---Third POV---
Child, he stared at the badge with a single star in his hand, then turned his gaze to the empty Mage Guild hall behind him.
His eyes widened in disbelief. "No way… He actually cleared the place out?"
Hedgehog shot him a sideways glance. "Duh. If he couldn't do it, would he have agreed?"
"There aren't that many mages in a small town to begin with. With LootGoblin's status now, clearing out an hour's worth of time is a piece of cake."
"Wait, what's his status now? Guildmaster of the Mage Guild?" Child was extremely curious.
They all started the game together. He even joined in a little earlier. So why was the other guy doing so well?
Hedgehog curled his lips. "No way. At most, he's just—"
"Alright, there'll be plenty of time to talk after this." NeverShowOff, having pinned on his badge, looked up and urged, "We've only got one hour. Don't waste it."
The two had no choice but to put on their badges and push open the door.
At the reception desk, Susan looked up, surprised to see the five of them enter. In this mage-scarce frontier town, seeing five mages at once, that was already a big crowd.
And coming from the back? That clearly meant they were close to the upper ranks of the guild.
She glanced at the mage badges on their chests and gave a respectful bow.
"May I assist you with anything?"
NeverShowOff spoke up first, "No need. We're just looking around."
Susan understood. They must be adventurers from out of town, already familiar with the layout of the Mage Guild and not needing her unnecessary guidance. She smiled and nodded, signaling she understood, then returned to her tasks.
After brushing off the receptionist, the five exchanged glances for a moment, then scattered to gather intel on their own.
From an outsider's point of view, they were simply visiting the guild and checking out the place.
Child looked up at the ceiling of the guild.
The Mage Guild's layout resembled an egg, round inside, square outside. At the center was the reception hall, surrounded by various functional rooms.
The guild had four floors, but from the first floor you could already see the ceiling at the top. It was a massive star map, with stars twinkling faintly, flashing now and then.
As if a real night sky had been brought indoors.
He clicked his tongue in amazement.
"The founder of the Mage Guild must've been a devotee of the God of the Stars."
In other parts of Nary Town, people wouldn't display such large-scale decorations unrelated to the Goddess of Spring. And it wasn't just the ceiling.
Even the floor, paved with colorful marble, was dotted with designs that looked like stars or magical runes, as if the entire Mage Guild was one enormous three-dimensional magic circle.
After a quick scan of each area, half an hour had passed.
Yet, they had found nothing.
They regrouped in the public lounge.
Garble reported, "I checked both the quest board and the magical item trading area. Nothing out of the ordinary."
"Same with the archives area. No signs of any hidden passageways or mechanisms."
"Same here."
Child spread his hands. "It's our first time here, so we've got even less to go on."
Gaeman nodded in agreement.
Because there was a high chance of hidden underground tunnels nearby, and the possibility that sirens from the White Dove Ensemble were active in the area. From this point on, if he could avoid speaking, he would try to say as little as possible.
Taking advantage of the fact that NPCs couldn't see it, NeverShowOff opened the in-game map and projected it publicly.
"After our walkthrough, the scanned map of the Mage Guild is much more complete. There really are two blank zones."
The edges of the rooms had already been walked through inch by inch by the four players. The system's mapping precision had improved significantly. Now they could clearly see that near the staircase leading upstairs from the main hall, and outside the right wall of the public lounge, there were two interstitial spaces.
The spaces weren't large, no more than two meters wide. If a normal person just walked by them, they probably wouldn't notice anything even after a year.
Fortunately, technology was a powerful thing.
Child immediately said, "So if we just find the mechanism nearby, we can get in!"
Garble shook his head. "We already searched inch by inch. The mechanism isn't on the wall or the floor nearby."
NeverShowOff added, "It's not even in the rooms we're in."
They had already done a full sweep. Still, the others didn't give up and searched for another ten minutes.
In the end, Child collapsed on the carpet, panting, totally defeated. "You guys were right. There really isn't any kind of mechanism here."
NeverShowOff frowned, glancing toward the main hall.
"Time is running out."
The group had been walking around the lounge for so long that even Susan had turned around to glance at them twice.
They'd have to split up again soon.
Hedgehog shakily pulled out a bone-like stone.
"How about… we ask Viktor?"
As soon as he said that, NeverShowOff's eyes lit up in realization.
