The Extra Sacrifice

After one assessment game, the whole thing had taken barely over an hour.

It was the brightest time of day outside. Yu Xing woke up in bed, saw the familiar bedroom, and pushed himself upright with one arm.

Before he collapsed, he had been sitting on the edge of the bed. Now his legs were still bent, with his feet on the floor. The brief experience in the game felt like a dream, leaving him dazed for quite a while.

After a moment, he shook his head, hiding the feelings he couldn't tell anyone about. He reached out, and with a thought, a phantom mask gradually took shape at his fingertips. At last, it became a real mask as light as a feather, which he held between his fingers.

The mask was entirely white, with elegant, leaf-shaped openings for the eyes. Sparse, eerie patterns decorated its edges. Its shape was delicate and soft, with a touch of pale red on the lips. On closer inspection, it fit Yu Xing's face perfectly.

The mask's expression seemed joyful and sorrowful, resentful and furious all at once. It was hard to look at for long; otherwise, fear would rise from deep within.

This was the manifestation of the Persona Mask, and thus of the system itself. In certain types of deduction games, deducers could manifest it and wear it for special effects.

Whether he viewed the mask template directly in his mind or checked it after manifesting the mask, the information was the same.

Yu Xing stared at the mask. The uncontrollable fear that welled up vanished as soon as he suppressed it. He studied the few attributes that had officially appeared, along with the final extra option.

Under Identity, there was a points progress bar beside Junior Deducer. Presumably, he could advance once he had enough points. Yu Xing didn't yet know what that would do, so he continued reading.

"Mask proportions... Is this what my personality is like?" He narrowed his eyes, his expression half-smiling. "Madness has the highest proportion, but calmness is second. Aren't those two contradictory? Chaos is third..."

His voice trailed off. He seemed to give it some serious thought, then let out a sigh that was hard to interpret.

The system's suspicion, listed under Holder Description, that it posed no threat meant little to him. Skipping that section, he turned his serious gaze to the Personality Sacrifice.

A [Sacrifice] was like the little knife Zhao Yijiu had carried. It possessed some of the powers of a ghost and could serve different purposes during a deduction. A sacrifice didn't have to be a weapon; it could also be an oil painting, a lantern, or even a cat.

A deducer could wear up to six sacrifices at once. They usually stayed on the mask and could be taken out whenever needed. If the mask was manifested, patterns symbolizing the sacrifices being "worn" could be seen on it.

Knowing all this was what made the error in that string of data so troubling.

He had no sacrifices on him. He had never touched one. Yet the mask said he was already wearing one. A tiny pattern of a gray, incomplete compass, cut out in outline, on the manifested mask's forehead confirmed it.

"Could the sacrifice I've had on me all along be..." His expression shifted. Then, instinctively, he covered his face with one hand. Even though there was no one else here, he didn't want anyone to see his expression right now.

"Just as I thought. I was on the right track." He murmured so quietly it was like the buzz of a mosquito. He tried hard to keep the corners of his mouth from rising, but couldn't stop them.

The [Unknown Sacrifice], which didn't even display a name, occupied a sacrifice slot. Yu Xing wasn't annoyed at all. On the contrary, this was definitely good news for him.

Soon, he composed himself, lowered his hand, and continued reading.

"Personality Assimilation Degree... Not important."

"Deduction Mall... I should take a look at this."

Yu Xing selected it, and a not-very-large list of goods appeared.

It showed items available to Junior and Intermediate Deducers, divided into three sections.

The first was the System Exchange page.

Its goods fell into two categories. The first put a price on concepts ordinary people couldn't control, such as wealth and health, making them readily available.

Wealth was the cheapest. Using yuan as an example, one point could be exchanged for fifty yuan.

The rate wasn't outrageous. Yu Xing had 233 points to his name, which could only get him a little over ten thousand yuan.

What caught his attention was the note after the exchange section: [After you confirm an exchange, the currency will be given to the deducer in a reasonable and safe manner that leaves no future complications, violates no moral principles, and harms no innocent person's lawful interests].

That was interesting. Yu Xing was curious to see where the money would come from, but he didn't waste points on it.

After looking for a while, his gaze shifted to the [Health] section.

This... was something he desperately needed right now. His physical condition was continuing to deteriorate. He had put it off for a long time, until he had finally grown weak enough for the deduction system to let him in. Now that he had achieved his goal, there was no reason to keep delaying.

But when he tried to exchange all his points, thinking that any improvement would be better than none, he received only a cold notice.

[Your physical condition is not of natural origin and falls within the Absurd World domain. This mall cannot cure it. We recommend adding it to your Wish List.]

"Wish List?" Yu Xing repeated quietly. He didn't rush to exit the mall, but kept the name in mind and continued browsing.

The other section on the System Exchange page was called [Deducer Case Video Viewing].

Deducers could search for any other deducer whose name they knew, then spend points to buy videos of deduction games that person had made available for viewing. That way, they could learn about the other person's deduction habits or take pointers from their techniques.

Yu Xing could only buy videos from deducers of the same rank for now. He casually looked through a few under "System Recommendations" and "Recently Recorded." They cost between ten and thirty points. Videos rated S cost more, while those rated A through D decreased in price by rank.

