Chapter 7 - 7

Lin Yu opened his eyes and found himself half-lying, half-sitting in a sealed room.

"What's going on?"

Lin Yu felt somewhat confused.

He tried to get up from the chair but was shocked to discover that his limbs and waist were restrained.

Wasn't he supposed to be entering a Death Game dungeon soon? How did he suddenly end up in this damned place?

The floor and walls were covered with soft materials, and the lighting from the ceiling was very dim.

Turning his head to one side, he saw a small cart with various syringes and medications.

It looked like an isolation room, specifically a hospital isolation room.

Lin Yu felt a slight headache and noticed some gaps in his memory.

"Could this be my latest dungeon? It seems like a mental hospital theme..."

He vigorously rubbed his head, trying to recall the dungeon's name and clearance conditions, but couldn't remember no matter how hard he tried.

The only thing he could recall was that there were three players in this dungeon.

In other words, he had two teammates.

"It seems this dungeon's mechanism makes people forget the dungeon's name."

Lin Yu accepted this setting while feeling somewhat emotional.

If he had known about this dungeon mechanism, he would have activated Closed Mind before entering the game.

It actually made sense - a mental hospital themed dungeon would target people's minds, memories, and cognition.

"Should I activate Closed Mind now for protection..."

Just as Lin Yu was hesitating, the isolation room door opened.

A tall, sturdy doctor with slightly purple skin, wearing a white coat, walked in.

This doctor was over two meters tall, with bandages wrapped around his limbs and a freshly healed scar on his neck, looking quite resilient despite his injuries.

It also made Lin Yu unable to resist commenting internally...

It seemed the hospital violence situation here was quite severe.

Seeing that the awakened Lin Yu was looking at him, the doctor also seemed surprised.

He spoke to Lin Yu with unclear, muffled sounds.

"...awake?...impressive!"

Lin Yu could only vaguely hear a few syllables from each sentence.

To understand the full meaning, Lin Yu could only guess by combining the other party's expression and tone.

But since he appeared to be a communicable NPC, that made things much easier. New ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄhapters are published on novel⁂fire.net

Lin Yu greeted him.

"Hey, doctor, hello there."

"Why am I locked up here?"

As Lin Yu asked, the doctor didn't seem to fully understand either.

He showed a thoughtful expression for a moment before speaking.

"...orders...don't know."

Extracting the key words from the speech, Lin Yu pondered.

This guy seemed to indicate that he didn't know the reason Lin Yu was confined here either.

His rank in this hospital probably wasn't very high?

Lin Yu reached this conclusion, then spoke again.

"Then can you release me?"

The doctor shook his head: "...recovery...no!"

He probably babbled a bunch of explanations, but Lin Yu didn't hear that part, only catching the "no."

The doctor then stopped talking and walked directly to the small cart beside Lin Yu.

He picked up an empty syringe and several small bottles, then began preparing medication.

Seeing the doctor's actions, Lin Yu immediately felt uneasy.

"Oh no, this medicine is probably meant for me."

Although he didn't know the medicine's effects yet, Lin Yu didn't want any NPC in the Death Game to randomly inject him with some unknown drug.

That sounded like it had a high mortality rate!

He had to escape before this strange doctor injected him with the needle!

Thinking this, Lin Yu quickly devised a strategy.

He just needed Hannah to help him secretly loosen the restraints.

But the moment Lin Yu had this thought, he suddenly discovered that neither Hannah nor Stiller were in his item space.

"Huh?"

Lin Yu felt somewhat startled by this but quickly accepted reality.

Better think of another method.

Soon, Lin Yu thought of another approach.

Since his vision wasn't blocked and he could see the room's corners, and the room's lighting wasn't particularly bright with shadows existing in the corners...

Therefore...

"I can use Corner of the Gloomy!"

Lin Yu felt somewhat relieved.

"Fortunately, there's no hood over my head, otherwise I'd have to slowly pry open the restraints with a hammer to escape..."

As Lin Yu took out Corner of the Gloomy, he also felt strange about the thought that had just popped into his mind.

"Strange, why would I think that?"

But there was no time to think too much...

Because the doctor in front of him seemed to be almost done preparing the medication.

Without any hesitation, Lin Yu directly activated Corner of the Gloomy and aimed it at the corner of the room near the door.

After the effect activated, he observed that in the room's corner, the original shadow became more concentrated and its range expanded somewhat.

When Lin Yu had the thought of "entering it," he was immediately pulled by an invisible force, his entire body ignoring the restraints and squeezed into it in a way that defied physical common sense!

"Honestly, this thing works even better than I imagined."

Lin Yu crouched in the shadow, unable to help but marvel.

With this thing in hand...

As long as his eyes weren't covered or he wasn't in overly open areas, any restraints were ineffective against him.

Not only that, after staying in the shadow, Lin Yu also felt his five senses becoming extremely sharp, as if every slight movement in the room couldn't escape his eyes and ears.

He could even hear some movements from the corridor.

Lin Yu clearly saw that after he disappeared, the tall light-purple-skinned doctor turned around and saw the empty chair with only a few restraints left, showing an astonished expression.

"...huh?"

He anxiously searched around the room.

But this guy didn't seem to have much capability, completely unable to find Lin Yu or guess where Lin Yu was hiding.

So after a moment...

Lin Yu saw this guy anxiously looking around, then frantically opening the door and rushing out. Lin Yu also deactivated Corner of the Gloomy and slowly walked out into the corridor.

Then, right after Lin Yu went out, he heard a scream.

"Wow! There's another one!"

Lin Yu turned to look and saw a beautiful woman wearing gold-rimmed glasses and a shirt, who had encountered the doctor running out of his room, so frightened that she ran away with her legs carrying her.

The doctor, seeing the fleeing woman, was also stunned for a moment, immediately realizing something.

He shouted loudly, not bothering to continue searching for Lin Yu, and lunged toward the fleeing woman.

"...don't run!"

Lin Yu watched this scene, stroking his chin.

Compared to an NPC, this newly appeared woman seemed more like a player.

"Whatever, since she's a player, I'll help her out."

Squatting in the corner of the hallway after finishing reading the [Ancient Notebook], Lin Yu now had some understanding of the current situation.

So this dungeon actually had a mechanism similar to "reincarnation cycles."

The reason Lin Yu suddenly remembered to check the [Ancient Notebook]...

was because just moments ago when he intended to help that unknown player, he unexpectedly discovered that his limited ranged attack method [One-Shot Pistol] actually had no bullets left?

Combined with his situation of forgetting the dungeon's name at the start, Lin Yu instinctively felt he might be under some kind of mental attack, so he immediately wanted to activate [Closed Mind].

Then, he discovered that the remaining time for [Closed Mind] was also wrong—it had already been used for 27 minutes!

Realizing something was wrong, Lin Yu immediately took out the [Ancient Notebook] and actually found answers within it.

He wasn't just entering the dungeon for the first time.

"And it seems I didn't forget this dungeon's clearance method and name before... The situation isn't exactly the same with each cycle."

"This record probably wasn't written in one go—at least the summary about the dungeon situation and that 'hint' obtained from the patient's mouth shouldn't have been found in a single exploration."

"And most importantly..."

Lin Yu flipped to the end of the [Ancient Notebook], where there was some hastily written handwriting.

"Fifth floor explored—contents might directly trigger 'reincarnation cycle.' Can leave exploration for last, entry method stored in phone."

"Other ways to trigger reincarnation cycles might include attempting to directly leave the asylum."

"Robin's understanding of this dungeon might be greater than we imagined, and she also has means to preserve memories or transmit information, and has explored that this dungeon's progress is best advanced by finding the Director on the first floor and obtaining the Director's Permission—the 'hint' previously obtained from NPCs can also indirectly confirm Robin's extraordinary understanding of this dungeon."

"Max might have judged her to be at least trustworthy in previous cycles, but now it seems she might also be hiding deep secrets."

"This cycle might produce changes, please be careful."

Lin Yu looked at these words and let out a breath.

"In other words, although my current 'feeling' is like I just entered the dungeon, I'm actually almost at this dungeon's most critical moment..."

He murmured to himself.

This really wasn't good...

There was a serious disconnect between cognition and situation, and trying to bridge that gap with just the information in the [Ancient Notebook] was an enormous challenge.

Lin Yu couldn't help but complain internally as he looked up toward the corridor corner ahead.

The panting woman in a shirt with gold-rimmed glasses had already returned—because Lin Yu had temporarily discovered the "abnormality," he hadn't had time to lend her a hand.

But she seemed to have shaken off that monster doctor relying on her own running speed.

Looking at the woman before him, Lin Yu had already learned her name and background in advance from the notebook.

Since she wasn't Robin, she could only be the other player from the Night Watchmen—Max.

Watching her approaching figure, Lin Yu exhaled.

Indeed, conventional problem-solving methods were no longer sufficient to conquer this dungeon with its "reincarnation cycle" mechanism...

But...

what if he took an unconventional approach?

Although Robin might preserve information through some means and know about the "reincarnation cycle" mechanism in this dungeon...

She might have even known about the existence of the "reincarnation cycle" mechanism beforehand.

But...

this Max definitely didn't know!

