sides.
The murderer’s primary task was to escape, while the detective’s responsibility was to expose them.
In other words, everyone else had successfully completed their roles.
Only Su Qiong had failed his.
With the system being such a bastard, there was no chance it would allow everyone to clear the challenge unharmed.
“Su Qiong, rewind the progress,” Yu Qimiao said loudly. “Facing the instance NPC alone is too dangerous.”
“The performance has already ended. It can’t be rewound.” Su Qiong lied and said lightly, “Besides, it’s only a dance.”
“That’s right. It’s only a dance.” The Smiling Clown agreed, malicious delight flashing in his eyes.
He snapped his fingers.
The theater instantly transformed into a rapidly spinning dance floor. Centrifugal force flung everyone else off the stage, leaving only Su Qiong and the Smiling Clown at its center.
The former members of the review panel transformed into an orchestra and began playing a gentle dance melody.
A light breeze swept past.
If one ignored the fact that Su Qiong’s partner was a clown, the scene might even have appeared beautiful.
But the instant the clown extended a hand toward Su Qiong, he realized the situation was not simple.
The moment he entered the center of the dance floor, layer upon layer of Order Cards appeared before him—more than all the cards he had seen since entering the World of Order combined.
[The dance partner may reject Mr. Clown without suffering any consequences.]
[Once the music begins, the dance may be stopped at any moment.]
[Mr. Clown possesses many weaknesses and has an easygoing personality.]
[The Smiling Clown does not smile. Only a clown who does not smile may be called the Smiling Clown.]
[You have the right to escape.]
[…]
Su Qiong was now one hundred percent certain that the Smiling Clown was a False Order Guardian.
He did not know what tier the clown governed, but the fact that he could use so many cards to restrict a player at once proved that he was probably stronger than the Knight of Light.
Su Qiong’s mind raced.
He decided to temporarily treat every card as a False Order and cooperate with the clown until the dance ended.
However, before the clown’s hand could touch Su Qiong’s waist, flames swept in from behind and ignited the cards before him.
The clown was forced half a step backward. He turned a sinister gaze toward ERROR, who had ruined his plans.
“My, my. Aren’t you the player rejected by the system?” The Smiling Clown spun several times, creating an enormous tornado. “I heard you can destroy system items. Unfortunately, my clown cards aren’t so fragile.”
The burning cards were swept into the center of the storm, where the flames gradually died out.
ERROR remained perfectly composed. “I know. The same trick can’t work forever.”
“Do you intend to initiate an Order War against me?” The clown looked as though he had seen through him. “I possess far more cards than you can imagine. Furthermore…”
The clown stopped spinning and strode toward ERROR.
He flicked a finger through the air, and a card with a golden back and the number three appeared in his hand.
“I can create the cards under my protection. You have no chance of winning.”
“Fuck, he’s Tier Three!”
“No wonder he’s harder to deal with than the Knight of Light.”
“I take it back. The Knight of Light was only greasy. Deep down, he was a good NPC.”
“What do we do? He’s so powerful. Little Pastry can’t defeat him.”
“We have to find a way to rescue Su Qiong and ERROR.”
ERROR stood at the center of the danger yet looked as though he required no rescuing whatsoever.
He even leisurely fixed his hair, rolled up his sleeves, and slowly removed his suit jacket.
Su Qiong stared at him in confusion, unable to understand why ERROR was taking off his clothes.
He looked much better in the suit.
Was this what humans called stripping before a fight?
“What’s this? Do you want to become my dance partner as well?”
“No. I’m merely looking for something.” ERROR reached into his pocket, searched around, and pulled out a familiar card.
The Smiling Clown regarded it with disdain.
Even if ERROR took out a Tier-Four True Order Card, the clown would not be afraid.
The players did not know that True and False Orders opposed one another.
Inside a True Order instance, False Orders would be restricted and weakened. The reverse was equally true.
The Smiling Clown governed Tier-Three False Order, second only to the highest tier. Once weakened inside his domain, a True Order could no longer exert absolute suppression.
Unless ERROR’s True Order Card possessed ten white stars on its back.
Yet the card ERROR had taken out had a black back.
It had not even been authenticated.
