Ita Era

Chapter 193 Lying
Ding answered the phone: "Hello."

"Hello Mr. Ding, I'm a private investigator. Do you remember me? The investigation you commissioned me for has yielded some results."

Ding Shi asked, "What was the result?"

Detective: "Your boss invited you to her house for dinner because she really wanted to have a relationship with you. But because her daughter fell in love with you at first sight, she had to abandon her plan."

Ding Shi cursed inwardly: "Did I ask you to investigate this?" Ding Shi replied, "I didn't ask you to investigate my boss, did I?"

The detective continued, "You asked me to secretly investigate this woman who's throwing herself at you."

Ding Shi asked, "The woman who's throwing herself at me is my boss's daughter, the one who fell in love with me at first sight, right?" Don't get scammed.

Detective: "Yes. According to my investigation, the woman who offered herself up..."

Ding Shi interrupted again: "A woman who's willing to pay anyone?"

The detective said, "That's what you call me."

Ding Shi began to reflect on his own character and said, "Continue."

The detective said, "The woman who offered herself to me is very clean and innocent. She has never been in a relationship or had a crush on anyone. Through inquiries, I learned that she is kind, naive, and friendly—all compliments."

Ding Shi: "What's the name of the woman who's offering herself up?"

Detective: "Mr. Ding?"

Ding Shi said, "I have too many girlfriends. If I sleep with one every day, it would take a month to get to her, so I forgot her name."

Detective: "Bai Yan."

Ding Shi asked, "Is there anything else?"

The detective replied, "There's another piece of information. Bai Yan knows that your boss, who is also her mother, has feelings for you, and she argued with her about it. That's why she moved out of her home and is now living in the small villa left by her deceased father."

Ding Shi asked, "Is there anything else?"

The detective replied, "No, not for now."

Ding Shi hung up the phone; his supervisor's favorability rating was 56. Ding Shi sat down at his workstation and, as expected, received an email from the Cloning Administration.

这次是选择题：白艳和几个无血缘男性关系亲密。1、2、3、4或更多。由于是选择题，丁时选1个选项答对加2分，答错扣1分。选两个选项答对加1分。答错扣除2分。

Theoretically, there are two possibilities: true love for oneself and Bai Yan. However, there's no concrete evidence to suggest a close relationship between oneself and Bai Yan. A boyfriend doesn't necessarily equate to intimacy, therefore options 1 and 2 are the safest choices. Option 2 has a very high probability, high enough to warrant a gamble.

The detective said that this was Bai Yan's first love, and he was her only boyfriend.

Based on the fact that functional NPCs do not lie, there seems to be a conflict. This conflict is the location of the Ita Pit. Once this location is found, the illogical situation can be made logical.

The clever Ding Shi had already found the pit in Ita, and he decisively chose 1.

The answer is correct. Ding Shi has earned two points, bringing his current score to 1.

The core of this plot point is: Ding Shi has two girlfriends, both of whom are the boss's daughters. Once you find this core point, all the contradictions can be explained.

Ding Shi's first girlfriend was named Bai Yan. She fell in love with him at first sight. After arguing with her boss, she left home and lived on her own, secretly contacting Ding Shi. Her boss was unaware of this. Bai Yan was the woman in the photo frame on Ding Shi's desk, and the woman he called "Baby" in his contacts.

His second girlfriend's name was so-and-so. It's unclear why she and Ding Shi became publicly dating. It's very likely that Bai Yan knew about this, which is why she maintained a secret relationship with Ding Shi.

There are still many questions surrounding the existence of this "someone". For example, why does Bai Yan dislike Ding Shi being with the boss? Because she knows the boss had a crush on Ding Shi, why didn't Bai Yan mention this "someone"? After all, she is Ding Shi's publicly acknowledged girlfriend.

Secondly, since Ding Shi had Bai Yan, a rich and beautiful woman, to rely on, why didn't he have the courage to rebel against someone?

Secondly, the boss asked Ding Shi to treat someone well, promising a promotion and raise at the end of the year. Ding Shi felt that this promise was disproportionate to the losses he would suffer.

Regardless, Ding Shi was happy to have found the Ita spot. He had also figured out the rules of this dungeon.

While working, one must abide by the rules. For each task completed, one receives one or more pieces of intelligence on their own. The Cloning Administration will then ask relevant questions based on the information currently available to Ding Shi.

If you score 10 points, Ding Shijia dies; if you score -10 points, Ding Shi dies.

Ding Shi felt like he was the clone because he knew nothing about himself. As a clone, he needed to gather enough information to replace the original Ding Shi in this world.

Ding Shi took his third job of the day, went to the 200th floor, found the finance director of Gaoxing Company, took a letter from him, and then handed it to Kaixin Company, which was his own company's boss.

Elevator rules: This elevator can only carry an odd number of passengers. If an even number of passengers are en route, the elevator will plummet. Note: Passengers can only exit the elevator after reaching their first selected floor.

