<<The Clown Mask and the Dice of Wheel of Fate>>

Ranen’s mind was on the verge of turning to mush, and he ultimately decided to stop thinking about it and torturing himself by trying to make sense of this confusing mess.

“Tell me in detail about the Dresm Rift.”

“Yes,” hearing that Ranen didn’t hold him accountable for the earlier report, the previously anxious Edmund breathed a sigh of relief and proceeded to explain the Inspection Bureau’s explanation of the Dream Rift in full.

The Dream Rift, simply put, is the gap between dreams and reality. No one knows when this space first appeared, but ever since the dawn of humanity, the legend of the Dream Rift has existed throughout human history. Due to cultural differences, it is referred to by different names in various regions—some call it the Ladder to Heaven, while others know it as the Tower of Babel.

It wasn’t until modern times, with deepening research, that the term Dream Rift was officially recognized within the Inspection Bureau.

After years of investigation, the Bureau confirmed that the Dream Rift consists of nine levels, meaning nine platforms and nine staircases. After ascending the first staircase, some gifted individuals awaken a power known as “Origin,” transcending the realm of ordinary people and stepping into the supernatural.

Each time they reach a new platform and pass its test, their previously awakened Origin power increases or they acquire a new ability related to their Origin.

For example, within the Inspection Bureau, someone awakened an Origin known as the “Teacher.” This Origin ability is quite special—it allows them to teach others how to better develop their own Origin powers.

Five years later, he passed the second test of the Dream Rift and awakened a new ability called “Beacon,” which could assist in exploring the Dream Rift, allowing investigators to endure the interference of the fog for a longer time.

“Do most people’s awakened Origins relate to their profession?” Ranen asked curiously.

“Most of the time, yes, but there are special cases,” Edmund explained. “In the training courses, they also mentioned some unique Origins, like ‘The Exonerated’ and ‘The Glutton.’ The former has the ability to automatically erase all traces when committing a crime, while the latter gained the power to devour anomalies.”

“However, The Glutton was killed by the Inspection Bureau ten years ago for unknown reasons, and his file has since been classified.”

Ranen pondered this. It was information he hadn’t known in his past life, no wonder NPCs’ growth rates were on par with players’.

Players didn’t have such abilities. Instead, they relied on their campaign-provided profession templates. As their attribute points increased, especially after undergoing a specific trial mission later in the game, their fighting or shooting skills could surpass the human limit of 90 points. Even physical attacks wouldn’t be inferior to magic, not to mention the opportunity to learn magic later on.

“The method to reach the Dream Rift is simple. At midnight, at the juncture between the old and new day, one can possibly reach the Dream Rift through meditation, clearing the mind of distractions.”

“Of course, though there are said to be nine levels, no one has ever reached the deepest, ninth level. The Inspection Bureau learned this information from an ancient text. The farthest any human has reached is the seventh level, which was the limit for a legendary investigator in the Bureau’s history. According to legend, anyone who reaches the ninth level will enter the world of the gods.”

“The world of the gods?” Ranen paused for a moment. “Are you referring to the ‘Dream World’?”

Edmund wasn’t at all surprised that Ranen knew this information. “Yes, at least that’s how the legend records it, but no one has been able to verify whether it’s true or not. The only legendary investigator who had a chance disappeared when he was about to break through the seventh level.”

As everyone knows, legends tend to be based on truth. Ranen kept this information in mind and continued asking, “Your increase in combat power last night, was it because you broke through?”

“Yes, thanks to your favor, I overcame my inner fears in a desperate situation and broke through the first level,” Edmund said, visibly excited.

Ranen gave a dry laugh. “That was all your hard work.”

“No, without your guidance, I wouldn’t have been able to overcome my fears,” Edmund shook his head, his eyes still filled with admiration.

Ranen didn’t argue further and let him continue describing the details of the Dream Rift. Edmund was forthcoming, meticulously describing the platforms of the Dream Rift and the mist swirling around them.

The more Ranen listened, the more familiar it felt—wasn’t this what he dreamed about last night?