“What card is that?” Su Qiong peered over curiously but saw no writing. “Huh? Your card is blank.”
“Th-that’s impossible!” The Smiling Clown staggered several steps backward, disbelief filling his face.
ERROR raised his eyes and said slowly, “You forgot to smile.”
“!!!”
The instant the clown realized it, overwhelming pain engulfed him, as though he were being dragged into an endless abyss.
ERROR took out a pen and swiftly wrote a line across the card:
The Smiling Clown must smile forever. A clown who does not smile is forbidden to exist.
“No… Ahhh!” Amid a miserable scream, the clown watched helplessly as the card in ERROR’s hand turned silver and the number one appeared at its center.
Merely Tier One.
But the system had acknowledged it.
Even if it was only Tier One.
Before the Smiling Clown could do anything, he vanished before their eyes.
The dance floor, the orchestra, and the entire Smile Theater transformed into a desolate ruin.
The others felt as though an entirely new world had opened before them.
That was possible?
Thank goodness ERROR was their companion.
Otherwise, they might not even know how they had died.
“ERROR, you’re incredible.”
“How did you obtain a blank card?”
“I didn’t.” ERROR opened his hand. “Blank Cards are divine artifacts of the World of Order. Do you think the system would give one to me?”
“Then how did you…”
“Oh, you should remember.” ERROR said, “There was an Order Card stating that Order War was the only way to alter an order.”
“I remember.” Su Qiong nodded. “At the time, I thought that since the system emphasized it, there had to be another method of changing orders.”
“Clever.” ERROR approvingly ruffled Su Qiong’s curls. “I noticed the same thing and kept searching for another method. As expected, I found one.”
ERROR lifted the card again. “Look carefully.”
Su Qiong obediently leaned closer and examined the card from every angle.
The others also gathered around, attempting to discover the trick.
Suddenly, they collectively voiced their understanding.
“Oh!”
“Isn’t this the card from earlier?”
When the card had caught fire, Su Qiong had seen its original text:
[The Smiling Clown does not smile. Only a clown who does not smile may be called the Smiling Clown.]
At the time, everyone had assumed ERROR intended to destroy it.
Instead, he had retrieved it from the center of the tornado and altered its wording.
“Besides Order War, players can initiate a more difficult Order Revolution,” ERROR explained. “Order Revolution can change not only a card’s True or False property, but also the text written on it. However, it has more restrictions.”
“What restrictions?”
“The new content must remain related to the original order and cannot depart from the card’s nature. The greater the change to its wording, the lower the card’s resulting tier. Furthermore, the alteration can occur only under conditions the system recognizes as a natural disaster.”
“Natural-disaster-level conditions?”
“Earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, or…” ERROR glanced around. “A tornado.”
Remembering the storm the Smiling Clown had created, everyone fell speechless.
If the clown retained awareness after death, he probably would never rest in peace.
Su Qiong lowered his eyes thoughtfully.
“In any case, we’ve passed another guardian’s trial. Six remain.”
“I don’t think we need to challenge all of them,” A suddenly said.
“That’s right. Every player has only five card slots. Even if we obtain rewards from every guardian, we can’t store all of them.”
“And there are also cards dropped during the challenges.”
“Cards guarded by lower-tier guardians are generally less useful. There’s no need to waste too much time and energy on them.”
“What do you think, Su Qiong?”
“I think…” Su Qiong glanced around and confirmed that no NPCs remained before slowly saying, “I have an idea, but I’ll need everyone’s cooperation.”
“What idea?”
Su Qiong lowered his voice and slowly explained his plan.
After listening, Yu Qimiao called for a vote.
No one objected.
“All right,” Yu Qimiao said. “We’ll go directly after the two Tier-Four Order Guardians.”
“But the amusement park map keeps changing. How do we know which ones are Tier Four?”
“That’s simple.” ERROR tapped the map. “If it keeps changing, it must be trying to hide something.”
“I have a method.” Su Qiong pressed his palms together and clapped devoutly. “Great System above, please tell me where the Tier-Four Orders are.”
“…”
Child, stop learning from Lu Shufan.
Feudal superstition was undesirable.
Everyone wanted to complain.
