Rookie Deduction Competition Invitation
"I've finished writing."
Completely ignored by her two older brothers Masha wrote quickly and finished her homework... no, she finished her report.
Yu Xing felt a strange sensation in his heart, probably out of curiosity about Ning Feng and the experience tester. In any case, he was a beat slow to react before accepting the little girl's report.
I've read it through roughly; it's well-written.
Yes, Masha has a knack for being a clerk.
He bent his finger and tapped the table near Lucia's ear as she slept. Lucia frowned and woke up with a groan.
"What is it... Oh, Roy!" She felt a little embarrassed to see her old friend Roy standing by the desk with two colleagues, who had seen her sleeping at work.
She's getting tired more and more easily.
Lucia propped herself up, still feeling weak. She muttered, "Damn it, it's time to take a sick leave... Oh right, Roy, have you finished your investigation?"
Yu Xing nodded and handed the report to Lucia, "Not only is the investigation over, but did you hear your subordinates' hurried footsteps? They're rushing to put out a fire. If you keep sleeping, the Brown family's house will be burned to the ground."
Lucia jumped up. "A fire! I can't believe it, is it serious? Is anyone injured?"
"Don't worry, there's 'no one left' in their family." Yu Xing said meaningfully, gesturing for Lucia to look at the report.
The system notification sounded the moment Lucia received the report.
[Main Quest: Find the truth behind the strange events at the villa and deliver the investigation results to Lucia. Completed]
[This simulation will end in five minutes.]
The report was given to her; whether Lucia, the police officer, believed it or not is another matter entirely.
Lucia nervously looked at the report, rubbed her neck, and accidentally twisted the head that Yu Xing had reattached for her a little, revealing a gap at the joint.
She was completely oblivious, even muttering to herself, "No way, do wizards really exist in this world?"
Looking at Lucia, who had become a ghost without even realizing it, Yu Xing could almost imagine what it would be like after they left the deduction exercise, when another group of deducers... or experience testers came here and cleaned up the mess in the form of Yugi.
The first five minutes passed without incident; at least Lucia's head didn't fall off and cause any more accidents. When the time was up, Yu Xing felt a blur before her eyes, lost consciousness, and left the Yugi amidst waves of dizziness.
[Hint: The 70% Role-Playing Deduction Game "Nightmare in a Cage" has ended.]
[97% of the truth about the case has been revealed]
[Increase in Personality Assimilation Degree: 0]
[Rating: S]
[Gained Deduction Points: 794 (Plot Completion) (Rating Bonus) (Exploration Bonus) (Deduction Contribution)]
[Main storyline completed: 3/4]
[Received offering: The Weird Doll]
[Exiting simulation]
Yu Xing woke up in her room, stretched her body which hadn't moved for 24 hours, checked her hunger level, and confirmed one thing.
In the simulation that takes up real time, the effects of eating and drinking are real; otherwise, he would be starving by now.
Actually, if you calculate it carefully, he spent about 24 hours in the simulation, which is different from reality, but not by much.
It must have been because he solved the problem too quickly the next day. If the body in the garden hadn't been found so quickly, the deduction process would probably have dragged on until the evening of the following day.
The system certainly wouldn't let the users starve.
Stretching, Yu Xing felt refreshed and, before she got too sleepy, began to summarize what she had learned from the simulation.
First, his deduction integral has increased significantly, and it is now --
[Identity: Intermediate Deducer (2228/3000)]
If his next deduction score is also S, he'll almost certainly be promoted to senior level.
Then came the offerings he received.
[Personality Sacrifice: &#*|*^(Data Error), Tears of the Underworld Candle, Weird Doll (Weared 3/6)]
Yu Xing a thought, Persona Mask materialized, adding a small black shadow pattern to the lips of the mask.
The figure was almost transparent, appearing and disappearing intermittently, even leaving afterimages as if it were moving slightly. If you didn't look closely, you might think it was an illusion.
He peeled off the pattern, only to feel a weight on his clothes as he was caught in a clip from behind a doll that had suddenly appeared.
The doll's blonde hair was very distinctive, but its face was blurry. Yu Xing picked it up and looked at it for a long time, but she just couldn't figure out what it looked like.
It's like someone has put a mosaic over his brain, or his eyes see it, but his brain tells him he can't recognize it—his nose, eyes, and mouth are all perfectly fine, but when put together, they're unrecognizable.
To be honest, Yu Xing originally thought there would be no sacrifices in this divination, because his special physique only reacted slightly when he touched the white silk binding Angel, and he was certain that there were no unclaimed sacrifices in the villa.
Unexpectedly, the Angel soul doll he had scooped into his arms as a precaution actually became a sacrifice and was brought out by him.
[Offering: The Strange Doll]
[Form: Exquisite Western-style miniature doll]
[This offering has fused with "Persona Mask? Sachi," and its fused ability is: The doll locks onto a target with its blurry face and indistinct eyes, and sings with its equally indistinct mouth. Its song can cause a certain degree of mental damage to the target, or it can soothe them. Once it starts singing, it will continue singing indefinitely. If you tell it to shut up, it will become very angry and will be unable to use abilities ② and ③ for one hour. It can only be used once per game.]
[②The doll turns to ashes, absorbing one fatal attack. After use, this sacrifice is lost for the remainder of the current simulation until the simulation ends.]
[③ Twist off the doll's head and use it as a ghost grenade. The head will explode upon contact with a solid object, generating a large amount of ghostly energy that marks targets within range. The doll will quickly grow a new head, which can report the direction of any marked target within three hours. However, besides reporting, it will also incessantly berate you for three hours. This can only be used once per simulation, and the ability cannot be used during its duration.]
[Description: After merging with the personality of the deducer Yu Xing, the sacrifice's appearance transformed into a blonde, black-dressed, faceless doll about the size of a girl's forearm; no one could clearly see her face. Her dress had a belt tied in a bow at the back, which was actually a clip design that could be attached to Yu Xing's belt and other items.]
[Note: Originally, her body should have housed a foolish, cowardly, stubborn, easily deceived, and deeply sinful soul, yet also kind and persistent in some ways. However... you see, after merging with your Persona Mask, her style has completely changed. This must be your problem; something's wrong with her, little bro.]
Yu Xing: "..."
After reading the description of the new offering, Yu Xing felt utterly innocent.
He didn't know why Angel's doll had changed its art style; wasn't this the system's fault?
It's the system's fault!
The scapegoat was naturally shifted. Yu Xing then thought back to the matter of Ning Feng and considered having Qu Xuanqing contact the people in the Anomaly Project Research Group on her behalf to discuss the data and compensation.
By the way, does Qu Xuanqing know anything about the Experience Master World and the Anomaly Project Research Group? Are they adversaries or simply researchers and researchers in the same relationship?
Thinking about it, he realized he had quite a lot to do in the next few days... If Ling Heng wasn't mistaken, he would make a move soon, and he needed to keep a close eye on things.
Suddenly, Yu Xing's attention was drawn to a piece of information in the system notification that he had almost overlooked.
Yu Xing had never seen the format of that message before; it looked like an invitation.
[Deducer Yu Xing, the system has detected that you are currently among the top five most promising new players this month (those with less than six formal deduction experiences and not yet at the Differentiation Tier). This statistic is valid until the 28th of each month.]
[You are eligible to participate in the end-of-month Rookie Deduction Competition, competing against four other rookies. This competition will be broadcast live and is open to all deducers at the Differentiation Tier (click here to learn about the Differentiation Tier concept) and above. You can earn points from live broadcast rewards. Participation is voluntary.]