“There are records in the Inspection Bureau,” Edmund continued, “The first platform’s trial is fear, and passing it allows one to awaken their Origin. As for the trials on the later levels… that’s classified information within the Bureau. Only full investigators have access to it. I’ll work hard to level up when I return.”

“Good, thank you for your efforts.”

Edmund then reported a few other matters related to the Inspection Bureau, but since he was only an intern investigator, his knowledge was limited. Nevertheless, Edmund enthusiastically assured Ranen that he would return to his investigation team and infiltrate it properly, all for the sake of Lord Ranen’s revival.

Ranen, suddenly feeling like the villain: “…”

“Um… I appreciate it.”

“It’s no trouble at all! This is what I should do.” Edmund’s big blue eyes sparkled, and with a slightly shy expression, Ranen momentarily imagined an eager corgi wagging its tail.

“dog lover” Ranen couldn’t help but soften his expression. “Good boy.”

Ranen gave Edmund a few more instructions before it was time to see him off. After all, Ogre had been sent away earlier, and Ranen had something he was eager to verify.

Before Edmund left, Ranen reminded him, “When you get back to the station, if you run into Archie, please give him my regards.”

It had been a while since Ranen had visited the station, and he hadn’t connected with Dr. Archie in some time, which wouldn’t do.

Dr. Archie was Ranen’s key indicator for when the major city-destroying plotline might unfold.

As he watched Edmund leave, the Psychotherapy Room finally quieted down. Ranen absentmindedly hung up a “closed” sign outside to prevent players from bothering him.

Today, he had learned too much unexpected information and needed some time to calm down.

First, he suddenly gained a follower, along with a new, somewhat useful faction?

Having abruptly shifted from being completely alone, Ranen couldn’t help but reflect on what he had done to end up in this situation.

Three minutes later, after his reflection, he concluded: this isn’t his fault— it is all because of people who overthink!

Currently, Ranen was still uncertain about the identity of the person behind last night’s events (he refused to admit that it was Amos—such thoughts would cause nightmares). He also had no clue as to why he was being targeted, but one thing he did know was that he could very well be dragged into similar situations in the future. The enemy was in the shadows, while he was exposed, so for now, the safest option was to gain more power.

At this moment, Ranen recalled what Edmund had mentioned earlier about the Dream Rift.

In hindsight, this Dream Rift seemed to be an NPC-exclusive growth template, which explained why even when players leveled up, gained attribute points, and learned numerous combat skills and spells, they still couldn’t defeat certain NPCs.

He vaguely remembered arriving at a similar place when he had dozed off previously, though he hadn’t done anything since he was too sleepy.

Now he had to wait until midnight to…

Hmm?

Ranen suddenly had a feeling and silently recalled the place he had dreamed of last night.

In an instant, he opened his eyes and found himself already in that strange space, standing on a platform surrounded by a thick fog that couldn’t be dispersed.

It wasn’t even midnight yet, but he had easily arrived here…

Could it be that his talent was exceptional?

Ranen optimistically thought as he carefully observed his surroundings. This place looked more or less as Edmund had described it. However, the fog wasn’t as dense as described, and his visibility wasn’t as limited—perhaps due to it being daytime.

One thing was certain, though: the platform was not small. On the contrary, it was vast, stretching beyond the horizon.

At that moment, a small white light floated near him. Ranen looked at it curiously, recalling how Edmund had mentioned that everyone who arrived here would have a source of illumination.

So, is this little light supposed to guide him? It seems weak, and he doesn’t feel like he particularly needs the extra light.

After some thought, Ranen, out of curiosity, reached out to grab the light as it drifted closer. In an instant, a vision flashed through his mind.

It was a scene of Edmund returning to the police station, even shyly greeting the female officer at the front desk.

Ranen was stunned. What is this? Why could he spy on Edmund’s life?

Wait a second, this feeling… it is somewhat similar to what happened last night…

As he carefully recalled the experience, his consciousness suddenly plunged downward. Edmund, who was walking through the police station, hesitated for a moment. His steps shifted, and he walked into the men’s restroom, where he saw those familiar green eyes staring back at him in the mirror.

