<<Who has the problem, after all?>>

Though speechless, after thinking it over carefully, Ranen realized that there was no way he could truly let Archie go report to the Inspection Bureau. What if Archie ended up turning him in as well?

Therefore, the only solution was for Ranen to handle the matter himself. This way, he could also pull Archie fully to his side, eliminating the worry that he might expose his identity.

Damn, the more he thought about it, the more this sounded like some kind of cult.

Ranen quietly observed Archie, who had bowed his head, and after carefully choosing his words, he chuckled softly, “You know what this means, don’t you?”

Archie’s straight posture trembled slightly, and he closed his eyes in pain. “I know.”

Throughout history, those who prayed to evil gods had never met a good end. He was well aware of the fate that awaited him.

But Archie couldn’t ignore the memory hidden behind hypnosis, nor could he stand by and watch his friend walk the same path as that man.

Ranen could see Archie’s resolve in his expression and naturally didn’t try to stop him. Since he had already decided to help Archie with this matter, it was necessary to gather more information.

“When did your ability appear? Do you know what it is?”

Archie replied, “…I do. I discovered how to enter that space called the ‘Dream Rift’ while sorting through that man’s belongings and found the method in a notebook. At first, I didn’t know what it was, and I had nightmares for a long time. It wasn’t until I conquered my fear that I gained this ability, and only then did I realize everything written in the notebook was true.”

He let out a bitter laugh. “The ridiculous part is, when I lost my memory, I naively believed that man was doing something great and that was why he neglected his family. But that was just my delusion.”

“Notebook?” Ranen was a bit curious. “Can I take a look at it?”

Archie hesitated for a moment before nodding. “But I don’t have it with me. I can bring it to you tomorrow.”

Ranen nodded in return and saw Archie off.

Archie had arrived burdened with heavy thoughts, and as he left, his mood hadn’t improved at all. In fact, his expression looked even worse.

He didn’t have many friends at the police station to begin with, and with his sour expression, even fewer people dared to approach him. The officers who worked in the same area as him were especially on edge.

“What’s wrong? You look terrible.”

Albert, who was regarded as brave by everyone watching, patted Archie’s shoulder. But today, his usually responsive friend just pursed his lips, not even turning to look at him. “It’s nothing,” Archie replied.

Without waiting for Albert to ask further, Archie quickly gathered his things and left the office. “I have something to do. I’m leaving early today.”

After he left, the others in the office visibly relaxed, returning to their conversations and laughter.

But the cheerful smile that usually adorned Albert’s face had vanished.

“Was I discovered?” he muttered, his fingers unconsciously fiddling with the necklace around his neck—a spinning triangular metal piece. “But when…?”

“Albert, what’s up?” a colleague asked, placing a hand on his shoulder. Albert turned around, his face back to its usual bright expression. “It’s nothing.”

“Sorry, I think I need to leave work early today as well.”

“Huh? Did something happen?”

“Nothing, just something important I need to take care of.” Albert smiled, casually tidied up his desk, and walked out of the office, heading in another direction.

His hand dropped, and he typed out a message on his phone without looking.

[I’ve agreed to the cooperation you mentioned before, but that Hogg cult leader is asking me to capture Ranen. You have to help me.]

[Of course ^-^ I’m curious about him too. Well then, here’s to a successful first collaboration.]

…

After Archie left, Ranen began thinking about how to resolve the current situation, and his gaze gradually shifted to the players outside.

When it comes to investigations, who could be better than the players?

Ranen stepped outside the psychology clinic. After days of being ignored, many players had already left in search of new game content, but a few persistent ones still lingered outside.

As soon as Ranen appeared, A-Long, who had been chatting idly with his livestream audience, suddenly straightened up with excitement.

[Guys, I feel the scent of a new quest!] A-Long said eagerly to the chat.

The viewers wasted no time in dashing his hopes.

[No way, stop hoping.]

[You say that every time Ranen shows up.]

[Look at the livestream of that other rowdy player squad, their viewership is in the tens of thousands! This game doesn’t even have that many online players. It just proves that chaotic behavior is the real key to going viral.]

