"Actually, the three women aren't that bright. You could've just made up some lies to make them happy, and you would've passed the trial," the magic mirror said.
"The thing I hate the most is lying to please women," Feng Bujue said with annoyance. "Furthermore, these are a few of my most hated characters, so naturally, I had nothing good to say about them."
"Because of that, you didn't hesitate to risk your life?" the magic mirror asked.
"I am different from you." Feng Bujue smiled. "I know when you're threatened, you'll lie your ass off."
Then he took out the wrench and raised it before the mirror. "Tell me, who is the most handsome person in the world?"
The magic mirror's lips twitched. "I believe there's a misunderstanding between us…"
"You dare say it's not me?" Feng Bujue widened his eyes and stressed on his threat.
"First, your threat is meaningless. Even if you break this mirror, you won't harm my actual form," the magic mirror explained. "Secondly, back then… yes, the queen did pose the same threat to me. I had no choice but to lie. However, at least she was indeed the second most beautiful people in the world. You, on the other hand…"
"Oh… Since I am already the most handsome man alive, there's no need to threaten you to repeat the truth." Feng Bujue nodded.
"I think our misunderstanding has deepened…" Even the magic mirror was sweating bullets.
"Fine, I was just joking." Feng Bujue chuckled. "Sigh… you lack a sense of humor."
"I think the problem lies in your sense of humor, not mine…"
Feng Bujue shrugged. "Regardless… I should have passed the trials already, yes?"
"Obviously, you have not," the magic mirror answered. "How is killing them so brutally a sign of benevolence?"
"So?" Feng Bujue tossed out another ambivalent question. This was the usual way he communicated with NPCs.
"But since you have passed the trials of Intelligence and Courage, you will get a corresponding reward," the magic mirror announced.
"What reward?" Feng Bujue asked.
"You can ask me two questions," the magic mirror replied.
Then, the system announced, "The questions need to be related to the scenario and plot, or it will be viewed as a blank question."
"Let me think," Feng Bujue said as he crossed his arms before his chest and started to pace inside the bathroom with a frown. The magic mirror did not rush him but waited patiently. Thinking about the questions took ten minutes before he finally made a decision.
"I've got it." Feng Bujue turned back to the mirror. "My first question is… of 'the experiment zone' and 'here', which is the real world?"
The 'real' in this question naturally referred to the reality in the scenario, unrelated to the real world outside of Thriller Paradise.
"Neither of them." The magic mirror gave that answer.
"Oh?" This answer surprised Feng Bujue. His initial prediction was that this memory space was the real scenario and the experiment zone was just the mental world of this boss character. But after he got the confirmed answer, Feng Bujue gave it more thought, and it hit him, "You have a point… The fact that I can bring the items from the experiment zone to this space can prove that."
"Is your second question… 'who is the psychological possessor of these two dimensions'?"
The magic mirror made this assumption from Feng Bujue's first question, but Feng Bujue shook his head.
"It's too boring to hear that directly…"
"Then, your second question is?" Magic Mirror prompted.
"Actually, I have no more questions. I find it more interesting to solve the mystery myself, but… In that case, I shall ask a question that is not that important but one that interests me." He paused. "Who is this 'boss'?"
"I can only give you his name." The magic mirror's pale face looked flustered. After all, this 'who' was too ambiguous. If he wanted, he could expose a lot like his occupation and personality.
"That's enough," Feng Bujue said.
"James Moriarty," the magic mirror revealed.
"Oh…" Feng Bujue raised his brow, and a smile appeared on his face. "So, it is the professor…"
"My mission has been completed, traveler from another world." After answering these two questions, the Magic Mirror prepared to leave. "If you can escape from this place and return to the experiment zone, you'll meet the professor."
After Feng Bujue heard about the boss' identity, the magic mirror called the boss by his title directly.
"Well then… goodbye."
The face faded away from the mirror until it completely disappeared. Several seconds later, the mirror returned to normal, and Feng Bujue saw his reflection again.