Simply put, you can only leave after reaching the 200th floor.

Ding Shi decisively changed to another elevator, but unexpectedly, the rules of the new elevator No. 1 were exactly the same as those of elevator No. 5.

Ding Shi disliked this rule. Suppose that four people enter the elevator while it's going up, and everyone reads the rule, they will still take the elevator because, including themselves, the elevator will have an odd number of people (five). In this case, there's no problem.

What if three people want to leave the elevator after it reaches a certain floor? You need to first find out how many people are in the elevator and which floor they're going to, to prevent them from pressing the button first. However, not everyone will be reasonable. If a physical altercation occurs, they will be taken away by security, which is essentially a form of resignation.

After letting people in, problems are discovered, and that's when a game of strategy is needed.

For example, in the same situation as before, if three people want to leave the elevator, but only one of them has pressed the elevator button, that person must leave the elevator on that floor, while the other two can press the elevator button again.

As things continue to develop, in the worst-case scenario, many variables could arise.

What can you do if you don't accept it? Ding Shi ran through four elevator lobbies and found that all the elevators that could reach the 200th floor had the same rules.

Ding Shi didn't want to get involved in a large and incredibly complex game. He was a smart man, but not that smart. So he used a clumsy method.

Go to the 81st floor, exit the elevator, go back to the 82nd floor, then go to the 83rd floor...

When they reached the 100th floor, the elevator, having witnessed Ding Shi's determination, changed its rules: sleeping is not allowed in this elevator. Even the most patient elevator couldn't withstand Ding Shi's antics.

Ding Shi successfully reached the 200th floor.

The 200th floor houses the restaurants, featuring large floor-to-ceiling windows. The dining area includes four restaurants: a Chinese restaurant, a French restaurant, an Indian restaurant, and a Mexican restaurant. The administrative area is located in the southeast corner.

Upon reaching the 200th floor, Ding Shi discovered a huge problem: the restaurant wasn't called Gaoxing Company, but Jingxing Restaurant. And he was looking for the Finance Director of Gaoxing Company. To make matters worse, the system notification stated that functional NPCs wouldn't display their identity or position above their heads when they weren't on their work floor.

The only good news is that there is no time limit for this job, which means that Ding Shi will not leave the 200th floor until he finds the finance director of Gao Xing Company.

There aren't many customers on the 200th floor; the four restaurants together have only about twenty people, but there are nearly a hundred staff members.

The rule for the 200th floor is written on the wall of the elevator waiting room: when faced with questions about guiding guests to meet other guests, only ten staff members will not lie.

The staff on the 200th floor were all wearing uniforms: black supervisor uniforms, white chef uniforms, and red waiter uniforms.

At the entrance of the Chinese restaurant, Ding Shi asked the manager dressed in black, "Excuse me, do you know the financial director of Gaoxing Company?" thus requesting guidance.

The supervisor replied, "Yes, he is dining in this restaurant. Would you like me to take you there?"

Before Ding Shi could speak, a guy said, "Foreman, I'm looking for the boss of Company A1. Do you know him?"

The supervisor replied, "He's not in the Chinese restaurant. You can try asking at other restaurants."

The foreman said to Ding Shi, "Please follow me."

As he spoke, the head waiter led Ding Shi toward a middle-aged, overweight man. Ding Shi then noticed another problem: there were seven guests in the Chinese restaurant, and each of them had a letter in front of them, but there were no words written on the letter.

It seems this is a mission point.

The foreman walked up to the fat man and said, "Hello, someone is looking for you."

Ding Shi sized up the fat man and said, "Hello, I'm from the logistics department of Kaixin Company. I'm here to pick up a letter."

The fat man reached out and handed the letter in front of him to Ding Shi. Ding Shi did not take the letter and asked, "Are you the financial director of Gaoxing Company?"

The fat man did not answer; he placed the letter on the table and pushed it in front of Ding Shi.

Ding Shi sensed something was wrong and took two steps back to look at the foreman: "Are you sure?"

Foreman: "I'm sure." A female voice came through: "He's a liar."

Ding Shi turned his head and saw a beautiful woman. Unlike the other beautiful women, her eyes were wrapped in black gauze. She asked, "A player?"

Ding Shi: "Yes, my name is Ding Shi."

The beautiful woman said, "My name is Phoenix. I took the wrong letter, which has corrupted my visual perception, distorting everything around me. Can you help me?"

Ding Shi asked curiously, "Where did you get the black gauze covering your eyes?"

Phoenix lifted her skirt, revealing her long, slender legs. Ding Shi noticed that only her left leg was still wearing black stockings.

Ding felt that the girl was a kindred spirit, as they were both familiar with a hundred ways to use socks.

Ding Shi asked, "How can I help you?"

Phoenix said, "Find someone who tells the truth and help me get the accurate letter. I'll sit here and wait for you."

Ding Shi was dissatisfied: "I'm doing the work, you're sitting. Why should I help you?"

