Chapter 5: Verification

No one knows.

At present, it seems that only six of them survived the shipwreck.

The story was set in an alternate setting, around the time of the "Prohibition Law"¹. Dorenna is the son of a local duke, his family is well-off, and he is also a top-notch aristocrat. However, he has an eccentric personality, and doesn't like to interact with others. Apart from the six of them, he only invited three or five other people to this birthday party.

When they first came to this cruise ship everyone felt that it was too empty, but in the blink of an eye, they were attracted by all kinds of sensual things on the cruise ship and didn't think much about it.

"You say, is Dorenna still alive?" Bayer jumped down from the rocks by the sea, "I haven't figured out what the conditions are for us to pass the customs. After we pass the customs, can we go home?"

"Explore the mystery behind it," Floy shrugged, "this condition is too broad."

"I don't think you need to worry about it." Shen Lin raised his hand to cover the sun above his head. This is the hottest month of the year, and the time is close to noon. The naked sun is exposed to the sun, making his skin itchy.

Before he came here he was spending winter, but after the game started, the thick down jacket and Martin boots were replaced by thin summer clothes.

He is now wearing casual summer clothes, and even his appearance has become the blonde and green-eyed one described on the character card. (T/n: just as I guessed, it's the character setting and not his original appearance)

All the changes happen in the silent unknown, which also shows the omnipotence of the ruler here.

He looked around at the crowd, all of them changed in appearance, and finally, his eyes fell on Yan Xiuyi sitting on the rock beside him.

He was wearing a suit shirt, unbuttoning the cuff buttons, and rolling up the sleeves. His long, straight legs lined by suit trousers were casually slung on the reef.

The short, messy dark brown hair was blown by the sea breeze, and the side face was clean and neat.

——His appearance has become smaller, his face is still like ice, but the pupils that were originally light but still showing a little brown have turned into a cold light gray, which makes him look even harder to get along with.

Shen Lin withdrew his gaze and continued, "The rule card says that we are allowed to explore freely, and just now KP No. 98 also emphasized the freedom of the game. I think the key to this game is exploration, as long as we explore we will gradually approach the truth. "

"Explore what? There's nothing here!" Alex said coldly.

"Explore this shipwreck first," Shen Lin ignored him, and said, "Let's see if anyone else survived besides us, especially, the key, Dorenna. We must find him."

Everyone decided to explore separately. The coastline was handed over to Nana and Bayer, who was the thinnest, and a small piece of shrubbery on the inner side was handed over to Floy and Xiuwen. Shen Lin and Yan Xiuyi were responsible for the area slightly closer to the dense forest. Because they're not sure what is in the dense forest, the only knife is handed over to them.

Shen Lin was preparing to enter the dense forest for protection. He raised his head and glanced at Yan Xiuyi who was not far away. He was using a rubber band to bind his hair to tie a small slingshot. His slender fingers stretched and loosened, and a small stone shot out in a parabolic full circle. The smooth arc hits the target precisely. There are also a few improvised weapons scattered around his feet.

He noticed Shen Lin's gaze and looked up. His eyes were cold and careless.

Shen Lin looked away unnaturally. He gritted his teeth, made up his mind, strode over, and jumped to the rock where Yan Xiuyi was sitting.

Yan Xiuyi picked up a strong branch and sharpened the top with a knife.

"Felton."

"Um."

"You really don't remember me?" Shen Lin asked with a suppressed voice.

"I don't remember." Yan Xiuyi lowered his eyes and said to Shen Lin, "The doctor said there is a problem with my brain structure, and I often forget some things. I have to leave the army and go home. Why did I take that train? How did we meet?" 

Shen Lin told Yan Xiuyi how the two met on the train. He observed Yan Xiuyi's reaction and saw that he was still indifferent. Feeling uncomfortable, his feet dangling outside the reef unconsciously swayed back and forth.

Shen Lin asked, "Do you believe what I say?"

"Well," Yan Xiuyi said in a low voice, "You don't give me a bad feeling, we should know each other."

Shen Lin smiled, "If we can go back, I will help you contact my aunt to see if your amnesia could be cured. She is a famous brain expert."

"We're done!" Not far away, Floy beckoned to them, "Let's go, come back before we go down the mountain."

Yan Xiuyi distributed a finished weapon to them and finally handed the only knife to Shen Lin, "Take it."

Shen Lin wanted to refuse, but Yan Xiuyi said coldly, "Be obedient."

Yan Xiuyi's commanding tone made Shen Lin raise his eyebrows. He folded the knife, put it in his trousers pocket, and walked into the woods with the others.

The two teams separated halfway, and Shen Lin and the others walked deeper into the dense forest. Halfway there, a voice suddenly sounded in his mind: You seem to have found something, do an investigation.

Shen Lin: "..."

It's the voice of No. 98 KP.

Shen Lin stopped and looked at Yan Xiuyi. Yan Xiuyi showed the same expression as him, and he must have heard KP's voice.

Shen Lin asked, "How's it going? Where's the dice?"

