[Player forum and new version!]

On the other side.

Archie stood dumbfounded on the first level platform of the Dream Rift, questioning his life.

It is one thing that the second-level rewards are gone, but why is the black-clad man from the first level also gone???

Archie was shocked and even began to doubt the contents written in his father’s notebook. Didn’t it say that the deeper you go, the stronger things become? Why did even the first level’s ability vanish?

Could it be that his previous actions were considered ‘cheating,’ so his abilities were canceled?

“Lord Ranen…”

Archie murmured instinctively, but the next moment, he snapped back and cursed himself.

Although he knew that by choosing Ranen as his anchor point, it was inevitable that he would develop dependence and affection for him, it was too pathetic that his first thought when encountering a problem was Ranen!

This was just the aftereffect of the previous method. It seemed that for a while, he should avoid going to Ranen or even thinking about him.

Archie took a deep breath, trying to recall the feelings of caution and rejection he had when facing Ranen, desperately pushing away the emotions that kept surging in his heart.

“What are you thinking?”

A deep voice suddenly echoed in the Dream Rift. Archie’s expression changed, and he turned around abruptly.

Sometime without him noticing, a monster with a human face, lion’s body, and eagle wings had appeared behind him. It lazily crouched on the ground, its tail thumping the earth as it stared at him, unhurried.

The Sphinx repeated its earlier question: “What are you thinking? Your expression is so vivid.”

“What are you!?” Archie took a step back in fear. Not everyone could remain calm when they saw a monster with their own face.

“Me? Of course, I am your origin ability,” the Sphinx said.

“Impossible!” Archie denied it vehemently. “My ability is definitely not you!”

“How dare you bring that up, you fool,” the Sphinx said irritably, standing up and walking across the platform under Archie’s wary gaze. “All these years, and you haven’t noticed my existence at all. You’ve been mistaking that thing for your ability. How could a fool like you be the master of me, the Sphinx?”

“Sphinx?” Archie furrowed his brows.

“Remember this. This is my name. I am your ability,” the Sphinx said, its lion-like eyes locking with Archie’s. Suddenly, Archie’s mind became dizzy.

In the next moment, his perspective shifted. Archie was stunned as he looked at the figure before him, one he was incredibly familiar with. He was standing in front of ‘him’? This scene felt like a visual distortion. Archie’s thoughts became chaotic for a few seconds before he realized that he was now looking ahead from the perspective of ‘Sphinx.’

In this strange state, Archie experienced an unprecedented sensation, as if he was incredibly close to the truth. Things that had once been incomprehensible seemed to unravel like bubbles.

Before Archie could fully indulge in this sense of all-knowing intoxication, he was suddenly ejected from this body.

“Ugh!” As Archie’s perspective returned to normal, he couldn’t help but clutch his throat and kneel to the ground. His mouth opened wide as his throat convulsed, and he vomited up a piece of flesh that was still wriggling.

“?!” Archie felt his stomach churn, and the surrounding mist seemed to envelop him again. In the hazy fog, Archie felt as though something new had appeared on his body…

“Slap!”

Without hesitation, the Sphinx slapped Archie: “Wake up. I only wanted you to experience it, not to go that deep.”

The pain snapped Archie out of his trance. Looking up, he saw that the mist hadn’t engulfed him. The thing he had vomited wasn’t wriggling flesh, but just a regular pile of vomit.

Before Archie could ask anything, the Sphinx said, “Now you know I’m your origin ability, right?”

Archie wiped his mouth and nodded, his voice hoarse. “What about the faceless man earlier? What was that?”

The Sphinx replied, “You should understand my mechanism.”

Archie certainly did. In that moment of visual disorientation, he had vaguely realized his true origin ability.

[Sphinx]

It should originate from the monster in Greek mythology, known for blocking paths on cliffs and asking travelers riddles, eating those who couldn’t answer correctly.