“Master?”

Sensing the feeling of possession, Ranen quickly told Edmund, “It’s nothing,” and then withdrew from the vision.

The white light immediately darted away, as if silently reprimanding him for abusing its power.

However, it soon floated back, this time maintaining a certain distance—not too close, but not too far either—as if guiding him somewhere.

Suppressing his confusion and shock, Ranen, who had already begun to form a theory in his mind, followed the light up the stairs.

Yes, the stairs here didn’t lead down but up.

The staircase was indeed shrouded in mist, but unlike Edmund’s description, Ranen didn’t feel much discomfort. There was a faint murmur in his ears, but to him, it was like the buzzing of mosquitoes—annoying, but bearable.

The number of steps wasn’t many, and Ranen soon reached the first platform. As expected, it was just like in his dream the night before. There was a stone table on the platform, but nothing else.

Ranen stood there for a while, waiting. There was no “test” as he had anticipated, and there wasn’t a single other being in sight.

Oh, except for the white light that stubbornly floated back beside him. It bobbed up and down in front of him, as if urging him to move forward.

His curiosity continued to grow.

One or two oddities could be explained by attributing them to his natural talent, perhaps suggesting that Ranen was born to be an investigator. 

But after a series of such peculiar events, even he started to feel uneasy.

In the end, under the light’s urging, Ranen moved toward the stone table. Following the light’s lead, he examined the two items on it.

There were two ten-sided dice, which gave Ranen a sense of familiarity—similar to those used in tabletop RPGs.

And then there was a clown’s mask, which oddly resembled the Edmund who had appeared at last night’s banquet.

The light hovered above the clown mask.

“This is what you wanted me to see?” Ranen asked. He noticed that the light had floated over the mask and remained still. Unable to resist, he stepped forward and picked up the clown mask. The moment he touched it, the mask dissolved into liquid and seeped into his palm.

Ranen was startled. Remembering the dangers of this world, he instantly became alert, taking a few steps back and shaking his hand in an attempt to expel whatever had just entered. Of course, this was in vain. Ranen could vaguely sense that the substance had integrated into his body, and a clown’s mark appeared on his wrist, while a surge of energy coursed through him.

Is this…

Ranen was confused for a few seconds before recalling what Edmund had mentioned earlier—his ability enhanced physical functions, neural responses, and made him more adept at using weapons.

Could this be Edmund’s ability??

Ranen was dumbfounded. He glanced at the clown mark on his wrist and then at the light that was suddenly sticking close to him with enthusiasm.

He thought, ‘Oh no, could I really be an evil god?’

From Ranen’s past gaming experience, it was usually the heretic gods who bestowed power upon their followers, not the other way around. Moreover, he hadn’t experienced any memory gaps so far. In his previous life, he was just an ordinary person, and his only connection to this world was playing the game Wheel of Fate.

But back then, there were millions of players who played the game. It couldn’t possibly mean all those players were heretic gods!

Ranen never believed himself to be one. He had neither the power of an evil god nor the mental corruption associated with them. His body carried the blood of a regular human.

And yet, everything that had happened so far—the ability to spy on others, to possess their bodies, to gain their powers, and this platform free of any abnormalities—was too reminiscent of something out of the ordinary.

All these occurrences made it impossible for Ranen to ignore the strangeness surrounding him any longer.

Wait a minute, if there’s no trial, doesn’t that mean he can go straight to the ninth level??

Ranen temporarily set aside the thought of being an evil god and eagerly began searching for stairs. However, no matter how hard he looked, he couldn’t find any way to the second level. It was baffling—whichever direction he checked, both above and below were bottomless abysses.

Puzzled, Ranen returned to the stone table. This time, he hesitantly picked up the remaining dice.

Information about the dice suddenly appeared in his mind.

If it were presented in a game format, it might look something like this:

[Dice of Wheel of Fate]

Effect: Alter a predetermined fate (Cooldown: 24 hours)

Description: Haha, does anyone seriously believe they’re favored by fate?