[A-Long, stop waiting around here. Your livestream’s losing viewers, and if you keep this up, you’ll end up with nothing.]

Just as A-Long was about to reply to the chat, he noticed that Ranen was actually walking toward him!

“!” He immediately suppressed all his playful expressions and even straightened his clothes.

Ranen walked up to A-Long, glanced at his ID, and smiled. “Do you have time right now? I might need some investigators skilled in [Investigation], [Listening], and [Library Use].”

“Of course! I mean, I’m always available,” A-Long responded loudly without hesitation.

As soon as he finished speaking, a quest prompt popped up in front of him.

[Quest: A Request from Ranen

Details: He might need some investigators skilled in Investigation, Listening, and Library Use.

Requirements: All three skills must be 30 points or higher.

Quest Reward: 500 XP, 600 credits]

As an NPC, Ranen technically had the authority to issue quests, but the rewards he could offer were limited. The quest pool for him was around 2000 XP per week, and attribute points were only given in system-issued important quests, while any monetary rewards had to come out of his own pocket.

But why were Ranen’s quests always so highly sought after by players?

Because even though his quests seemed to offer few rewards, they often led to major events!

Just think about last time when the rowdy player squad encountered Ranen—they got directly involved in a jackpot quest, and that one quest alone earned them a fortune, putting them way ahead of other players. 

Later, when Ranen appeared at the banquet, it triggered the regional monster-hunting quest, which was the first time in the entire server that players could openly level up by fighting monsters.

It could be said that both of these quests were inextricably linked to Ranen, and now the forums had more or less concluded that Ranen was the central figure of this beta version.

This led to opportunists like A-Long, who spent all day hanging around Ranen’s psychology clinic, worried they’d miss out on a big reward if they came too late. However, not all players had the patience to linger around, and in the end, only a few remained steadfast.

Among them was A-Long, and now it seemed his bet had paid off!

[Lick till there’s nothing left, huh?]he said smugly to the chat.

[???]

[Damn, this guy actually got something out of it]

[(Jealousy intensifies)]

[No, I refuse to believe it—this must just be a basic fetch quest!]

Feeling triumphant, A-Long accepted the quest. Another player, Matcha Green Milk, who had also been waiting outside the clinic, hurried over to accept it as well.

Ranen felt the group was the right size. After all, heading to Archie’s old home with too many people might lead to uncontrollable situations. Once the two had accepted the quest, Ranen headed back inside.

The other players who arrived just a moment too late groaned in frustration, lamenting their missed opportunity.

The next morning came quickly.

At the break of dawn, Archie showed up at the psychology clinic right on time, only to find a group of people already waiting outside for him, which startled him.

Are this many people really going with him?

In reality, these players had heard that A-Long and Matcha Green Milk successfully accepted the quest and had rushed over, hoping to get lucky. Although they were too late to take on the quest, it didn’t stop some from sticking around, hoping to pick up any leftover benefits.

Fortunately, Ranen soon emerged from his psychology clinic, dispersing the onlookers. He took only A-Long and Matcha Green Milk with him to meet Archie.

“Let’s go.”

Archie bent down to open the car door for Ranen. Once Ranen had entered the car, Archie returned to the driver’s seat.

Naturally, A-Long and Matcha Green Milk didn’t receive the same treatment. After the car drove off, the remaining players resumed their hushed conversations.

“Hey, isn’t that NPC one of those involved in the previous ‘love triangle’ event?”

“What’s going on? Is he also one of Ranen’s followers?”

“Not sure, but it’s definitely possible!”

At this moment, unaware that the players had already labeled him as a ‘suspected follower,’ Archie respectfully handed a notebook to Ranen after the car set off.

In the car, Archie and Ranen sat in the driver and front passenger seats, while Matcha Green Milk and A-Long were seated in the back.

Ranen took the notebook Archie handed him and noticed the content was chaotic.

How to describe it? It was as if someone under immense pressure had scribbled down a random diary. The sentences were cryptic and hard to understand, with phrases like, “At the moment of transition between the new and the old, examine your inner self,” and “Entering the world of mist and madness.”

