Returning from the abyss

Chapter 1433 The Melody of Fate - Interlude (End)
Although she had been here many times before, Lu Ning felt a very special sense of peace after sitting down in Watanabe Fuchiko's tea room this time.

"Alright, while Fujii is still going through the re-registration process, tell me your questions?" Watanabe Fuchiko placed a teacup in front of Lu Ning.

How did you know I had doubts?

"That's just your personality. If you encounter an obstacle that you can overcome, then you overcome it. If you can't overcome it, then you'll have doubts in your heart. Although it won't affect your way of dealing with people, it will still leave you with unresolved questions, won't it?"

"Ah... Yuanzi, you're so smart, why don't you help me think of something?"

Lu Ning asked with a smile.

“The path you pursue is different from hers, and the scenarios you follow are even more different,” Yuanzi said. “Lu Ning, haven’t you been seeking a path back? Everything else on this path is trivial to you, and you act accordingly.”

"Hmm, what next?"

"Then... it's normal that you're not interested in some things. Because you've already judged in your heart that you've achieved what you were supposed to do in this scenario, so you won't pursue it any further. Precisely because you've experienced scenarios led by mentors, you understand even more clearly that it's not the path you should take. You're not someone who likes to stir up trouble in scenarios; your consistent approach is to try to extricate yourself from the storm—to break the deadlock rather than stir it up, right?"

Lu Ning nodded.

"Since that's the case, why not just do as you please? I don't think I need to give you any psychological counseling. You actually know that, right?"

"But being so conflicted feels a bit embarrassing for a fifth-tier tourist."

“There are plenty of fifth-tier tourists with mental health issues. You just haven’t fully adapted yet, which is much better than a bunch of fanatics.” Watanabe Fuchiko took a sip of tea. “I heard footsteps. Fujii has arrived.”

Fujii Yukine opened the door.

"Hey, Xueyin, how's your progress? Have you encountered any difficulties?" Lu Ning asked.

“It was indeed very difficult, and there was resistance involved. Fortunately, I entered the scene alone. It was a scene where you had to choose four out of twenty.” Fujii Yukine sat down and poured herself a bowl of tea. “You had to find the serial killer in a city that had suddenly been locked down due to a sudden outbreak of superpowers and bring him to justice.”

"It's a scene where both civil and military personnel are tested," Watanabe Fuchiko commented.

“Indeed, and there’s a trap here,” Fujii Yukine said.

"So it's a form of sanctions, right?" Lu Ning said.

Fujii Yukine sighed: "If only I could react as quickly as you, but unfortunately I was too engrossed in playing the role of a detective to notice the trap inside—thankfully I have good habits."

Watanabe Fuchiko thought for a moment and said, "Is this what you mean by the identity of the serial killer?"

Lu Ning nodded: "It's obvious from the sound. It's a textual trap at the distribution center. If the punishment method is to directly kill the murderer, then as long as the conditions are met, he will probably become a new murderer."

“Yes, that’s the problem. Tourists, including people within the scene, will be labeled as serial killers if they kill two people in a row,” Fujii Yukine said with a wry smile. “And the longer it drags on, the scarcer the resources become, so the number of serial killers will increase. At first, the tourists try to punish the serial killers, but later it evolves into tourists in the serial killer camp killing other tourists. Plus, in this scene, superpowered individuals can steal a portion of the other superpowered individual’s power when they kill them, it’s just…”

Lu Ning and Watanabe Fuchiko could imagine what a hellish scene that must have been.

“But you still won in the end. I guess you didn’t become a serial killer,” Watanabe Fuchiko said.

"Because my habit is to follow the rules and order first."

In other words, when there are global rules constraining the scenario, Fujii Yukine would probably prioritize using formal violent institutions such as the military to suppress the situation. If that doesn't work, she would resort to violence as a last resort.

“That’s only because of you. If it were me, even if I realized the problem with the killer’s identity, I would probably have joined the killer’s camp directly. After all, the distribution center certainly wouldn’t say that this camp can’t pass the advancement scenario,” Lu Ning said.

"And what about you, Watanabe?" Fujii Yukine asked, "What would you probably do?"