However, its awakened ability differs somewhat from the description in the myth. The Sphinx is essentially a ritual required for question-and-answer, and unlike the original ‘faceless man,’ the Sphinx’s ability comes with a restriction: it cannot answer questions about things at a higher level than the questioner.

For example, Archie was in the second level of the Dream Rift. If his questions involved the evil gods or high-ranking individuals within the Dream Rift, he wouldn’t get any answers.

However, the good news is that even if he can’t answer the Sphinx’s riddle, the worst that will happen is being kicked out of the Dream Rift for 24 hours.

There are also more advanced abilities. After reaching the second level of the Dream Rift, Archie can become the Sphinx in the real world, asking others riddles. If they can’t answer correctly, they must pay a price, or they’ll fall into a state of continuous weakness.

However, if they do answer correctly, Archie must then answer one of their questions, or he will suffer double the backlash.

“Ask your question,” Archie said, prepared. After all, he was already familiar with this kind of question-and-answer game. Following the previous experience with the faceless man, Archie had intentionally gathered knowledge, from “turtle soup” riddles ^[1] A specific type of challenging or tricky riddle, where the solution involves subtle hints or layers of meaning, similar to how “turtle soup” may be prepared with care and complexity. to tricky brain teasers and obscure facts.

The Sphinx asked, “Do you like Lord Ranen?”

“Cough, cough, cough, cough!” Archie nearly choked. “What kind of question is that!?”

The Sphinx replied, “I never said it was a brain teaser or a turtle soup question.”

Damn it, Archie thought. It was the first time he hated that face that looked so much like his own. For the first time, he realized how punchable his expression of mockery was. “Hurry up, either answer or get out.”

Archie opened his mouth, his eyes full of struggle.

After all, no one else was here…

No! As a psychologist, he knew better than anyone that admitting something like this would only lower his psychological defenses!

This must be the work of an evil god—he couldn’t fall for it! He just has to endure this period of habitual dependence.

“I…”

The Sphinx said, “Hmm? What are you mumbling about? Say it louder!”

Archie looked up, glaring coldly at the Sphinx. Despite the ice-cold gaze that seemed ready to freeze everything, his face was flushed, steaming with heat.

“…I said, I don’t like him!” Archie gritted his teeth.

The scene went completely silent, and Archie was ruthlessly kicked out of the Dream Rift by his own ability.

What kind of tsundere nonsense is this? The Sphinx sighed deeply, lying down on the ground, utterly exhausted. ‘I can’t keep up with this.’

That Lord is already starting to awaken, and sooner or later, more and more followers crowd around Him.

Archie has already become a true believer, with his soul branded, and here he is, still acting all proud. When other followers steal the attention, there won’t even be a place to cry.

—-

Ranen had wanted to do this for a long time. If he had to pinpoint a moment, it probably started from the first time he met Ogre…

He had been thinking about giving Ogre a new haircut.

With the crisp sound of scissors snipping, long black strands of hair fell to the ground, one by one.

While cutting, Ranen asked Ogre, “Are you sure you want me to do this? It’s not too late to go out and find a barbershop. I really don’t know how to cut hair.”

“It’s fine,” Ogre’s fluffy head shook. Since his hair had been washed and dried earlier, he now looked like a fluffy black lion, or a clingy big cat, rubbing against Ranen’s palm.

“Alright, then I’ll try my best to cut it well.” Ranen, feeling the pressure, focused on cutting his roommate’s hair.

After several snips, Ranen finally saw Ogre’s face, which had always been hidden behind his hair.

Just as Ranen had imagined, Ogre was actually quite handsome, but his long hair, which looked like it belonged to a homeless man, had been concealing it. His face was ruggedly handsome, with a high nose bridge and a sharp jawline. Ranen, worried about messing it up, didn’t cut it too short and left it at shoulder length, tying it into a ponytail and leaving a few strands loose around his forehead. With his naturally fierce gaze, he looked wild and carefree.