“‘It could be corpses, blood, spiders, or anything terrifying.’

‘I’m afraid of coming here, but I have no choice.’

The handwriting was an indecipherable mess, some parts were nothing but scribbles. Ranen couldn’t fathom how Archie had managed to find the correct way to enter the Dream Rift from this journal.

“I thought you hated your father.”

“I do hate him,” Archie said stiffly. “This journal… it was Albert who deciphered it. He insisted on reading its contents and even took it away to study for a while.”

Ranen raised an eyebrow, flipping a page and rubbing his finger over the word ‘Dream Rift’ written there. “Is that so…”

Yet, a question arose in his mind.

Archie’s father—was he really just a member of the Outsider, or was there more to it?

He recalled that Edmund had once told him that the Dream Rift had existed for a long time. It had gone by different names in various eras and factions, like the Tower of Babel or the Heavenly Ladder. Only the Inspection Bureau internally referred to it as the ‘Dream Rift.’

That made things interesting. Why had Archie’s father left instructions for entering the Dream Rift in his writings, and why did he specifically call it that?

As Ranen flipped another page, he found the content even more cryptic, almost like the ramblings of a madman. The only phrases he could make out were ‘abandon reason’ and ‘fully embrace madness.’

“Have you studied this part?” Ranen pointed to a section that was mostly black lines and misspelled words.

“I’ve studied it,” Archie quickly glanced at the text in the journal. “It seems to relate to the second level of that space, but I’ve never been able to break through. There are also some side effects.”

“Like what?” Ranen asked.

Archie pursed his lips. “Emotional instability, insomnia, nightmares—things like that.”

Ranen nodded thoughtfully.

It seemed that Archie’s progress had stalled between the first and second levels of the Dream Rift.

Sitting in the back of the car, Matcha Green Milk and A-Long were completely confused.

What are these two talking about?

A-Long, who had his livestream running, saw the comments from the watching players flood with confusion.

[Not sure what they’re talking about, but I’m taking notes anyway.]

[Same, I’m taking notes too.]

The group sat in Archie’s car, heading toward the western district of Arkham. Archie’s old home was in Arkham as well—he was a local. After coming of age, he had moved out on his own. His mother had passed away while he was in college, and he had never returned to that house since.

After about an hour of driving, they finally stopped in front of an old apartment building.

“This is the place.”

The apartment looked worn and aged. The walls were yellowing, mysterious black stains and cracks marked the corners, and vines crawled up the exterior. At night, it could easily pass for a haunted house without needing any extra props.

As soon as the two players got out of the car, they immediately began their usual routine—pressing themselves against the door and windows, as if trying to not miss any potential clues.

Archie was baffled. “…What are they doing?”

Ranen thought to himself, they’re probably rolling for investigation and listening checks. In this game, rolling the dice requires specific actions, and the way these players insist on doing them everywhere must look downright insane to NPCs.

“Nothing. Just ignore them,” Ranen said, keeping a straight face.

Archie hesitated, opened his mouth as if to say something, but ultimately stayed silent, following Ranen into the apartment.

Inside, the building wasn’t much better than the outside. The floor was filthy, clearly untouched for days. At the reception desk, a figure was slumped over, fast asleep, with the strong smell of alcohol hanging in the air even from a distance.

Archie walked up to the desk and knocked. The man jolted awake, blearily raising his head. Upon seeing someone in front of him, he casually said, “We’ve got rooms for rent here, cheap prices. If you’re looking to steal, don’t bother—everyone here’s broke. They don’t have a penny to spend, aside from the cocaine on them!”

“It’s me, Archie Hayes. I used to live in 301 on the third floor,” Archie replied with a blank expression.

“Oh, it’s you, Four Eyes. How long’s it been since you came back? What, didn’t bring anything with you?” The drunkard lazily straightened up and gave Archie a once-over, clicking his tongue when he saw he came empty-handed. His gaze shifted, and when he noticed Ranen behind Archie, his eyes immediately widened.