Phoenix said, "I just helped you to prevent you from taking the wrong letter and getting it contaminated."

Ding Shi said, "I never believed him in the first place."

Phoenix paused for a second, then nodded: "Alright, I apologize for disturbing you."

"Just kidding, of course I'll help you," Ding Shi said. "Wait for me." He liked women with a magnanimous and generous nature.

Phoenix asked, "Are you very confident?"

Ding Shi said, "Yes."

Phoenix smiled and said, "I like intelligent people."

Ding Shi said, "I like myself too."

"Haha." Phoenix laughed and waved, "Thank you for your hard work."

Ding Shi walked up to a waitress in a red uniform and asked, "Excuse me, do you know the CFO of Gaoxing Company?"

The waitress in red nodded and led Ding Shi to a woman.

Ding Shi didn't take the letter. He walked up to Phoenix, whispered a few words in her ear, then helped her to her feet and walked to the waitress in red. Phoenix said, "You just led my gentleman to find someone. Please take me to see that person now."

The waiter in red couldn't refuse, so he led Phoenix to a man.

Clearly, the waiter in red was a liar. As a liar, he had to lie when faced with a need for guidance.

After 20 minutes, Ding Shi and Feng Huang finally found the honest person and both received the letter.

Ding Shi helped Phoenix into the elevator and said, "Elevator rule: Don't look up."

"OK."

As the elevator doors closed, Phoenix's visual perception returned. She removed her black stockings and pressed the button for the 110th floor.

Phoenix put on her socks and shoes, looked at Ding Shi carefully for a while, and asked, "Don't you think I look better with my eyes covered?"

Ding Shi shook his head and denied it, saying, "Your eyes are very beautiful."

Phoenix smiled without saying a word, took a step closer, stood on tiptoe, and whispered in Ding Shi's ear, "I want to test if your mouth is really that sweet."

Ding Shi asked curiously, "How do you know I have a sweet tongue?"

"I don't know, we'll find out if we try."

Ding Shi spat on his fingertip, licked it with his tongue, and said, "It tastes a little sweet. What kind of illness is this?"

Phoenix took a big step back, leaned against the box wall, lowered its head, closed its eyes, and muttered: "Crazy."

"What?" Ding Shi didn't hear clearly: "Saccharin disease?"

The elevator slowed down and stopped on the 110th floor. Phoenix stepped out, not even glancing at Ding Shi beside her.

Ding Shi retorted, "Hey, don't you have any manners?"

The answer to Ding Shi was a phoenix raising its middle finger without even turning its head.

Ding sighed. This was a real-life version of the farmer and the snake story; he had helped her, and she had given him the middle finger. He wondered, if he had given her the middle finger, would she have thanked him?

Lost in thought, Ding Shi arrived at the 80th floor and stepped out of the elevator. His phone rang again. Ding Shi answered, "Baby."

My darling: "I miss you. Do you miss me?"

How can such a boring woman have a boyfriend? Is there no justice in this world?

Ding Shi: "I miss you."

Baby: "Where do you miss me?"

Ding Shi was stunned. He realized that his question was so difficult to answer. After a quick thought, Ding Shi said, "Your lips, your eyes, your hair, everything about you." Ding Shi had already grasped the key. All he had to do was lie.

The baby laughed uncontrollably: "Really?"

Ding Shi: "Really. Honey, I have a question for you."

Baby: "Okay, you go ahead."

Ding Shi: "How's your relationship with your Westbrook lately?"

The child asked, puzzled, "What is 'Sisite'?"

Ding Shi explained, "It's the sister in English." How would I know if you're the older or younger sister?

The little girl said sourly, "You're talking about my older sister, Bai Yuan. What? You still think of her when you call me? You think she's prettier than me?"

Ding Shi said, "No woman is more beautiful than my darling. I only care about your sisterly relationship. You are the only one in my heart, and you are the only one I belong to."

The child seemed a little more satisfied: "It's alright. She advised me to apologize to Mom and move back home. Humph, I won't."

Ding Shi asked, "Why?"

The child paused, then asked suspiciously, "You want me to move back?"

Ding Shi hurriedly denied it: "I was just worried that you would be influenced by your sister."

The baby smiled and said, "Don't worry, baby, I won't move back. Can you come see me after get off work today?"

Ding Shi felt a little dizzy. Shouldn't I go see you after get off work? Should I go see your sister instead? Your sister is my public girlfriend, and she's cheating on me with her true love. Did you know that?
Ding Shi probed, "How do you know that I have a good relationship with your sister?"

Baby: "Hmph, of course I know."

Is this jealousy? It doesn't seem very sour, but it has a hint of sourness.

Baby: "I don't care, you're mine tonight."

Ding Shi: "You're mine too. Your mom's checking up on me, I'm hanging up now."

Baby: "Mmm."

Work completed; supervisor's favorability rating: 57.

An email from the Clones Administration followed, asking: Does your boss know you're dating Baby?

(End of this chapter)