The Extra Sacrifice

After a round of assessment games, the total time was just over an hour.

The sky outside was at its brightest. Yu Xing woke up in bed, saw the familiar bedroom scenery, and pushed himself up with his arms.

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

After a moment, he shook his head, hiding the feelings he couldn't share with others. He reached out his hand, and with a thought, a phantom mask outline gradually solidified at his fingertips. Finally, it transformed into a physical mask as light as a feather, which he held.

The mask was pure white, with elegant, leaf-shaped openings for the eyes. The edges were sparsely decorated with strange patterns, delicate and soft in shape. A touch of light red dotted the lip outline. Upon closer inspection, it fit perfectly with Yu Xing's face shape.

The mask's expression seemed happy yet sad, resentful yet angry, making it difficult to look at for too long, otherwise, a sense of fear would arise from within.

This was the materialization of a personality mask, the system's materialization. For "Deductionists" in certain types of deduction games, wearing it on their face would have special effects.

Whether viewed directly in the mind or after materializing the mask, the template was the same.

Yu Xing, however, stared at the mask. The uncontrollable fear that arose was suppressed and vanished. He examined the few formally displayed attributes and the additional last option.

Under "Identity," there was a progress bar behind "Junior Deductionist." He assumed that accumulating enough points would allow him to level up, though he didn't know its specific use for now. He continued reading.

"Mask specific gravity... Is this what my personality is like?" He narrowed his eyes slightly, his expression unreadable, and murmured, "Madness has the highest percentage, followed by Calmness. Aren't these two contradictory? Chaos is third..."

His voice lowered as he seemed to ponder seriously, finally letting out a sigh of unknown meaning.

The system's description of the holder, "no threat," was insignificant to him. Skipping this section, he focused his serious gaze on the "Personality Sacrifice."

A [Sacrifice] was like the small knife in Zhao Yijiu's hand, possessing a power unique to certain ghostly entities, which could serve different purposes in deductions. The form of a sacrifice was not limited to weapons; it could also be an oil painting, a lantern, or even a cat.

A deductionist could wear up to six sacrifices at a time. Sacrifices were usually kept on the mask and could be taken out at any time when needed. If the mask was materialized, one could see patterns on the mask symbolizing the "worn" sacrifices.

It was precisely because he knew these things that he found the incorrect data string so noteworthy.

He had no sacrifices on him and had never touched one, yet the mask told him he was already wearing one. On the mask's forehead, where it was materialized, a small, gray, incomplete compass pattern also confirmed this.

"The sacrifice I already had, could it be..." His expression shifted, and he subconsciously reached up to cover his face. Even though no one else was there, he didn't want anyone to see his current expression.

"As expected, my direction is not wrong," he whispered like a mosquito, his lips trying hard to control themselves, but they still couldn't help but curve upwards.

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

Soon, he adjusted his emotions, lowered his hand, and continued reading.

"Personality Aberration Degree... Not important."

"Deduction Mall... This I need to check."

Yu Xing chose to enter, and immediately, a product list with a not-so-large number of items appeared.

It displayed items available for purchase by Junior and Intermediate Deductionists, divided into three sections.

One: System Exchange Page.

The products on this page were of two types. The first type: concepts that ordinary people couldn't control, such as wealth and health, were clearly priced and within reach.

The cheapest was wealth. Taking RMB as an example, 1 point could be exchanged for 50 yuan.

This ratio was not exaggerated. Yu Xing's entire net worth of 233 points could only be exchanged for a little over ten thousand yuan.

What caught his attention was the text behind the exchange column: "[After confirming the exchange, currency will be delivered to the Deductionist through reasonable, safe, worry-free, ethical, and harmless means that do not violate the legal interests of any innocent party.]"

This was interesting. Although Yu Xing really wanted to see how the money would come, he didn't waste points on it.

After looking for a while, his gaze drifted to the [Health] column.

This... was something he urgently needed. His physical condition was continuously deteriorating. He had been dragging it out for a long time, finally reaching a point of weakness where the deduction system would allow him in. Now that his goal was achieved, there was no need to delay further.

However, when he intended to exchange all his points, hoping for as much improvement as possible, he only received a cold prompt.

"[Your physical problem is not naturally formed and belongs to the absurd domain. This mall cannot cure it. It is recommended to enter the Wish List to make a wish.]"

"Wish List?" Yu Xing repeated in a low voice, not rushing to exit the mall, but merely remembering it and continuing to browse.

The other section of the System Exchange page was called [Deductionist Case Video Viewing Rights].

Deductionists could search for any other deductionist whose name they knew and spend points to purchase videos of their deduction games that they had opened viewing rights for, allowing them to understand their deduction habits or learn deduction techniques.

Yu Xing could only buy videos from deductionists of the same level. He casually browsed some "System Recommended" and "Newly Recorded" videos, with prices ranging from 10 to 30 points. Videos with an S rating were more expensive, while those from A to D decreased in price.

His assessment game was S-rated, but only official games could be recorded. This meant that starting from the next game, after the deduction, Yu Xing could choose whether or not to open the video of that deduction game from his perspective.