Archie stepped aside to block the drunkard’s view. “I’m heading upstairs. No one’s been inside these past few years, right?”

The drunkard glared at him, clearly annoyed. “No, no! Now go on! There’s nothing up there, not even the homeless bother with it.”

Archie stared at him for a moment. “Good.” He turned toward the stairs, with Ranen trailing behind slowly. Ranen couldn’t help but notice that Archie seemed colder after returning to this place, though he couldn’t be sure if it was just his imagination.

The two players, having finally finished their investigation of the building’s exterior, saw that Ranen and Archie had already entered. They hurried to catch up, with Matcha Green Milk calling out, “Wait for us!”

Ranen instinctively slowed his pace, but Archie didn’t seem to hear and continued walking ahead, his demeanor radiating an invisible barrier that clearly said, “keep out.”

The two players rushed after them. The old stairs creaked under their feet as they climbed, eventually stopping in front of the first room at the landing.

The dark-haired man stood at the door for two or three seconds before pulling out a key, inserting it into the lock, and turning it to open the door.

The room was so small that it was almost fully visible from the hallway—just a single room and a bathroom, barely enough space for even a bachelor to live.

Ranen glanced inside, and in his mind’s eye, he could almost picture a woman struggling to live here alone with her child. He turned his head and saw Archie standing stiffly at the doorway, glaring at the two players.

In that moment, Ranen felt a sudden clarity and turned to the players. “You two, search for clues elsewhere.”

[Mission: Search the surroundings.]

The two players didn’t notice anything amiss; they happily accepted the mission and left. Ranen had no intention of going inside, leaning against the wall as he checked the time.

After two minutes, he noticed that Archie was still standing at the door and couldn’t help but look up in confusion. “Aren’t you going in?”

Archie opened his mouth. “Let’s go in together.”

As soon as the words left his mouth, he regretted them a bit, but it was too late to take them back. Archie steeled himself and walked inside.

The furniture in the room was all covered with white cloth, and a thin layer of dust coated both the cloth and the floor. The only window was on the balcony, and the glass was shattered. As the two of them entered, their footsteps left clear prints, indicating that it had indeed been a long time since anyone had come here. However, signs of life were evident—yellowed walls still bore half of a poster of a rock star, most of it torn away, leaving only a white edge that couldn’t be removed.

Archie stood next to a somewhat worn bookshelf, which was also covered with a white cloth. The books appeared to be dust-free. He pulled off the cloth and began to take the books down one by one. Ranen walked over and heard him say, “Actually, we probably won’t find anything here.”

Ranen turned to look at him. Archie was staring at a photo album in his hands, his voice low. “After my mother died, I threw away most of the things that man left behind, so there might be nothing here.”

“But you still insisted on coming back.”

Ranen spoke, not wanting to touch anything in the room. He looked at the photo album in Archie’s hands, noticing that there were very few pictures, just a handful. After a long moment of scrutiny, Ranen barely made out a small boy in one of the corner photos who bore a slight resemblance to Archie.

In almost every picture, Archie stood in the corner, seemingly trying to hide himself. Even in his elementary school graduation photo, he was at the back, tugging at the hem of his shirt to awkwardly cover the holes, his head lowered as he showed a shy smile.

This was the only photo from his elementary school days. As he progressed to middle school, another person began to appear in the photos.

*Smack—*

Archie suddenly slammed the album shut, looking both annoyed and embarrassed. His mouth opened and closed as if he were about to say something venomous, but in the end, he only managed to mutter, “Sorry.”

He truly looked nervous, and Ranen couldn’t help but touch his nose. “It’s fine.”

Is he really that intimidating? If he didn’t want him to look, then he won’t. Why apologize to him?

Archie put the photo album away, and Ranen turned his attention to other parts of the bookshelf, noticing that there were still quite a few books. Most of them were about various local folklore or topics related to the mysterious.

Ranen casually pulled one out and asked, “Is this your book?”

“No, it belonged to that man,” Archie frowned. “I initially wanted to throw everything away, but since the diary I found turned out to be real after some tests, I decided to keep these books just in case.”