Therefore, there was an information gap between him and Max.

And this kind of [dungeon] with an "information gap"...

happened to be the Fraudster's home turf.

At this moment, Lin Yu had realized the main purpose of his past self repeatedly organizing that information in the [Ancient Notebook].

Normal problem-solving methods were indeed no longer viable...

But he was a Fraudster.

He could... cheat.

Moreover, the cheating method he was going to use this time was even one Lin Yu was relatively familiar with and had succeeded with once before.

Using the information advantage brought by "reincarnation cycles" to create a high-position identity for himself—this fantastical method had once helped him survive the nearly hopeless situation of his initial first round.

So this time, in this tricky dungeon that, while not exactly "hopeless," was filled with the suffocating feeling of being slowly boiled like a frog in warm water, Lin Yu still intended to use that method to break through the situation. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ noᴠelfire.net

Lin Yu looked at the approaching Max, his expression unreadable and mysterious.

He stepped forward to meet her, then spoke softly.

"Hello, dear Miss Max, friend from the Night Watchmen's Star City branch."

Max, who was about to greet Lin Yu, was startled by his sudden address.

"You... you know me?"

"Are you also from the Night Watchmen?"

Max said suspiciously and warily. Lin Yu showed a smile on his face.

"No, I don't know you personally, but I learned your identity information through certain 'means'."

"Not just your code name and organization—I also know you're a First-Tier Thief, and the advancement item you chose was the [Wonder Pouch]."

Lin Yu spoke calmly. The expression on Max's face had already become extremely guarded.

"You, you, you... just who are you?"

Although wearing May May's face, Lin Yu was quite confident that while his identity's reputation might be famous, it definitely wasn't to the extent that everyone would recognize his face.

Apart from a few members of Order and a few from the Free Alliance who might have seen and remembered him, the rest... like Night Watchmen members such as Max and even Robin, probably couldn't match the face with the name at all.

So...

Lin Yu looked at Max and spoke seriously.

"Let me introduce myself... you can call me Seer."

"Seer is also my profession—a Unique Class."

"You can understand it as a Monk with abilities more specialized in 'revelation' aspects."

"My ability is that every so often, I can perform a 'prophecy' to get the answers I want."

"After entering the dungeon, I activated my ability and saw information about you."

As Lin Yu spoke, Max was momentarily stunned.

"This... this can't be possible, right?"

"How could there be such a Unique Class? It's too powerful!"

Although Max was questioning, Lin Yu clearly sensed...

From this young woman came a very strong sense of Belief!

Lin Yu was certain that even though the first half of the information about "Max" in the [Ancient Notebook] had been contradicted by his later self, it still held significant reference value.

This person was indeed quite easy to fool.

But even so, Lin Yu didn't choose a more powerful identity and class, such as something like "divine agent"...

Just like why he hadn't "changed his face."

Because Lin Yu had considered one thing.

The "reincarnation cycles" mechanism in this [dungeon] affected everyone.

In other words, at least until the [dungeon] ended, it was very likely that everyone would regain all their memories from the reincarnation cycles.

Lin Yu didn't want to expose himself to Max and Robin in the identity of 『May May』, revealing that he possessed methods beyond what his known identity should have.

And the 『Seer』 class was an excellent choice.

First, in this [dungeon] that severely lacked "information" and where it was known that "one wrong step" could easily trigger the "reincarnation cycles" mechanism causing memory loss and starting over, having a "foresight" type ability should make things much easier.

At the same time, precisely because this dungeon's mechanism was "reincarnation cycles," even if Lin Yu truly used his 『Seer』 ability to obtain a lot of information, later when Robin and Max regained their memories, he could explain it away by saying he had investigated during his solo actions in previous cycles.

After all, Lin Yu genuinely had methods to preserve "information," which wasn't particularly strange or noteworthy.

And his reason for calling himself a 『Seer』 and concealing his identity could also be seen as a necessary move to clear the dungeon and enhance his persuasiveness.

Of course, even though he had now obtained 『belief』 from Max, Lin Yu's lie still hadn't fully materialized into truth.

The reason was simple... he hadn't been specific enough.

And Max's 『belief』 wasn't sufficient to complete this materialization into truth.

So, following Max's questioning words, Lin Yu continued his explanation.

"『Unique Class』 is definitely special, but it's not as powerful as you imagine either... The 'prophetic information' I receive usually isn't what you think - it's not realistic dynamic images directly projected, but rather some concise text prompts... This means that in many cases, I don't know the details of what I've prophesied."

"Like this time, it just happened to prophesy your identity, which is fine... The prophetic ability told me that the first player I'd encounter in the upcoming dungeon would be Max from the 『Night Watchmen』, with the class 『Thief』 - but if it had prophesied that I would encounter you being chased by monsters in the corridor, that would create a lot of ambiguity."

"What kind of monster is chasing you? How fast are you running? Which section of the corridor?"

"These are unknown to me, so I can't use this information to make many operations, nor can I easily gain benefits from it."

Lin Yu paused, feeling that 『belief』 was still somewhat lacking.

So he continued.

"So you can also notice that although I can perform 'prophecies,' what exactly I prophesy isn't controllable... According to the patterns I've summarized, it's basically things that will happen within the next five minutes or three hours that are closely related to me."

"The content of these prophecies themselves can also be changed, in other words... these prophecies themselves even have a certain degree of uncertainty."

"And my prophecy's cooldown limitation isn't short either, requiring two hours to activate again." Follow current novels on novel★fire.net

Lin Yu kept talking, both perfecting his 『Seer』 ability and supplementing its limitations.

As he added more restrictions and made the ability activation conditions more specific, he drew closer to completely transforming 『belief』 into truth.

Finally...

After mentioning the two-hour "cooldown time," Lin Yu felt his lie had completely materialized into truth!

Max believed he possessed the Unique Class 『Seer』, and at this moment, Lin Yu truly possessed this class's ability!

So, Lin Yu exhaled and immediately activated his newly acquired ability.

And he immediately received new text prompts - hints about what would happen in the future, appearing before Lin Yu's eyes.

"You immediately go up to the fourth floor, will encounter Robin, and can witness some secrets about Robin."

Looking at these text prompts, Lin Yu was momentarily stunned.

It really was vague and uncertain, full of ambiguity.

But...

Even though this prophecy was vague, only mentioning that he would witness "secrets" about Robin without specifying what aspects,

This information was still sufficiently useful!

Lin Yu immediately looked at Max.

"Alright, let's set off now..."

"I suggest we go up and take a look!"

As Lin Yu spoke, Max looked somewhat curious: "Why suddenly go up? Is it your prophecy ability?"

"Yes, my prophecy ability hints that we can find a powerful teammate up there."

Lin Yu said calmly.

"But your prophecy ability needs two hours to cooldown, right? We haven't been in this dungeon that long!"

Hearing Max's words, Lin Yu smiled.

First, they might have actually been in this dungeon for more than two hours already.

Secondly...

"This is the prophecy I just activated... because the prophecy about encountering you, a 『Night Watchmen』 member, as the first player was something I received two hours ago before entering the dungeon."

"At the same time, I also learned that this dungeon contains some secrets..."

Lin Yu said, looking at the somewhat confused Max, and spoke calmly.

"Miss Max, may I ask if you still remember this dungeon's name and clearance conditions?"

"Of course I remember," Max said urgently, then she paused, getting stuck, "Eh... wait, why?"

She anxiously scratched her head: "Wait, how could I forget something like this?!"

"This is this dungeon's mechanism. After all, this place looks very much like a mental hospital, so having some cognitive interference methods is perfectly normal," Lin Yu said very calmly. "So in this kind of dungeon, prioritizing reuniting with teammates is also a normal choice..."

"Moreover, my current prophecy has clearly told me that we can find a powerful teammate who shares the same stance as us."

Hearing this, Max was finally persuaded.

"Alright... then I'll believe you!"

"Let's go upstairs!"

Max said heroically, striding toward the direction of the stairwell.

But it was precisely this action that made Lin Yu instantly feel something wasn't quite right...

How did Max know where the stairs to the fourth floor were?

From a theoretical perspective, Max indeed might know where the staircase to the fourth floor was located. After all, she had circled around this floor extensively, so finding a suspected entrance was quite reasonable.

But...

Max's current pace was just too certain.

Although the Ancient Notebook also recorded some information about Max, and Lin Yu knew this person had a compass that could locate things...

He hadn't actually seen Max take out that compass, had he?

So combining this with the dungeon's mechanics, Lin Yu had reason to suspect...

"Could this person also have retained memories?"

But that shouldn't be the case. If that were true, Max's behavior should have shown more abnormalities.

Lin Yu didn't think he could encounter such a genius actor in this dungeon with superb acting skills capable of fooling even himself.

If Max was truly acting, she wouldn't have just deceived him once—according to the Ancient Notebook's records, in previous cycles, he had always thought Max was just a bit scatterbrained and careless, without any subjective malice.

Even when he had started developing some suspicions in the last cycle, he still hadn't changed his assessment of Max.

Moreover, the Max he witnessed with his own eyes during this activity did indeed seem somewhat harmless.

Thinking this far, Lin Yu decided...

To simply ask Max directly.