However, the moment Su Qiong finished speaking, the icon for Ferris Wheel of Bliss lit up on the map.
An inverted triangular marker appeared above it with the words:
Supreme True Order
Lu Shufan could not stop himself from swearing.
Praying to the system actually worked?
Had he known, he would not have wasted time praying to the Jade Emperor, Jesus, and Satan.
Following Su Qiong’s wishes, Yu Qimiao selected the Ferris Wheel of Bliss.
Unlike the previous two attractions, this place was utterly silent, without another player in sight.
The system had probably used some method to make players avoid choosing it.
Based on how long the World of Order had been open, it was entirely possible that no one had visited the Ferris Wheel of Bliss before them.
As expected, the guide NPC standing before the wheel approached Su Qiong. He wore a cap and an aviation uniform, with a smile on his face.
—Having only just left the “Smile” Theater, everyone had already developed PTSD toward smiles.
“Welcome to the Ferris Wheel of Bliss. You are today’s first guests. First, allow me to introduce the attraction.”
Su Qiong politely replied, “All right. Thank you.”
“You’re welcome.” The guide NPC nodded to his colleague and dutifully explained, “As you can see, the Ferris Wheel of Bliss is one hundred eighty meters tall and contains ninety-nine cabins. Each cabin measures three meters long, three meters wide, and two and a half meters high, yet may hold no more than two players.”
“Each cabin is nine square meters. In a first-tier city, that could sell for several hundred thousand.”
Moi sighed. “Such a large cabin can only hold two people?”
She and Qiyi were young enough to count as children, yet neither had ever visited an amusement park or ridden a Ferris wheel.
Who could have imagined that their first ride would occur under such bizarre circumstances?
“Yes,” the NPC answered. “Every cabin contains a different order. Which one you choose depends entirely on your luck.”
“We have eight people,” A said. “Even if we all separate, we can enter only eight cabins. What happens to the rest?”
“There’s no need to worry.” The NPC replied, “One complete revolution of the Ferris wheel is four hundred eighty degrees. Every thirty degrees, you will receive one opportunity to change cabins.”
“One revolution is four hundred eighty degrees?” Even Shi Yuntian, who possessed very little brainpower, knew a circle had only three hundred sixty degrees. Where did the extra one hundred twenty come from?
“Yes. Four hundred eighty degrees is merely the most basic revolution. If an accident occurs during operation, it may exceed that amount until every player has enjoyed themselves to the fullest.”
“Enjoyed themselves to the fullest” sounded like a pleasant blessing, yet inexplicably made everyone’s scalp tingle.
“That concludes my hints. Please select your cabins.” The NPC stepped aside and gestured toward the excessively enormous Ferris wheel.
“Let’s pair up first. Acting in pairs is safer.”
“Moi and Qiyi, you two must ride separately. If you choose a highly dangerous cabin, remaining together would put you at a disadvantage.”
Moi and Qiyi possessed relatively weak combat power, but they shared a special symbiotic ability. If one died while the other retained even a single breath, they could share life.
“All right.” The sisters nodded simultaneously and released each other’s hands.
Considering their need for protection, Moi was paired with Shi Yuntian, while Qiyi joined A.
ERROR said nothing during the grouping process, but his meaning was obvious.
He and Su Qiong were bound as lovers.
Naturally, they could not separate.
That left Lu Shufan and Yu Qimiao together.
“If anything happens, report it immediately in the guild channel.”
“All right.”
After dividing into groups, the four pairs entered the Ferris wheel one after another.
The cabins looked identical from the outside, aside from their inconspicuous numbers.
“From one to ninety-nine, which number do you like most?” ERROR asked.
“I don’t particularly like any number. What about you?”
“Neither do I.” ERROR paused before adding, “But if I had to choose, I’d probably pick eighty or zero-eight.”
“Then let’s choose eighty.”
“Are you certain?” ERROR reminded him. “The system will definitely target my choice.”
“It doesn’t matter.” Su Qiong answered indifferently. “The worst that can happen is death, and I’m not afraid of dying.”
Besides, there was still something he had not understood.
—Now that he possessed a body, was he still code?
If he was, could methods used to kill humans kill him?
If not, what kind of life-form had he originally been, and why did he possess no memories of it?
