The Pipe and Deerstalker

[Background: Artilly Hunter, the daughter of the wealthy merchant Hunter, has gone missing. As the city's finest detective, you have been hired to find the young lady. You are now heading to the wealthy merchant Hunter's estate to investigate...]

[Main Quest: Find Artilly Hunter or her corpse within one month]

[Temporary language acquired. It will disappear automatically upon leaving the instance.]

[Clothing, backpack, weapons, and item attributes remain unchanged. Appearance temporarily altered. It will automatically revert upon leaving the instance.]

[Firearms and grenades detected to be from an incompatible era. Power reduced by 50%. Pistol reload speed +1 second. Sniper rifle reload speed +30 seconds.]

(Hint 1: This is your first official instance. The Main Quest may be failed, but you will need to pay a ransom of 100 Points, and your highest attribute will decrease by 1 level. If you lack sufficient Points, equipment will be deducted. If the deducted equipment cannot make up for the penalty Points, the player will be judged to have failed the game!)

(Hint 2: Title quests will be activated in official instances—both title quests and side quests are hidden and must be discovered on your own.)

After the blinding light vanished, Qin Ran heard the sound of hoofbeats and the crisp splashing of carriage wheels rolling over puddles between the cobblestones.

His body rose and fell rhythmically.

Yesterday's heavy rain had left quite a few puddles on the road. Even with people cleaning them up, they had only cleared away the larger pools of water.

Tiny patches between the cobblestones were beyond even the most diligent cleaner.

"A carriage?!"

Qin Ran stared ahead in surprise.

The small carriage compartment could only seat three or four people. The seats faced each other from the front and rear, and Qin Ran sat in the rear, facing forward, able to clearly see the scenery sliding past outside through the window beside him.

It looked like a street with a distinctly medieval feel.

But the occasional antique automobile that flashed by told Qin Ran roughly what era this was.

The people on the street wore suits and shirts, long dresses and carried parasols, lifting their hats in greeting as they passed one another.

He himself had changed into a black trench coat.

He examined the trench coat that had come with his temporarily altered appearance, especially the pipe and deerstalker hat that had abruptly appeared in his hands. Looking at the background description that called him "the city's finest detective," Qin Ran raised a brow.

If you want me to cosplay Sherlock Holmes, at least give me a Dr. Watson!

A female version, preferably!

"Looking for someone? Firearm power reduced?"

Qin Ran carefully reviewed the remaining information, and his brow furrowed.

The reduction in firearm power and increased reload time were undoubtedly extremely unfavorable to Qin Ran. His combat strength had dropped by at least thirty percent.

"Is this the limitation Lawless mentioned?"

Qin Ran could not help muttering to himself.

Earlier, after waiting for three hours, Qin Ran had finally gotten to speak with the other party, who had generously told him quite a lot.

Naturally, that was based on the other party having made considerable gains. Even through text alone, Qin Ran could sense the other party's delight.

The information could roughly be divided into four points.

First, veteran players had established a secret marketplace within the game. It opened regularly every month, and any player could enter by spending 10 Points. Inside were equipment and items far beyond the level found on the player forums.

Second, instances imposed different restrictions on players depending on their environment and era. Some were beneficial, while most were detrimental.

Third, the instances players experienced did not become stronger as the players themselves grew stronger. Instead, difficulty increased according to the number of instances they had experienced.

For multiplayer instances, the average number of instances experienced by all players would be used.

Finally, instances could be failed, but there would be a price. Moreover, the more instances one experienced, the harsher the penalties became!

"This is your first official instance,

The Main Quest may be failed, but you will need to pay a ransom of 100 Points, and your highest attribute will decrease by 1 level!"

As Qin Ran looked at that prompt, Lawless's well-intentioned warning immediately surfaced in his mind.

"If you don't want to die too miserably in the future, you must complete the Main Quest. Even if you can't, you still have to minimize the losses!"

Qin Ran wholeheartedly agreed with that.

One hundred Points was nothing to Qin Ran, but losing one level from his highest attribute was a loss he could not afford.

After all, that represented the cost of raising the skill [Tracking] to the Mastery level.

A full 3,000 Points and 2 Skill Points!

Though the calculation was somewhat broad, it was not excessive.

Moreover, Qin Ran could easily imagine what would happen if the Main Quest of an instance went unfinished and was judged a failure.

It would become a vicious cycle that dragged one deeper and deeper into the mud!

If you failed the Main Quest of your first instance, losing Points and attributes, then you would lack the ability to face the Main Quest of the second instance and fail again, suffering further deductions.

After several repetitions, the result would speak for itself.

A player whose physical abilities were weaker than those of an ordinary person would face ferocious monsters.

There was no way that person would not die horribly!

"Not only must I complete the Main Quest, I need to complete as many side quests and title quests beyond the requirements as possible—only then can I gain greater advantages in future instances!"