"This is a good way to earn points." He was in a good mood and looked at the remaining two sections of the mall.

The second section was called [Sacrifice Trading Center], where deductionists could trade freely, similar to a game auction house, allowing for bartering or purchasing with points.

The third section was [Information Trading Center]. Yu Xing's mind moved, and he excitedly clicked to enter.

"Analysis of the strength of the permanent MC and guests for the 123rd issue of 'Journey of Terror' program. Prediction of guests for the 124th issue... What is this?" The content inside was somewhat beyond Yu Xing's expectations. He had never heard of this "Journey of Terror" program.

"Recruitment for the 'Weird Detective Agency,' requirement: a character who has experienced three or more deductions in investigator-type deduction games?"

"..." The contents were bizarre and varied. For the first time, Yu Xing genuinely showed a bewildered expression.

Sob sob sob, I'm just a little newbie, I don't know anything!

These pieces of information all required points, and they were prohibitively expensive. He dejectedly rubbed his eyes and expressionlessly closed the mall.

He would look at these... after he understood more about the absurd world.

So, next up, the Wish List!

[Wishes can be recorded here. The system will assess the cost based on the wish's magnitude. Once confirmed, wishes cannot be revoked. They can be replaced after completion. Current wishes: 0/3]

"So there's something like this," Yu Xing tentatively typed--

"Make all negative status effects on my body disappear and restore my stamina to a normal person's level."

[Confirm this wish?]

"Mm."

[Evaluating]

[Confirmed]

[To make the negative status effects on Deductor Yu Xing disappear and restore him to a normal person's level, the cost is: achieve the identity of a High-Level Deductor, 3000 points, and complete seven deduction missions within two months.]

"Ah, that's a relief, it doesn't seem particularly difficult." Yu Xing breathed a sigh of relief. As long as there was a solution, it was fine. Although the cost seemed a bit high, in reality, all he had to pay was 3000 points. The identity and time limit were just additional conditions, with no real downsides for him.

It just meant he'd have to enter games more frequently from now on.

Of course, Yu Xing knew that only he could say that. Others seeing the two-month deadline for seven deduction missions might have already burst into tears.

Having resolved the immediate crisis, Yu Xing, with a relaxed mindset, clicked on the [Deduction Game Direction Selection Market].

This was a newly appeared option. After clicking it, the contents of the Mall Intelligence Trading Center seemed to offer an explanation.

[Deduction Game Direction Selection Market]

[Introduction: In addition to undertaking solo random or team random deduction games, Deductors can choose "work" here to receive different benefits.]

[Work List]

[Rookie Carnage Program: Held once a month, selecting the five most promising rookie players of the month as program guests for cooperative/competitive deduction games (voluntary participation required). The entire deduction process will be live-streamed, with viewers paying to enter. Tips will be split 50/50 between the guests and the system.]

[Anomaly Research Project Group: This project group aims to research a recently discovered "large-scale continuous absurd world." This world has naturally formed another game system, and its human players are called Experience Officers. Information on this world is currently being collected, and submissions will be rewarded accordingly, with negotiation accepted.]

The list was a full dozen pages long, with numerous options. Yu Xing even found some jobs that were very suitable for rookies like him.

When he wanted to learn more, he was told he needed to complete the main quest first.

The main quest was the last item on the Persona Mask. Yu Xing muttered, "This really feels like a game," and then clicked to view it.

The main quest listed several categories of deduction games, labeled as [Helping Rookies Familiarize Themselves with Each Game Type].

Essentially, it meant trying each type of game once. The difficulty was the same as official games, but each Deductor had to complete the main quest content according to the process before choosing freely.

Finally, after looking through everything, Yu Xing dismissed the materialized mask and stretched. He carefully and slowly stood up.

He had just come out of a game and wasn't in a hurry to start the main quest. Instead, there were some things from the evaluated game he wanted to confirm.

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

It seemed Ning Feng also had some understanding of inexplicable matters. So, what was his identity?

The absurd worlds were also interconnected. He had confirmed this from the work list in the [Market].

Therefore, people in the absurd worlds, besides being reflections of criminals in reality, must have other existences.

However, his current question was whether the killer personality had occupied Zheng Song's body and truly committed crimes through the game. Yu Xing couldn't confirm this.

He pondered for a moment, then walked out of the bedroom and into the study. He rummaged through a desk drawer and pulled out a stack of A4 paper.

On the desk were several books Yu Xing had been reading recently. The bookshelf beside it was densely packed with books on almost all subjects. Near the window, an easel was set up, with an unfinished painting drying there and brushes placed on a palette.

Yu Xing sat down at the desk, pushed the books on the table aside to make space, spread out the A4 paper, and took a charcoal pencil from the pen holder. He began to sketch using a professional technique.

The general method of sketching is to draw the whole first, then the details, outlining the proportions, and then meticulously handling the local details and shading.

But Yu Xing didn't need to follow steps when he drew. His control over the brush was extremely strong, so he was very free. Where he started drawing depended entirely on his mood. Soon, a portrait gradually became clear under his hand.