Chapter 12

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Chapter 12: This Isn’t Scientific!

“These are the play points I’m giving to everyone. You can think of them as tokens,” the host continued. “Although the Paradise won’t restrict your actions, each game will still have a reward task. Based on your performance, you’ll be given corresponding points. Now you can open the exchange interface and select what you need—just focus on the numbers and mentally think ‘open,’ and the interface will automatically appear.”

Open

Zhang Zhiyuan thought silently in his mind, and then he saw the numbers expand into a semi-transparent table.So… is this really just a game?

He skimmed through the items available for exchange—the things one could acquire from the Paradise were far more diverse than those commonly found in the market, ranging from the mundane to the bizarre, almost like they had been thrown together last minute. The items were split into two main categories: [Combat Aids] and [Life Assistance]. The first category included items such as the Revival Scroll (limited), valued at 1,000 points, followed by the Healing Card, valued at 750 points. The rest consisted of various weapons, armor, and equipment, priced between 150 and 50 points respectively. Meanwhile, the second category encompassed anything from pressure cookers, portable liquefied gas stoves, lighters, fishing poles, even to thermite packets.

“This isn’t much different from before,” Anthony muttered. “The enemies we encountered last time were all armed with guns, can’t we have something more powerful?”

The host didn’t respond, as if this was a question beyond the preset options.

“Maybe there are, but we don’t have enough points to see them,” Zhou Zhi whispered. “Game designers usually consider the difficulty progression, so they wouldn’t place powerful weapons at the beginning of the game, or perhaps they want us to focus on strategy…”

“Fine, then I’ll take a full set of armor and a crossbow, with a dagger as a backup weapon!” The Russian didn’t bother to argue further.

The host nodded and raised his right hand. Several pieces of equipment appeared out of thin air and fell to the ground.

Zhang Zhiyuan watched this scene in amazement, though the others seemed accustomed to it.

After a round of exchanges, everyone was somewhat armed, except for Zhang Zhiyuan, who hadn’t used any points.

“I guess… I don’t have to use them right away, do I?”

“Of course, you can request from me at any time,” the host nodded.

“Then I’ll skip the exchange for now.” Zhang Zhiyuan sighed quietly, not because he had a plan, but because he rarely played games and didn’t know what to choose.

If he’d known this earlier, he should’ve asked Choi Jeon-eun to join the Paradise game instead.

“Then everyone has exchanged their items?”

“Wait!” Zhang Zhiyuan once again raised his question, “Host, can you take off your mask so we can see what you look like? I don’t have any other intentions, but this mask gives me chills; even if it’s a virtual appearance, something else would be better.”

Others nodded in agreement.

The host smiled and reached out to remove the mask, only to reveal another identical mask beneath—though its color and patterns had changed slightly.

Zhang Zhiyuan was speechless.

“Since everyone is ready, please follow me.” The host didn’t say much more, as if that mask was his original appearance. He turned and pushed open a side door, walking into another small room.

This wooden room was much brighter than the last one, with several oil lamps casting light upon the interior. In the center of the room was a square table piled high with sheets of paper.

“What’s this?” the American asked curiously.

Zhang Zhiyuan took a step forward and picked up a sheet of paper, seeing it filled with writings he didn’t recognize.

“Case files,” the host said unhurriedly. “This time, you will be hunters of evil, solving a major case. All details and clues are recorded in these pages. From the moment you stepped into this room, the game has officially begun.”

Everyone looked at each other in confusion.

“It… starts just like that?”

“There aren’t any more clues?”

“How do we even know what this is?” Joe James waved the paper in his hand. “How are we supposed to hunt if we can’t even read it!”

“Wait, I think I saw something similar earlier…” Zhou Zhi suddenly said. “Where was it… Oh right, in this column. You should check too, in the [Life Assistance] row of the exchange interface.”

At his reminder, Zhang Zhiyuan also found it. At the bottom of a list of daily necessities, he suddenly discovered an item called “Translation Tofu”, priced at 200 points.

“Kid, you’re somewhat useful,” Anthony chuckled. “Looking at its description, it seems you gain the ability to translate languages after eating it.”

“That’s not right, shouldn’t language communication supposed to be default?” Joe James frowned. “Who would make a game with such a cumbersome language system!”

“I can’t exchange for it now, I only have about 100 points left,” Jason Taylor, the new game participant, expressed his regret.

“If the game design requires us to do so, then we must follow along,” Asahara Naruko suddenly spoke up. “200 points may seem like a lot, but there’s no need for everyone to exchange them. Don’t forget, our mission must be completed together.”

“Then… I’ll do it,” Zhou Zhi volunteered. “I still have 500 points unused.”

“One might not be enough, I’ll get one too,” Zhang Zhiyuan quickly followed. He had already noticed a detail – that no one seemed to know this game’s theme would be related to solving cases. Whether it was Joe James or Jason Taylor who he brought along, they all seemed quite unfamiliar with these things. However he was different. Even when Paradise sent out the invitation, it was clearly stated in the letter what the participation conditions were. The fact that they could specifically send the email to the international criminal Police Department’s mailbox indicated that the new round of games might require investigative skills.

This might indicate two points. First, the invitation letters received by each person might be different. At least, only the Police Department received an invitation letter marked with “outstanding investigation and analytical skills.”

As such, the persona background fabricated for him by the bureau wouldn’t be wasted, and he wouldn’t be specifically targeted by suspects.

Second, it confirmed that the developers of the game were neutral parties who didn’t lean toward Joe James or any other faction.

“Are you sure about this, buddy?” The American looked at him. “After buying this, you can only choose between weapons and equipment or a healing card.”

“You’ve seen the environment we’re in. We’ll definitely need to operate in the city later. If only one person can communicate while the rest of us stammer, it will definitely arouse suspicion,” Zhang Zhiyuan deliberately avoided speaking about solving the case. “Besides, with so many case files, how long would it take for just one person to read them all on his own? I think Miss Asahara is right. Since we’re a team, we should collaborate and divide the work. If you guys handle the combat, I can provide logistical support.”

“Suit yourself,” Joe James didn’t argue further.

Soon, Zhang Zhiyuan ate the exchanged Translation Tofu and looked at the case files again. The writing on the manuscript seemed to start twisting and changing, finally reorganizing into Chinese that he could fully understand!

“How is it?” the others asked.

“It… it works,” Zhang Zhiyuan mumbled, but his surprise was far beyond just that. He knew it wasn’t a simple translation, because if he blinked, he would find that the document itself hadn’t changed at all. Those characters weren’t images floating before his eyes, but rather a transformation automatically done by his subconscious after fully understanding these words! In other words, he had truly understood this language in an instant!

Even for a virtual reality game… this shouldn’t be possible, right?

Zhang Zhiyuan couldn’t help but steal a glance at the host.

What kind of organization was this Paradise? How could they possess such amazing technology? If this learning technology were applied in education or industry, it would immediately spark a new revolution in development. Yet they were merely using it to profit from the wealthy. This was something he couldn’t quite understand.

Zhang Zhiyuan vaguely realized that perhaps the Paradise itself was far more important than the case – this was no longer something that a police department or an international police organization could handle. He must firmly remember everything he saw and convey it once the game was over!

For now, his primary task was to play his role well.