Because of those thoughts, Su Qiong did not fear death.
He was even slightly eager to test it and wanted to charge directly toward danger.
“You make it sound simple.” ERROR rested a hand on his shoulder. “I went through so much trouble to bring you back to life. How could I allow you to die casually?”
“Does that mean you created me, so you’ll protect me?”
“…If you insist on interpreting it that way.”
“Oh.” Su Qiong stared at him for a moment before sighing heavily. “But your level is too low right now. Being protected by you feels a little embarrassing.”
ERROR: “…”
Who was this low-level NPC looking down on?!
In the end, they entered Cabin 80.
Since the cabins began rotating from number one, Su Qiong had assumed they would have to wait a long time. Instead, he discovered that the numbering was not sequential.
Cabin 80 quickly arrived before them.
Su Qiong climbed inside.
The interior truly resembled a tiny apartment, complete with tables, chairs, a bed, and cabinets.
If they had not been inside a game, the scene would have resembled a young person who had moved alone to a first-tier city and squeezed into a tiny rented room to pursue their dreams.
“I touched everything, but I didn’t trigger any hints. I wonder what the others are experiencing.”
“Look.” ERROR opened the guild channel and showed Su Qiong the other members’ messages.
Their pair had been the last to enter a cabin.
The others had gone in earlier and had already begun reporting their situations.
[Moi: Brother Yuntian and I entered Cabin 13. It’s a painted room. The walls and ceiling are covered in hand-drawn patterns, and there are lots of paper and drawing tools.]
[Qiyi: Sister must be happy. You love drawing most!]
[Yu Qimiao: What about you, Qiyi?]
A rarely spoke in the guild channel, so they could rely only on Qiyi to report.
[Qiyi: Our room is completely empty. It’s a blank room. A seems very used to this place. The moment we entered, he sat in a corner and hasn’t spoken.]
[Shi Yuntian: Blank-room punishment. A must have been punished so often he’s numb.]
[Lu Shufan: Family, listen to me~ I love this room! It has every kind of game console, and they’re real games. I could live here forever!]
After reading their messages, Su Qiong sent a description of his own room.
He suddenly understood why this attraction was called the Ferris Wheel of Bliss.
The wheel had prepared cabins containing environments each player liked or felt comfortable in.
It temporarily removed them from the game’s danger and returned them to the comfort of reality, numbing their minds.
It was probably no different from slowly boiling a frog in warm water.
Once the frog became lost in warmth and comfort, death would not be far away.
Using ERROR’s account, Su Qiong typed a few words.
[ERROR: Have any of you triggered an Order Card?]
The brief question seemed to possess magical power, instantly awakening the companions immersed in comfort.
Their ease had not originated only from the environment.
It also came from the fact that no cards had been triggered after they entered the Ferris wheel.
That was strange!
The Ferris Wheel of Bliss was governed by the Supreme True Order Guardian.
Its challenge should have been more difficult than the previous two, with orders that were harder to decipher.
Yet after entering their cabins, they had done nothing except enjoy the surroundings.
They had not triggered a single card.
There had not even been a reminder that True Orders must be obeyed.
[Yu Qimiao: We were almost led astray by the system. This is still the world of IF. Everyone, stay alert.]
Shi Yuntian slapped his face several times and readjusted his state, preparing for sudden danger.
The system probably realized that they had awakened and reluctantly provided the rules.
[System: Welcome aboard the Ferris Wheel of Bliss. Leave your cabin after the Ferris wheel completes one revolution to finish the attraction.]
[Hint: Every cabin contains a different game. Winning the game allows the Ferris wheel to continue operating. If any player loses, the Ferris wheel’s rotation increases by thirty degrees.]
[Hint: Every time the Ferris wheel rotates thirty degrees, visitors will change cabins. Cabin changes follow no pattern and may return players to the starting cabin. Please do not panic.]
“So it’s also known as the Ferris Wheel That Never Finishes?”
“Losing a game adds thirty degrees, and every thirty degrees we change cabins. Even if a player is about to complete a revolution, the system can send them back to the starting cabin at the last moment and force them to begin again.”
“I finally understand. The simpler a game looks, the harder it is.”