“Done.” Ranen sighed in relief and couldn’t help but smile, imagining the expression of players when they saw Ogre’s new look.

Ogre stared at Ranen, instantly transforming from a beast hunting on the prairie to a Tibetan mastiff watching its master. Ranen couldn’t resist rubbing his hair, “Alright, I forgive you.”

Looking at the corners of Ogre’s mouth lifting, Ranen couldn’t help but cover his face. Uh-oh, he looks even more silly now.

“Ogre, you’d better not smile like that when you’re outside.”

It really wouldn’t intimidate anyone. Players were a group of creatures that would take advantage of any opening. Ranen was worried that some of the more perceptive players would see through Ogre’s fierce appearance and his sweet, naive soul, and what if those black-hearted players sold him out?

Ogre instantly straightened his mouth. Honestly, it did look a bit more convincing this way.

Ranen patted Ogre’s shoulder with satisfaction, “Good, keep it like that when you’re out.”

Once the players returned, Ogre’s new look should give them quite a surprise.

—-

The current version was being updated, and all players were forcibly logged out.

This didn’t dampen the players’ enthusiasm. In fact, since they couldn’t log in and had nothing else to do, their excitement was redirected to the player forum!

As soon as Ranen opened the player forum, he suddenly noticed something was off.

How should he put it? Originally, the forum he accessed was a very simple, basic blue screen with sections for forum, fan content, and tasks. But now, it seemed like the system had undergone an upgrade. The screen turned silver-blue, looking even cooler.

Ranen checked it over, and was surprised to find that several new features had been added to the forum.

First, there was a live-streaming section. Previously, Ranen couldn’t see the players’ live rooms, but now he could. It seemed the official game team had added a new live-streaming area on top of the original features. Though Ranen still couldn’t speak, this new feature made it more convenient for him to observe what players were up to.

Next, it seemed that his authority to issue tasks had expanded.

Previously, Ranen could only post simple tasks, like main quests, special missions, and chain tasks, which needed to be triggered by the system’s original functions.

For example, during the Soul-Eating Butterfly event, Ranen had triggered a bonus pool task, but that task had already existed from his past life. He had merely informed the players of the clues ahead of time, inadvertently forcing the system to release it early.

The main quests were the same; Ranen just did the right thing at the right time. Even if he did nothing, players could still trigger the tasks.

But now… it seemed like he could issue those tasks himself.

Ah, this… 

Ranen couldn’t help but wonder. Could it be that by changing the original plot line, Arkham is preserved and remains the main stage of the game? That would mean the storylines of other cities are abandoned, and the game officials don’t know what to do, so they just decide to let him create tasks for the players?

Ha, no way.

Ranen dismissed the ridiculous thought, but the new task feature was indeed a boon for him. He had just decided to increase the number and strength of the players to prepare for future challenges, and now, right after his decision, it felt like someone had handed him a pillow just as he was about to nap.

It was this inexplicable sense of being specially chosen that made Ranen feel a bit uncomfortable.

For now, he exited the task template and clicked into the forum. The player forum still felt so familiar and reassuring.

[Main Plot Analysis — Hospital Chapter]

[Behind the Gates of the Dream World and the Mysterious Giant Hand]

[The True Identity of the Mysterious Gatekeeper]

There was almost no debate about the identity of the gatekeeper who appeared at the end of the plot.

12th Commenter: [That’s Ranen, right? It’s definitely Ranen, isn’t it?]

13th Commenter : [There shouldn’t be any suspense left. If you look at the video uploaded by the player on-site, at 5 minutes and 15 seconds, Ranen clearly disappears.]

14th Commenter: [Although I don’t understand what happened, my wife is so amazing (mumbling).]