The effect gave Ranen an intense sense of déjà vu. He stared dumbfoundedly at the dice in his hand. “…Is this really a dice for tabletop games?”

He read the effect several times, finally squatting down, his mouth curling into a grin as he thought with glee:

‘Oh man, if it’s really what I think it is, then I’ve hit the jackpot!’

Don’t be fooled by how every player seems to have one, as it might not seem that special. But in a way, this is essentially a causality weapon. As long as you roll a critical success, even a medical idiot could bring someone back from the dead, and a weakling with a combat strength of 5 could take on a heretic god’s chosen ones.

Don’t ask how—just call it a medical miracle, or a last-stand war god.

Although there were uncontrollable factors, such as rolling a critical failure, which could lead to a disaster, Ranen could simply choose to roll the dice only in dire situations. After all, he wasn’t one of those players who relied entirely on dice rolls to use skills—he had full autonomy over when to use this dice.

Originally, he thought that obtaining the same ability as Edmund would already be great, but unexpectedly, this dice turned out to be the real jackpot.

Ranen fiddled with the dice, reluctant to part with it, wondering if it had crossed into this world with him.

In any case, the issue of power had finally been resolved. He was no longer completely powerless.

Even though he hadn’t faced any sort of trial, like a pie falling from the sky, which left him both happy and a little uneasy, who would refuse power handed to them?

Content, Ranen opened his eyes, only to be startled by Ogre’s face suddenly close to his.

“What is it?” 

Ogre said nothing, raising his hand to touch Ranen’s face. “Just now, you suddenly became unresponsive.”

Ranen realized Ogre was worried about him, so his expression softened. “Sorry, I was lost in thought. It won’t happen again.”

It seemed that entering the Dream Rift during the day carried risks—his body was completely unresponsive to the outside world. At the very least, he decided not to do this when there were others around.

“By the way, Ogre…”

Ogre tilted his head. “I’m here.”

Ranen felt a moment of warmth. “Do you remember I mentioned wanting to move? If I wanted you to move away from this city with me…”

“Sure,” Ogre replied without a moment’s hesitation. “Wherever you go, I’ll go.”

“I haven’t decided when yet, or even where to move,” Ranen said, touched by Ogre’s trust. With that, he felt he had no worries behind him.

He had also saved up enough money and was prepared that if any unpredictable danger arose, he would definitely drag Ogre along to leave the city.

Just then, he received a text message alert on his phone. Ranen looked down and was surprised to see it was Albert, who hadn’t contacted him in a while.

[I’m back from my business trip.]

[How have you been? Sorry for not texting before; I was busy with a case.]

[Are you angry? (Cautiously.jpg)]

Ranen found it a bit amusing. They didn’t have any particular relationship, so how could he be upset with Albert for not messaging him? Besides, if he had to be honest, he hadn’t sent any messages either.

But from the perspective of maintaining client relations, Ranen still replied, “It’s fine. Were you busy with work?”

Immediately, several responses popped up on the other end.

[I’m fine. How about you? I’ve heard that Arkham isn’t very safe lately, so it’s best if you don’t go out.]

[The Black Poker people seem to frequently appear in the neighborhoods near you, and they might be looking for you. If anything seems off, feel free to call me. I’ll be in Arkham City for a while, so don’t hesitate to bother me, okay?]

Ranen fell into deep thought, typing and deleting a message repeatedly, and finally, hesitantly sent a simple “Okay.”

“Wuwuwu, Ogre…”

Ogre, who was drawing beside him, looked over in confusion.

Ranen laid his head on the table, murmuring, “I feel like I’m trampling on someone’s feelings.”

Ogre: ?

“No, it’s nothing. I’m just a little crazy,” Ranen groaned, rolling his head on the table, making his previously neat hair messy again.

The main issue was that he was really not good at handling the emotional relationships of the original person. He wasn’t blind; when someone goes out of their way to be nice, it’s either genuine or there’s an ulterior motive. Albert’s intentions were obvious enough that even he, a novice in emotional matters, could see through it.

