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[Average remaining time: 17 minutes.]
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[Current Total: 469.]
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[You used: “Gold Item: Converter.”]
[You received: “Bronze (Fake) Scene: The Shadow That Cannot Be Seen or Heard.”]
[Scene expiration countdown: 00:11:29.]
As a dedicated undercover agent, Winston had always thrown himself into the thick of the Court of Owls’ gatherings, seeking every opportunity to gather intel.
Before today, he had passed on information about the Court to the prison warden multiple times. The problem was that even though everyone knew the Owls were guilty, the law couldn’t prosecute them.
Sometimes, Winston felt lost. He longed for fairness and justice—not to redeem himself, but because fairness and justice should exist in this world, upheld by the law. Yet the same law now shielded people like them. How could he change this city?
Even as his list of names grew, and the intelligence he controlled became more comprehensive, his “superiors” made no move. The vengeful warden knew everything, yet those people continued to enjoy their wealth and power unscathed. Winston understood the reluctance; taking down so many influential individuals wasn’t just a legal challenge—it could plunge society into chaos.
But everything changed when Winston informed the warden that he was about to join the Owls’ inner circle. That was when he received his orders:
The final instructions came as a voice that seemed to explode in Winston’s ear, compelling him to act immediately.
Winston rushed into the meeting room’s bathroom, locked the door, and crawled into one of the cabinets. High-end clubs always had the best soundproofing. He shut his eyes and waited, trembling slightly.
Something… Something was coming. He didn’t need anyone to tell him—he could feel it.
Something had arrived.
In that moment, it became a shared awareness among everyone present.
The Owls in the room didn’t notice Winston’s escape. Even if they had, they wouldn’t have cared. Their attention was fixated on the chaos before them.
The room was filled with an eerie, yet strangely beautiful melody. The Owls stared at the screens showing surveillance footage. Some faces twisted with madness, others turned pale with fear, and a few flushed with excitement. They all seemed to be watching the same images, yet each perceived something deeply personal—desires buried in their own minds.
An elderly woman with white hair let out a raspy chuckle. Words in ancient Irish escaped her lips, as though she were reliving memories from long ago. Sitting in her wheelchair, her face hidden behind a porcelain-white Owl mask, she looked oddly… joyful.
It was a disturbing, manic sort of joy. She raised her right arm and, in a lilting, chant-like tone, declared:
“I love… this city… I love you, Gotham.”
Her gesture caused her mask to slip off, revealing her face.
If Winston had been there, he would have been struck speechless.
This elderly woman had been one of Gotham’s most prominent figures fifty years ago—the city’s seventh mayor. She had served peacefully through her term, leaving office after an orderly election. A close friend of the Wayne family, she was remembered fondly by all who knew her, regarded as a kind and approachable elder.
Yet, masked, she had coldly issued orders to the Court: “For the Court, use the cruelest methods to break her, shatter every bone in her body. Gotham has no need for vigilantes. The next target is Batman. We must reclaim this city for the Court.”
Her smile lingered as she stared at the now-black screen where the surveillance feed had cut off. It was a smile so unsettling, it bordered on grotesque.
But compared to her, the others’ reactions were even more… unhinged.
One man curled up tightly on the floor, clutching his hands to his chest and breaking his fingers one by one without so much as a cry of pain. Another danced erratically, her steps beautiful yet chaotic, as though guided by an unseen partner forcing her into unnatural movements. A third crawled on the floor, hiding in the shadows, trembling with fear. Others simply sat frozen, trembling silently, tears streaming down their faces.
When the music and the video ended, the madness subsided slightly. By the time Winston emerged from his hiding place, the scene seemed almost normal—except for the glaring lights, the slight disarray in the room, and the fact that many people had left.
Almost normal. But not quite.
Winston noticed that every Owl—regardless of age or gender—now exhibited slight tremors. While their movements appeared steady, their limbs quivered when they paused, as if they had all suddenly developed Parkinson’s.
No one paid any attention to Winston. In eerie calm, they removed their masks, openly defying the Court’s rules, indifferent to their faces being seen by others. Then, without a word, they left the room.
Standing among them, Winston kept one hand on the gun beneath his coat, uncertain whether he should draw it.
[Don’t play their game,] Winston’s phone vibrated softly. It was a message from Bettywen. [They’re not normal people.]
[Got it.] Winston hadn’t thought much of it before, but now, as he read the message, a wave of fear and frustration surged within him. He had so much he wanted to say but ultimately replied with just one sentence: [Gotham will be okay, right?]
As for that question… Vivi didn’t know either.
She was the kind of person who, while crafting meticulous plans, wasn’t afraid to take risks. As long as there was a 30% chance of success, she’d give it a shot. Especially after drawing the Doctor gold card—even if the Doctor claimed, “I won’t turn back time,” the system didn’t lie. With the assurance of backup, Vivi felt emboldened to push her limits.
She was still in the labyrinth.
The Talon’s blade had missed its mark—or maybe it was intentional—and pierced Vivi’s heart. Just as she used the crafted item card, she “died.”