Following the determined Max straight to the stairwell door, looking at the "Unsafe Passage" before the door in the empty and silent corridor, Lin Yu naturally exclaimed.

"Eh? Is this the passage to the fourth floor?"

"Max, how did you know to come here? Do you also have precognitive abilities?"

Hearing Lin Yu's question, Max standing at the stairwell entrance froze.

She scratched her head, seeming to experience some mental short-circuiting due to Lin Yu's question.

"Eh? Ah? Right... why did I think about going upstairs and come straight here?"

Max looked at this large door, falling into deep thought: "Could it be some kind of intuition?"

"Or perhaps this is actually some kind of trap luring us here."

Watching Max's reaction, Lin Yu developed a hypothesis.

"Could it be that this person hasn't retained memories, but like me, has some residual 'feeling' that led her to this passage?"

After all, Lin Yu had relied on that abnormal "sense of déjà vu" in his heart to think of using Closed Mind, thus confirming his memory loss phenomenon.

Calculating it this way, it wasn't surprising that Max had similar symptoms.

So...

"It really might be sixth sense."

Lin Yu played up his current persona as the 'Seer', speaking mysteriously.

"Because I can also feel that this 'Unsafe Passage' is the correct path."

As he spoke, Lin Yu opened the door on his own.

According to the details recorded in the Ancient Notebook, there was a monster behind this door.

Just as Lin Yu prepared to use the Fear Torch to preemptively clear out the monster behind the door...

Another deviation from the notebook's recorded contents occurred.

"Thump! Thump! Thump!"

A series of hurried footsteps came from upstairs.

Then, Lin Yu saw a young woman wearing simple clothing hurriedly descending the stairs.

Seeing Lin Yu and Max standing at the doorway, she immediately stopped abruptly, pulled out a paintbrush and swiftly drew a geometric shape to crush the monster behind the door, then turned to look at Max and Lin Yu with a very stiff posture.

This kind of posture was very familiar to Lin Yu—like when a drama club doesn't have enough actors and pulls in classmates with no foundation to play extras.

They remember the lines they're supposed to say and know when to say them, so they focus completely on waiting for the previous actor to finish their lines so they can immediately pour out all their lines at once.

This was Robin's current state.

Sure enough...

As Max exclaimed in surprise: "Holy crap, you're Night Watchmen's Teacher Robin, right? I'm Night Watchmen's Max!"

"Amazing, I actually encountered you in this dungeon!" Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn novel•fire.net

"I'm from the Star City branch, my class is Thief."

"The person next to me is also a player, he has the Unique Class Seer, um, seems to have no organization!"

Sure enough, upon hearing Max's self-introduction, Robin immediately began rapidly reciting her lines as if triggered by a reflex.

"Oh oh, Max right, good good, since we're from the same organization that makes things easier. I've already done some investigation—to clear this dungeon we need to go to the first floor. Since you're from Night Watchmen, and the player next to you is also from..."

At this point, Robin suddenly stalled.

She paused for a moment, then pulled out from her chest what looked like a small vocabulary flashcard notebook, glancing back and forth three times.

"Unique Class Seer? No organization?"

Max nodded, speaking happily: "Yes, Teacher Robin, his Unique Class information position is directly invincible! Plus me... both of us gather information, we can directly support you, we can bulldoze through this dungeon!"

"What do you think, bro?"

Lin Yu nodded, naturally not contradicting Max.

Simultaneously, looking at the stunned, brain-crashed, somewhat reality-questioning Robin, he understood in his heart.

"Sure enough, as a Third Tier Painter and renowned expert, she also has methods to retain information when encountering this reincarnation cycle mechanism, and she actually recorded mine and Max's identities."

Back when Lin Yu first chose to pretend to be the Seer, he had realized that because of Robin's existence, meeting her might cause this lie to fail.

He might even be directly exposed by Robin.

But it didn't matter...

Because according to intelligence, in previous cycles, Robin definitely hadn't been honest about having methods to retain information, only revealing some clues.

So...

"Um... Seer."

Robin quickly regained her composure, speaking to Lin Yu.

Lin Yu knew this was her struggling between suspecting that her past self's recorded information was wrong and suspecting that he was lying, ultimately choosing the latter.

After all, Robin would soon realize that the Seer class sounded exactly like the kind of profession someone who could retain information across cycles would pretend to have.

And when Robin addressed him by the name "Seer," Lin Yu clearly understood what Robin intended to do.

Sure enough, Robin gently waved her hand toward Lin Yu while apologetically looking at Max.

"Sorry, Max... I might need to have a private chat with this Seer."

"Eh? Ah?"

Although Max was somewhat surprised, soon, out of trust in the name 'Robin,' she stopped worrying about it.

"Okay Teacher Robin, you two chat slowly! I'll go wander around outside for a bit!"

As Max closed the door to the "Unsafe Passage," only Lin Yu and Robin remained in the dimly lit stairwell filled with the scent of blood.

This wasn't Lin Yu's first time being alone with Robin.

During the [Mad Banquet Beyond Heaven], Lin Yu had previously been alone with Robin while using the 'Fluoxetine' identity.

Although he had changed identities this time, the feeling was still very familiar.

Sure enough, with just the two of them alone, Robin looked Lin Yu up and down, then spoke in a low, probing voice.

"You... you probably aren't really a 『Unique Class』, are you?"

Lin Yu also looked at Robin and smiled.

"Why do you say that?"

Robin hesitated for a moment, then said, "Because, um, I seem to... know you."

"That thing about you... ah, well, aren't you 『Order』's 『May May』... you've been quite famous recently, very active in Jiangcheng too..."

Robin stammered through her words—without prepared lines, this young girl couldn't speak smoothly.

Lin Yu looked at Robin, staring directly at her for three seconds: "Why don't we be more open and honest."

Just as Robin was about to speak, Lin Yu suddenly interrupted her.

"Wait a moment!"

This sudden interruption made Robin, a Third Tier expert, not dare to speak at all. She stood on the stairs with a bewildered expression, genuinely waiting dryly for several seconds.

Only when Lin Yu nodded again, made a "please" gesture, and said "Alright now" did Robin obediently begin speaking.

"Oh, oh... anyway... I don't know exactly what your situation is, the following are all my speculations..."

"The dungeon we're in has a mechanism similar to 'reincarnation cycles'... We appear to have just joined this dungeon not long ago," Robin paused and pointed to her head before continuing, "But actually, we should be having our memories wiped by this dungeon at regular intervals or every time we enter a certain stage, making us mistakenly think it's our first time entering the dungeon."

"So my meeting with you all isn't the first time... And although memories are unreliable in this dungeon and can be lost, I have some other small methods that allow me to record information each cycle and pass it to the next cycle's me..."

"Therefore, I know your identity—you introduced yourself to me before, you're 『Order』's 『May May』, with the 『Doctor』 class."

Hearing Robin say this, Lin Yu nodded.

"I see... so you suspect I'm lying."

"But could it be that your records are wrong," Lin Yu looked at the flashcard-like prop in Robin's hand, "Maybe your information is unreliable?"

Robin wavered at the question, but ultimately shook her head.

"I don't think so... encountering a 『Unique Class』 is already a small probability event, and your 'Seer' class seems too perfectly tailored for this dungeon with reincarnation mechanics."

As Robin spoke, she gradually gained a bit of confidence: "I think you must have realized early on that this is a Reincarnation Dungeon, and have methods to preserve memories or transmit information, then wanted to use the fabricated 'Seer' class to explain your foresight and influence or even control the situation within the dungeon!"

Robin declared with certainty.

After hearing her analysis, Lin Yu gently applauded.

"As expected of a Third Tier, as expected of 『Night Watchmen』's famous expert... truly impressive."

Lin Yu spoke softly, praising Robin while also indirectly admitting her words.

The 『Seer』 ability he had recently obtained had just become ineffective.

However...

Lin Yu didn't feel the slightest regret.

On one hand, using this ability to bait Robin and get her to voluntarily reveal information about the reincarnation gave Lin Yu the initiative, which was quite good.

On the other hand...

Lin Yu had already made full use of this ability.

A line of "hint" provided by that false 『Seer』 ability appeared before his eyes—when Lin Yu suddenly told Robin to stop earlier, it was actually to buy time for him to activate the ability.

That sudden shout was enough to interrupt Robin's train of thought—and as long as Robin's not-yet-fully-formed "suspicion" stopped at that moment, Lin Yu's 『Seer』 ability wouldn't immediately disappear.

Although the 『Seer』's Cooldown Time was two hours... Lin Yu had just happened to trigger [Miserly Wealthy One] at that moment.

And in that instant, Lin Yu activated the ability with a "let's try it" mindset and got a hint about the question he most wanted to know.

"Next, asking Robin about 'Psychological Society' and 'Misty Islands Master' will yield answers about this dungeon, and these answers will more clearly reveal 'Robin's secret'."

It felt like a supplement to the previous "hint."

And even though this ability was false, Lin Yu deeply believed in its effects.

These eight words from the hint were absolutely enough to serve as leverage to pry something incredible from Robin—after all, according to the fortune-telling words, this girl was "revisiting familiar territory."

So, Lin Yu looked at Robin.