Moreover, it was likely that Albert was interested in the previous ‘Ranen.’

This made him seem cruel whether he refused or accepted Albert’s intentions, because what Albert heard wasn’t from the person he wanted to hear it from.

Suddenly, he murmured in confusion, “Huh? Didn’t he say he was on a business trip? How does Albert know that the Black Poker has been coming around here frequently?”

—-

Seeing the reply “Okay” from Ranen, Albert didn’t feel relieved; his brows were still furrowed.

This was due to the information he received. During his business trip, it seemed that many significant events had occurred in Arkham City. He wasn’t actually back from a business trip; he had been recalled because the police department was severely understaffed.

The reason was that the Black Poker had gone wild recently, executing a major operation that almost captured all the leaders of the underground organizations in Arkham. The previously stable underground order was instantly disrupted, facing a reshuffle, and incidents of takeover and bloodshed occurred every night. The once leisurely police were now forced to work around the clock, and the department was so short-handed that they called back everyone who had been on business trips.

But none of this concerned Albert much. To him, the activities of those underground rats were irrelevant; what he cared about more was Ranen.

To prevent the Black Poker from targeting Ranen, Albert had instructed the police department to keep a close watch on the area around Ranen’s shop. Nothing had happened to Ranen; in fact, he seemed to be doing quite well. The psychotherapy clinic was thriving, apparently not lacking in clientele.

However, a high-ranking member of the Black Poker frequently came in and out of that clinic.

Albert glanced at the photo and information of Karens on his phone, his expression cold.

Has he just become… the leader of the Black Poker?

“Boss? What are you looking at?” a carefree officer leaned in, but Albert turned off his phone screen and replied flatly, “Don’t lean in to look at my phone suddenly.”

The officer wasn’t intimidated by his cold glare, grinning as he said, “Boss, you’re not chatting with a girlfriend, are you?”

“Not a girlfriend,” Albert replied, “but I am pursuing someone.”

In an instant, everyone in the office perked up, their eyes filled with gossip curiosity aimed at Albert.

“Oh wow, our captain actually has someone he likes?”

“Who is it? Someone who can actually make you chase after them?”

“Boss, I’m an expert in this area! Let me teach you how to pursue someone!”

Albert was instantly surrounded, except for one person who stood apart. Archie remained indifferent on the sidelines, not joining in with the others, his eyes flickering with complexity and unease as he watched Albert being questioned in the center.

He certainly knew who Albert had feelings for. To be honest, if that person were just an ordinary individual, regardless of gender, he would fully support Albert in pursuing his feelings. However, the existence of that person was simply too dangerous.

Archie didn’t dare directly reveal Ranen’s identity to Albert, fearing that angering this “evil god” might lead to unpredictable consequences. At the same time, he was reluctant to watch his friend take a step into the abyss.

He had originally thought that Albert’s business trip would cool down this relationship, but it seemed to have had no effect; if anything, it had only intensified.

Feeling troubled, Archie decided to look away from Albert and turned to leave the office.

He didn’t notice the faint gaze Albert cast at his back.

—-

After exiting the office, Archie was about to head back to his apartment when someone suddenly called out to him as he turned down a hallway.

“Dr. Archie! Please wait a moment!”

Archie looked up and was surprised to find a stranger standing before him.

The leader quickly pulled out a business card from his pocket and handed it over. “My name is Geffer, and I belong to the Inspection Bureau’s Mysterious Investigation Team. I just arrived in Arkham on a business trip.”

Archie paused as he took the card, unable to help but glance up at him.

The Mysterious Investigation Team of the Inspection Bureau?

He seemed to recall hearing his superiors mention this organization. It was an official mysterious force, independent from the police department, specifically tasked with investigating supernatural incidents in the country. They even had the authority to mobilize police officers when necessary.

Could they possibly deal with Ranen?

Archie had considered seeking their help before, but they were so secretive that he had no way to reach out to them.

And now, the Inspection Bureau was right in front of him?