"Hmm… the path that leads to the seventh floor is the 'waterfall'. Is that it?" Feng Bujue mumbled. "Or have I overthought it?"
He walked out from the bathroom. He walked to the other end of the living room to switch the light on. The familiar environment, furniture, and even Arthas' litter box were as he remembered, but the cat that ignored its owner was not simulated.
"Hmm… Can't be opened." Feng Bujue tried the front door, but the system gave him a classic hint.
"It's locked."
Therefore, based on the habit of this game, Feng Bujue started a carpet search of his 'home'. After consuming SCP-500, Feng Bujue was in optimum condition, but his Life Points were still only at thirty percent. Considering that he had just drunk a health potion, he was not in a hurry to heal. Due to the decreasing efficiency of potions, without the premise of danger and a time limit, it was better for the Life Points to recover naturally.
"Ha! Perfect, a slate of darkness." Feng Bujue pulled back the curtain and realized that outside was dark like ink, and the windows could not be open. "That makes things easier. This means that I only need to search inside the room."
He came up with a plan instantly—with the lights on, he checked the whole living room and kitchen. His living room was joined to his kitchen. Then, he would search again with the lights off. When that was done, the same would be repeated inside the bedroom. This time, his search soon garnered result. He did not find anything that would push the plot forward but a skill card.
———
Name: South Dipper Lone Eagle Fist—Flying Dragon Fist
Skill Card Property: Active Skill, Permanent
Skill Type: Fighting
Effect: Rapid punches with both hands to destroy the enemy.
Cooldown: Thirty minutes.
Consumption: Eight hundred Stamina Points
Learning Requirement: Fighting C
Remark: One of the ultimates of the South Dipper Fist series. One can disrupt the opponent's breathing during the attack and dissolve part of their defense, causing a physical collapse of their body.
———
The card was hidden in a queer place, inside the gaming hub…
"Ha! Hahaha…" Pleasure was plain on Feng Bujue's face. "Finally got a reliable, powerful skill, hahaha…"
For so long, Feng Bujue had been looking for, or rather, he had been lacking an 'ultimate'. So far, he had gained quite a number of active skills. There were control skills like Below-the-belt Kick and super strong skills like Wicked King Immolation Black Dragon Wave, but they had limited uses, and he could only use them so many times. Continuous skills like Body Enhancement Spell and Descent of the Fighting Demon, as useful and effective as they were, were buffs and came with a great cost.
And the title skill 'Kyaaa!' that had just been replaced needed no mention…
Now Feng Bujue had finally gotten his wish and found a real ultimate. This Flying Dragon Fist was an average active skill in terms of power, exhaustion, cooldown time, and activation method, so Feng Bujue's joy could be understood. He learned this skill without hesitation; he would not sell it. If he was to gift it… in Underworld Frontline, other than Passing Rain, only Brother Jue had mastery C in Fighting, and Passing Rain was more familiar with the sword. This kind of bare fist skill was not suitable for her, and she might not even want it. So, Feng Bujue had not reason not to keep it for himself. After learning the skill, he calmed down and continued his search.
Honestly, it felt weird doing the search. After all, this was his home.
Even though Feng Bujue rented it, he had been living there for years. Since his parents passed away, he had lived there. No one would go and 'search' their own home. In daily life, the average person might ask their family who stayed with them if they had lost something, and if they lived alone, they would retrace their steps. Only when they could not remember where they placed something would they start to randomly look for it.
But to look and search were two different concepts.
What was a search? Searching was not to look for a specific object but trying to find anything that could be valuable. In other words, it was a ransacking of one's home, and who would ransack their own home?
When one's home became a scenario in a game, searching it might be more difficult than a strange environment because, in daily life, many things would appear before our eyes, and the human brain would automatically help us filter away the presence of these items to focus on more important information. Soon, Feng Bujue realized the problem.
"Looks like this will take more time and energy than I thought… I have to make a paradigm shift and treat this as a new and strange place…"