15th Commenter: [Hmm, after watching Black Cat and their mutated form on-site, I thought Ranen would look like this. (Pan God image)]

The 15th Commenter showed a picture of Pan God ^[2]Pan (Πάν, Pán in Ancient Greek) is the god of shepherds, nature, and the mountains and fields in Greek mythology. He originated as a local deity from ancient Greece’s Arcadia. In this region, … Continue reading with a ram’s head and body, which is a widely recognized image of Pan from mythology. Honestly, with the development of entertainment these days, people have become more accepting of non-human aesthetics. A kind-hearted player even helped by replacing Pan God’s face with Ranen’s.

16th Commenter: [Hiss—I can totally get behind this!]

17th Commenter: [This is getting hotter. I didn’t really care about Ranen as an NPC before, but this picture of Pan God is too good-looking!]

18th Commenter: [Lick, lick, lick! Why doesn’t the game have any images of Ranen’s god-like transformation? Damn!]

19th Commenter: [There was supposed to be something like that in the hospital scene, but Druid dropped out, emmmmm.]

20th Commenter: [Ahhhhh, is the game official teasing us? I really, really want to see Ranen transformed into Pan God!]

21st Commenter: [Same, I want to see it too +1.]

22nd Commenter: [Let me tag Black Cat for you guys. What’s going on? When Ranen mutated, this guy suddenly dropped out and hasn’t come back. It’s making everyone anxious.]

Black Cat: [I’m here.]

23rd Commenter: [Oh snap, you suddenly came back from the dead. Bro, are you okay? Are you typing with tentacles now?]

Black Cat: [(laughing and crying) What are you guys thinking? I just stayed up late playing games and got too tired. I was on high alert while going through this instance, but when I saw my card was gone, I suddenly got emo and logged off to sleep.]

24th Commenter: [Is that really all? (Doubtful)]

Black Cat: [Of course! Even Druid came to check on me. We’re friends offline too.]

Druid: [To be honest, I was also startled when you suddenly went offline. The thing is, even though my internet cut out quickly, the madness of facing a god in the game was still unsettling. Even after disconnecting, I couldn’t shake it off. I remember you usually have all your senses turned up to the max, so I was a bit worried about you.]

Black Cat: [Yeah, seriously. I don’t even know how this game’s sanity system works. Sometimes, it really gives you that dizzying, insane feeling. Honestly, it’s kind of dangerous. They should probably add an age restriction.]

Black Cat: [Anyway, back to the point. I don’t actually remember much from that moment—I just glanced at it, and now I can’t recall anything. That ‘Fallen Shepherd God’ I mentioned before was probably just my impression at the time. Hiss… now I don’t even remember why I called it that.]  

25th Commenter: [That sounds wild. A shepherd god… isn’t that just Pan? In Greek mythology, Pan comes from ancient Greek, and his role is that of a shepherd god, ruling over shepherds, nature, and forests.]

26th Commenter: [It might not necessarily be Pan. In the final part of the game’s story, it felt more like a gatekeeper god—hmm, conceptually, it reminds me a bit of Yog-Sothoth.]

Yog-Sothoth is one of the Three Pillars of the Cthulhu Mythos, an all-knowing, all-powerful deity who governs time and space, with the concepts of ‘gates’ and the ‘silver key.’  

27th Commenter: [Now that you mention it, Ranen’s identity seems really mysterious. A shepherd god—or rather, Pan—also has a masculine incarnation of the Black Goat of the Woods. And that final god? He literally ordered the gate to close, and the gate to the Dream World just shut on its own. That was insanely cool. It really does tie in with Yog-Sothoth’s ‘gate’ concept.]

28th Commenter: [Heh, I have a bold theory.]

29th Commenter: [If you have a theory, say it loud and proud! I suspect the Black Goat of the Woods and Yog-Sothoth have a thing going on. (dog head emoji)]

30th Commenter: [So that night… was it Mama Black Goat who couldn’t hold back, or was it Yog-Sothoth who made the first move…?]