“Then stop wasting time. What’s the game?”
Su Qiong felt the entire cabin sway as the Ferris wheel began operating.
At the same time, the system announced the rules for each cabin’s game and displayed Order Cards.
[Rotating a cabin by thirty degrees requires twenty minutes.]
[The Ferris wheel has no windows. Unless changing cabins, players may not leave.]
As for Su Qiong and ERROR’s first game, it did not appear difficult.
The Rental Room Game
Rules: Using the existing items, arrange the rental room according to the hand-drawn reference image. Time limit: twenty minutes.
“I understand the rules, but where’s the picture?” Su Qiong searched every corner of the room but found no so-called hand-drawn reference.
Confused, he looked at ERROR’s bracelet again.
His eyelid twitched twice.
Moi was the first to post her task, every word filled with confusion.
[Moi: The system requires us to draw a room based on a game model. But I can’t find the game model anywhere.]
[Qiyi: Our task is also strange. We have to create a game inside the blank room based on a photo of a rental apartment. But we can’t find the photo.]
[Lu Shufan: I’m definitely good at playing games… but the modeling game the system wants me to play doesn’t exist.]
Su Qiong had no time to explain in detail and hurriedly typed two words:
Closed loop!
“What closed loop?” Shi Yuntian was completely confused.
A read the three tasks and immediately understood. He quickly sent his analysis to the others.
[Blank ID: The first round is probably a tutorial and shouldn’t be too difficult. The system didn’t provide the missing conditions because those conditions haven’t been created yet.]
[Yu Qimiao: If I’m correct, Moi needs to use our modeling game as a reference for her drawing. Su Qiong must use Moi’s drawing to arrange the room. The completed room then becomes the source material for A and Qiyi to create the game. Since our tasks form a closed loop, none of them can begin.]
[ERROR: There are two solutions. Someone completes their task first and breaks the loop.]
Allowing Su Qiong to operate his bracelet, ERROR casually reminded him, “We only have twenty minutes. There isn’t enough time.”
Ignoring the other groups, arranging their room alone would require at least ten minutes.
[ERROR: The only remaining option is to rely on teamwork and mutual understanding.]
Because of the system’s restrictions, they could not see each other’s situations.
Any messages in the guild channel containing overly detailed descriptions would be censored.
With no alternative, the four groups could only complete their own tasks independently.
Su Qiong and ERROR first pushed every piece of furniture into the center of the room, ensuring that each could be moved in any direction.
Once Moi’s drawing arrived, they would be able to arrange everything within three minutes.
With five minutes remaining, Moi sent the picture.
Su Qiong glanced at it and immediately directed ERROR to begin moving.
They rushed to complete the arrangement and sent a photograph to A.
“Only two minutes remain. I hope A can finish.” Su Qiong prayed without much hope.
The two minutes passed in an instant.
The system announcement sounded.
[System: Game time has ended. The scoring results will now be announced.]
[System: A restoration score of eighty percent is required to pass. The modeling group’s work is the original source material and is temporarily rated at one hundred percent. Drawing group restoration score: ninety-three percent.]
“Sister is amazing!” Qiyi clapped excitedly.
The system continued:
[Arrangement group restoration score: ninety percent.]
“I worked so hard. I worked so hard,” Su Qiong muttered repeatedly.
He had barely said it twice when the system continued.
[System: The drawing group’s restoration score must now be compared with the modeling group’s original material. Ninety-three percent multiplied by ninety percent, rounded to one decimal place, results in eighty-three point seven percent.]
“What?!”
“It still has to be compared with the original source? Are you sick?”
It was like conducting a parentage test, then comparing the result with the grandparents, then the great-grandparents.
Calculated that way, reaching eighty percent would be a miracle.
[System: Design group restoration score: ninety-six percent.]
“Expert A, amazing!”
Previous statement withdrawn.
Giving the final stage to A had been unbelievably reliable.
His restoration score was frighteningly high. Even after comparison with the original source, it reached eighty point four percent, narrowly but steadily passing.
The groups celebrated through the channel, believing they had cleared the game successfully.
Then—
[System: Final comparison against the modeling group: seventy-nine percent.]
“…”
The entire world fell silent for half a minute.