"If we can figure out the conditions for becoming a serial killer early on, then we can team up with two trustworthy tourists. If we kill two and one becomes a serial killer, in the worst-case scenario, we can quickly reduce the number of serial killers using a reverse binary tree killing method. In the end, we can split the chance to advance two-for-two with the two serial killer tourists. Oh, of course, there's a loophole here. Other tourists can also continue to increase the number of serial killers by instigating murder or killing innocent people themselves, but we won't feel guilty killing them then," Watanabe Fuchiko said.

Then, she and Lu Ning exchanged a glance, and she said, "But I guess the scenario won't be that easy to achieve, so it's just a hypothetical scenario."

Lu Ning could understand Watanabe Fuchiko's meaning. She would indeed leave some loopholes, but anything Watanabe Fuchiko considered would probably lead to the result she needed.

"Were only Shang Wenxue and Shu Xingruo promoted this time? Were there no other people we knew?"

"No... I do have a few friends, but they were all made in other situations, so you don't know them. Oh, by the way, the Cheng siblings, and Ye Yi asked me to give you my greetings."

"They're quite strong, aren't they planning to advance to the next level?" Lu Ning asked.

"The Cheng family will probably be the two youngest to be promoted last, but they need to accumulate experience at the fourth level. I know the fourth level isn't a great place to gain experience, but don't underestimate these two. I think it won't be long before they do. As for Ye Yi... she seems to have found a strange direction to work towards. She's probably already moved past the effects of that scene. I wonder if she can advance to the next level soon."

Lu Ning sighed softly and picked up her teacup.

She had always advanced with Ning Yeyi before, but this was the last time they couldn't advance together, so it was impossible for her not to feel disappointed.

However, everyone has their own destiny, and since Ning Yeyi has found another path, she can only wish her well.

"Lu Ning, when is your next scene? I need to make some arrangements for the work ahead," Watanabe Fuchiko suddenly said. "Now that we have Fujii, we have another person who can handle our official duties."

"I was just about to ask you, why don't you hire someone to help with those paperwork?"

"He was hired, but he died in the scene." A sudden silence fell over the room.

"...I'll probably be there in about two weeks. In the meantime, I'll also learn some things about this from you."

Shortly afterward, Shang Wenxue and Shu Xingruo, who had completed the necessary registration at the fifth level, also came to visit Lu Ning.

Unfortunately, neither of them will be joining the Night Wanderer of Dreams again. Fujii Yukine was already a member at the fourth level, and she will probably just rejoin when she reaches the fifth level. But Shang Wenxue and Shu Xingruo both have their own places to go.

"You guys are fine, but the others aren't strong enough. I can't keep up," Shang Wenxue said bluntly.

Shu Xingruo, on the other hand, had an organization of her own choosing. No matter how Lu Ning asked, she remained silent. Finally, Yuanzi spoke up: "Mask collection? Ghost in the well? Spellplay stage?"

Shu Xingruo smiled awkwardly after hearing this.

“Alright, whichever it is, they all need a certain degree of secrecy to ensure that some of their off-field abilities can be used.” Watanabe Fuchiko sighed. “Lu Ning, all you need to know is that these are organizations that rely on secrecy to activate some magical methods. The fewer people who know about them, the more powerful they are. To be honest, Shu Xing is quite lucky to have been absorbed into one.”

“By the way, I’d like to learn more about this as well. What I know about Golden Dawn are mostly large organizations; I know almost nothing about these small, clandestine ones,” Lu Ning added.

The five chatted until late that night, each sharing their experiences from different scenarios. However, Lu Ning and Watanabe Fuchiko tacitly avoided mentioning the instructors in the first scenario of the fifth level, lest the gathering place use it as an excuse to devise something.

After that, Lu Ning began studying her daily official duties.

Watanabe Fuchiko was indeed a very knowledgeable person, so much so that Lu Ning suspected that at least 30% or 40% of the background story he told her was fabricated, but she had no evidence.

Here, she filled in the gaps in her knowledge of managing power that she hadn't learned in the first scenario. Although the distribution center was completely peaceful, tourists going out was like going to war, so various forms of support had to be arranged. While the Dream Night Tour couldn't provide direct assistance within the scenarios, with Lu Ning and Yuan Zi working together, and with the help of Fujii Yukine, a lot of data about the scenarios was compiled, and some patterns were identified.