The moment Qin Ran learned that instance difficulty rose with the number of instances experienced, he knew what he had to do.

Moreover, he had already gained an early advantage.

The gains from the Beginner Instance were enough to put him far ahead of other novice players.

And now, in his first official instance, Qin Ran had no objection to expanding that advantage even further.

A craftsman must sharpen his tools before he can do good work!

Qin Ran swiftly began checking his equipment and making preparations.

He first looked at his original tactical backpack, which had completely changed its appearance.

A long wooden case about 1.5 meters in length and no more than 45 centimeters wide lay beside him.

It had a pure black finish and was secured by two silver clasps. A leather strap threaded back and forth around it formed a shoulder sling, from which hung two Keys, one large and one small.

When Qin Ran's finger touched the larger key, several simple memories surfaced in his mind—basic common knowledge of the era, several people familiar to his current identity, his residence, and more.

After sorting through them briefly, Qin Ran picked up the smaller key.

Click!

Qin Ran easily opened the case with it.

The sniper rifle [Viper-M1], pistol [M1905], dagger, five [-II] grenades, three cans of food, and three bottles of water were all inside, not a single item missing.

Even the magazines had been arranged neatly.

Of course, the appearances of the equipment and items had changed somewhat to better fit this era's understanding, but they functioned exactly the same way.

That made Qin Ran breathe a sigh of relief.

If the era had changed even the way firearms were used, that would have been disastrous for Qin Ran.

Although [Gunpowder Weapons: Light Firearms] had reached the Mastery level, it did not include the use of true muskets. That should fall under [Gunpowder Weapons: Special Firearms].

Qin Ran took out the dagger and the pistol [M1905], securing one on each side of his waist beneath the cover of his trench coat.

Then, after giving it some thought, he took out two [-II] grenades and put them into the outer pockets of his trench coat.

Although the Main Quest was merely to find someone, Qin Ran was not naive enough to believe he could succeed just by looking.

There would inevitably be situations in which he had no choice but to fight.

Or rather, "combat intertwined with exploration" was the theme of Underground Game instances!

If the sniper rifle [Viper-M1] had not been too conspicuous to conceal beneath his trench coat, Qin Ran would not have minded carrying it on his back instead of leaving it in the case.

After all, he was the city's "finest" detective, not some musketeer.

Having just entered an official instance, Qin Ran did not want to do anything that conflicted with the instance setting and invite trouble.

Besides, even a musketeer probably could not openly carry a sniper rifle [Viper-M1].

This was not a war-torn city like the Beginner Instance.

It was a very safe, peaceful, and somewhat prosperous city.

At least, that was how it appeared on the surface.

"Sir, we'll be there shortly!"

The driver informed Qin Ran through the small window connecting the carriage compartment. About two minutes later, the carriage came to a complete stop, and the driver opened the door.

Qin Ran got down with the case on his back and surveyed his surroundings.

Just as the background description had said, this was an estate.

It had lawns, a fountain, and surrounding walls.

The large five-story building before him was naturally the heart of the estate.

Standing beside a mermaid fountain statue, Qin Ran looked at the building with its white and blue exterior walls and instinctively thought of waves and rolling seas.

With the lifelike mermaid statue standing before it, he truly felt as though he had been transported into the ocean.

"The Hunter Family produced a naval general a century ago!"

"Mr. Qin Ran, hello. I am the Hunter Family's butler!"

With that brief introduction, a kind-faced old man immediately approached Qin Ran and bowed.

At the same time, with the help of several young men, the driver led the horses into the stable and pulled the carriage to one side of it.

Qin Ran's gaze swept over the young men.

Every one of them was powerfully built and nimble-handed, clearly having received some combat training.

"An estate needs people to defend it. Relying solely on the police is not enough!"

The kindly old butler explained before getting to the point. "The master is waiting for you. Please come with me, sir!"

Making an inviting gesture, the kindly old butler walked ahead to lead the way.

Qin Ran nodded and followed behind him up the steps and into the building before them.

A broad corridor was carpeted in red velvet, with candle sconces along both walls.

After passing through the corridor, the view suddenly opened up.

A uniquely styled hall appeared before Qin Ran. The crystal chandelier ornaments reflected the sunlight, making the entire hall gleam with crystalline brilliance.

However, the master of the hall was deeply troubled.

He was a fair-skinned, short, somewhat overweight middle-aged man.

Behind him stood a middle-aged woman with sorrow written across her face.

From the oil painting in the center of the hall, Qin Ran could guess that this was his "employer," Hunter, along with Hunter's wife.

Although the painting was probably ten years old, neither of them had changed much, and they were easy to recognize.

"Detective, please help me!"

The master of the house saw Qin Ran enter, immediately rose to his feet, came before him, and pleaded.