"Anyway, I'm not surprised that you know about this dungeon's 'reincarnation' mechanism and have methods to preserve memories against it."

Lin Yu paused, then spoke: "But... regarding this dungeon, this dungeon located in the world of 'Misty Islands,' I still have questions."

"What's its relationship with the Psychological Society and the Misty Islands Master?"

Lin Yu asked in a very calm tone.

And the moment he finished asking, he knew the clues provided by his ability were indeed very useful.

Because the instant Lin Yu's words left his mouth, Robin's expression instantly became somewhat flustered.

"How do you know this dungeon belongs to the 『Psychological Society』's sphere of influence?!"

"And who did you hear the title 'Misty Islands Master' from!"

Robin's flustered questioning made Lin Yu couldn't help but raise an eyebrow.

There really was something going on!

He had absolutely no idea this dungeon belonged to the 『Psychological Society』's sphere of influence... Read full story at Nove1Fire.net

Rather, Lin Yu hadn't even considered before that a real-world 『Player organization』 could have something called a "sphere of influence" within the 『Death Game』's dungeons.

This was the first time he'd heard of such a thing.

It seemed his understanding of these large player organizations was completely insufficient!

Thinking this, Lin Yu decided to swallow his pride and ask humbly.

"Actually, I don't know much about it. Since you're aware... could you help educate me?"

"First, could you explain what exactly is meant by the 『Psychological Society』's sphere of influence?"

Hearing Lin Yu's words, Robin was immediately speechless.

She also realized that she had been tricked into revealing information!

Although she realized she had been tricked into revealing information, considering the complexity of this dungeon and trusting Lin Yu's high credibility as a new member of Order, Robin struggled briefly before choosing to lay her cards on the table with Lin Yu.

"Alright... if I tried to conquer this dungeon entirely on my own, it would indeed be somewhat troublesome..."

"And the special nature of this dungeon... since you already know about the 'Misty Islands Master,' telling you should... shouldn't be a big deal."

"No, it definitely won't be a big deal!"

Robin clenched her fists as she spoke, seeming to explain to Lin Yu but even more like she was psyching herself up.

Hearing this young girl's declaration, Lin Yu nodded slightly.

"Then tell me as much as possible... if there are any difficult parts, you can briefly skim over them or directly say it's inconvenient to disclose, that's acceptable too."

From the moment he realized this dungeon was connected to the Psychological Society, Lin Yu understood... perhaps the secrets involved in this dungeon, including the "secrets" about Robin obtained through the Seer ability, were likely quite significant.

Plus, Robin's current conflicted demeanor made Lin Yu even more alert.

Therefore, Lin Yu chose to "retreat in order to advance."

While he was certainly curious about these secrets, it was better not to get into too much trouble, and even better not to push Robin too far.

No matter how friendly her personality might be, she was after all a Third Tier expert, someone who could confront Fluoxetine head-on.

Using the new Jiangcheng Order team captain Good Night as a combat power reference again, Lin Yu felt that Robin's overall strength...

He should probably look among the anonymous users ranked between 60th and 80th on the leaderboard, where Robin was likely hidden!

Hearing Lin Yu's slightly more accommodating tone, Robin indeed relaxed a bit.

"Mmm... then I'll pick out some important things to say."

"Anyway, before introducing this dungeon, I need to tell you some things you would have learned in the future..."

"That, that, since you're currently First Tier, have you learned about 'privileges'?"

Robin asked cautiously.

Lin Yu was momentarily stunned, briefly conflicted before deciding to be slightly more aggressive: "I've already met the conditions for First Tier to unlock privileges and obtained the [Social] privilege."

Although the identity of May May hadn't mentioned to Order members that he had already completed unlocking the [Social] privilege...

After all, May May was different from Zhu Ming!

There was actually no consensus in the player community about when May May completed his promotion.

So...

Him now obtaining the [Social] privilege wasn't too surprising.

More importantly...

Although Robin had high status and relatively extensive connections, he didn't think this seemingly somewhat autistic and quite introverted girl would go around talking about his affairs.

So, telling her that he had unlocked [Social] wasn't problematic at all.

Sure enough, hearing Lin Yu's words, Robin breathed a sigh of relief.

"I see... since you've already unlocked the [Social] privilege, your understanding of Promotion is deeper than those who just reached First Tier."

"For Promotion, while the obtained [Class Items] and even [Exclusive Items] are important, the importance of [privileges] cannot be overlooked either."

"Just like the [Social] privilege unlocked after reaching First Tier... I don't know how well you've developed this function."

"What it represents isn't just more reliable 'identity verification' allowing you to interact better with other players—the truly important use is that you can utilize this to conduct reliable 'transactions' with other players and even NPCs."

"Because if you haven't obtained the [Social] privilege, haven't obtained a game-recognized 'code name,' except for a very few extremely powerful, high-status entities within the game... those NPCs affected by cognitive interference have difficulty remembering your 'identity characteristics' and 'reputation.'"

Hearing this, Lin Yu understood while also feeling fortunate.

Luckily he had completed his Promotion in that snowy mountain dungeon.

Otherwise, he probably wouldn't have been able to enjoy the identity benefits brought by Vale Valetti.

"So, after having the [Social] privilege, players' means of obtaining regular [Tools] are greatly enhanced, and if you're lucky enough, you can even receive 'quests' from NPCs closely connected to you that span multiple dungeons."

"Even... after having the [Social] system, you can establish very stable cooperative relationships with NPCs—even if these relationships aren't useful initially, accumulating them will definitely become your assistance in other dungeons later." ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ nοvelfire.net

"Even... these themselves are also important foundations for your Second Tier Promotion."

Robin spoke softly.

As a Third Tier player, she clearly had deep understanding of these contents, and through these words, Lin Yu could cross-reference with what Tycoon and even his senior had mentioned before.

Indeed, for the various worlds where [dungeons] exist, more interaction and increasing your influence is the true path.

But...

"While this is valuable experience and I'm grateful for your sharing, what does the [Social] privilege have to do with this dungeon?"

"Could it be that the Psychological Society used the [Social] privilege to gain control over this place?"

Lin Yu looked at Robin and continued asking.

Robin shook her head: "[Social] plays a certain role, but wanting to completely claim somewhere in the Ten Realms, even a place that can serve as a [dungeon], as your own 'territory' is absolutely not something the [Social] privilege can accomplish."

"This requires subsequently unlocked privileges—as you experience more and more dungeons and complete more Promotions, you'll realize... your connection with these worlds where [dungeons] exist is gradually deepening."

"The privilege unlocked at Second Tier is called [Encyclopedia]—players who haven't unlocked this privilege only receive prompts when obtaining [Tools], but after having [Encyclopedia], you can see prompts and annotations about materials, NPCs, and even various regions throughout the Ten Realms."

"At the same time, just like how [Social] can extend into a tool for building relationships with NPCs, after unlocking [Encyclopedia], you can also obtain the privilege to collect materials and use those materials to find NPCs or players with corresponding abilities to craft [Tools]..."

"So, as long as an organization has enough First Tier and Second Tier players, they can utilize transactions and crafting with NPCs inside dungeons to obtain plenty of standardized tools."

"And the Third Tier privilege is even more powerful, called [Map]..."

"The simplest and most important aspect of this privilege is that it allows you to gain additional opportunities to enter [dungeon] worlds!"

"An extra opportunity to enter the dungeon world?"

Lin Yu said with great surprise.

Robin nodded: "Yes, you can enter additional dungeons through some items, or you can make deals with certain NPCs to move around in those worlds for a period of time in a non-dungeon form."

"Even... some people can manage to escape the scope of the dungeon even when entering in dungeon form."

"Of course, that kind of ability is extremely rare even among Third Tier players."

Hearing Robin's words, Lin Yu understood just by thinking about it...

This privilege combined with the privileges of First Tier and Second Tier was indeed enough to give an organization the capital to "control" a certain place.

After all, for Players, while they can influence the dungeon world, their opportunities are limited to the weekly dungeon.

But dungeons are random—this means that if you want to accomplish something in a specific dungeon world continuously, you even need a bit of "luck."

After all, dungeons are scattered across different worlds—even dungeons within the same world might span very distant regions.

Just like how Lin Yu had entered the world where Truth Corporation was located twice, both times within Truth Corporation's sphere of influence, but once in the Great Snow Mountain and once in Sleepless City.

Even if you really enter nearby locations both times... you still have the dungeon's own clearance tasks to complete!

But if you reach Third Tier and can directly enter the worlds within the Death Game in a non-dungeon form, and can even choose the "specific landing point."

That would indeed be a tremendous advantage.

"So, this place was created by the Psychological Society, right?"

"Not entirely correct. First, they didn't build this place, they just governed it..."

"Second, this place only used to belong to them."

Robin sighed.

"Used to?"

Lin Yu asked curiously.

"Yes, this is the territory of the Misty Islands Master. It was originally an 'asylum,' used to imprison the madmen and mentally ill patients from the main island of the Misty Islands... In the Misty Sea Archipelago, madness is a very common disease... In most islands, those who contract madness have only one path—death, but the residents living on the main island of the Misty Islands are all 'upper class,' so even if they go mad, they can keep their lives."

