Ming Po slowly opened his eyes.
He noticed he was sitting in a car—specifically, the driver's seat. There was no one else inside.
A half-burned cigarette was pinched between the index and middle fingers of his right hand, while his left hand rested loosely on the steering wheel.
Presumably because of the cigarette, the window to his right was half-open.
He exhaled deeply, blowing out a ring of white vapor into the chill.
"A right-hand drive?"
Ming Po recognized the brand from the logo. "Is this... a Mazda? Where am I?"
Normally, if a Mazda were imported to mainland China or the United States, the manufacturer would specifically convert it to left-hand drive. Right-hand drive vehicles were most commonly found in Japan, the United Kingdom, Singapore, and Hong Kong.
Obviously, Ming Po had never driven one before.
Unlike his previous multiplayer gas, there was no text ssage notification.
This ti, crimson text materialized directly in his vision.
[Promotion: lody Manor]
[Solo Ga, Restricted Domain: Force, No Intruders]
[Difficulty: 1-2 Weeks]
[Roleplay is not mandatory for this ga, but it will still help progress the story.]
[Warning: This ga features additional rules, Hidden Missions, and a unique world setting.]
[Essential Information: If you fail a Promotion ga, you may transform into a "Host" to evade death. When your Contract Deceiver clears this ga, you will be resurrected.]
This ga restricted the Domain of Force.
Ming Po understood.
'I see... judging by the slow pacing, is it a puzzle-solving ga?'
In Ming Po's experience, there were two reasons for restricting Deceivers of a specific Domain, both fundantally boiling down to "unfairness."
Either the ga would be entirely too easy for them, or it would be far too difficult.
The defining characteristic of the Domain of Force ant that, either way, this was highly likely to be a puzzle-solving ga, perhaps featuring a chase sequence.
However...
Ming Po reached into his pocket.
The Blade of Silver Mistletoe was right there.
This ti, his items hadn't been confiscated upon entry. He was still wearing his own clothes.
What surprised Ming Po slightly was an extra item in his pocket.
He pulled it out and found a piece of Tension Gum.
"Was it from back then?" Ming Po murmured.
Ai Shiping had possessed three pieces of Tension Gum in total. During the Horror Livestream instance, he had given Ming Po two pieces and kept one for himself. In the end, Ai Shiping hadn't used his, while Ming Po had consud one.
After that ga, Ming Po had returned the remaining piece to Ai Shiping. After all, Ai Shiping had bought it with his own chips, and Ming Po wasn't in the habit of quietly misappropriating a friend's property.
If he were going to misappropriate sothing, he would undoubtedly announce it publicly first.
Now, it had suddenly appeared in his pocket—obviously, Ai Shiping had slipped it to him at so point.
If Ai Shiping hadn't used his during his last Standard Promotion Ga, Gao Fan might have a piece in his pocket as well.
"That guy really is efficient with petty sleight of hand," Ming Po muttered.
The corners of his mouth tugged upward slightly as he carefully tucked the gum back into his pocket.
Right then, a very brief narrative introduction materialized before his eyes:
[You are a detective. Yesterday, you received a commission letter accompanied by a handso reward, instructing you to head toward lody Manor according to the provided address.]
[However, when you drive there, you discover nothing but an empty, dense forest...]
[You decide to venture deeper into the woods.]
An introduction of a re three lines.
The mont Ming Po finished reading, the bloody text vanished like a phantom.
Ming Po looked out the window.
The sky outside was dull gray, heavy with low-hanging storm clouds.
The dense forest unfurled at the end of the road. Inside was a pitch-black abyss, completely silent.
This era didn't seem to have smartphone navigation—his phone was still a flip model. Naturally, it had no signal whatsoever.
No matter how much he adjusted the dials, the car radio only produced a harsh, static hiss.
"Hmph," Ming Po scoffed. "An anomaly of this level... if it weren't a mission requirent, only an idiot would keep going. Horror gas and movies are probably filled with reckless fools who don't know any better."
He shifted gears with his left hand and turned the steering wheel, guiding the car onto the dirt path into the woods.
He didn't roll up the window. Yet the mont he entered, a profound quietude enveloped him, like a pair of noise-canceling headphones clamping over his ears.
It felt like being deep underwater.
The sharp howling of the wind outside vanished in an instant.
Only the low hum of the engine remained.
The tires rolled over decaying leaves and snapped branches. The crunching was barely audible, occasionally interrupted by a dull thud. It made Ming Po wonder if he was running over corpses.
He drove at a very slow pace, worried soone might suddenly block the car, or that a jumpscare might trigger. If he drove too fast, he wouldn't have ti to brake and might end up in a crash.
Knowing that danger inevitably lay ahead, Ming Po remained highly cautious.
He certainly enjoyed danger, but he wasn't actively courting death. The forr was madness; the latter was just stupidity.
As he drove further down the path, the sky darkened even more.
Before he knew it, he could hear the wind again. But as it battered the forest leaves, it no longer whistled sharply. Instead, it sounded like a woman's sobbing, carrying a damp, musty odor that rushed into the car.
It reminded Ming Po of the sll of a dirty mop.
Sowhat displeased, he rolled up the window.
In that instant, his surroundings beca unnaturally quiet.
It took Ming Po a few seconds to realize that after closing the window, he couldn't even hear the engine or the tires crunching against the ground.
Was a Mazda's soundproofing really this good?
The mont the thought crossed his mind, Ming Po realized sothing was wrong.
He slamd on the brakes and looked up.
At so point, a bizarre villa had appeared, standing right in the middle of the dense forest.
Unlike an ordinary villa, it didn't look like it had been "built" here so much as it had "grown" here.
At least half of the villa's walls were embedded into a mountain. Vines and roots wrapped around the exterior, looking like blood vessels or living organisms. That sense of "coexistence with nature" might have exuded organic vitality if it had been well-maintained. Now, however, it only reminded Ming Po of a Terran base infested by the Zerg in StarCraft.
A single phrase could describe the feeling.
This place looked like a dungeon in an open-world ga—the kind where you had to solve a puzzle first, like burning away the vines, just to gain entry.
The next mont, Ming Po realized why he felt such a distinct sense of incongruity: the windows.
Almost every single window of this manor was sealed tight by vines. The natural lighting was so terrible that it warranted a visit from an interior design vlogger.
The few windows that weren't completely choked off were coated in a layer of white dust. The interior was so pitch-black that nothing could be seen.
"Excuse ," Ming Po said, his voice deep and magnetic.
He stepped forward and pushed the door.
The old oak door didn't let out an ear-piercing creak. Instead, a strange, crisp snap echoed out.
It sounded like soone who hadn't moved in a long ti doing calisthenics, every bone in their body popping and cracking.
The mont Ming Po pushed the door open, a lodious piano tune suddenly drifted from the depths of the house.
Ming Po paused.
He knew how to play the piano, even if he hadn't practiced for very long. At the very least, his musical appreciation was up to par.
Within just two seconds, Ming Po recognized the piece.
Gymnopédies No. 1.
It was frequently used in various ani and gas.
Its most recent and famous appearance was likely...
...Rusty Lake.
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