31st Commenter: [Gossip reporter Nyarlathotep reporting in! (dog head emoji with a rose in its mouth)]

Players had all sorts of speculations about Ranen’s identity—some reasonable, some completely off the rails. Some even guessed that Ranen might be an incarnation of Nyarlathotep. You could only say that their imaginations were truly limitless.  

Fortunately, the players’ attention quickly shifted when the game’s official team released a new promotional PV ^[3] Promotion Video.  

The next second, players who were still chatting in the forum all noticed the new PV video.  

[Wheel of Fate: Prologue]

The newly released video’s popularity soared, and Ranen clicked on it as well.  

Barrage comments flashed across the screen:  

[Incoming high-energy scene!]

The first thing that came into view was a space filled with darkness and mist. A massive gate hovered in the air, engraved with the Kabbalistic Tree of Life. The bottom part of the tree was fractured, as if foreshadowing something.  

The gate slowly opened, and a staggering figure ran desperately toward it.

[That place… is our homeland…]  

The dialogue was in a language that players couldn’t understand, but the game helpfully provided a translation within the storyline.  

[As long as we reach it, the land flowing with milk and honey awaits.]  

Everyone recognized the figure—it was Soren, the final boss of the previous main storyline. However, he was now barely human in form, resembling a dried-up corpse. Each step he took left behind half-liquid footprints, his hunched back and contorted posture doing nothing to diminish the madness and obsession burning in his eyes and expression.  

[Home…]

*Thud.*  

A silver dagger pierced through his chest. The young man with shoulder-length hair still seemed to carry the remnants of a gentle smile at the corner of his eyes, yet his strike was ruthless, driving the blade straight through Soren’s chest as if extracting something from within.  

[Damn, turns out you were a 25仔 ^[4] “25仔” is slang for a traitor or double agent.!]

[LMAO, and Albert was also a spy. What’s up with you Outsider? Is your whole organization compromised?!]

However, Soren paid no mind to Amos’ betrayal from behind. His goal was right in front of him. Ignoring everything else, he lunged toward the gate—only to be caught in the palm of an enormous hand.  

The giant hand seemed to sense something, drawing closer to the gate as it opened a massive, singular eye.  

The game had a knack for cinematography, zooming in on this moment. At first glance, it seemed as if the colossal eye inside the gate was peering directly through the screen at the players, creating an eerie, fourth-wall-breaking effect.  

Seeing this, many players couldn’t help but take a sharp breath.  

At this moment, the camera pulled back again, revealing a vast, dark space where countless people knelt on the ground, wailing and praying. The background music shifted to something deep and unsettling.  

Then, a voiceover emerged, and the screen flickered—transitioning from the darkness to the outskirts of a city. It seemed to be a convoy of vehicles on the move. A sign flashed past the car window, informing them that they were entering Arkham City.  

Among this convoy, most players only recognized Edmund, the familiar NPC. However, some who had encountered the Inspection Squad before also recognized its other members. One of them spoke:  

“Beyond the surface world we live in, there exists another dimension, temporarily known as the Dream World. The entities you’ve seen—all those bizarre beings—are inhabitants of the Dream World…”

“The Dream World is said to be the realm of the gods, an ancient battlefield where deities once clashed. Countless indescribable beings dwell there, and if they were to descend, they could easily annihilate life on the surface.”

As the voice continued, the screen shifted once more. Now, instead of coming from the characters, the narration blended into the background as if introducing the world’s lore.

The scene shifted to Arkham City. On the bustling streets, people were going about their daily lives as usual—until the screen flickered.  

In an instant, countless monstrous entities appeared out of thin air.  

The streets became a living hell.  

“Help!”

“What is this—no, no—somebody save me! Ahhhhh!”  

“My daughter! Please, someone save my daughter!”  

“Mom!”  

“Oh, Lord…”  

A man dressed as a priest stared blankly at the catastrophic scene before him, his expression frozen in despair. He collapsed to his knees, clasping his hands together.  