"Of course, it's not just genuine madness—persecuted nobles were sent here, or those who felt they were about to be persecuted pretended to be mad... In any case, before the Psychological Society took over, this place had always been like this."

"Until one day, the then leader of the Psychological Society, Freud, found the Misty Islands Master..."

Hearing this, Lin Yu raised his hand.

"Allow me to interrupt, Teacher Robin—could you supplement what exactly the 'Misty Islands Master' is?"

Hearing Lin Yu say this, Robin was briefly puzzled, then showed endless regret.

She realized she had been tricked into revealing too much information by Lin Yu.

The other party had likely heard these two terms from somewhere and used them to bluff her.

But now that she had already spoken, Robin resigned herself to it.

"The Misty Islands Master... is probably an existence slightly lower in status than a god, but not by too much."

"As the name suggests, he's basically the ruler of this realm of the Misty Sea Archipelago, roughly equivalent to an emperor, monarch, or similar... In any case, he's very powerful."

"I've heard that his appearance is basically that of a wise and elegant old man, with abilities mainly focused on 'controlling seawater and mist,' and he keeps some sea monsters."

As Robin spoke, Lin Yu pondered.

"Sounds somewhat similar to a human mage."

"Pretty much," Robin nodded, "In any case, the first generation Freud of the Psychological Society gained his trust and permission through some means, transforming this 'asylum' into a closed environment."

"And his purpose... was to turn this place into a special dungeon, to create his trial dungeon!"

Hearing this, Lin Yu felt this combination was somewhat niche.

"What in the world? He wanted to create his own trial dungeon?"

Robin nodded gravely.

"Yes, that first generation leader felt the strength gap between Promotions was too large, which wasn't conducive to Player growth, so he wanted to create trial dungeons to make everyone's Promotions smoother in the future."

"This asylum was Freud's testing ground," Robin said seriously, "That was one year ago. At that time, he selected some members internally within the Psychological Society, while also gathering a group of people from the potential list at that time, conducting an unprecedented 'artificial dungeon' test here, with quite a large number of participants and scale."

Hearing Robin's words, Lin Yu couldn't help but exclaim. Fresh chapters posted on noᴠelfire.net

"That's quite a crazy plan."

At the same time, combining with Robin's narration, Lin Yu guessed what was going on with Robin's "returning to an old haunt."

"You were probably one of them at that time, right?"

Robin let out a long sigh.

"Yes, I was indeed one of them at that time."

"To be honest, I don't know how I survived... It was truly a brutal dungeon."

As Robin spoke, Lin Yu interrupted her.

"No, you know, don't you."

Remembering Robin's special performance during the Mad Banquet Beyond Heaven, Lin Yu stared directly at her.

"You... were saved by someone, right?"

Seeing Lin Yu's sharp gaze, Robin was momentarily stunned, then exhaled and smiled helplessly.

"Yes... As expected of the newcomer that Order has been treasuring recently, this sharpness is indeed extraordinary."

Robin raised her eyes, looking at this familiar corridor—dim, bloody.

More worn and chaotic than back then, but still unchanged.

She still remembered back then on this staircase...

As a Painter who had just been promoted to First Tier, she had almost no frontal combat capability.

When that crazy monster holding a sharp weapon, unafraid of pain, closed in on her, in that nearly hopeless situation.

The scene of that girl wearing a beautiful dress jumping down from the upper floor, helping and rescuing her.

"Hello there, cute little bird!"

"It would be too pitiful to die here... So let me give you a hand."

Robin exhaled, looking at Lin Yu before her.

"Yes, although it sounds somewhat embarrassing to say now, and doesn't quite match my position..."

"But I was indeed saved by a member of the Psychological Society back then."

Lin Yu didn't continue questioning about who exactly saved Robin back then or what exactly happened between the two of them.

This wasn't because he respected Robin's privacy, but because Lin Yu could pretty much guess the answers anyway.

Given Robin's reaction, who else could it possibly be?

So Lin Yu didn't press further, instead bringing the question back to the current dungeon.

"I've basically understood the background of this dungeon now, so... do you have any useful intelligence from your last visit here?"

Lin Yu asked, then added another point: "For example, this dungeon's most unique 'reincarnation cycles' mechanism."

Robin shook her head: "When this place was still under Freud's control a year ago, it didn't have such complex mechanisms—at least when I participated in this dungeon, it was just a very ordinary asylum-themed battle royale..."

"Patients and medical staff killing each other, along with various monsters released among them."

Lin Yu pondered thoughtfully: "So this mechanism appeared after it went 'out of control'... When was this dungeon abandoned?"

"Also, since you referred to that Freud using terms like 'first generation' and 'back then,' it seems the problem lies with him, right?"

Robin nodded.

"Yes... Shortly after this dungeon's first run ended, Freud himself died in a dungeon—I had just joined the Night Watchmen at that time, and as one of the first and only batch of survivors from this 'asylum,' I assisted the Night Watchmen with some investigations, so I learned many secrets that someone of my rank shouldn't have known back then."

"Reportedly... the first generation Freud died right here in this asylum, and since then this place has undergone some strange transformations."

"The Misty Islands Master didn't reclaim this place, and simultaneously the danger level here rapidly increased—and the reason for this is related to Freud dying here."

At this point, Robin thought for a moment, then cautiously spoke: "Although there weren't any 'reincarnation cycles' back then, I do have a guess..." Thɪs chapter is updated by noveⅼfire.net

Lin Yu understood immediately after a brief thought: "Related to Freud's personal abilities?"

"Yes, his most famous abilities were manipulating souls and playing with memories... Combined with some special items, he might have actually been able to achieve effects similar to 'rewind' on a local scale."

Lin Yu understood clearly.

"It seems this is likely the reason why 'reincarnation cycles' appeared here... Wait a moment while I take some notes."

Lin Yu said, taking out his notebook to organize what Robin had told him.

While organizing the information, Lin Yu suddenly realized something.

"Wait a minute... Most people here back then were players brought in by the Psychological Society, so those monsters now..."

Robin nodded: "If I'm not mistaken, a large portion of them should be players who died here back then transformed into monsters."

As she spoke, Lin Yu instantly understood why in the Ancient Notebook's records, the two monsters on the fifth floor displayed abilities suspiciously similar to the Doctor's.

Looking at it now... they might have really been Players once.

Lin Yu closed his notebook.

By skillfully extracting information from Robin, many of the dense mists surrounding this dungeon had cleared away... Even the principle behind the "reincarnation cycles" had become somewhat clear.

But Lin Yu didn't feel optimistic.

Because... the revealed truth only made him feel more pressured.

The Psychological Society's schemes, the former leader who died here...

Moreover, after some of the mists cleared, the remaining unsolved mysteries recorded in the Ancient Notebook became even more glaring.

What was the origin of that fur ball person on the second floor who gave the prophecy?

What exactly was inside the room on the top floor that he needed to avoid?

And also... if Robin returned here because she was "revisiting an old haunt."

Then what about him?

What about Max?

This dungeon still didn't look promising... it was actually looking less and less promising.

"This is even more troublesome than I imagined, I really don't know how a First-Tier like me ended up here."

Lin Yu sighed from the bottom of his heart.

Robin smiled bitterly: "I understand you... because even though I'm Third Tier, I don't want to come back here either."

"Anyway, let's take it step by step," Lin Yu exhaled, "First, according to what you said... the next step should be to find the 'Director,' right?"

This was also content recorded in the notebook.

Robin nodded: "Right, based on my understanding... this Director should be 'absent,' so we should go to the first floor and find his office to forge a permit."

As Robin spoke, she slowly descended the stairs.

"Let's go, we'll call the one outside the door and head to the first floor."

She said, and Lin Yu also nodded.

"If the 'Director' were present, things would be too terrible... Based on the background information you provided, Teacher Robin, this Director is either some remnant will left behind by Freud, or possibly that Misty Islands Master or his close associate..."

"Either option would be awful."

Robin spoke with a bitter smile: "Yes, I really don't want to face those beings..."

"Actually, if it were just the Misty Islands Master, I'd consider that manageable. What I truly fear is that even more terrifying beings from the Misty Sea Archipelago world have intervened—that would be truly disastrous."

As Robin spoke, Lin Yu curiously asked another question.

"Even more terrifying beings? What are those?"

"They are this realm's supreme deity, the master of the Inverted Tower... I won't speak their name to avoid truly attracting their attention..."

As Robin spoke, Lin Yu froze for a moment.

He heard a very familiar place name.

"The deity of this Misty Sea Archipelago world is the master of the Inverted Tower?"

Robin nodded: "Yes, this isn't very confidential information, many major organizations know about it... because there are quite a few of that being's followers among the Misty Islands."

As she spoke, Lin Yu's eye twitched.

Many secrets about this dungeon still lacked answers, but he was beginning to vaguely realize what those underlying clues pointed toward.

He patted Robin on the shoulder.

"Teacher Robin, please head to the first floor first. I'll bring Max to find you shortly—I still have some matters to handle and need to borrow your organization's Max for a bit."

Saying this, Lin Yu turned and pushed open the door behind him, looking at Max who was squatting on the ground making a cat plushie and a lynx plushie fight each other. He cleared his throat lightly.

