The person had long, smooth, jet-black hair, but their height didn't look like a woman's at all. What was even more frightening was that the more Wen Zheng looked at their figure, the more familiar it seemed.
White coat, black pants. The person turned around, and a breathtakingly beautiful face came into everyone's view.
Wen Zheng blurted out, "Little Wang!?"
Deng Puyue stumbled and fell to her knees.
Author's Note: Let's talk about the king, but not about him...
(This will be available for purchase on Monday! Updates will be at 9 PM on Monday and the day after! Thank you all again for your support, I promise there won't be any more breaks!)
Chapter 21
The long-haired beauty, called Xiao Wang, frowned, clearly recognizing him. She was about to say something, but swallowed it back, finally managing to utter, "Z."
Finally, the Z was in the fourth tone instead of the second tone, and Wen Zheng felt complicated.
More than a week later, the intense emotions I had felt before had subsided. I felt no shame, and I certainly didn't want to beat him up.
He clenched his fist, but then heard Deng Puyue suddenly pounce on him—
"Hello, beautiful lady! Want to add me as a friend? Add me on WeChat? Add me on QQ? Add me by phone?" After saying that, she turned to Wen Zheng and roared, "Do you even know her? How can you call someone like that! How can such a beauty be called 'Little Wang'?! Her real name is definitely Prince!" Then she turned back to the beauty with a smile, "Isn't that right, Prince?"
The prince proudly raised his head: "...Call me Your Majesty."
The other three: "…………"
Two seconds later, Wen Zheng said coldly, "Take the lanterns and search the hall first. Don't waste time."
"Don't call me Lantern!" Deng Puyue was still a little unwilling, so she turned around and asked, "Are you really not joking?"
The long-haired handsome man said unhappily, "Why would I lie to you? I never lie."
The castle's overall tone is pure white, with white walls on all four sides, and even the subtle patterns lack any bright colors, giving it a quiet and cold feel. The gramophone is still playing Vittoria's songs, and the circular hall is furnished with sofas, two rows of curved cabinets against the walls, and cluttered items such as coffee table drawers.
After a brief search, the group found the only door locked, a common tactic in their survival space – it was all about unlocking!
The four gathered at the center to discuss their strategy. The foreign friend asked happily, "Do you all know each other?"
"Hmph." The long-haired handsome man suddenly gritted his teeth and said, "I know him, of course I know him!"
Wen Zheng: "...We met once during the escape."
The foreign friend exaggerated the story of fate and then said, "Let's introduce ourselves first!"
During the initial two weeks of the public beta test, the new basic dungeons and low-star multiplayer instances will be available.
This game, "Freedom Castle," only received a two-star rating from the game company, which is why it was scheduled for testing during this time period.
The dungeon has a certain amount of story content, but it's not very difficult, so Wen Zheng is in a relatively relaxed mood.
"I'm Xiaoyu. I don't have any special skills, I'm just lucky!"
"Z. Skilled in memory disks, puzzles, and password solving."
"My name is Yamo, and my native language is Italian. You're all from the Chinese-speaking region, right? I'm skilled at assembling mechanical devices and have been a five-year veteran of the game!"
"...Call me Your Majesty."
The four looked at the handsome man with long hair, waiting for him to continue.
He was baffled: "Why are you looking at me?!"
Deng Puyue almost blurted out, "Look at you, you're so good-looking," but Wen Zheng interrupted, "We've talked about our strengths, except for our names. Didn't you hear us?"
Deng Puyue was startled, somewhat puzzled as to why Wen Zheng was being so fierce today. Seeing the handsome man's displeasure and the look of impending anger, he was about to smooth things over…
"This is my first time playing this game, and I don't know what I'm good at," the handsome man said, looking reluctant.
Wen Zheng seemed to have expected this, and gave a light "hmm": "We'll teach you."
Deng Puyue: "..."
He secretly said to the live chat, "Don't you guys think that Z's attitude towards that long-haired handsome guy is strange?"
The comments section was flooded with replies like, "Is Xiaoyu jealous?"
Deng Puyue, embarrassed and annoyed, jumped to the area assigned to him to search and retorted, "Nothing!"
The four of them split up to search the empty circular hall, and only then did Wen Zheng have time to turn on the live chat to see what his viewers were saying.
As he lifted a curtain, intending to pick out some questions to answer, he discovered that his screen was being flooded with comments.
"The guy who messed up his clothes"? "The guy who sold his face"? Are you talking about that Xiao Wang?
-Z! It's him!! I guarantee it!!! Oh my god, if he just glances at me, I'll get pregnant.
No wonder the server crashed. Seriously, isn't this character design just too captivating? With that kind of skill, there's so much more to do! (I'm so disappointed in him!)
-The guy who sells his face must be a fan of Z University!
Everyone caught the flash and asked him what his basis was.
The person replied quickly.
-I guess I was originally a survival game player!? I went to watch the match between Z and Xuanyuan Tianlu, but Tianlu's house turned into his old home, and he lost so badly that he fell in love with survival games and decided to come here to follow in Z's footsteps!
Everyone agreed.