“Is this our punishment?”  

[This looks like… the moment in the main storyline when the monsters suddenly descended.]

[Yes, most of us players have logged in to grind mobs, but Arkham City is too big. With only 500 players, most districts have still fallen into hell.]  

Hearing about it was one thing, but actually witnessing the aftermath of this disaster was far more terrifying. Especially since the footage in the video was so disturbingly real, even the usual playful comments on the screen disappeared for a moment.  

The final frame froze on the hollow-eyed gaze of a little girl, blood pooling beneath her. As the camera pulled back, entire districts were nearly drenched in red, and chaos consumed every corner of Arkham City.  

“The monsters of the Dream World follow a rule—unless they are summoned into reality through a ritual, they cannot be seen and cannot interfere with the real world. To put it bluntly, even if someone is unknowingly dragged into an event, at least they can die in peace…”

The screen went dark.  

The narration vanished.  

Suddenly, in the silence, the sound of pages turning could be heard.  

Page after page of a diary lit up in the darkness, like stars appearing one by one. Lines of text flashed across the screen:  

[Charlie, oh Charlie, don’t forget—the people are the ones we must protect.]  

[The Outsider’s goal is to open the gateway to the Dream World.]  

[I have to stop them.]  

[I hope the things I record can become a ray of light at the break of dawn.]  

There was no voiceover, yet the message was clear—humanity had never stopped fighting for salvation.  

A soothing melody played as the screen brightened again, this time showing many familiar players.  

[Ye Ye Hao: Huh? Isn’t that me?]  

Onscreen, Ye Ye and the others were investigating outside a villa with Edmund when they encountered a ghoul. Ye Ye, seeing a teammate on the verge of death, stepped forward to draw the ghoul’s attention.  

“Come on! Look over here! Your granddaddy’s right here!”  

The scene changed again.  

This time, it showed Druid inside a small wooden cabin. Outside, thunder rumbled and winds howled. The door shook under heavy pounding—outside, a deranged serial killer wearing a pig’s head mask was hacking at it.  

Druid crouched down, placing his hands on a little girl’s shoulders.  

“Listen carefully. In a moment, I’ll draw his attention. When I do, you run out the window, got it?”  

The girl, tears in her eyes, nodded.

[Druid: Ah, I didn’t expect this scene to be included too. (Scratches face)]  

[Druid, just keep laughing. You got a loli for free. (Lemon)]  

[Druid: Don’t say weird things! (Crying-laughing) She just kissed me as a thank-you, that’s all.]  

[Lemon, lemon.]  

It wasn’t just the two of them—many other players were featured as well. These were the “shining moments of humanity” from their investigation missions: perseverance, unwavering self-belief, and the courage to draw their blades against danger.  

Even though everyone knew this PV was intentionally designed to be emotional, many players couldn’t help but be moved by it. And honestly, the devs put in a lot of effort—so many players got their moment on screen!  

The music swelled in sync with the footage, carrying both the sorrow of fate’s decline and the unyielding passion of battle.  

Players were doing their best to save the people of Arkham City, even if, in the grand scheme of things, their power seemed insignificant.  

Step by step, they pushed their investigation forward, reaching the final destination!  

Their efforts were not in vain.  

The scene returned to that pitch-black space. A radiant figure appeared before the door and solemnly declared:  

“Close the gate.”  

The massive hand attempting to enter the human world was sealed outside.  

The great door slammed shut.  

At this moment, the title Wheel of Fate: Prologue appeared on screen.  

The video ended.  

In the final moments, players flooded the comments with reluctant messages:  

[This was amazing! So intense! But it was too short—why did it end so soon? qwq]  

[Thank you, devs! I made it on screen too!]  

[Wait a second—look at the progress bar! The video isn’t over yet!]  

