Interactive City.
The audience, seeing another round of deduction, couldn't help but feel puzzled.
"Let me just ask, is this deduction actually serious?"
"It should be fairly serious, right? The logic in the previous deduction was a bit rough, but overall, it still made sense."
"Come on, letting someone walking the Path of Elation set the puzzle already sounds unserious!"
"And listen to that London accent. It's clearly just playing with memes."
"Let's keep watching. I still don't get what it's trying to say!"
"Watch, watch…"
—
Back to the web drama.
The Deputy Sheriff nodded sincerely at Black Swan. "Let me introduce the suspects in this case. Their identities aren't complicated."
"First is the clerk Ayou, a Pepeshi. He's not even as tall as Lady Sparkle's waist, which often gets him mocked, making him a bit gloomy.
Then there's the tycoon Zorro, who wants to join Penacony's business group and is in competition with Lady Sparkle. That might be his motive for murder.
Lastly, the gambler Zhongshan. He once lost a bet to Lady Sparkle and had to hand over his family heirloom. That might be why he holds a grudge against her.
That's all the information. Need me to go over it again?"
Black Swan shook her head. As a Memor, she didn't need a statement repeated. "No need."
Then,
After bidding farewell to the Sheriff and Deputy Sheriff, Black Swan began investigating the scene.
Nearby, Black Swan and her detective assistant found two pieces of evidence related to the case.
A "ledger of bribes" and "Zorro's tie."
Black Swan glanced around, finding no new clues, and murmured, "Looks like we need another method to find new leads."
Sparkle's mask appeared abruptly. "Lady Sparkle doesn't want to disrupt the investigation!"
Sampo quickly retorted, "What a 'doesn't want to disrupt the investigation.' Sparkle's such a law-abiding citizen—why doesn't she turn herself in then?"
Black Swan smiled faintly. "Let's begin."
After transforming into little Hanunu, they first noticed a fallen stool.
Sampo leaned in for a closer look. "A small stool, still fairly normal. It's got two little footprints drawn on it—with crayons."
Black Swan didn't focus on those details. Noticing the footprints' size, she said, "Footprints half the size of a normal person's, likely left by a Pepeshi."
Sampo nodded like a proper assistant. "Or maybe this person's drawing skills are just extraordinary."
The next moment, he sniffed. "What's that smell—why's there a smoked fish on the ground?!"
Black Swan chuckled. "Mr. Sampo, take a closer look… This is a fine 'smoked red herring.'"
"Help, that joke's way too cold…" Sampo couldn't help rubbing his arms.
"Even among the Fools I know, Miss Sparkle's sense of humor is uniquely distinctive."
Hearing this, Sampo perked up, gossiping, "Have you met many Masked Fools?"
"Not many, just four or five. I prefer basking in warm, happy 'memories' bathed in sunlight. They usually belong to kinder people."
After solving another puzzle, the two obtained the final piece of evidence.
Black Swan lowered her head in thought. "I must thank you, 'Detective Assistant' sir. But… this puzzle feels a bit strange."
"Have you already figured out who the culprit is?"
"Just a faint intuition… For now, let's report to the Sheriff."
—
The Interactive City audience was somewhat baffled.
"So, who's the culprit?"
"All three."
"Didn't they say the three aren't connected? It's a three-way choice, not all three."
"Then this puzzle is unsolvable."
"What does that mean?"
"It feels like a brain-dead question."
—
"Oh! By the Elation! I didn't expect Detective Black Swan to return so quickly! So, have you found the culprit?" The Sheriff beamed with delight upon seeing Black Swan.
"Sort of."
The Sheriff chimed in, "As expected of Detective Black Swan, sharp as the magpies nesting on my Uncle Frank's garage roof!"
Sampo gave an awkward smile. "Wow, they switched you to a different bird."
The Sheriff ignored Sampo completely, asking, "So, who's the culprit, and what evidence proves it?"