"Right! He's an undead who's been around for hundreds of years, he'd definitely know how to find a secret passage!"
Child stared suspiciously at the stone. "What even is that? Nary Town isn't an open-world map, right? You can contact him?"
Hedgehog bared his teeth smugly. "That's the confidence of a first-tier player, kid!"
But Garble hesitated. "Isn't using the item just to find a hidden passage kind of a waste?"
The stone could summon a combat-capable NPC projection. Using it just to gather information would be such a waste of its value.
NeverShowOff, however, disagreed. "A main quest is worth more than most rare items. If we really need firepower, we can buy high-tier magic scrolls. But you can't buy quest progress!"
Gaeman nodded forcefully in agreement.
After a brief moment of hesitation, even the reluctant Garble couldn't hold out and eventually gave in with a nod. He avoided the doorway, chanted quickly at the stone, and cast Wind Blade.
Whoosh!
A green burst of magic struck the stone. The stone remained smooth, not even a scratch.
Garble frowned deeply.
"Something's wrong. Let me try again."
This time, he chanted longer, and the Wind Blade was even faster and sharper, but the stone remained completely unchanged.
Hedgehog narrowed his eyes in suspicion. "You're not messing with us right now, are you?"
NeverShowOff shook his head in disapproval.
"No. Garble isn't the kind of person who jokes around."
Garble had already agreed. There was no way he'd pull a stunt at the last second.
He held his palm out, summoning a flame of bright orange-red.
"Let me try!"
The result was deeply disappointing. Not only NeverShowOff, everyone took turns trying their skills on the stone.
Not a single one left even a mark.
Hedgehog stared at his status panel, where only 20 mana points remained, feeling utterly hopeless.
"No way, officer… Are NPCs selling fake items now?!"
Back when Viktor gave them the item, he said it would shatter with just a light squeeze.
But now, their commotion was loud enough to almost draw the receptionist NPC from outside.
The stone just wouldn't break.
In the crowd, only Gaeman looked concerned. He picked up the stone and closed his eyes, sensing it for a moment. Then he stopped the others from trying again.
"It's been cut off," he whispered.
"Cut off?" NeverShowOff squatted down and signaled for him to continue. "What do you mean?"
Unlike the players, Gaeman was very familiar with this kind of tool used internally by The Watchers, Shadow Contract Stones.
They usually come in pairs: a child stone and a mother stone.
If the child stone was shattered, the holder of the mother stone could project themselves to that location. But the condition was: both sides must agree to the projection.
If the holder of the mother stone refused, attacking the child stone would only waste the stored magic power inside.
Child helped interpret, "So what you're saying is, we've been pounding away at this stone, but if the other side doesn't accept, all we're doing is weakening Viktor's ability to project himself here?"
NeverShowOff pondered for a moment. "So... basically, we got hung up on?"
Hedgehog scratched his head with effort.
"The problem is, how do we know if it was Viktor who hung up, or if we just didn't manage to break the stone?"
"If the connection could go through, it should've broken easily with just a pinch," Garble guessed.
He rested his chin on one hand.
"The real question is, why isn't Viktor answering? Did something happen in the newbie village?"
Child looked helpless. "Hey, are we seriously treating him like a phone?"
NeverShowOff, ignoring the sarcasm, was deep in thought. "Once we leave the Mage Guild, we'll ask around on the forums. That should help verify Gaeman's explanation."
After all, Gaeman was just an NPC they'd only met a few times. It was worth confirming from multiple sources. Still, now that Gaeman had spoken, he finally remembered the main reason they brought him along.
"Did you smell the scent of your kin?"
Gaeman nodded and pointed at the right wall of the lounge. Everyone was first delighted, then immediately hit by cold reality.
Well, duh.
They could've guessed that there was some trace of the sirens inside. The real problem was, how were they going to get in?
NeverShowOff asked without much hope, "Other than the two marked secret rooms?"
He added, realizing the other couldn't see players' interfaces. "I mean the gap near the stairwell."
Unexpectedly, Gaeman nodded again with certainty, and pointed upward.
Hedgehog looked up. "Fishy smell on the ceiling?"
"Use your brain, he means the second floor!" Child rolled his eyes at him.
"The second floor…"
NeverShowOff turned the clue over in his mind, and suddenly had a flash of insight. He looked at Hedgehog eagerly.