As soon as the voice fell, the figure of KP No. 98 appeared in front of him, but compared to the pale paper figurine when he first saw it, the No. 98 in front of him can be said to be very delicate.

His thin body was put on a black tuxedo, the white shirt tucked under the notched collar was neatly ironed, a black top hat was on his head, and he held a black cane with a curved tip, like a manipulative and secretive magician.

... It seems that one-click dressing is not only suitable for them.

KP answered his doubts promptly, "I will appear in your favorite form. It seems that you like paradoxical things, such as magicians. So far, I like the image you imagined the most, and it suits me very well."

He waved his crutches, and a two ten-sided dice appeared in front of Shen Lin, one with white characters on a black background, engraved with [00, 10, 20...90], and the other with black characters on a white background, with [1, 2, 3...10].

KP: "With these two die, you can roll a number from 1-100. When you roll 1-5, you will have a big success and get more clues than usual."

"There should be a big failure corresponding to it?"

"Yes," KP smiled slightly, "the number corresponding to the big failure is 96-100. I hope you will not have such a dark time. So, who will come first?"

Since this is the question, everyone has a chance.

Shen Lin asked Yan Xiuyi, "How much did you investigate?"

Yan Xiuyi confirmed it, "75." (T/n: idk what the author wants to convey here, above nothing was mentioned about what they found from their exploration. Maybe it's the value of his attributes?)

Shen Lin said unexpectedly, "So high? Then you come first."

Yan Xiuyi hesitated.

Shen Lin: "What's wrong?"

Yan Xiuyi pursed his lips, "It's nothing, how should I vote?"

KP: "It's very simple, just click on the dice."

Shen Lin automatically took Yan Xiuyi's hesitation as his unfamiliarity with the game. This person has a strong ability to adapt in some aspects, but in some aspects, he seems...a little slow.

He comforted him, "It's okay, 75 points are very high. From the perspective of probability, it is very difficult to fail."

"Alright."

Yan Xiu responded, reached out, and tapped the dice in front of him.

The dice spun rapidly in front of their eyes, and finally stopped——

96

Yan Xiuyi: "..."

Shen Lin: "......"

KP said regretfully with a smile, "The detection check, 75 (self-attribute)/96 (check result), a big failure, let me think about what punishment should be given to you." (T/n: indeed it's the value of his attribute)

Yan Xiuyi pressed his forehead, "Sorry, my luck has always been bad, I should let you come first."

Shen Lin's mood was even more complicated than his, "No, it's logical to ask you to vote first. I only have 35 points in the investigation, but I didn't expect you to be so..."

KP: "I figured it out, please continue your exploration."

Shen Lin: "...Did I fail the test?"

"Yes, this is your punishment."

"Punishment? Very good," Shen Lin snorted, "I'm ready to win."

Yan Xiuyi looked at the young man's excited expression, and asked in a low voice, "What are you going to do?"

"Since we need to explore, there must be something here. Although this game requires attribute checks, I think attribute checks only help us find clues faster. Even if there are no clues, we can still find them with our eyes and feet..."

His voice was steady and firm, and he looked around seriously.

At this moment, thick fog came out from the depths of the forest, almost blocking their sight, and KP's voice sounded in their ears: "This is the punishment for a big failure."

"It doesn't matter," Shen Lin said, "The more difficult the additional questions for the math test, the better." (T/n: he's referring their situation to the maths addition questions)

He casually broke off a branch from the tree trunk on the side as a tool for pathfinding, so as to avoid being stumbled by some raised roots or stones, and he could also find clues rolling down the roadside in time.

When Shen Lin continued to move forward, the other free hand was gently held by a wide and dry palm. He stopped and looked at Yan Xiuyi.

Yan Xiuyi's expression remained indifferent, "It's too foggy, so it's safe to hold hands."

"Hmm." Shen Lin didn't deny it, he and Yan Xiuyi led each other and continued to explore.

They don't know how long they walked, but the fog concentration did not weaken at all.

Shen Lin made marks on the tree trunks he passed along the way. He moved forward with similar steps, each step was about the same distance, which was convenient for him to record how far he had walked and if regrettably nothing was found, he could ensure that they turned back to their makeshift camp on the beach before dark.

Fortunately, they made a discovery.

"There are human footprints left here," Shen Lin said, "Because the fog increased the humidity in the air, and the ground became soft and muddy, the footprints left before are clearly shown, someone walked by here, from the direction of the footprints, it went over there."

"You are very careful, so, now have an inspiration." KP's voice sounded again.

"Which attribute is inspiration?" Shen Lin asked.

"Same as your intelligence," KP replied.

Shen Lin hesitated for a moment, and asked Yan Xiuyi, "How much inspiration do you have?"

At that moment, Shen Lin felt Yan Xiuyi's stiffness from the hands they held together. He seemed to resist the roll point instinctively. This resistance may be due to what he said was "bad luck", but who can say for sure about luck? He thought that Yan Xiuyi should be given a little confidence.

"No," KP dismissed his thoughts, "This is your discovery, and it can only be inspired by you."

Shen Lin shrugged and said, "Well, my inspiration is high enough, with 80 points."