Researcher's Notes and the Truth

After tearing out all the pages and eliminating the "interference options," Lin Yu and Sherlock quickly pieced together all the "puzzle pieces."

The torn pages of the book were spread out on the floor of the entire wooden house.

This work is quite time-consuming and labor-intensive; it's already past midnight.

The scattered pages on the floor spelled out four huge numbers.

"9", "4", "5", "7".

Seeing these four numbers, Lin Yu nodded with great satisfaction.

"Yes, the password should be a combination of these four numbers."

"We just don't know the order yet..."

There are 4! = 24 possible combinations of four numbers arranged in any pattern.

There are 24 possible permutations and combinations; trying them one by one would give you plenty of time.

However, Lin Yu dared not gamble—what if the box had some self- Protection Mechanism that would self-destruct if the wrong password was entered?

Thinking about this, Lin Yu squatted down and began to ponder.

However, Sherlock spoke up.

"The correct order should be 5497 or 7945... there are only these two possibilities."

I'm leaning towards 5497.

Hearing Sherlock's words, Lin Yu looked at him with some surprise.

"How did you come to that conclusion?"

Sherlock shrugged. "It's simple. These books, grouped in pairs, aren't randomly arranged."

"The content of these books is highly interconnected—they all seem like textbooks for the same course."

"Two similar books are usually of similar difficulty."

"The difficulty increases in the order of 5, 4, 9, and 7 -- the order in which the books were written also follows this sequence."

Sherlock said calmly.

Lin Yu found it unbelievable.

"With this paint job, can you still recognize me?"

"Of course it can. Although it's blacked out, the area that's blacked out can still represent the number and complexity of the formulas—not to mention, there are actually quite obvious hints in the contents of these books."

Sherlock said, squatting down and pointing to one of the pages that made up the number "4," "Look, there's a footnote on this page of the book that quotes something from number 5."

"This section of 7 is also an extension of 5 -- but since 9 mentions both 4 and 7, and based on the description of 7 on this page of 9, there is a 'furthermore' added before it... so I guess 7 should be a follow-up to 4."

As Sherlock spoke, Lin Yu looked at him, somewhat shocked.

Although this guy seems a bit eccentric, his Detective skills... are truly impressive.

Lin Yu was starting to believe that this guy was Profession Detective.

"You remember even these small details?"

"No problem at all. I can even tell what these things are about from just a few words," Sherlock said smugly. "The discipline these books discuss probably uses 'emotion' as fuel and raw material..."

"Click!"

The sound of the combination lock popping open interrupted Sherlock.

Sherlock looked at Lin Yu with some annoyance. "Hey, why can't you listen to me properly!"

While Sherlock was admiring himself in his solitude, Lin Yu had already gone to open the box.

"Sorry," Lin Yu said without looking up, opening the box. "I'm more interested in what's inside this box than the contents of these books."

"Let's talk about the background and setting of this Instance later."

As Lin Yu spoke, he opened the trunk door.

Sherlock looked at Lin Yu and leaned in, "Well, I'm also curious about what's inside this box."

And after opening the box...

Inside was a transparent file folder.

Inside the file folder were a black Notebook, a white Identity card, and a key.

It appears to be someone's personal property.

Lin Yu unceremoniously opened the file bag and then looked at the white Identity card inside.

The back features a black logo of a burning book, while the front displays basic information about the Identity card.

[Name: Will Valetti]

[Gender: Male]

[Identity: Independent Researcher]

[Permissions: B-3]

[Region: To Winter Mountain]

There was a photo next to it, showing a somewhat gloomy young man with curly hair wearing a white uniform shirt.

His face was slightly scratched.

"It seems this is the owner of this house."

Lin Yu muttered to himself.

Then he opened the Notebook.

The thin Notebook had only the front third used; the writing on it resembled a research diary.

"August 7th, Blizzard. The logger shows a 'leak' here. Damn it, there's not a single living person here! How could there be a leak!"

"August 10th, blizzard. I slept very poorly last night... I wandered around the area today but didn't find anything... The nearby human settlements have been abandoned for a long time."

"August 15th, blizzard. I've been Nightmare lately, this place is awful. Seriously, do I even need to write about the weather? It seems like it's always snowing here! Anyway, nothing much to say today—just one more week, and I can leave."

"August 16th, Blizzard. Unearthed some very ominous things... Could so many people have died here? And there wasn't a single trace of soul left on the corpses, it's too abnormal!"

"August 17th, blizzard. Is there a monster called 'Chate' in these mountains? My dreams are getting more and more chaotic! I'll call for Reinforcements once the signal is restored!"

"August 25th. Damn it, what's going on here? Why are there such terrifying monsters? I'm in terrible shape, I'm going to take a gamble tomorrow!"

"On August 26th, I realized what had happened here... No wonder it was a 'leak,' damn it, I never imagined a 'leak' would take this form. This is all our Error! It's devastating!"

"I understand now, August 27th. How do we deal with 'Chate'?"

The diary ends here.

The rest was completely blank.

Looking at the handwriting in the diary, which went from neat to messy, Lin Yu seemed to sense the increasingly worse mental state of the person who wrote the diary.

He rubbed his temples.

"This is really complicated."

Lin Yu let out a sigh of relief.

The "Truth" about this Instance is getting closer.

However, this also made Lin Yu feel increasingly troubled.

After all, his goal wasn't to uncover the Truth Instance, but to find the "Liar"...

Who orchestrated this "scam" at Winter Mountain?

Lin Yu was still completely clueless.

Meanwhile, Sherlock spoke up again.

"Thank you, May! Thank you for bringing me here!"

Lin Yu looked to his side; the great Detective spoke sincerely.

But it was precisely this sincerity that puzzled Lin Yu.

"No, why are you thanking me?"

Wasn't he pointing a gun at this "Detective"?

Sherlock's eyes gleamed with fervent light.

"Because I initially thought it was just a normal Survival Instance, I subconsciously assumed that even if there were any 'hidden puzzles,' they wouldn't be worth my special effort to solve."

"But I was wrong... The puzzles here are very interesting!"

"If you hadn't discovered this place and forced me to come, I might have really missed such a wonderful mystery!"

Sherlock spoke, a fanatical expression on his face.

"Whether it's 'Chate' or this mysterious researcher... I will find out the truth!"

"The Truth about this 'Winter Mountain'!"