“Chapter 53”

"Chapter 53"

"Elsewhere."

"Archie stood dumbfounded on the first layer's platform of the Dream Gap, questioning his life."

"So be it if the reward from the second layer was gone."

"But why is the man in black from the first layer also missing???"

"Archie was deeply shaken, even starting to doubt the contents of his father's notebook. Wasn't it said that the deeper one goes, the stronger one becomes? Why is even the ability from the first layer gone?"

"Could it be that my previous actions were considered 'cheating', and thus the ability was revoked?"

"'Lord Lan...'"

"Archie muttered subconsciously, but then he quickly snapped back to reality, berating himself."

"He knew that his dependency and fondness for Lan, as a result of choosing him as an anchor point, was inevitable, but resorting to thinking about Lan at the first sign of trouble was simply too spineless!"

"It was just an aftereffect of that previous method. It seemed he shouldn’t visit Lan for a while, better yet, try not to even think of him."

"Archie took a deep breath, trying to recall the wariness and aversion he felt towards Lan, struggling to dispel the tumultuous emotions swirling in his heart."

"'What are you thinking about?'"

"A deep voice suddenly echoed in the Dream Gap, startling Archie who spun around quickly."

"Unbeknownst to him, a creature with a human face, lion's body, and eagle's wings had appeared behind him, lazily propped up on the ground, tail thumping, watching him with leisure."

"Sphinx repeated its question: 'What are you thinking about? Your expression is quite interesting.'"

"'What are you?!' Archie stepped back in fright. Not everyone can remain calm upon seeing a monster with their own face."

"'Me? I am, of course, your origin power,' Sphinx stated."

"'Impossible!' Archie flatly denied, 'My power is certainly not you!'"

"'You have the nerve to say that, you fool,' Sphinx said irritably, standing up and pacing around the platform under Archie's wary gaze, 'All these years, and you never noticed my presence. You always mistook that thing for your power. How could I, Sphinx, have such a foolish master?'"

"'Sphinx?' Archie frowned deeply."

"'Remember, this is my name, and I am your power,' Sphinx said, staring at him. Their eyes, lion-like, met Archie's, causing him to suddenly feel disoriented."

"In the next moment, his perspective shifted astonishingly. Archie was shocked to see himself from a very familiar angle – was he standing in front of 'himself'? This scene, like an optical illusion, left Archie’s thoughts in disarray for a few seconds, before he realized he was viewing the scene through Sphinx's perspective."

"In this bizarre state, Archie experienced an unprecedented sensation, as if he was incredibly close to the truth. Issues he couldn't comprehend before seemed to dissolve like bubbles."

"Before Archie could fully indulge in this omniscient sensation, he was abruptly ejected from this body."

"'Ugh!' As soon as Archie's perspective returned to normal, he couldn’t help but kneel down, clutching his neck with both hands. Opening his mouth wide, his throat convulsed, and he vomited out a chunk of flesh that was still moving."

"Archie felt his stomach churn tumultuously, the surrounding fog enveloping him again. Through the hazy mist, he felt as if something had been added to his body..."

"'Snap!'"

"Without hesitation, Sphinx slapped Archie: 'Wake up. I only meant for you to experience it, not to dive that deep.'"

"Stimulated by the pain, Archie came to his senses, realizing that the fog had never shrouded the place, and what he had vomited was not a moving piece of flesh, but a puddle of ordinary vomit."

"Before Archie could ask, Sphinx said, 'Now you know that I am your origin power.'"

"Archie wiped his mouth, nodding with a hoarse voice, 'The faceless man earlier, what was he?'"

"Sphinx replied, 'You should know my mechanism.'"

"Of course, Archie knew. In that moment of disoriented perspective, he had faintly understood his true origin."

"[Sphinx]"

"It likely originates from the creature in Greek mythology, accustomed to blocking cliffs and posing riddles to passersby, devouring those who couldn't solve them."

"However, the ability he awakened differed from the mythological descriptions. Sphinx was essentially a ritual required for questioning. Unlike the original 'faceless man', Sphinx's power had an added limitation: it couldn’t provide answers beyond the questioner's level."