Black Swan said softly, "Zorro."
She presented the tie as evidence.
The Sheriff's expression turned incredulous. "…Exactly right!
This tie belongs to Zorro, and it's the murder weapon itself. Could there be more ironclad proof?
Zorro sneaked into the fitting room, waited for the可怜的 Lady Sparkle to enter, and brutally killed her with the tie! Then, he stuffed Zhongshan's ring into the victim's mouth to frame someone else.
What a tragedy. If not for a sharp-eyed detective like you, the culprit would've gotten away scot-free!"
Sampo scratched his head. "Uh… something's off. This is too easy. The first case wasn't hard, but this…"
Black Swan nodded noncommittally. "As you suspect, there's no mutual exclusivity between the conclusions drawn from these pieces of evidence. This must be… another prank by Miss Sparkle.
'Detective Assistant' sir, go ahead and randomly name a suspect as the culprit."
Sampo tentatively pointed to Zhongshan, offering the ring as evidence.
The Sheriff's response was almost identical.
Sampo's face lit up with realization. "So… there's no culprit at all? The evidence is that ring… Never mind, I'm just spouting nonsense…"
The Sheriff was floored by Sampo's response, beyond all expectations. "Heavens! Deputy Sheriff, is he a genius? To unravel such an unimaginable mystery so easily!"
Sampo: "…"
Black Swan: "See, Miss Sparkle gave us a puzzle where 'all options are the correct answer.'"
Sheriff: "Why take it so seriously? Lady Sparkle is a Masked Fool, not a Masked Genius. If you want a challenging puzzle, turn right to the Genius Society. We're only here for maximally entertaining deduction experiences!
Anyway! Since Detective Black Swan successfully cracked this case, I'll share Lady Sparkle's next riddle with you both."
Black Swan's emotions showed a faint ripple, though it passed quickly.
Following Sparkle's clues, she arrived at the next target location.
Sure enough, two monsters awaited—a detective and a detective assistant.
The story was a classic Japanese-style locked-room murder case.
—
At this moment, the audience, previously thrown off by the absurdity, felt their inner deduction masters reignited.
"Finally, some real skill."
"After all that absurdity, they're serving the main course?"
"Cherish it, I'm about to start deducing!"
"This answer shouldn't be too outrageous, right?"
"A classic locked-room murder case."
—
Black Swan listened with relish. "I suppose… Miss Sparkle is meticulously setting up the next 'crime scene' right now?"
The next moment, her tone shifted.
"How about skipping the complicated process and having an open-hearted exchange with me? It might tickle a bit."
Black Swan used her Memor abilities and quickly got the answers she wanted.
Sampo blinked. "You're cheating!"
"What's wrong, 'Detective Assistant' sir? You seem quite anxious."
Sampo rubbed his hands. "Ah, no… I, uh… haha, this locked-room murder case is kind of interesting. I wanted to take a guess…"
"Let's go—can't keep a girl waiting."
At that moment, the two monsters spoke in unison. "Hey! Miss Black Swan, wait, wait! Lady Sparkle has one last thing to announce—"
The scene suddenly shifted to Sparkle wearing a detective hat.
She spoke slowly: "Ta-da—now comes the most thrilling and romantic moment of a drama: the audience challenge!
As everyone knows, the fearsome Masked Fool Sparkle can disguise herself as other people. In this play, the great villain Sparkle has disguised herself as another character.
So, the question is—who is that character?
Also, that locked-room murder case the Memor didn't want to tackle—if you're interested, feel free to deduce it. Don't waste the puzzle Sparkle worked so hard to create!
And that's the challenge from the 'Masked Genius' Lady Sparkle! All clues are ready—happy hunting!"
—
"Not gonna lie, she's kinda pretty."
"Not gonna lie, if she wasn't so annoying in the web drama, she'd be great."
"So, I was just about to deduce something, argh!!!"