- It is reasonable, well-founded, and convincing.
-Thanks to Z for bringing honor to us by securing such a beautiful hidden gem. Now we can feast our eyes on it more often.
-Thanks to Z!
-I second that.
-Speaking of which, Mingzhu is perfect for Lai Shengkong. The dungeon has a maximum of four players, and there's a separate rest area when you die. As long as he doesn't crowd around the central crystal to check the rankings, something terrible like in battle royale shouldn't happen, right?
-That's so well said! Looking at it this way, "Sheng Kong" is practically a game tailor-made for Mingzhu's stunning beauty!
"...He's not my fan." Wen Zheng pulled back the curtains and fiddled with the lock on the large French window, clarifying, "I met him before during a free-for-all match, and we had a little unpleasantness. He probably doesn't like me."
The barrage of questions and "Do you like him?" suddenly changed to a barrage of "yoooo". Wen Zheng was confused, but then a striking Chinese message flashed by: "Look behind you!"
Wen Zheng turned around, and the king was only half a step away from him, his face full of anger.
Why are these people walking so lightly?! Wen Zheng broke out in a sweat, wondering warily when he had been approached so closely without even noticing...
"You're talking badly about me?" The king's face, without the mask, was almost dizzying. Wen Zheng took two steps back and said in a hoarse voice, "What did I say about you?"
Xiao Wang pursed his lips, his voice low and strong: "You said I hate you."
"So, do you hate it?"
"..." He tensed up, remained silent for a long time, then turned and left angrily.
Wen Zheng: "...See, I'm telling you the absolute truth."
The comments section was filled with: "…Z is such a pig's trotter."
Wen Zheng was really bad at searching; after searching through the outer curtains and windowsills, he found nothing.
Foreign friend Yamo shouted that time was up, and everyone gathered around the round table in the center to share the initial results of the search.
Deng Puyue tossed down a small brass key and said with a grin, "I think this room has quite a few locks. There's a lock under the phonograph, locks under all the cabinets, locks under the drawers, and even a lock under the piano bench! I think we need to open some of them with the key first to get more clues."
The foreign friend said, "Oh! I'll get one too." He placed a silver key on the table.
Wen Zheng picked up the two keys and examined them: "Brass, small keyhole. Probably for a small drawer. Silver lock for a cabinet."
After saying that, he slowly spread his hands under their gazes: "Didn't find it."
Deng Puyue was used to it and patted his shoulder knowingly. Yamo was also good-tempered and said it was nothing. Only the king snorted sarcastically.
The three of them turned to look at him. He arrogantly picked up a bag and turned it upside down—
Clang, clang, bang, splash...
Why are there so many keys!
Copper keys, silver keys, gold keys, one after another, shining brightly.
"They're all in very conspicuous places." The king was clearly very proud, but he pretended to be nonchalant and performed a demonstration of reaching under the sofa with one hand and pulling out a key under everyone's astonished gaze.
"Look, you can get them just by touching them."
No, we're not questioning how you found the key... we're just wondering how you just lay there like that!? Your arms are so long!? So soft!?
Wen Zheng numbly thought that if it were him, he would choose to push the sofa over.
After all the locks that could be opened were opened, and after some manipulation, the first mechanism rumbled and rose from the floor in the center of the room.
It was a giant kaleidoscope.
Kaleidoscopes were once children's toys, and they still exist today. Wen Zheng stepped forward and spun the kaleidoscope; inside, bizarre and fantastical patterns formed meaningless designs.
"Did you see anything?" Deng Puyue pointed her eyes at the other end of the cylinder. The light was completely blocked, and Wen Zheng's side was plunged into darkness.
He pushed the large cylinder forward and said expressionlessly, "See for yourself."
The king didn't come closer; he seemed tired of searching for keys. The beauty lay on the sofa, as beautiful as a femme fatale who could bring ruin to a country.
The three of them took turns examining the kaleidoscope, but to no avail. When Wen Zheng turned his head, he noticed that the other man's gaze seemed to glance in their direction before quickly looking away. After a moment's hesitation, Wen Zheng said, "Would you like to take a look?"
The king suddenly stood up: "Since none of you can understand it, then I will."
The three men made way for him, and the king stepped forward, staring at the cylinder for a very, very long time…
Wen Zheng had already checked the hall again and shouted at him, "Have you checked it out yet?!"
The king straightened up: "Hmm, all done. That was fun."
Wen Zheng: …………
Who told you it was funny to look at?!
It took some time, and in the end, it was the foreign friends who discovered the mechanism first.
Beneath the gramophone playing the song "Vittoria! Vittoria!" was an inconspicuous hidden compartment. They had been so focused on getting the key from the mingler that they hadn't bothered to unlock the compartment's code.
Wen Zheng quickly deciphered the rules, and an old-fashioned projector was set up, projecting the circular letters "VITTORIA" onto the wall.
The king understood and aimed the kaleidoscope at the letters, rotating the patterns to partially overlap with the wall. Each overlap turned a letter red. Once the entire row was aligned, the hall trembled again, and the original letters were covered by huge framed paintings.