"For instance, as Archie was currently on the second layer of the Dream Gap, if his question involved higher beings like evil gods or high-tier individuals of the Dream Gap, he would receive no answer."

"But the advantage of having Sphinx as his power was that failing to solve its riddle would only result in being ejected from the Dream Gap and a 24-hour ban from re-entry."

"There were upgraded abilities too. After entering the second layer of the Dream Gap, Archie could become [Sphinx] in the real world, posing questions to others. If the questioned couldn't solve the riddle, they had to pay a price or suffer a state of continuous weakness."

"If they answered correctly, Archie had to answer one of their questions, or he would face double the backlash."

"'Ask away,' Archie prepared himself. He was already familiar with these kinds of questioning games, having trained with the 'faceless man' in riddles, brainteasers, obscure knowledge, and Archie had deliberately collected and studied them."

"Sphinx: 'Do you like Lord Lan?'"

"'Cough cough cough cough cough!' Archie almost choked, 'What kind of question is that?!'"

"Sphinx: 'I didn't say it was a brainteaser or a riddle.'"

"Damn it, Archie cursed internally, hating that face that resembled his own by eighty percent for the first time. He knew now just how infuriating his mocking expression could be: 'Hurry up, answer or get out.'"

"Archie opened his mouth, his eyes filled with struggle."

"After all, there was no one else here..."

"No! As a psychologist, he knew better than anyone that once he admitted it, his mental defenses would continuously weaken!"

"This must be a conspiracy by the evil gods; he absolutely couldn't fall for it! He just had to endure this period of habitual dependence."

"'Like...'"

"Sphinx: 'Hmm? What are you saying? Speak up; it's too quiet to hear. Say it louder!'"

"Archie lifted his head, glaring coldly at Sphinx. Contrary to the icy look in his eyes, his face was flushed with heat."

"'...I said, I don’t like him!' Archie gritted his teeth."

"The scene was eerily silent, and Archie was mercilessly ejected from the Dream Gap by his own power."

"What kind of tsundere trick was this? Sphinx lay exhausted on the ground, feeling utterly drained."

"The Lord was beginning to awaken, and sooner or later, more and more followers would flock around Him."

"His master had become a true believer, his soul marked, and here he was, being tsundere. If other believers stole the attention, there would be nowhere to cry."

……

"Lan had been thinking about doing this for a long time, probably since his first encounter with Ogler..."

"Thinking about giving Ogler a new haircut."

"As the crisp sound of scissors echoed, long black strands of hair fell to the floor, one after another."

"As Lan cut, he asked Ogler, 'Are you sure you want me to do this? It's not too late to find a barbershop now. I'm really not good at cutting hair.'"

"'It's okay.' Ogler's fluffy head shook. After washing and drying his hair, he looked like a fuzzy black lion or a clingy big cat, rubbing against Lan's palm."

"'Alright, I'll do my best to cut it well.' Lan approached the task like a challenge, seriously cutting his roommate's hair."

"After a few snips, Ogler's always-hidden face was finally revealed."

"Just as Lan had suspected, Ogler was actually quite handsome, his features obscured by the vagrant-like long hair. He had a ruggedly handsome face, with a high nose bridge and a well-defined jawline. Lan, cautious not to cut too short, left the hair shoulder-length, tying it into a ponytail with a few loose strands hanging beside the forehead. Paired with his naturally fierce eyes, Ogler had a wild, carefree look."

"'Done,' Lan said, breathing a sigh of relief, unable to hide a smile, imagining the players' reactions to Ogler's new look."

"Ogler stared at Lan, his demeanor shifting from a predator on the savannah to a Tibetan Mastiff seeing its owner. Lan couldn’t help but ruffle his hair, 'Alright, I forgive you now.'"

"Seeing Ogler's lifted corners of the mouth, Lan couldn’t help but cover his face, thinking how it made Ogler look even more naive."

"'Ogler, you really shouldn't smile like that outside.'"