"Max, Teacher Robin needs to go to the first floor first... Come with me for a moment."

The bored Max jumped up from the ground.

"Huh? What's up?"

"Help me open a few doors."

Lin Yu, after reading the [Ancient Notebook], knew that regardless of whether the previous reincarnation cycles had changed or not, perhaps because he had explored the fifth floor and triggered some kind of "mechanism," this cycle had undergone some changes to the entire dungeon.

For example, according to the records in the [Ancient Notebook], he had seen many "patients" in the corridor during the previous cycles, and even received a "prophecy" the last time.

But this time...

There were no patients in the second-floor corridor.

Based on the current situation, Lin Yu analyzed that they might have disappeared, but it was also very possible that...

"Click!"

"Prophet buddy, it's open!"

Max shook the [Lockpicking Tool] in her hand and pushed open a ward door.

Inside was an apple-headed figure dancing wildly.

"So they're in the wards after all?"

Lin Yu let out a sigh.

Max said proudly, "What do you think, buddy? This little lockpicking tool really works, doesn't it!"

"The lockpicking is really fast... it's just that it consumes a lot of energy every time I use it, so I usually break down doors that can be smashed rather than picking the locks."

"By the way, what business do you have with this apple man?"

Lin Yu shook his head.

"I'm not looking for him."

Then, he looked at Max: "Please, open all the ward doors on this floor."

Max was stunned: "Huh? What did you say?"

Lin Yu spoke sincerely: "I'm begging you!"

Max remained silent for a few seconds.

"This isn't about begging or not begging, I'll be exhausted to death."

Lin Yu waved his hand: "No big deal, I have potions to restore stamina."

"Believe me, this will be a huge help in clearing the stage."

Max stared at Lin Yu for about five seconds, trying to find any flaws in his expression.

But all she saw was sincerity and determination.

So Max gritted her teeth and spoke.

"Alright, I'll risk my life for this! With you and Teacher Robin in this dungeon, this is pretty much the only area where I'm useful, so putting in some hard work has its benefits!"

"Besides... if we're lucky, it might work within the first few doors, not necessarily requiring testing every single one."

Lin Yu gave Max a thumbs up.

"Go for it, brother, I believe you can do it."

And now, Max, after accepting reality, had become completely optimistic.

She walked to the next door, breathed on her hands and rubbed them together.

"Here we go, this is the one!"

After opening the door, there was a tentacle monster crawling around on the wall.

"Not this one."

Lin Yu shook his head.

Then, the two came to the next door.

When the third door opened, Lin Yu saw a familiar face.

The previous Fur Ball monster was squatting on the bed and waved when he saw Lin Yu.

"This is no place for you, young man."

Max's face lit up with joy: "Eh? An acquaintance? Is this the one?"

Lin Yu looked at the Fur Ball monster and asked, "Although it's not... can we chat?"

The Fur Ball monster laughed three times: "Ha, Ha, Ha! No!"

After speaking, it suddenly exploded, its black fur plastered all over the wall.

Max was shocked.

"Wow brother, what's going on here."

Lin Yu spoke very calmly: "It committed suicide."

As expected, this Fur Ball was an NPC that only gives one-time hints... and it seemed to exist outside this dungeon.

No, it might even be completely above this dungeon—after all, the hints it gave Lin Yu in the form of "fortune-telling" seemed completely related to this dungeon, but their content definitely wasn't limited to just this dungeon.

Moreover, considering that there's likely an open card entity existing above this dungeon lurking within it right now, it's not impossible that this one also infiltrated, or is an incarnation of some higher-dimensional existence.

Lin Yu looked at the fur covering the entire room and closed the door.

"Okay, next one."

Hearing this, Max let out a helpless sigh.

"Why do I have to work overtime even when playing the 'Death Game'..."

"Forget it—the next one must be it, Amitabha God bless!"

The fourth, fifth, sixth...

Door after door was opened.

Max quickly shifted from initial optimism to helplessness.

Then to irritability and impatience, starting to mix in using an axe to chop doors.

Finally...

It turned into pure mechanical motion and numbness.

"Click."

The lock core popped out, and the last large door opened.

Max silently put away the [Lockpicking Tools] and rubbed her face.

"I really want a can of free Red Bull that my colleague chilled in the breakroom... this should be the one, right."

"Even if it's not... there are no more left anyway."

Listening to Max's remarks, Lin Yu began to somewhat believe the content recorded in the [Ancient Notebook]—this 'Thief' lady would introduce herself claiming she should actually be a 'Corporate Drone'.

Lin Yu looked at Max and patted her shoulder.

"You worked hard, brother."

He truly didn't expect that after parting with Chen Zhuo, he would be so unlucky—he actually had to open every single ward on the entire floor, finding the target only at the very last one.

Of course, what Lin Yu even more didn't expect was...

This Miss Max truly had exceptional qualities—she looked like she should have run out of stamina long ago, but she actually managed to hold on through the entire process.

As for whether this room contained what they were looking for...

Lin Yu had already reached a conclusion.

"Tap!"

Although the door wasn't open yet, the sound coming through the door crack was enough for Lin Yu to identify it.

The sound of a chess piece falling was clear and crisp, followed by two praises.

"What a brilliant move!"

"Truly excellent chess!"

Without a doubt, this was the two-headed bird man he had seen earlier in the corridor.

Lin Yu took a deep breath and kicked the door open with one foot.

He saw the two-headed bird man sitting cross-legged on the bed, with a chess board set before him.

"This is the one."

Lin Yu said, and Max let out a sigh.

"Then I'll rest for a while."

After speaking, she leaned against the wall on the spot, crossed her arms, lowered her head, and became completely still.

This member of the 'Night Watchmen' had burned out everything she had and fell into a deep sleep.

And Lin Yu gently closed the door, then walked into the room.

The left bird head spoke friendly.

"Hoho, we have a visitor... care for a game of chess?"

The right bird head glared fiercely at Lin Yu: "Get out!"

Lin Yu looked at the two bird heads and let out a sigh.

"One without eyes, one with teeth... such a simple word puzzle, I actually didn't think of it." Thᴇ link to the origɪn of this information rᴇsts ɪn ⓝovelFire.net

A bird missing eyes becomes a crow, with extra teeth becomes a raven.

And an existence that uses a crow as its incarnation and just happens to have "two faces"—Lin Yu happened to know one.

He quickly walked over, grabbed the right bird head that had teeth, and spoke viciously.

"I know your acting isn't this good, so whether this thing is your follower or you actually sealed your own memories... show your true self now and say something!"

"Otherwise, I'll wholeheartedly follow that generous Banquet God from now on!"

Lin Yu grabbed the bird head and gave it a thorough scolding, causing the bird's face to first show a hint of confusion, then reveal a somewhat violent expression.

But before it could start cursing in anger, the bird head's facial expression suddenly "froze."

The other bird head was the same.

It was as if it had suddenly transformed from a living creature into a lifelike wax statue.

And after both bird heads became completely motionless...

Between them, an invisible third head materialized.

Compared to the other two raptor heads that either lacked something or had something extra, the newly appeared head looked much more normal, appearing to be just an ordinary avian head.

At the same time, its eyes looked quite intelligent and profound.

It looked like the kind that could genuinely play Go, not the type that would frantically twist sheep heads on the game board.

Lin Yu released his grip, knowing that the deity's true self had arrived.

He stared at the other party for a moment, then spoke: "What kind of scheme are you up to this time?"

The newly appeared bird head... that is, the God of Change, laughed.

"Haha, this is truly a huge misunderstanding."

"Although I did leave an incarnation here, I only intended to watch the show," the God of Change's head tilted back slightly, "Running into you was an unexpected surprise among surprises, giving me infinite delight, caw."

Lin Yu sneered coldly: "Really unexpected?"

The God of Change spread his hands: "Alright... I had some slight anticipation, but this really wasn't my plan."

"I don't have much control over this place."

The God of Change spoke seriously, while Lin Yu looked completely unconvinced.

"Stop using evasive language here, aren't you the highest deity in this world?"

"In terms of rank, that's true... but currently there are twenty-one supreme deity positions across the Ten Realms, and in this world, there are indeed beings who stand equal to me."

Lin Yu shook his head: "Then the matters between you deities are none of my concern... Since you're here and willing to show yourself to me, it can't just be to casually catch up with me, right?"

As he spoke, Lin Yu extended his hand.

"Give me some benefits."

The God of Change sighed helplessly: "You do know I'm a deity, right? Could you show some respect, openly robbing me like this?"

"Starting from our first meeting when you played all those tricks, it's been hard for me to have any respect for you, and do you really need that anyway?"

Lin Yu retorted.

The God of Change sighed again: "You have a point... but I don't have anything to give, I'm just an incarnation."

Lin Yu withdrew his hand, not particularly bothered.

He hadn't really expected to get any items from a deity with just a few words anyway.

So, Lin Yu's real purpose...

Was to extract information. ɴᴇᴡ ɴᴏᴠᴇʟ ᴄʜᴀᴘᴛᴇʀs ᴀʀᴇ ᴘᴜʙʟɪsʜᴇᴅ ᴏɴ ɴovelfire.net

"Alright, then since you've been staying here for so long... you should at least be able to give me some hints about what's really going on with this dungeon, right?"