He paused for a moment before adding, “But I searched again later and didn’t find anything similar. Although a lot of these materials involve mysticism, they are just those deceptive things you find on the market. This is the only information about that man remaining in the room.”

Ranen nodded and, with Archie’s tacit approval, took out a few books to search through. However, just as he had said, there were no obvious clues inside. The books appeared to be no different from the ordinary popular science books on mysticism available on the market.

Archie didn’t seem to expect to find any clues here either. He wandered around the room, seemingly trying to stimulate his memory, but after three laps, nothing had happened.

At that moment, a rough voice suddenly called from outside.

“What are you doing?!”

Ranen and Archie exchanged glances and walked toward the door. They saw the drunken apartment manager, who had followed them at some point. Upon seeing Ranen, Matcha Green Milk’s eyes lit up as she pointed at the apartment manager and complained, “He’s suspicious! He was peeking at us from the corner of the stairs earlier!”

“Hey! You’re the ones with the problem! I was just checking to see if you were stealing anything!” the apartment manager, still red-faced, shouted. “I’m the manager of this apartment. It’s my job to protect the residents’ property!”

“Oh? You’re so responsible? Drinking on the job?” A-Long pinched his nose, stepping back a little from the apartment manager.

“Mind your own business! It’s better than letting suspicious people wander around here!” The apartment manager sneered. “What were you doing anyway? I just saw you trying to peek through the gap in the door to the next room!”

Matcha Green Milk looked at A-Long, who awkwardly scratched his head. “I just wanted to listen to what was going on inside.”

“You should all be reported to the police and arrested!” the apartment manager shouted triumphantly.

“Enough,” Archie said impatiently. “Shut up! Frank, don’t think I don’t know what tricks you’re trying to pull. Now get back to your post; I’ll keep an eye on them! If any tenants lose anything, they can come to me.”

After saying that, he shot a cold glance at the apartment manager. Frank shrank back, mumbling something under his breath as he reluctantly left.

As soon as Frank was gone, A-Long eagerly turned to Ranen. “I heard some noise in the next room just now. Someone was moving around, and it sounded like they were drawing something on the floor.”

Before he could finish speaking, the door to Archie’s neighbor opened, and a man with semi-long black hair appeared at the doorway, looking somewhat surprised at the people in the hallway. “Sorry, I thought I heard some noise in the hallway… Ah, is that the person living next door returning?”

At the moment the man appeared, Ranen’s pupils contracted.

No way…

This was a man with a rare long hairstyle, his features leaning towards an Eastern complexion. Unlike the rugged man Ranen had seen before, this one had a gentle demeanor that seemed to light up the background like a field of lilies when he smiled.

However, in Ranen’s eyes, the lilies blooming in the background should be black lilies.

Amos Dur.

Isn’t that the gardener? What is he doing here??

Just then, Amos also looked over at Ranen. Like a normal person, he was taken aback for a moment at Ranen’s appearance, but quickly regained his composure and sincerely exclaimed, “Sorry, you’re just too good-looking; I couldn’t help but stare.”

His admiration contained no uncomfortable elements; his gaze was clear, and his tone sincere. Naturally, anyone would feel positively towards someone like him.

After speaking, he extended his hand. “I’m Amos, just moved here. Amos Dur, nice to meet you.”

Except for Ranen, who already knew his true nature, everyone else could only observe Amos. He glanced deeply at Amos but showed no intention of shaking his hand, forcing a smile that didn’t reach his eyes. “I’m Ranen. I’m a psychologist of sorts, but I don’t live here. The one who lives here is him; it’s unnecessary to get to know each other since we’ll be leaving soon anyway.”

Amos somewhat regretfully withdrew his hand, showing no signs of embarrassment as he continued to warmly regard Archie. Just as he was about to say something, Archie coldly interrupted, “I don’t live here either, and I’m not interested in getting to know you.”

—-

[Ugh, so awkward; I’m embarrassed for this guy.]

[The modeling is nice! A new beauty!]

[It’s a bit strange; Ranen usually isn’t this cold. Is there something off about this person?]