Everyone hurriedly checked the video. Sure enough, it had only gone dark for a while, but the “End” screen hadn’t appeared. A few seconds later, new text emerged:  

[Wheel of Fate: Prelude]  

The next scene unfolded in a cozy-looking therapy room. A figure sat with his back to the camera, revealing only short platinum-blonde hair.  

The door swung open with a soft chime from the wind bell.  

The young man turned around, revealing a face that had countless players mesmerized. His eyes curved in amusement as he smirked and said, “Welcome.”  

The screen flashed.  

A figure appeared in a fog-filled space. Archie sat at a stone table, looking a little nervous.  

“…Who is he?”  

*Shhh—*  

A faceless man in black raised a finger to his lips.

[This is an unspeakable mystery.]  

With that, the video officially ended.  

The players’ excitement and confusion erupted like a flood in the comment section!  

[Holy crap, there was a secret ending! And it’s basically outright hinting that there’s something off about Ranen’s identity!]  

[Is that even a question? How long has it been since you last played? Ranen was labeled as an evil god ages ago.]  

[I think it’s more than that. If it were that simple, the devs wouldn’t have bothered making a secret ending like this. Think about it—Easter eggs usually hint at the next chapter. So… my guess is that Ranen’s identity mystery is going to be the main plot of the next phase!]  

[I agree. Ranen is definitely the protagonist now. He was involved in nearly every major event in the previous prologue, and now the devs aren’t even pretending anymore—they’re outright confirming he’ll be central to the next main storyline too.]  

[LMAO, of course! Have you seen how insanely popular he is right now?]  

[Fun fact: on a certain social media platform, Wheel of Fate has a trending score of 500K. ‘Ranen’ has 600K.]  

[What the hell, how did that happen?]  

[You should check a certain well-known fanfiction app. The difference is even worse there—Wheel of Fate’s tag isn’t even a third as popular as ‘Ranen,’ let alone the combined numbers of ‘AllRanen,’ ‘RanenAll,’ ‘MysteriousRanen,’ and all the other related tags.]

[Well, he is ridiculously good-looking. This just proves that visuals are the number one driving force.]  

[Haha, with that level of popularity, the devs will definitely shift their marketing focus. Honestly, I wouldn’t even be surprised if they just made Ranen the protagonist outright.]  

[What do you mean ‘made’ him the protagonist? Hahaha, he’s already basically the main character—he and his followers are involved in almost every major storyline.]  

[You guys might be onto something. Think about it—the final moment of the main quest had Ranen stopping the creature from getting through the gate, didn’t it?]  

[Hold on, we don’t actually know that was Ranen. It’s just speculation.]  

[No, I think it has to be him. There’s a storytelling rule: if a gun is going to be fired in the climax, it must have been introduced earlier. It just makes sense.]  

[Yeah, rather than suddenly introducing some unknown entity, it’s far more reasonable to assume that Ranen is the gatekeeper.]  

[Speaking of which, I just had a thought…]  

[We’ve been calling him an ‘evil god’ this whole time, but is Ranen really one? Don’t forget, in Lovecraftian lore, it’s not just about the Outer Gods and the Great Old Ones. Ranen has been helping humans all along—like that glowing gatekeeper. If he hadn’t closed the gate in time, humanity would’ve been doomed. An actual evil god wouldn’t have done that, right?]  

[Well, technically, Ranen doesn’t have to be the gatekeeper. I don’t agree with that theory. To me, his form as an evil god has already been revealed—remember Black Cat’s vision? The Fallen Shepherd. Plus, think about the consequences of his past transformations. If that’s not an evil god, what is?]  

The comment section was filled with speculation, all of which sounded plausible.  

But Ranen himself didn’t care. He just found them noisy.  

Still, the hype was definitely working.  

Riding the momentum, the developers quickly announced an expansion of the closed beta.  

And not just a small one—this time, they were giving out ten times the previous number of slots, a total of 5,000 new entries. On top of that, they introduced an entirely new gameplay feature: the Faction System, which meant that players could now officially align themselves with different in-game powers.  