"And how I should clear it, show me a strategy guide."

The God of Change was once again given a headache by Lin Yu's bluntness.

"Although I do appreciate your attitude of neither humility nor arrogance when facing me, you're being a bit too neither humble nor arrogant!"

Lin Yu chuckled lightly: "Because I know you need something from me... Although I don't know why you deities think so highly of me, since you need something from me, you should show some sincerity, right?"

As Lin Yu spoke, the God of Change stopped responding.

He sat on the hospital bed and spoke helplessly: "I can't reveal too much to you either... I can only tell you that the 'reincarnation cycles' here aren't real, mainly involving overwriting and altering 'cognition' and 'memory'."

"The key to the clearance condition lies in the transformation of 'identity' and your own self-awareness—you should already have some clues, right?"

Lin Yu slowly nodded.

"Some... mainly because someone already gave me hints before."

"So, which deity is that fortune-telling mystic?"

Crow chuckled twice: "Just someone coming to seize the 'inheritance'... Anyway, since you mentioned it, I'll take this opportunity to remind you."

"More than just me has infiltrated this dungeon—the things left behind by that guy who died here back then are just too tempting."

"Although I'm not particularly interested and just came to watch the show... the others are genuinely planning to inherit this place."

"Be careful of those guys... the one who reminded you is relatively kind-hearted."

"After all, it indirectly told you about this matter too."

Lin Yu looked thoughtful.

"Don't mistake pine and cypress for companions, recognize that snakes and insects aren't human... I understand."

"Then what's the name of this dungeon and the clearance conditions?"

"My memory has been modified, I can't remember, and I forgot to record it."

The God of Change didn't answer: "That's not important... rather, telling you would be bad."

Hearing this, Lin Yu slightly frowned.

"Then let me ask one more question..."

"It's not surprising that one player was chosen for this game, and me entering isn't strange either."

"But... what's the background of the one sleeping outside the door right now?"

The God of Change laughed heartily: "Ahaha... didn't that guy already give you a hint?"

"But thinking about it, that hint was not only obscure but also highly misleading..."

"Don't worry, you'll find out soon enough."

After speaking, the God of Change suddenly narrowed his eyes: "Alright, I should go now... Anyway, rest assured."

"Although this dungeon's waters run deep, for you, there's almost no danger."

"Because on your turf, you can protect me?"

Lin Yu asked, but Crow only slightly shook his head.

Then...

The third bird head dissipated, and the remaining two bird heads began moving again.

"Caw?"

"Caw!"

The two bird heads looked at Lin Yu in surprise.

"What happened?"

"Strange kid, do you have a paralysis spell?!"

The two bird heads warily looked at Lin Yu.

Lin Yu looked at the two bird heads that seemed completely unaware of what had happened, waved goodbye.

"Sorry to bother you, both of you."

As he spoke, he quickly exited the room and closed the door again.

After waking up Max at the doorway, her eyes showed confusion.

"Done?"

Lin Yu looked at the girl who had just been certified as "problematic" by the God of Change and slightly nodded.

"Done, let's go find Robin and regroup."

Even with the deity's off-field certification, Lin Yu still couldn't see what exactly was wrong with Max.

"Misleading hints..."

Where exactly is the misleading part?

Could those four lines corresponding to Max have some other interpretation?

Lin Yu still had no clues.

He brought Max back to the stairwell and once again arrived at the first floor of this asylum!

Since Robin had already been here, Lin Yu and Max encountered almost no danger during their subsequent journey.

After all, Lin Yu had already gained a basic understanding of Robin's dungeon-clearing style.

She basically cleared everything wherever she went, killing anything in sight that looked threatening.

Although she seemed introverted, she could be quite ruthless when it came to taking action.

Standing in the empty first-floor corridor, Max expressed her feelings.

"It's so quiet here, not a single person in the hallway."

Lin Yu observed their surroundings.

Based on his previous conversation with Robin, she should have gone to look for the "Director's Office."

So she was probably in one of the rooms.

But Lin Yu didn't know the exact location.

After thinking for a moment, Lin Yu looked at Max.

"I only know she's on the first floor, but I don't know anything more specific... Use your compass to search."

Hearing Lin Yu's words, Max nodded, then pulled out her compass once again.

After reciting the usual multi-religion fusion chant, the compass in Max's hand began spinning wildly.

Holding the compass, Max started walking.

"This way, this way," she said, then quickly headed toward one side of the corridor.

Lin Yu hurried to follow.

They hadn't gone far when Max stopped in front of a large door.

This door looked quite "prestigious"—double wooden doors made from some kind of expensive-looking dark wood.

The two brass door handles were polished to a reflective shine, while the keyhole area appeared rough due to numerous scratches.

"This is the place," Max announced after stopping.

Lin Yu moved closer to listen but didn't hear any strange noises.

But the complete absence of sound was also telling.

Even if Robin hadn't encountered any danger, there should have been some noise from her searching inside.

So Lin Yu felt slightly uneasy.

He took a step back and said to Max, "Then please pick the lock again."

Hearing Lin Yu's words, Max unexpectedly said, "Oh, Teacher Seer... even the wise are not always free from error."

"My compass shows Teacher Robin is most likely inside. She wouldn't have needed to lock the door from inside."

Saying this, Max directly reached out and turned the door handle, which rotated naturally.

"Click!"

The crisp sound of the latch opening echoed, and the wooden door opened a small crack.

Max looked quite pleased with herself.

"What do you think, Teacher Seer?"

Lin Yu put on an expression of having learned something. "It seems my consideration was inadequate. In that case, let's go in."

He spoke naturally while taking another step back.

Lin Yu was definitely doing this intentionally—when he mentioned "picking the lock," he had already guessed the door probably wasn't locked.

But he said it specifically to make Max voluntarily take the lead without feeling anything was unusual.

As expected, Max didn't suspect anything, turned around, casually opened the door, and boldly walked inside.

"Teacher Robin, are you here?"

Unexpectedly...

No one responded from the room behind the door.

This was a quite standard "Director's Office"—spacious with carpeted floors, containing a large sofa, desk, bookshelves, and even two fake potted plants.

Max looked around suspiciously.

"Huh? Not only is the door unlocked, but Teacher Robin isn't here either?"

She looked at the compass in her hand.

"But... the compass definitely shows it's around here."

Seeing that Max inside the room, though confused, didn't seem to notice anything unusual for the moment, Lin Yu followed her inside.

The entire room was indeed empty, with nothing there.

After personally checking, Lin Yu confirmed that there was no Robin curled up under the desk or similar places, eliminating the possibility that Max had overlooked something.

He looked at Max.

"Has your compass ever been wrong before?"

Max stroked her chin. "Although I'm not very familiar with this buddy... it's never failed me since I got it."

"So I think it's basically reliable."

Lin Yu nodded.

He didn't really think the compass had made a mistake either.

After all, Lin Yu could sense that this should be the "Director's Office."

With both pieces of evidence corroborating each other, Robin should be in this room.

But she definitely wasn't here.

This made Lin Yu think deeply.

"Did she disguise herself, or has she temporarily entered an invisible state or something similar that prevents direct observation due to some reason?"

"However, if that were the case, she should have revealed herself or given us some signal when she saw the two of us arriving."

"If we assume Robin hasn't left... perhaps she's hidden in a more concealed location."

"Or maybe... there's something peculiar about this room itself?"

While thinking, Lin Yu began circling the room again, carefully observing all the corners.

Although he had looked around earlier, that was mainly to confirm whether a living person like Robin was hiding somewhere curled up, not particularly thorough.

After looking more carefully, Lin Yu actually discovered some clues. Official source ıs novᴇlfire.net

Although this "Director's Office" was spacious and bright with neatly arranged items, it wasn't "clean."

It seemed the director hadn't returned for some time, as the entire room showed slight signs of dust accumulation everywhere.

Upon closer inspection, one could see that near the desk, on the originally clean, shiny wooden surface, some dust had been freshly brushed away.

Even on those wooden surfaces, when viewed along the light, some fingerprints were visible.

In other words...

Someone had been here.

And that person...

Was most likely Robin!

Lin Yu analyzed along the traces left behind, then bent down in front of the desk.

"About this height... Robin is shorter than me, so she'd need to bend her knees more."

Standing in front of the desk, Lin Yu tried to match his palm with the marks on the wooden surface of the desk.

"I see, she opened this drawer first."

Lin Yu then opened a drawer under the desk and immediately spotted the [key item] inside.

"Outgoing approval slips."

Looking at the stack of neatly printed and cut square paper slips, no larger than a palm, Lin Yu was quite surprised.

"Wow, we found it right away!"

This was much better than when they opened the door on the second floor earlier.

So Lin Yu quickly took four slips and tucked them into his pocket.

Then...

Lin Yu closed this drawer and began analyzing Robin's next actions based on the traces she left behind.

"Hmm... let me see."

"After closing this drawer, she seems to have opened this one."

Lin Yu pulled open another drawer near the floor under the desk.

And lying in this drawer...

Was a notebook!

