‘I noticed someone taking pictures while I was climbing the building with the vines. They were hiding from the danger but still keeping an eye on what was happening in the East End.’

‘So, I can’t let them photograph me reviving—it would give my enemies too much to study, and I have too many enemies… What if I use the Mysterious Glow? It naturally invokes fear, keeping people from daring to look directly at me.’

‘I’ll be revived beside my corpse—it’s a system setting.’

‘My body might be taken by Batman, so I’ll need to find a reasonable way to reclaim it—’

‘So, the conclusion is…’ Vivi propped her chin on her hand, staring at the statue across the table, “I can make the body move by itself.”

She was still on the third floor. Across from her was a wooden statue of a girl, posed as if resting with her head on the table. If someone were to break it open, they’d be shocked to find an actual girl—her corpse—curled up inside.

“Descend?” Vivi mused on the word, coming to a decision. “I like that term.”

Her revival couldn’t be hidden forever. As long as she continued to act under this identity, Vivi needed to craft a mysterious persona, one that inspired enough fear. The power of this persona didn’t need to be overwhelming—just enigmatic. True danger often lay in what couldn’t be seen, and “Mr. C” would become the embodiment of that danger.

Who would ever guess that Mr. C was nothing more than a pretty face with no actual powers?

They wouldn’t, because they would never come into direct contact with Mr. C. They’d only hear rumours, building up a more terrifying and mysterious image.

And Vivi, the one who could “revive,” would be his beloved creation. This alone would deter many who might seek the secret of her resurrection—

But those who remained would be tougher to deal with.

Conveniently, Vivi could use this opportunity to lure out the hidden enemies lurking in Gotham… like the ones who had killed her today.

A shadow flickered by the window, and in the next moment, Batman crouched on the table right in front of her. Vivi had deliberately kept the Mysterious Glow on for a while, ensuring they would all be steeped in a feeling of dread. Batman, however, was the first to snap out of it.

In his steel-blue eyes, there was a brewing storm as he locked gazes with Vivi, who tilted her head and gave him the same old smile.

“I told you I wouldn’t die,” Vivi said, leaning into her persona, “because he protects me.”

Batman leapt down from the table, turning his back to her. “If he really protected you, he wouldn’t let you die.”

This girl trusted “Mr. C” with all her heart. A few words wouldn’t shake her faith. The only thing that could is if one day, C stopped protecting her… and on that day, she would truly die.

Batman was conflicted, silent as he turned around stiffly—

Only to find Vivi wiping the shoe prints he’d left on the table.

After she finished, Vivi took a deep breath. “I know what you’re thinking. Games always have an ending, but Mr. C prefers happy endings… just like today, right?”

She clasped her hands together, smiling like a little girl asking her father for a toy. “He promised.”

And so had she.

Batman glanced at the wooden statue nearby, saying nothing.

He didn’t believe in promises from such entities.

Vivi was about to add a few more lines of dialogue when she looked up to find the man had already vanished from the room.

Vivi: “…Do you have the title of ‘Master of Slacking Off’ too?”

She felt a strange sense of loss.

Footsteps echoed in the room, accompanied by an angry cat’s meow. The first person to ascend the stairs was Millie. Seeing the NPC she’d first met in the game brought a wave of nostalgia to Vivi, like rediscovering a beginner card that had somehow levelled up to SR without her noticing. It was both surprising and comforting.

Vivi ran over, embracing the woman who had grown so much since they first met. Then, with her finger to her lips, she gave a quick “Shh,” and said, “No need to ask too many questions. Don’t worry, this building won’t collapse again.”

Milly, still in a daze, watched as Vivi stepped back and teleported away.

Vivi’s words weren’t an exaggeration; after all, she had already claimed her dungeon rewards.

[Side Quest: Arkham Asylum]

[Dungeon Cleared]

[Congratulations on defeating three bosses. The Joker’s gang and Arkham’s escaped prisoners are now being captured. In the dungeon, there were 17 deaths (less than 50), and 49 injuries (less than 100), and Arkham Asylum suffered 43% damage.]

[Hidden Boss requirements not met.]

[No major chaos occurred, and the event did not escalate into a city-wide dungeon.]

[Dungeon Rating: Perfect]

[You successfully minimized losses. Beginning reward calculations—]

[You have earned the title of “The Scrooge,” allowing you to negotiate the lowest possible prices in business deals.]

[You have acquired the “Nightwatcher” outfit, which provides slight boosts to speed, stealth, and burst power.]

[You have earned 300 diamonds and 1.2 million gold.]

The “Nightwatcher” outfit was sleek, mostly black and green, with a built-in mask. Perfect for riding a horse without worrying that her scarf would get caught on something.

[You have completed the hidden side quest: Build a large structure yourself (participate in at least 50% of the construction).]

[As a player in a holographic infrastructure game, how could you not build something with your own hands?]

[You have received the reward “Display Window.” Because of its commemorative significance, your first building cannot be damaged in any way. You will be able to showcase it to everyone for a long time, little architect.]

[You have earned 100 diamonds and 500,000 gold.]

Thanks to the effect of the “Display Window,” the cathedral had become a true safe point. Vivi now had a teleportation point both at the cathedral and in the warden’s office, and it felt pretty good.