"Like this, he really wouldn't intimidate anyone. Players are creatures who take liberties, and Lan worried some sharp-eyed players might see through Ogler's fierce facade to his sweet-natured soul, falling prey to the more cunning players."

"Instantly, Ogler straightened his mouth, and it did look more convincing."

"Lan patted Ogler’s shoulder approvingly, 'Good, keep it like this when you're outside.'"

"When the players return, Ogler’s new appearance should surprise them."

……

"Currently, the game was undergoing an update, and all players were forcibly logged off."

"This didn't dampen the players' enthusiasm. Rather, with nothing else to do because they couldn't log in, their fervor was being vented on the player forums!"

"As soon as Lan opened the player forum, he noticed something amiss."

"Well, the player forum Lan had initially accessed was a very simple and concise blue screen, with just a few sections like forum/fanfiction/missions. But now, it seemed as if there had been a system upgrade; the screen had transformed into a silver-blue color, looking much cooler."

"Lan checked and was surprised to find several new features on the forum."

"Firstly, there was a live streaming section. Originally, Lan couldn't see the players' live streams, but now he could. It seemed the game officials had expanded the original functions to include a live streaming area. Although Lan still couldn't speak, this made it easier to observe what the players were doing in their everyday lives."

"Secondly, he seemed to have more permissions for posting missions."

"Before, Lan could only post simple missions. Mainline missions, special missions, and chain missions all required triggering the system's inherent ones."

"For example, Lan had previously triggered a bounty pool mission during the Soul-Eating Butterfly event. But that mission existed from the previous life; Lan merely informed the players of the clues in advance, forcing the system to release it earlier."

"The mainline missions were the same. Lan only did the right thing at the right time. Even if he did nothing, players could still trigger the missions."

"But now... it seemed he could publish these missions himself."

"Ah, this, ah this."

"Lan couldn't help but think, could it be because he altered the original story line, leading to Arkham being preserved as the main stage of the game? Did this mean the storylines in other cities were abandoned, so now the game officials didn’t know what to do and simply let him arrange missions for the players?"

"Haha, how could that be?"

"Lan dismissed this absurd thought. However, this additional mission function was indeed good news for him. He had just resolved to increase the number and strength of players to face potential future challenges, and it was like someone had delivered a pillow just as he was dozing off."

"It was this kind of inexplicable predestination that made Lan feel a bit uneasy for a moment."

"Temporarily exiting the mission template, he clicked into the forum. The player forum was still as familiar and comforting as ever."

"《Main Storyline Analysis - Hospital Chapter》"

"《Behind the Doors of the Dream World and the Mysterious Giant Hand》"

"《The Mysterious Identity of the Gatekeeper》"

"Regarding the identity of the gatekeeper who appeared at the end of the storyline, there was hardly any debate."

"12l: That has to be Lan, right? It's definitely Lan!"

"13l: There's no doubt about it. Look at the video uploaded by the players on-site. At 5 minutes and 15 seconds, Lan clearly disappears."

"14l: I don’t understand what happened, but my wife is so awesome (murmurs)"

"15l: Hmm, after watching the Black Cat and the on-site mutation, I thought Lan would look like this. (Pan God image)"

"The player on the 15th floor uploaded a picture of Pan, the goat-horned, human-faced, goat-bodied god, a widely known image from mythology. Honestly, with the evolution of entertainment, people are increasingly accepting of non-human aesthetics. A kind player even replaced Pan’s face with Lan’s."

"16l: Hiss — I'm totally for it!"

"17l: That’s even hotter, damn. I wasn't interested in the NPC Lan before, but this Pan God version is just too good-looking!"

"18l: Licking the screen, why doesn’t the game have a divine version of Lan, damn it!"

"19l: There should have been one at the hospital, but the Druids got disconnected, emmmmm."

"20l: Ahhh, is the game's official just teasing us? I really, really want to see a Pan-transformed Lan!"

"21l: I want to see it too +1."

"22l: Tagging Black Cat for you. What the heck happened, Lan mutated and then this guy just disconnected and hasn't been back, making everyone anxious."