"I really don't get miHoYo anymore. They predicted my prediction."
"Uh… I wanna say something. What do you think this exclusive film is trying to express?"
"Fun? Absurdity? Elation?"
"No, if it's just about absurdity, why not have Scott perform? I think there's some metaphor we haven't caught."
"You're right. I don't think miHoYo would make an exclusive film this big without dropping some info."
"I want to know how the ending turns out."
—
While heading to the next location, Sampo asked curiously, "Sis, with that trick up your sleeve, why didn't you use it earlier?"
"Such a crude method goes against my aesthetics of memory, but sometimes, for the sake of results… I have to set aside my reservations about the process."
Before she finished speaking, they reached their destination, but what stood before them was… a trash can?
Sampo was full of confusion. "No weird Dreamweaver Troupe, no scattered evidence… We finally caught up to her. Uh, but what's that… a Belobog trash can? In Penacony?"
Suddenly, the trash can sprouted limbs. "Hey! Dear Memor and Uncle Shaky-Legs—you're finally here!
I can't believe you skipped my last puzzle. That was my proudest work! Oh well, Lady Sparkle doesn't hold grudges. Come on, here's the final question—
Listen up! What creature has four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, and three legs at night?"
"Why isn't it a murder case this time?"
"Gotta have something light now and then! Come on, dear, give your answer~"
Black Swan thought for a moment and gave a standard answer. "Since it's a classic riddle… the answer is 'human,' right?"
The trash can shook its head. "Bzzzt—wrong answer! How could it be such a boring answer!
The correct answer is—'Sparkle'!
In the morning, too sleepy to get up, crawling around. At noon, running around busy. At night, so exhausted she collapses, but still has to lift a hand to brush her teeth—poor Sparkle!
Trash can: So, of course, it's 'four legs in the morning, two legs at noon, three legs at night'~"
Sampo slapped his forehead. "What kind of nonsense is this?"
Black Swan wasn't annoyed. "Quite a cute answer."
"Thanks for the compliment, dear. But since you cheated earlier, it won't be so easy to fool me this time! You got it wrong… so face the punishment!"
With that, the trash can leaped high, raising a fist the size of a casserole to deliver a fatal blow to Black Swan.
At that moment, Black Swan held a card, and countless arms firmly grasped the trash can.
With a tight squeeze from those giant hands!
The trash can lost all signs of life, though Black Swan controlled her strength well, ensuring the contents inside weren't damaged.
"Scared me to death! What's with this guy, suddenly attacking?!" Sampo patted his chest. "Phew, no sound? Finally quiet. Sis, let's open the lid quick and drag that girl out…"
"Wait, don't move. Something's off." Black Swan tried to stop Sampo, but he'd already opened the trash can lid, revealing a horrifying scene inside!
Sparkle lay lifelessly on the ground, clearly dead!!!
—
The Interactive City erupted again.
"Killing people again, huh?"
"I can't take it anymore. I'm going to confront Su Chen."
"Wahhh… Firefly… Robin…"
"Why keep killing people? Is it easy for me to watch a web drama?"
"Didn't expect they'd drag someone over to kill? I'm done!"
"How's Sparkle dead too? That doesn't match the timeline of her later appearances!"
"Brothers, have you all been stabbed silly? What if Sparkle didn't actually die?"
"Not dead? What do you mean?"
—
Sampo looked at the dead Sparkle, his voice trembling. "Ah… AHHH! Sis, you… you killed Sparkle!
How is this possible?! How could someone die in Penacony's dream?! The Garden of Recollection… what did you do?!"
Black Swan gave Sampo a meaningful smile.
But Sampo wouldn't let it go. "It was you, wasn't it? Killing in a dream… only the power of 'memory' can do that! You planned this from the start, just because she teased you and played pranks… you wanted to silence her!
Oh… I get it. You refused to let me go to drag me into this! If I didn't agree, my fate… my fate would be the same as hers…"