Q&A Begins, The Strange Crowman!

"Alright, since the misunderstanding has been temporarily cleared up, let's do a quick self-introduction... After all, this is a puzzle-solving cooperative game, so it's necessary for us to get to know each other."

After Lin Yu put down the pistol, the atmosphere in the room instantly eased.

The uncle wearing the white safety helmet quickly tried to smooth things over again.

Games that lean towards "puzzle-solving" usually don't have particularly urgent situations. They typically provide ample time for players to communicate and get to know each other.

He took the lead as an example.

"You can call me 'Uncle Tie,' which is also my forum ID... My profession is 'Craftsman,' and I've cleared ten instances so far."

Hearing Uncle Tie's self-introduction, Lin Yu understood.

Eight instances meant he had been participating in the "Death Game" for two months...

This was already beyond the novice stage, making him a relatively "veteran" player!

After all, the "Forum" was established two years ago!

The oldest known batch of players... only started joining the game two and a half years ago.

Since the difficulty of the Death Game increases as it progresses, players who survive for half a year are extremely rare.

For Uncle Tie to have survived for two months and cleared ten instances was already quite impressive.

And his profession was "Craftsman"...

This was also a relatively common and versatile profession, belonging to the "Enhancement type."

Lin Yu remembered the abilities of a "Craftsman": they could increase proficiency with various "tools" and enhance understanding of mechanical structures.

This was also a very versatile profession, as most craftsmen only needed to purchase or find an "item" like a "wrench" or "screwdriver" to fully utilize their professional advantages.

Moreover, no matter what kind of instance it was, most game instances always contained "mechanisms"...

Having a "Craftsman" present could save a lot of trouble.

After Uncle Tie finished, the young man and woman who appeared to be a couple spoke.

"My forum ID is 'April,' my profession is 'Doctor,' and I've cleared six instances so far."

After the girl introduced herself, she nudged the boy beside her.

The boy quickly spoke up.

"My forum ID is 'Number Eight,' my profession is 'Student,' and I've also cleared six instances so far."

The two spoke one after the other.

Lin Yu nodded slightly.

The "Doctor's" ability was simple and powerful; it allowed for one "healing" per day without any items or medicine. It was a typical "Skill type" profession.

As for the "Student," it belonged to the "Rule type"—when there were negotiable non-player characters in the game instance, the student had an opportunity to "greatly increase the success rate" once.

Uncle Tie realized something from the self-introductions of "April" and "Number Eight."

"You two seem to be together, did you enter as a team?"

The two nodded. "Doctor" April didn't avoid the question and nodded, saying, "Yes, we used a team-up item."

Uncle Tie sighed with emotion. "Out of five people, two pairs already knew each other..."

Then, he looked at Lin Yu and the young girl.

"Although I already know you two are 'Soldier' and 'Thief'... let's still introduce ourselves."

The young girl nodded and introduced herself.

"Hello everyone, my forum ID is 'Bu Wang,' and I've cleared three instance games so far."

Lin Yu felt a bit helpless.

Honestly, in this type of game that seemed to be primarily "puzzle-solving," Lin Yu really didn't want the "Soldier" identity.

He wished he had gotten an "Information type" profession—like a Teacher or Reporter.

But unfortunately, there was someone here who knew him...

So, Lin Yu could only admit it.

"That's right, my profession is 'Soldier,' you can call me 'Nine Waters'... I just cleared an instance."

Lin Yu said calmly.

The young girl's eyes widened. "What, you just cleared an instance?!"

Lin Yu looked at her and nodded.

"Yeah, what's so strange about that?"

The others were also incredulous.

Uncle Tie adjusted his safety helmet and asked, "Brother Lin Yu, how did you know about the forum after just clearing your first instance?"

"And from what you're saying, you even participated in your city's offline gathering?"

Newcomer instances wouldn't encounter veterans, only other newcomers!

So, most of the "newcomers" only learned about the forum, items, and other things from veteran players in the second instance.

Lin Yu smiled somewhat humbly.

"Just lucky."

The others looked at Lin Yu in surprise, clearly curious.

The college student named Number Eight showed a relieved expression.

"Phew, if there are newcomers... it means this instance probably won't be too difficult!"

He said with some optimism and relief.

After the self-introduction session ended, the water in the room was finally drained.

After all the water was drained...

Everyone heard a "click" from the surrounding walls.

Lin Yu and the others followed the sound and found that four doors had appeared on the walls.

The four doors were different colors, corresponding to red, yellow, blue, and green.

Among them, the green door slowly opened, and a "person" walked out.

But Lin Yu and the others were sure it wasn't human.

A "near-human creature" wearing a "crow mask" and covered in a black feathered cloak walked out.

"Caw caw-- Hello, 'players'!"

The crow-head's voice was hoarse, like dozens of voices overlapping.

Lin Yu and the others looked at it solemnly.

The bloodstain prompt before entering displayed the instance name and the conditions for completion.

The instance name was "Deadly Q&A," and the condition for completion was "solve the necessary puzzles"...

In other words, the crowman in front of them was very likely the one in charge of asking the questions.

As expected, the crow spoke again after a few seconds.

"Caw caw, I will be the 'Examiner' for this game... I will give you questions and hints!"

"Caw, there are three 'rooms' in this game."

"Caw caw, I have set three questions in each room—two reward/punishment questions, and one 'choice question'."

"Caw caw, caw, answering the reward/punishment questions correctly will earn you rewards, and answering incorrectly will result in punishment. For the 'choice question,' you can only enter the next room if you answer correctly—answering all 'choice questions' correctly will allow you to pass the instance."

"Caw, the above are all the rules for this game, 'Deadly Q&A'..."

The crow said, flapping its wings.

At that moment, the water flow from the drain hole at the top suddenly increased.

"Boom--"

Water gushed out, drenching everyone again, causing them to cry out.

"Whoa!"

The crowman's voice rang out again.

"Everyone, please listen to the first question—given the current inflow and outflow speed, how long will it take for the water to completely fill this room?"