"When you were tracking that person yesterday, didn't he keep showing up on the second floor?"
"Yeah, so…" Hedgehog realized, "You're saying, they weren't just trying to act suspicious, they were trying to figure out the mechanism for entering and exiting? Then this mechanism is way too complicated."
Child, who hadn't seen anything at all, still tried to blend in and act insightful. "Yeah, it's like he was going out of his way to act weird, just so people would notice."
At this point, Garble also caught on. "What if that's exactly the point?"
What if the other party was deliberately trying to attract people who could notice the irregularities? To normal people, anything a mage or wealthy person does isn't surprising.
It could be summed up as: the kind of nonsensical behavior rich people get up to when they're bored.
But to those of the same kind, someone was bound to sense that something wasn't right.
NeverShowOff looked at the time on his interface. "We've only got 15 minutes left, no time to argue about right or wrong. Once we try it, we'll know what's real!"
They were going to retrace the route the two suspicious NPCs had taken yesterday.
Child glanced toward the reception hall outside.
"But the second floor requires Level 20 or higher, to access."
None of them were intermediate mages.
The badges they got from LootGoblin were all one-star, basic badges.
Rustle rustle.
Someone tugged at his sleeve. The soft fabric made a faint sound.
He looked down.
It was Gaeman. In his hand was a badge, one with three dazzling silver stars shining on it.
"Holy crap, an advanced mage!" Child's eyes widened.
LootGoblin had actually given Gaeman an Advanced Mage badge?!
Since the badges were handed out to everyone quickly, and they were all rushing to investigate inside, he hadn't even noticed until now. Luckily, he wasn't the only one who missed it.
Garble frowned at the badge, which was noticeably more refined than theirs.
"You clearly have the power of a high-level mage, so why were you living as a beggar in Nary Town? Because using magic would expose you?"
Gaeman nodded, then shook his head, then pointed at his throat.
Child understood. "You sirens mainly attack using your voice?"
Hedgehog sighed wistfully. "Being too specialized really sucks. If I ever ran into a demigod-level siren, could I just poison their throat and win easily?"
NeverShowOff checked the time again.
"Either way, as long as someone can get to the second floor, we're good. Let's move!"
The group gathered around Gaeman and reviewed the paths the two suspicious NPCs had taken the day before.
---
Minute 13: Gaeman set off.
Minute 11: He successfully passed the security check and goes upstairs.
9 minutes remaining: With no progress yet from Gaeman, Garble and Hedgehog went out to the main hall and start mimicking the NPCs' path.
4 minutes remaining: Child moved his head away from the wall, startled by the movement of the carpet beside him.
He yanked it up, revealing a square-shaped opening.
Cough cough!
He immediately coughed to signal the others to come in.
Garble relayed the message to Gaeman outside the second floor.
The cough also briefly drew the attention of Susan at the reception desk. She cast a curious glance toward the two in the hall. Though to avoid being rude, she looked away after just a couple of seconds.
Gaeman, however, had to slow down and head downstairs.
Last 2 minutes: Gaeman returned to the public lounge area.
On a long bench covered with a purple-and-blue patterned blanket sat three life-like puppets.
Three pairs of lifeless eyes stared directly at him as he entered.
His heart skipped a beat. He immediately dropped into a battle stance, and accidentally knocked over the floor lamp beside him.
Child heard the noise and turned around, instantly understanding the situation.
He reassured him, "It's fine. Just puppets."
He'd only just learned that the Lucky Stars Team happened to have something this handy on them. The puppets could follow simple commands for about ten minutes. As long as their faces were covered, they looked almost exactly like real people.
Rumor had it they came from a wandering merchant in the wastelands.
If he hadn't shamelessly begged and pestered, he wouldn't have gotten his hands on one either.
After speaking, he continued to pull his own cloak over one of the puppets.
Garble and NeverShowOff were doing the same.
Once they finished dressing them, NeverShowOff snapped his fingers.
The three puppets stood up at the same time. Their bodies twisted and stretched like clay until they looked identical to the three players.
He placed his pointed wizard's hat on "Fake NeverShowOff's" head, then turned and instructed, "Later, Garble, Child, and I will go down together. You two take the puppets and leave!"
They'd promised not to expose LootGoblin, and they intended to keep that promise.