1st Commenter: [Holy shit, when did the devs get this generous!?!]

2nd Commenter: [Alright, spill—did the management change, or did they just remember they’re supposed to be running a game?]  

3rd Commenter: [Rolling out so many updates at once… hard not to suspect they’ve been slacking off until now. (doge)]

4th Commenter: [AAAAHHHHH I CAN FINALLY GET INTO THE GAME AND SEE MY WIFE!!! TIME TO GRAB A SLOT!!!]  

5th Commenter: [AAAAHHH but only 5,000 slots?? Devs, do you even know how many people have signed up? It’s over a hundred thousand! Do I even have a chance?!]  

6th Commenter: [Yeah, just give out more slots already!]  

7th Commenter: [Beta 2.0 update… finally, we can officially join factions! I CAN FINALLY BECOME RANEN’S DOG!! (overjoyed)]  

8th Commenter: [Bro, put some pants on. (picks up pants)]  

9th Commenter: [Since they’re adding a faction system, that means Arkham City is about to be flooded with new factions, right? Otherwise, it’d just be Ranen and the Bureau, which wouldn’t really make sense.]  

10th Commenter: [That’d be amazing. Can we finally join the Bureau? I’ve been waiting forever for this!]  

11th Commenter: [Damn, people still want to join the Bureau? That’s wild.]  

12th Commenter: [Well, a lot of tabletop RPG players have a soft spot for investigators. Plus, let’s be real—Archie’s father’s diary really boosted the Bureau’s reputation.]

Players were passionately discussing the newly added 5,000 beta slots, the promotional PV, and the faction system update.  

But amidst their excitement, Ranen sensed an impending crisis.  

It all came from the information revealed in that PV.  

His memory of that moment was somewhat blurry, and he no longer had the sensation of controlling that gate. But never in his wildest dreams did he expect… that the whole thing had been live-streamed?!  

What the hell?! Why did everyone see that?!

Ranen felt like collapsing. He had always assumed that no one knew he had closed the gate, but now the players had clearly figured it out!  

And the other citizens of Arkham City had witnessed it too? Shit…  

Ranen had no words. The only silver lining was that his entire body had been obscured by the radiant glow at the time, so hopefully, no one recognized him.  

But… players didn’t need proof to jump to conclusions. They had definitely already decided that he was the “Gatekeeper.”  

Ranen was starting to feel cornered. It was common knowledge—if a secret was known by three people, it was no longer a secret. And now? With the game about to open up to 5,000 more players, all of whom would eventually learn about his identity? How the hell was he supposed to keep playing like this?!  

To make matters worse, his advantage of knowing the future had nearly vanished due to the massive changes he had made to the main storyline.  

Originally, after Arkham City was completely destroyed, players were supposed to respawn in a neighboring international metropolis—the headquarters of the Investigation Bureau. That place was even larger and more prosperous than Arkham, though its shadows ran just as deep.  

But now that Arkham City still existed, chances were that the game’s setting would remain here…  

Ranen let out a long sigh. He had just learned from Ogre that he needed to keep his identity a secret, and now he was already on the verge of exposure. How did things go wrong this fast?  

Calm down, calm down. The situation has already happened—now he just has to figure out how to deal with it.  

The greatest strength and weakness of players was their reckless unpredictability. Unlike people like Edmund, who would never let a word slip as long as Ranen told them to keep quiet, players… Well, if they didn’t broadcast it to the entire world, he’d already count that as a miracle.

And with the faction system rolling out soon, it was clear that Arkham City wouldn’t have just one major faction. With the way players thrived on chaos, it was only a matter of time before someone directly exposed his identity.  

Or rather, Ranen had the sinking feeling that it was only a matter of time.  

He needed a plan to get through this…  

The only solution he could think of was to establish a real faction of his own.