Chapter 337: The List and the Secret Chamber

Restore scroll position

"It's actually a notebook."

Lin Yu took the notebook out from the drawer and examined it carefully.

Max also came closer.

The notebook in Lin Yu's hand had a very simple design, even carrying an ancient and worn-out atmosphere.

The corners of the yellowed pages were slightly curled up, the printed text had faded, and even the glue binding on the side had lost some of its adhesion.

The notebook wasn't large or thick, with no markings on the cover.

"This thing looks like some kind of key plot item."

Max said curiously.

"Right, that's why it's strange... This drawer shows signs of having been opened, probably Robin already searched through it."

"But she didn't take this notebook with her, could she have intentionally left it for us?"

As Lin Yu spoke, he opened the notebook.

However, the contents inside weren't what Lin Yu had expected.

Originally, Lin Yu thought this might be a director's diary, experimental records, or patient files.

But...

After opening the notebook, what appeared were table after table of charts.

This was a "roster."

Doctors, administrators, nurses, security, patients...

Name after name appeared in the tables, marked with name, identity, position, gender, age.

There was also the area they were assigned to—for medical staff, this meant their duty and responsibility areas, while for patients it showed which floor's ward they resided in.

The ink colors of these names varied in intensity, some were clear black, while others had faded to light gray, like pencil marks that had been mostly erased.

Additionally, many names Lin Yu recognized at a glance seemed like player code names.

After all, what decent doctor would be called "Sweet and Sour Pork"...

Lin Yu quickly calculated in his mind.

"The entire hospital has about two hundred thirty-five names, ninety-four medical staff, one hundred forty-one patients..."

"Among them, doctors and patients who look like players number at least around one hundred ninety... In other words, if those high-level beings like gods who came to watch the excitement are also counted, most people in this dungeon are former 'players'... Actually more than what Robin said."

"In other words, either she's still hiding things and deceiving us, or there are secrets happening here that even she doesn't know about."

After analyzing the total numbers and names, Lin Yu began analyzing the areas.

Patients on the second, third, and fourth floors were basically evenly distributed, with medical staff numbers being similar.

The first floor had almost no patients, with most administrative medical staff staying there.

The most special was undoubtedly the fifth floor...

All medical staff positions on the fifth floor of this asylum were "specialists."

And the entire fifth floor only had three "patients."

Among these three patients, only one had a name written.

"Jiang Lin."

The name fields for the other two patients... one was completely blank with a "slash" mark, seemingly indicating this person's name didn't exist.

The other was a messy ink stain that, upon closer inspection, appeared to be stacked symbols resembling garbled code.

"What does this mean?"

Lin Yu furrowed his brow, feeling puzzled. ᴜᴘᴅᴀᴛᴇ ꜰʀᴏᴍ novęlfire.net

Jiang Lin...

This also seemed to be some player's name.

After all, the naming conventions for Misty Islands natives weren't like this.

And this likely wasn't a code name, but someone's "real name."

Lin Yu looked at this name, completely baffled.

He had a premonition that the most valuable content in the entire roster was with these three fifth-floor "patients."

Garbled code, blank, "Jiang Lin."

These three "names" definitely had different meanings.

Lin Yu gently bit his thumb while thinking.

He looked at Max. Although he knew this guy probably didn't know anything, Lin Yu still pointed at the name "Jiang Lin."

"Do you have any impression of this name?"

As Lin Yu spoke, Max shook her head.

"I don't know... This looks like a Chinese name."

"Seeing this kind of name appear in a dungeon, could it be a former player?"

She asked curiously, and Lin Yu shook his head.

"I'm not sure about that either."

He closed the roster and casually tucked it into his chest pocket.

Then, Lin Yu let out a breath.

"Anyway, let's first remember the 'clues' and continue looking for Robin."

"This roster is indeed important, and the reason it was still in the drawer and not taken by Robin... is likely because Robin hadn't planned to leave this room yet."

"And the reason it was returned to its original place is probably because Robin quickly discovered something new worth exploring."

Lin Yu analyzed while squatting down behind the desk.

"Considering Robin's height and usual personality, this drawer is at the very bottom... so she likely squatted down to search rather than bending over."

Lin Yu lowered his head even further.

"And the height when squatting would precisely allow Robin to see..."

Lin Yu looked up and saw the button hidden under the desk.

A red mechanism button was hidden deep under the desk—this position was exactly where someone sitting behind the desk could reach in and press.

"Just as I thought."

Lin Yu smiled.

He roughly knew where Robin had gone.

However...

Lin Yu wasn't in a hurry to press this button.

Instead, he pushed himself up with both hands and sat on the desk, then waved for Max to come over.

"Hey, come here for a moment."

As Lin Yu spoke, Max looked confused.

"What's up?"

She still walked over to stand in front of Lin Yu.

Lin Yu looked at Max, remembering the contents of the Ancient Notebook.

"According to my prophecy... don't you have several doll-type items for detecting danger?"

Max's eyes widened: "Damn, you can predict that too, bro? That's way too amazing!"

Lin Yu smiled slightly: "Then please arrange them in a circle around the desk."

Having just witnessed Lin Yu's "prophecy" again, Max naturally didn't doubt him now, immediately pulling out a bunch of dolls of various sizes and arranging them in a circle around the desk.

"Done, that's all the dolls I have."

Max, standing in front of the desk, pointed at the twelve different types of feline animal dolls on the floor.

Lin Yu didn't respond to Max, but while she hadn't reacted yet, quickly slapped the button under the desk.

"Snap!"

Just as Lin Yu expected, the floor to the right rear of the desk suddenly opened, and two dolls instantly fell through.

Max jumped in fright, quickly hopping to the left, staring at the half-square-meter hole that had suddenly appeared in the floor, shocked.

"Whoa, what is this?"

"Secret room entrance—Robin is inside."

Lin Yu said calmly.

Then, the sound of dolls landing came from the dark hole.

Before Max could make a judgment, Lin Yu reached a conclusion upon hearing the sound.

"Relatively safe."

After confirming that the area below the opening was relatively safe and judging from the landing sound that it wasn't too high, Lin Yu took out the Fear Torch from his chest and lit it.

"Let's go, Max."

Saying this, Lin Yu raised the torch high and jumped downward.

The blazing white flames dispersed the darkness, and the fall lasted only an instant before stopping.

Lin Yu could clearly see the surroundings—two dolls had landed on flat, smooth stone bricks, with the opening above only about two meters higher—barely above his head.

Max peered down from above, using Lin Yu's torchlight to also clearly see the scene below.

"Wow, there really is a locked room!"

She said this, then holding the remaining ten dolls in her arms, she slid down slowly by scooting her bottom along the edge of the opening.

"Thud!"

Max landed with a roll to dissipate the impact before slowly getting up.

After descending below, Max could see the surroundings a bit more clearly.

This was a spiraling staircase going downward, with Lin Yu and her at the staircase entrance.

The entire staircase appeared much cleaner and tidier than the previous "Unsafe Passage," with walls and floors made of polished marble bricks. The smooth surfaces reflected the light from Lin Yu's torch, even somewhat dazzling to the eyes.

"Still need to go further down?"

Max muttered, and Lin Yu nodded.

"Yes, we should continue downward."

"Then wait for me to scout the path," Max said after thinking, then picked up those two dolls from the ground. "Let's confirm if there's any danger deeper inside."

Saying this, Max stood at the staircase entrance and threw the dolls down one by one.

When these dolls were thrown out together, they seemed to trigger hidden effects and combination skills—the first doll landed nearby, but when the second doll landed near it, the second doll strangely fell forward much further with an anti-gravity trajectory.

The third was the same—and so on.

By the time Max finished throwing all twelve, the later dolls had long reached areas far down the staircase, completely out of sight.

But still no unusual sounds occurred.

"Safe!"

Max made an "OK" gesture, then optimistically started walking downward.

She collected dolls along the way as she walked.

The two only needed to reach the ninth doll before arriving at the bottom of the staircase—this spiraling staircase didn't actually go very deep downward.

The tenth, eleventh, and twelfth dolls were all piled in front of a door.

This door was completely different from all previously seen doors—a wooden door with copper nails and iron-edged borders, engraved in the center with a symbol that looked like ocean waves, while appearing much more ancient and old.

The door had a double-keyhole lock, seemingly requiring two keys to open—but fortunately, Robin had already solved this lock.

Two "drawn" keys were inserted into it, keys with gray pencil-sketch-like texture, embedded in the keyholes in physical form.

So Lin Yu only needed to gently push, and the door opened a crack.

"Throw something inside."

Lin Yu said, and Max immediately threw two dolls inside—still safe. Read full story at novel_fіre.net

"Still nothing wrong."

Max said happily, pushing the door open.

The moment the door opened...

A rich aroma of alcohol wafted over.

Then "hiss-hiss" sounds came as candlesticks behind the door automatically lit with blue flames, dimly illuminating the interior scene.

This was a space much larger than Lin Yu had imagined—rows of large wooden barrels placed on shelves, dividing the spacious room into three narrow aisles.

"Is this a wine cellar?"

Max said in surprise, and Lin Yu nodded gently.

"Yes, a wine cellar."