Lu Ning knew from watching it that it couldn't compare to the results of the Golden Dawn's intelligence gathering from multiple sources. It had a lot of the three people's personal styles in it, but to be honest, it wasn't a bad thing to learn some of Watanabe Fuchiko's or Fujii Yukine's thinking. As for hers, it wasn't really a very suitable approach to learn from.

Official duties, training, and studies took place quickly, and Lu Ning made the most of this time, gradually recovering from the lingering effects of the previous situation.

As soon as the time came, she set off immediately.

The meeting point for this mission was a library in the distribution center.

The fifth floor is quite large, and there are many more facilities like the library, making it convenient for visitors to learn what they want in their preferred environment. However, the library arranged this time is located in an area called "Shugencho".

The name sounds like a martial arts training ground, but it's actually a place for tourists who prefer seclusion and quiet. Some people who study magic like to live in such places, and in fact, the location chosen by the Chaos Descendants isn't far from here.

The library here is often filled with a group of tourists with their heads covered. Even when Lu Ning walked in, they didn't pay any attention to her, continuing to read their books. Following the instructions in the letter she had obtained, Lu Ning went upstairs, ascended the spiral staircase of Tower Two, and pushed open the door at the end.

A waiter was sitting there, but unlike ordinary waiters, this waiter's head was shaped like half a spider.

This was unusual, because while the waiters' heads came in all sorts of bizarre styles, they generally followed designs that conformed to popular aesthetics and didn't use any horrifying or terrifying elements. Even for someone like Lu Ning, who has a specific phobia of spiders, she had never seen a waiter with this kind of head.

"The fourth one, Lu Ning, is in position."

The waiter's voice was clear and bright, but his head shape had no relation to his vocal organs.

"Hello, I am Lu Ning, who has accepted this scenario mission. May I ask... what should I do?"

Upon hearing Lu Ning's words, the waiter raised his arm and pointed to a square box placed on the table in front of him.

"Draw lots."

Lu Ning was already used to all sorts of strange pre-entry states, so she walked to the box, reached inside, and touched it a few times. Suddenly, she felt her palm sink slightly, as if it were being sucked in by something inside. Then, she felt a chill all over her body. She quickly pulled her hand out and saw a sky-blue crystal bead in her hand, with a liquid symbol faintly visible inside.

"Next, I'll explain the rules for entering the scene."

Before Lu Ning could ask any more questions, the waiter spoke up.

“You’re the fourth one to arrive. Go into room number four behind me. There’s only one bed inside. Lie down there, then pick out one special item from all the items you’re carrying and hold it to your chest. Put the rest under the bed. That one item is the only thing you can bring into the scene. Don’t try to find loopholes, and don’t forget what you brought. If you really can’t remember, just take everything off and throw it under the bed. It won’t prevent you from entering the scene. If they find you’ve brought too much, you won’t be able to bring any of it in. Do you understand?”

"Yes, I understand." Lu Ning nodded.

"Don't worry about items that need to be unlocked or carried continuously. They will still count in this scene, but you won't be able to use them. Also, keep the slip you drew safe. Once you're ready, you can put it in your mouth and lie down on the bed. The moment you're in position, you'll enter the scene."

The spider waiter's eyes on his head all stared at Lu Ning.

"This time, the scene is a quiet spring day. The number of tourists is fixed at seven, and there may be some competition. The time you enter the scene is determined by the time it takes from when you step into the room to when you are ready to lie down. The faster you are, the earlier you will arrive, and vice versa. This time, the tasks will be randomly triggered based on your choices, and there are five fixed tasks. You can leave the scene after completing them. Apart from these five tasks, all your actions in the scene will be considered as bonus points, but no new tasks will be issued."

After saying that, the waiter pointed to the door, gesturing for Lu Ning to go in.

Lu Ning quickly pushed open the door and entered. She was well aware of what she was carrying, but the restrictions on what could be brought to the distribution center were to be expected. All she needed to do was decide whether to bring the Giant's Knuckles or the Plague.

"A more functional one is better."

She made a quick decision, stuffing all her remaining belongings under the iron-framed bed in the room, then lay down on the bed, holding the plague in her arms as quickly as possible, and then put the blue crystal into her mouth.

In an instant, she lost consciousness.