Shi Yuntian felt as though he could no longer hold his forty-meter blade.
It was bad enough to compare the child with the great-grandfather. Afterward, the system still demanded to know why the newborn did not resemble an old man with one foot in the grave.
What a bastard!
The system seemed to sense their resentment and kindly reminded them:
[System: The first round was a tutorial and will not trigger punishment. Players, please proceed to your new cabins.]
Once the prompt ended, a huge selection panel appeared before Su Qiong, displaying ninety-nine numbers.
The four cabins they had already used had turned gray.
All the remaining cabins were available.
“The system is actually behaving like a human.” Su Qiong sighed. “It never used to give us any choice.”
“Don’t forget. This is the slow-boiled-frog Ferris wheel.”
“That’s right!” Su Qiong reflected deeply.
How could he forget what a bastard the system was merely because of a few minor benefits?
Remembering ERROR’s earlier preference, Su Qiong selected Cabin 08.
The instant he pressed it, his body became weightless and plummeted rapidly.
When he steadied himself again, the scene before him had changed completely.
Su Qiong lay at the bottom of the cabin and saw three irregular puzzle pieces attached to the ceiling.
Their patterns were blurred and difficult to distinguish.
[New Game: Complete the puzzle according to your companion’s hints, then tell the answer to the next companion whose cabin number is lower than yours.]
[Game time: Twenty minutes. Failure to answer correctly will result in individual punishment.]
[The puzzle’s content may not be revealed during communication.]
“How am I supposed to reveal it?” Su Qiong examined the pieces from every direction but could not discover anything meaningful.
He looked at ERROR’s bracelet and found that everyone had received the same task this round.
The guild channel was filled with wails and complaints that the problem was impossible.
ERROR did not join them.
He stared at the puzzle pieces and carefully observed them for a long time before reaching a conclusion.
“The puzzle pieces are upside down. We can’t see the images on their fronts. However, the patterns on the back must correspond to the front, similar to embroidery.”
“I see.” Su Qiong craned his neck and stared upward. “So we can infer the front designs from the patterns on the back?”
“But we have no tools. It will be difficult using only our eyes.”
Su Qiong ignored the rest.
He stared intently at the pieces and traced lines across his palm with one finger, seemingly determined to stare flowers out of them.
Unable to do anything about him, ERROR said, “I’ll help you.”
“How?”
“You’re too far away to see clearly.” ERROR bent down and gestured. “Stand on my shoulders.”
“…Huh?” Although Su Qiong did not understand much about human etiquette, even he knew stepping on another person’s shoulders was offensive.
Especially when ERROR was so handsome.
Who could bear to tread on him?
“Twenty minutes,” ERROR reminded him.
“All right. Sorry!” Remembering the time limit, Su Qiong hurried over and stepped onto ERROR’s shoulders, instantly gaining much more height.
Perhaps because of the new angle, Su Qiong saw that each puzzle piece concealed writing.
The outlines were blurred and viewed from the reverse side, making them difficult to recognize at first.
Su Qiong memorized the words, wrote them separately across his palm, and jumped down from ERROR’s shoulders.
“I saw them clearly, but they’re very strange.”
“What’s strange?” ERROR waited until Su Qiong stood steadily before rising. “What did you see?”
“A southern lake, a hidden water monster, and the season when maple leaves turn red,” Su Qiong explained. “The information is fragmented. Those are the only parts I could read clearly.”
Strangely, each time Su Qiong deciphered one puzzle piece, a corresponding scene appeared before him.
It was as though a water monster truly existed somewhere, baring its claws and swallowing ten children in a single bite.
His instincts told him it was probably a location within the game.
“It seems we need the previous group’s answer before we can connect the information. But the channel forbids us from sharing anything about the puzzle, so we can’t communicate.”
“I know another way to pass information~ We can tell Moi the method, and she can communicate telepathically with Qiyi.”
“I see.” ERROR lowered his head and sent the method to the sisters. He then asked casually, “Why don’t we have telepathy? Is our bond not strong enough?”
“No.” Su Qiong told him seriously, “Qiyi and Moi have ninety-nine point ninety-nine percent intimacy. We only have zero point zero two percent.”