"Black Cat: I’m here."

"23l: Whoa, suddenly back from the dead. Bro, are you okay? Are you typing with tentacles now?"

"Black Cat: (laughing and crying) What are you thinking? I was just too tired from staying up all night gaming. I was on edge the whole time during that instance, and when my card ran out, I just emo'd, logged off and went to sleep."

"24l: Really? Just that? (skeptical)"

"Black Cat: Of course, Druid has even come to check on me. We're good friends offline too."

"Druid: To be honest, I was also startled when you suddenly went offline. Mainly because, even though I lost connection quickly, that direct encounter with a god in the game left me with lingering fear. I remember Black Cat usually plays with all senses on, so I was a bit worried about you."

"Black Cat: Yeah, seriously, the sanity system in this game is bizarre. Sometimes you really feel dizzy and crazy. It feels like a dangerous setting, there should be an age restriction."

"Black Cat: Alright, back to the point. I don't remember much from that time, just a glimpse, and now I've forgotten everything. That 'Fallen Shepherd God' was just an impression from that time, hiss, now why can't I remember anything."

"25l: It’s that mysterious, huh? Shepherd God... Isn't that just Pan, the Greek mythological god? In ancient Greek, Pan, the god of shepherds, was responsible for herding, nature, and forests."

"26l: It might not necessarily be Pan. In the final game storyline, it felt more like a guardian god, um, somewhat similar conceptually to Yog-Sothoth."

"Yog-Sothoth is one of the three pillars of the Cthulhu Mythos, an omnipotent god controlling time and space, associated with the concepts of 'gates' and 'silver keys'."

"27l: Now that you mention it, Lan’s identity seems so mysterious. Shepherd God, or say Pan, also has the masculine incarnation of the Black Goat of the Woods, and that final god, commanding the doors and automatically closing the gateway to the Dream World, was just so cool. It feels like it could be related to Yog's 'gate' concept."

"28l: Hehe, I have a bold idea."

"29l: Spit it out boldly! I suspect the Black Goat of the Woods and Yog have something going on (dog head emoji)"

"30l: That night, was it Mother Black Goat who couldn't resist, or did Yog commit the first sin…"

"31l: Gossip reporter Nyar here to report for you (dog head with a rose and ghost emoji)"

"As for Lan's identity, players had all kinds of speculations, reasonable or not, and some even guessed Lan might be an incarnation of Nyar. It's just to say that players are indeed full of wild ideas."

"Fortunately, players' attention was soon diverted again, as the game officials released a new promotional video."

"The next second, players still browsing the forum noticed the new PV video."

"《Fate’s Gyre: Prelude》"

"This newly released video rapidly gained popularity, and Lan too clicked on the video."

"The comments flew across the screen."

"[High energy ahead!]"

"The first thing that caught the eye was a space filled with darkness and fog, a huge door floating in the air, the Kabbalistic Tree of Life engraved on it, with the lower part of the tree fractured, as if foretelling something."

"The door slowly opened, and a stumbling figure ran towards it."

"[There... is our homeland...]"

"In the storyline, players heard a language they couldn't understand, thoughtfully translated by the game's narrative."

"[Just to reach there, a land flowing with milk and honey.]"

"Everyone recognized that figure, the main boss of the previous storyline, Sauron. Now, however, he was barely human, resembling a mummy. With every step, he left semi-liquid footprints. His back was bent, his form twisted, but this did not diminish the madness and obsession apparent in his eyes and expression!"

"[Return... home]"

"Pfft."

"A silver dagger pierced his chest. The young man with medium-length hair seemed to have a lingering gentle smile in his eyes, showing no mercy as he thrust the dagger through the man's chest, seemingly extracting something."

"[Wow, turns out it’s 25!]"

"[Hilarious, and there was Albert before, also a spy. What’s with you foreigners’ organization!]"

"However, Sauron paid no attention to Amos's betrayal from behind. His goal was right in front of him. He disregarded everything, charging into the door, only to be grasped in a giant hand."

"The giant hand sensed something, moved closer to the door, and opened a massive, solitary eye."