When the scene froze, only 17 seconds had passed since the card’s activation. Yet in those 17 seconds, the map lit up with an alarming number of new “classes.” Scattered across Gotham County, Harbor Mansion, and even remote corners of the city were individuals marked with a shared title:
[Madness Infected]
Vivi: “…”
She had a feeling something was off.
[Bronze (Fake) Scene: The Shadow That Cannot Be Seen or Heard]
[Summons a scene overlaying any tangible object. The object’s shadow will distort, shattering the minds of those who look directly at it or listen to its whispers. Victims are plagued by lifelong fear.]
[Fear begets madness; madness births fear…]
Vivi had applied this limited-time scene to her bear-ear headband.
Gargoyle activity required fear to sustain itself, and many of Gotham’s gargoyles had nearly been “drained dry,” forced to revert to statues. Yet, in just those few seconds, Vivi watched as the fear power began to grow steadily, ensuring at least a dozen gargoyles could take to the skies of Gotham once more.
Vivi’s current mood was akin to a parent of an underprivileged child seeing a generous benefactor sponsor their education. At least now Dr. Strange can reopen his teaching programs.
She chose to revive herself. In one swift motion, she removed the headband, destroyed the surveillance above her, and returned to the scene of her death.
The Talon who had killed her was still there. His title remained [Madness Infected]. He knelt, holding Vivi’s lifeless body, frozen and unresponsive.
Vivi removed his mask, revealing a man who barely moved. His blue eyes stared blankly at her, like those of a stray dog with shaggy black fur.
With a sigh, Vivi hoisted her own corpse onto her back, attached the seemingly “broken” Talon to her by securing him with a pipe, and looked at the grotesque Owl statue before her.
With her one free hand, she gripped her gun.
The first bullet from her Desert Eagle shattered the Owl statue’s head. The second destroyed its wings. The third severed its base entirely, sending the enormous statue crashing to the ground.
[Instance Completed: Minos’ Labyrinth (Damaged)]
[Goat Cabin upgraded to Level 3.]
[Level 3: Entrance points increased from 6 to 9. Active labyrinths increased from 3 to 6.]
[Current labyrinth will lock in 15 minutes. All living entities within will be teleported out.]
[Reward received: Transparent Card x1.]
[Transparent Card: Extract one property from an existing card. The duplicated effect will be upgraded to gold tier but can only be used once.]
Only after confirming her rewards did Vivi lower her gun. She grabbed the dazed Talon, balanced her corpse on her back, and made her way toward the only unopened space on the map.
This square-shaped space was nestled within the labyrinth but had no apparent entrance. No matter—Vivi had a hammer.
On the move, she sent a message to Violin, instructing him to notify their allies that the immediate threat had been neutralized. As for whether the Owls would cause more trouble… she’d handle that after exploring the last room.
…Was she forgetting something?
Jason had realized his mistake the moment he ventured underground. A vigilante in trouble should have called for help from other vigilantes—not relied on a criminal like him to follow and try to rescue them.
His tracking skills weren’t bad; he had been trained by several masters. Still, months ago, Jason would’ve scoffed at the idea of calmly thinking about Batman. But now, he was far less emotionally volatile. Despite living in the same city, circumstances always seemed to keep them apart.
That distance had given Jason time to reflect, to understand that his goal was to save Gotham—not to fight Batman.
Killing the Joker might symbolize the death of the old Jason Todd, allowing him to move on.
The dead rising to kill their murderer—an eye for an eye. Fair and just.
It’s about time for the Joker to die.
On his way to rescue Vivi, Jason encountered obstacles. He fought off an assassin, got injured, apprehended a petty thief trying to steal an iron pipe, rescued a cat tangled in barbed wire, and narrowly avoided a run-in with members of the League of Assassins.
Each passing minute lowered the odds of the captive’s survival. Jason clicked his tongue in frustration and muttered to himself, “I don’t know why you’re hiding this from Batman… but I’m not here to cover for a rebellious kid.”
It seemed Vivi had no intention of revealing the underground assassins to the old Bat. Jason didn’t want to either. But if the kid screwed up… well, he wouldn’t mind letting Batman come in to clean up the mess.
He made an anonymous call to Oracle, his voice gruff as he informed her that “Nightwatch” was in a bit of trouble. After hanging up, Jason returned to his investigation. Another two hours passed, and though he didn’t encounter any more assassins, his efforts felt increasingly futile.
Worse still, he picked up rumors about an explosion on the outskirts and strange activity near the cathedral. Beneath the calm surface of the city, dangerous currents swirled—Jason knew more people had been killed.
It was almost noon, the premiere of the animated movie with Batman cast as the villain was scheduled for today, and the streets were bustling with people. Wearing his red hood, Jason irritably stomped out a cigarette someone had carelessly discarded, then flipped a certain kid a universally recognized “friendly gesture” for littering.
What the hell was that little brat Vivi White up to now?
EasyRead[Translator]
Just a translator :)