His assessment game had been rated S, but only official games could be recorded. That meant that after his next game, Yu Xing could choose whether to make a video of the deduction game, with himself as the main viewpoint, available for viewing.

"That's a pretty good way to earn points." In a good mood, he looked at the two remaining sections of the mall.

The second section was called [Sacrifice Trading Center]. Deducers could trade freely there, like at an in-game auction house, exchanging goods or buying them with points.

The third section was called [Information Trading Center]. Yu Xing had a thought and clicked on it expectantly.

"Analysis of the strength of the regular MCs and guests in Terrorous Journey, Season 123. Predictions for the guests in Season 124..." The contents took him by surprise. What was this show called Terrorous Journey? He'd never heard of it.

"Strange Detective Agency recruiting new members. Requirements: have a character in an Investigator type deduction game who has experienced three or more deductions?"

"..." The contents were all over the place. For the first time, Yu Xing genuinely looked bewildered.

Waaah, I'm still a little newbie! I don't know anything!

All the information cost points, and it was absurdly expensive. He rubbed his eyes miserably, then shut down the mall with an expressionless face.

He'd wait until he knew more about the Absurd World before looking into all this.

Next up, the Wish List!

[You may enter a wish here. The system will determine the cost of granting it based on the scope of the wish. Once confirmed, a wish cannot be withdrawn, but may be replaced after completion. Current wishes: 0/3]

"So there's something like this." Yu Xing tentatively entered—

"Make my physical condition's negative effects disappear and restore my stamina to a normal person's level."

[Do you wish to confirm this wish?]

"Yeah."

[Assessing]

[Confirmed]

[To remove deducer Yu Xing's negative effects and restore his condition to a normal person's level, the cost is: attain the rank of Advanced Deducer, 3,000 points, and complete seven deduction missions within two months.]

"Ah, that's not too bad. It doesn't seem especially difficult." Yu Xing breathed a sigh of relief. It was good to have a solution. The price seemed a bit steep, but in reality, all he had to pay was 3,000 points. The rank and time limit were just additional requirements, and they wouldn't hurt him.

It just meant he would have to enter games frequently from now on.

Of course, Yu Xing understood that he was the only one who could say that. Anyone else seeing a deadline of seven deductions in two months might already be wailing in despair.

Having dealt with the most pressing issue, Yu Xing opened [Deduction Game Direction Selection Market] with an easygoing attitude.

This was a new option. After he entered, it seemed to explain the contents of the mall's Information Trading Center.

[Deduction Game Direction Selection Market]

[Introduction: In addition to entering solo random games or team random games, deducers may select a "job" here and receive different rewards.]

[Job Listings]

[Newcomer Arena Show: Held once a month. The five most promising new players of the month are selected as guests to participate in a cooperative/competitive deduction game (voluntary). The entire deduction is livestreamed. Viewers pay to enter, and tips are split fifty-fifty between the guests and the system.]

[Abnormal Research Project Group: This project aims to study a recently discovered "large-scale, continuous Absurd World." It has naturally developed a different game system, whose human players are known as experience-takers. We are now soliciting information about this world. Submissions will receive corresponding compensation. Negotiations are welcome.]

The list ran for over ten pages and offered a vast range of options. Yu Xing even found some jobs that seemed well suited to a newcomer like him.

When he tried to learn more, he was told he had to complete his Main Quest first.

The Main Quest was the last item on the Persona Mask. Yu Xing muttered, "They've really made it feel like a game," then clicked to take a look.

The Main Quest listed several types of deduction games, marked [Help newcomers familiarize themselves with the content of each game type].

Basically, he had to try every type of game once. The difficulty was the same as in official games, but every deducer had to complete the Main Quest first before making their own choices.

At last, he had finished looking through everything. Yu Xing dismissed the manifested mask, stretched, and carefully, slowly got to his feet.

He had just come out of the game and wasn't in a hurry to start the Main Quest. There were still some things he wanted to confirm about the assessment game he'd just experienced.

For example, who was the person named Ning Feng on the other end of the last phone call Zheng Song made?

It seemed Ning Feng also knew about some inexplicable things. So what was his identity?

He had already confirmed from the job listings in the [Market] that the Absurd Worlds were connected to one another.

That meant there had to be more to the people in the Absurd World than their being reflections of criminals in reality.

However, what he couldn't figure out was that the game hadn't let Yu Xing confirm whether the killer personality had ever taken over Zheng Song's body, or whether it had actually committed any crimes.

He thought it over, left the bedroom, and went into the study. He rummaged through the desk drawer and pulled out a stack of A4 paper.

Several books Yu Xing had been reading lately sat on the desk. The bookshelf beside it was packed with books on nearly every subject. Near the window stood an easel, holding an unfinished painting to dry. The paintbrushes lay in a tray.

Yu Xing sat down at the desk and pushed the books to one side to clear a space. He spread out the A4 paper, took a charcoal pencil from the holder, and began sketching with professional technique.

A typical sketch started with the whole, then moved on to the parts: outlining proportions, then carefully working out the details and the areas of light and shadow.

But Yu Xing didn't need to follow steps when he drew. He had exceptional control over his pencil, so he was free to do as he pleased. Which part he started with depended entirely on his mood. Soon, a portrait gradually took shape beneath his hand.