"The game was adept at choosing camera angles. This scene was magnified, giving the impression that the giant eye inside the door was peering through the lens at the players, creating an eerie sense of breaking the fourth wall."

The players witnessing this scene couldn’t help but gasp in astonishment.

The camera then zoomed out again to a vast, dark space where countless people knelt on the ground, wailing and praying, the music also turning somber and eerie.

At this point, a voiceover appeared, and the scene shifted from darkness to a suburban landscape, resembling a convoy of vehicles. A sign flashed outside a car window, reminding them that they were entering 'Arkham City.'

In this convoy, most of the players recognized only one familiar NPC, 'Edmund.' Of course, some had seen other members of the Inspectorate squad, and one of them was heard saying:

"Apart from our tangible world, there exists a dimension temporarily known as the dream world. The anomalies you see are residents of this dream world..."

"The dream world, said to be a realm of gods and an ancient battlefield of deities, is filled with indescribable beings. If they were to descend, they could easily annihilate all life on the surface."

At this moment, the scene changed again, the voice not fading but turning into a narration, as if introducing the world's lore.

The scene switched to Arkham City, where people on the bustling streets continued their 'ordinary' lives. Suddenly, the screen flashed, and numerous anomalies appeared out of nowhere.

The streets instantly turned into a hellish landscape.

"Help!"

"What is this, no no—help meeeeee!"

"My daughter, someone please save my daughter!"

"Mommy!"

"Oh God," a man dressed as a priest looked on in despair and numbness at the catastrophic scene before him, kneeling and clasping his hands together, "Is this our punishment?"

[This seems to be... the scene from the main storyline where the monsters suddenly descend.]

[Yes, most of us players logged in to fight the monsters, but Arkham City is too big. With only 500 players, most of the areas have still turned into hell.]

Hearing about it is one thing, but witnessing the aftermath of this disaster is even more terrifying, especially since the video's imagery is so realistically horrifying that even the playful comments disappeared for a moment.

The final frame focused on a little girl with vacant eyes, a large pool of blood flowing beneath her. The camera panned up to show some streets almost entirely stained red with blood, scenes of chaos everywhere in Arkham City.

"According to the rules of the dream world's monsters, unless they come into reality through a summoning ritual, they remain unseen and cannot interfere with reality. To put it bluntly, even if you’re unwittingly involved in the events, you can still die peacefully..."

The screen faded to black.

The voiceover also disappeared.

Suddenly, in the silence, the sound of flipping pages was heard.

Page after page of diaries lit up like stars in the darkness, one after another, with lines of text flashing across the screen.

[Charlie, Charlie, don’t forget that the masses are who we need to protect.]

[The goal of the foreigners is to open the gate to the dream world.]

[I must stop them.]

[I hope the things I’ve recorded can become a ray of light at dawn’s final break.]

This segment had no voiceover, yet it seemed to convey that humanity never ceased in its courageous efforts to save the world.

Soothing music played as the screen lit up again, this time flashing images of many familiar players.

[NightNight: Hey, isn't that me?]

In the scene, NightNight and his team, along with Edmund, encountered ghouls outside a villa. NightNight bravely stepped forward to draw the ghoul away in an attempt to save his critically injured teammate.

“Come on! Look here! Your grandpa is right here!”

The screen flickered again, this time showing Druid in a small cabin with a raging storm outside. The cabin door was being pounded on by a masked serial killer. Druid crouched down, placing his hands on a little girl’s shoulders: “Listen, I’m going to distract him. Then you run out the window, got it?”

The little girl nodded through her tears.

[Druid: Ah, didn't expect this scene to be included (scratching head).]

[Druid, just laugh it off, you scored a loli for free (lemon emoji)]

[Druid: Don’t talk nonsense (laughing with tears). She only kissed me to say thank you.]

[Lemons, lemons]

It wasn't just these two; other players also had their moments of ‘human brilliance’ during investigation missions highlighted. This included never giving up, staying true to oneself, and the courage to draw swords in the face of danger.