She returned to the warden’s office, switched identities by removing the glasses from her corpse, and stacked buffs to simultaneously “log in” to the mayor’s account in the mayor’s study, multitasking her way through the work ahead—

First, she frightened the restless prisoners a bit, then switched over to the mayor’s account to listen to the AI report the latest updates.

The guards had rescued Dean Quincy Sharp from the depths of Arkham, but the fact remained—his poor supervision had led to the riot. Vivi wanted to replace him. It wasn’t that Sharp was completely useless, but his biggest problem was ignoring the mayor’s orders. Where was that conditioner he was promised? Was he trying to freeload a whole half-box from the mayor’s office?

Arkham Asylum had started as a private hospital, but after it began taking in so many criminally insane inmates, its role had changed. Technically, the mayor had the authority to appoint a new dean. But after staring at the interface for a while, Vivi realized with dismay that she didn’t have a suitable candidate to replace Quincy Sharp.

^[1]TN: I might use warden or dean interchangeably. But I want to stick with Dean for Arkham Asylum since its origin was a hospital and still kinda is

Given Arkham’s notorious reputation, Vivi toyed with the idea of making Batman the new dean.

But what had Batman done to deserve that?

Never mind. For now, she’d let Quincy and the criminals torture each other.

—She could find a better replacement later.

The pressing issue on everyone’s mind now was where to house the criminals.

With the chaos, Arkham clearly needed upgrades and repairs, and some parts had to be rebuilt. The newly recaptured criminals could only be housed in one place—an expanded wing at Blackgate Prison specifically for the criminally insane.

Blackgate had once had such a wing, but it was abandoned when Arkham became the primary facility for the criminally insane. Blackgate had since housed only major felons and lesser offenders.

In the past, small-scale Arkham riots were manageable with temporary holding cells at GCPD, but even during major riots, the facility had never been this badly damaged.

Thus, the warden of Blackgate received new orders: prepare the psychiatric wing for this batch of temporary residents—

The Joker, Harley Quinn, Poison Ivy, Bane, Riddler, Mad Hatter, Clayface, Two-Face… and so on.

Other affected patients were taken in by Gotham General Hospital.

The warden stood surveying the somewhat dilapidated area, thinking to herself: Time to get to work.

**In the Batcave**

Batman was also at work, his computer displaying information on Bella Bettywen.

After watching the surveillance footage of the “dance” from last time, he had been investigating Warden Bettywen. It was clear that Mr. C was collaborating with Mayor Alek, and the mayor had connections to Bettywen. Vivi’s presence in Blackgate confirmed that Bettywen was aware of certain hidden truths.

The investigation results were almost identical to those from his research into Anna Alek—

“A normal person.”

“Born in Arkham, Massachusetts. Her parents disappeared when she was young, and she was raised in an orphanage. She attended school, eventually enrolling in the archaeology program at Miskatonic University, but dropped out after a year. She later enrolled in the NYPD Police Academy…” Tim pointed out as he stood behind Bruce.

^[2]TN: The author also seemed to have taken some inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft. I thought that was mistranslated for a second – you can read more here

The boy looked tired, with dark circles under his eyes. Bruce knew why Tim was pushing himself and didn’t urge him to rest.

Tim added, “The mayor was also born in New York. She and the warden had plenty of opportunities to meet.”

“Bettywen transferred to GCPD after Alek took office. Look into who approved her transfer,” Bruce said, rising from his chair, deep in thought. “Tim, I’m leaving the rest of the investigation to you.”

Tim was surprised, and what Bruce said next shocked him even more—

“Call Dick back. I need his help.”

Tim frowned, staring at his adoptive father. “Are you planning to leave Gotham?”

He immediately understood—calling Dick Grayson, now Nightwing, back likely meant that Dick would be taking on the Batman mantle temporarily.

Was Bruce planning to go to New York or Arkham?

Bruce shook his head. “The criminals will be transferred to Blackgate soon. I plan to infiltrate Blackgate, but not as Batman.”

It might be dangerous, but to uncover the truth behind the scenes, this level of danger was something Bruce could handle—perhaps even more danger wouldn’t stop him.

Tim, perceptive as always, caught on to Bruce’s plan: “You want to infiltrate the prisoners? But we’ve speculated that Vivi might have some kind of tool that works on a subconscious level, allowing her to differentiate us.”

“That may be true, but it doesn’t seem to involve reading memories. If it could, don’t you think…” Bruce smiled faintly, “Vivi would have already called you out by name?”

It was a very real possibility. Vivi never hid her actions, and Tim had a feeling that even if she discovered his identity, her reaction would probably just be an “oh,” followed by using a different name for him from then on.

She truly didn’t care who was behind the masks.

Bruce nodded. “We’ll need to craft a set of synthetic skin. The mayor has some excellent hackers on her team. I’ll need you and Barbara to help me further refine that identity.”

“And then,” he said, “I’ll hypnotize myself, fully believing in the new identity. I will think that I truly am—”

“Matches Malone.”

However, Bruce would still need a safeword to trigger his real memories. He’d have to give that some serious thought.

Three days later, a man going by the alias Bruce Malone was arrested for stealing three luxury cars in a row. He was transported to Blackgate Prison alongside the latest batch of criminals sentenced to serve time.

In the vehicle next to theirs, coming from GCPD, were the fearsome inmates of Arkham Asylum.