Although they knew this promotional video was deliberately emotional, many players fell for it. Plus, the officials really showed sincerity; quite a few people made it onto TV!

The music also became uplifting with these scenes, filled with both the melancholy of a fading destiny and the vigor of unyielding enthusiasm.

The players strived to save the people of Arkham City, even though their efforts seemed so insignificant in the grand scheme of things.

They advanced step by step in their investigations, until they reached the final point!

Their efforts were not in vain.

The screen returned to the dark space, where a luminous figure appeared before the door, proclaiming:

"Close the door."

The giant hand trying to enter the human world was shut outside.

The door closed with a heavy thud.

At this moment, the title “Destiny's Spiral: Prologue” appeared on the screen.

Video ended.

In the last scene, players left messages of reluctant farewell:

[Epic! So thrilling! But too short, wuwu, it's over just like that qwq]

[Thank you, official team, I made it onto TV!]

[Wait, hold on, look at the progress bar, the video isn’t finished!]

Players quickly focused back on the video, indeed noticing that it had just gone dark for a while but hadn't displayed an 'end' sign. After a few seconds, new text appeared on the screen.

“Destiny's Spiral: Prelude.”

The reappeared scene showed a cozy-looking psychotherapy room, with a person's back to the camera, revealing only their platinum blonde short hair.

The door opened, and the sound of wind chimes was heard.

The young man turned around, revealing a face that had captivated countless players, his eyes curved and lips lifted in a welcoming smile: “Welcome.”

The scene flashed to a figure in a foggy space. Algie sat at a stone table, looking somewhat nervous:

"...Who exactly is he?"

Hush—

A figure in black with no visible face placed a finger on their lips.

[This is an unspeakable mystery.]

With that, the video officially ended.

The excitement and curiosity of the players erupted alongside the flood of comments!

[Wow, there's even an Easter egg, and it blatantly hints at a problem with Lann's identity!]

[Isn't it obvious? Haven't you been playing the game for a while? Lann was already pegged as an evil god.]

[I think it's not just that simple. If it were, the game officials wouldn't have needed to make this Easter egg video. Think about it, Easter eggs usually hint at the next episode, so... I guess the mystery of Lann's identity will be the main storyline of the next phase!]

[I agree, Lann is truly the main character now. Almost all the main storyline developments in the previous phase involved him, and now the officials are not even trying to hide it, directly linking Lann with the next phase's main storyline.]

[Hilarious, of course. Haven't you seen how popular Lann is now?]

[Here’s a hot tip, on a social platform, the search volume for 'Destiny's Spiral' is 500,000, but 'Lann' is 600,000.]

[Damn, how is that even possible?]

[You should check out a certain popular fan zone app. The disparity there is even more brutal. The 'Destiny's Spiral' tap doesn't even have a third of Lann's popularity, not to mention other related taps like 'allLann,' 'Lannall,' 'Orlan,' and so on.]

[After all, he's a god-tier beauty who's broken out of the circle. It proves that good looks are the primary productivity.]

[Haha, with such high popularity, the game officials definitely need to adjust their promotional focus. I wouldn’t be surprised if Lann becomes the main character directly.]

[To the above comment, isn’t Lann already the main character hhhh? He or his followers are involved in almost all the main storylines.]

[You know, the officials might actually be leaning towards this. Look at the end of the main storyline – wasn't it Lann who stopped the monsters from coming through the door?]

[To the previous comment, it’s not necessarily Lann, right? We're just guessing, it's not confirmed yet.]

[No, I think it must be Lann. Generally speaking, if a gun is to be fired at the end, it must have appeared earlier in the story. That's consistent with the law of storytelling.]

[Indeed, it’s more logical to deduce that Lann is the gatekeeper than some unknown entity suddenly appearing.]

[Hey, I suddenly have a theory...]

[Although we've been calling him an evil god, is Lann really one? Don't forget, in the Cthulhu mythos, there are not only the Old Ones and Outer Gods. Look at Lann always helping humanity, including that glowing gatekeeper. If he hadn’t closed the door in time, the human world could have been doomed. If he were an evil god, it wouldn’t make sense for him to help humans.]

[However, I don't agree that Lann is necessarily the gatekeeper. I still think his evil god persona is emerging, just like the previous impression from Black Cat, the fallen nature god. And think about the consequences of Lann's previous transformations, isn’t that enough to be an evil god?]

The barrage was filled with all sorts of reasonable speculations, but Lann didn’t care much, only finding them noisy.

However, this did serve the purpose of stirring up excitement.

Quickly seizing the moment, the officials released more internal test spots.

This time, the number of new spots was ten times the previous test, adding up to five thousand new slots. Not only that, but they also updated the gameplay system – introducing a Faction System, meaning players could finally officially join a particular faction.

1l: Wow, the officials are really generous this time!?

2l: Tell me, did you guys change the management, or did you finally remember to do business?

3l: Updating so much at once, it's hard not to suspect they were slacking off before (doge emoji).

4l: Ahhh, finally, I can enter the game to see my wife! Time to try for a spot, charge!

5l: Ahhh, only 5,000 spots? Have you seen the number of pre-orders, official team? Hundreds of thousands of people! Can I really win a spot?

6l: Yeah, please open more slots!

7l: Update to the 2.0 version for internal testing... Finally, we can officially join factions! I can finally be Lann’s follower (ecstatic).

8l: To the previous commenter, put on some pants (picks up pants).

9l: Since the game updated the faction system, does that mean a flood of factions will pour into Arkham City? Otherwise, there's no need for just Lann and the Inspectorate.

10l: Could it be possible to join the Inspectorate now? I've been waiting for so long!

11l: Wow, are people still looking to join the Inspectorate? Surprising.

12l: Well, role-playing gamers do have a soft spot for investigators. And honestly, Algie's father's diary did earn the Inspectorate some points.

The players’ discussions were fervent, mainly revolving around the additional 5,000 spots, the promotional video, and the updated faction gameplay.

But Lann, from the players' eager discussions, sensed an impending crisis.

This was mainly due to the information revealed in the promotional video.

Lann's memory of that time was a bit hazy, and he no longer felt in control of that door. He never imagined... was this all broadcast live???

Ahhh, what’s happening now? Why did everyone see it!

Lann was quite distressed. He always thought no one knew about him closing the door, but now the players clearly guessed it!

And the other citizens of Arkham City witnessed it too? Hiss...

Lann didn't know what to say, only relieved that his entire body was obscured by the radiance, so probably no one recognized him.

Ah, but players don’t need evidence to speculate; they definitely pinned the 'Gatekeeper' identity on him.

Lann started to feel troubled. As is well known, a secret known by three people is no longer a secret. And now, great, the game is opening more slots soon, bringing in 5,000 players who know his identity. How is he supposed to play now!

What made it even more challenging was that his significant alterations to the main storyline meant he had almost lost the advantage of knowing the future.

Originally, after Arkham City's complete disappearance, players were to be reborn in a neighboring international metropolis, which was also the headquarters of the Inspectorate. It was larger and more prosperous than Arkham City, but beneath its flourishing surface lay many shadows.

But now, Arkham City still stands, and it seems likely that it will continue to be the stage for what comes next...

Lanen couldn't help but sigh. He had just learned from Ogres that he needed to keep his identity secret, and yet now he was already facing a crisis of being exposed. What was going on?

Keep calm, keep calm. Since it's already happened, the only thing to do is to find a solution.

The greatest strength and weakness of players are their recklessness and unpredictability. Unlike Edmund and the others, who would not utter a word about Lanen's identity if he asked for secrecy, players... if they don't blabber about it to the whole world, Lanen should consider himself lucky.

Moreover, with the upcoming faction gameplay, it's clear that Arkham City won't just have one faction. Given the players' mentality of seeking fun, there's no telling when they might just spill the beans about Lanen's identity.

Or rather, Lanen had a nagging feeling that this was just a matter of time.

He needed to find a way to get through this...

Lanen thought, the only solution might be to establish a real power base of his own.