After pushing open the door and seeing that the sky still hadn't darkened, Lin Yu swallowed the food in his mouth and felt completely relieved.
When he first woke up and saw the alarm clock's time, feeling unprecedentedly energetic, he had thought he'd slept until 3:35 AM.
But now it seemed...
"I must have underestimated the stamina recovery efficiency of the 'Otaku' class," Lin Yu muttered, gripping his torch as he prepared to go find "Furbollo."
However, stepping onto the snow, Lin Yu encountered a new surprise.
The 'Postman' ability had disappeared.
This gave Lin Yu a small shock.
"Was my lie about being a 'Postman' seen through by that guy?"
"Impossible, it's very difficult for him to see through my lies..."
It was a man whose profession was 'Security Guard,' someone who had only cleared four dungeons.
He didn't seem particularly sharp, alert, or intelligent—more like a real night-shift security guard, taciturn and listless.
Lin Yu didn't think that guy could suddenly see through the lie on his own.
"Unless he met someone else... but in that case, it shouldn't be just one ability disappearing."
Lin Yu checked and confirmed that the other eleven 'profession' abilities were still active.
"So it's more likely... the first death has already occurred."
Lin Yu exhaled in relief.
If someone died, then at least his first promotion task wouldn't count as a failure.
After all... the completion condition for the first promotion task was as follows:
[During this game, tell each participating player a different, mutually contradictory lie and activate the 'Fraudster' profession ability to make it 'come true.' Until the game ends, none of the lies must be exposed or seen through.]
"'Coming true' is required upon activation, but 'coming true' doesn't need to last until the game ends—what must last until the end is the lie not being exposed or seen through."
"In other words, if someone who believed my lie dies, it doesn't make my task fail."
Lin Yu let out a breath.
So, the optimal solution to ensure completion of the first promotion task in this game would actually be to kill everyone who believed his lies after deceiving them.
However, Lin Yu wouldn't do that.
Not because he was kind-hearted and unwilling to kill for his promotion task.
Mainly because...
Lin Yu didn't just have one promotion task to complete.
To survive this dungeon, it was better to have as many other players alive as possible.
For every living player, Lin Yu had one more usable 'profession' ability.
Like right now...
After that 'Security Guard' died, Lin Yu's movement through the snow was noticeably slower than before.
Of course, with the 'Soldier's' physical enhancement still active, while slower, it wasn't by much.
Lin Yu quickly cross-referenced the map with his memory and found the outpost where he had previously encountered "Furbollo."
However, Lin Yu didn't spot "Furbollo" anywhere near the outpost.
The outpost's door was wide open, and the stove inside had gone out.
The nearby snow clearly showed signs of having been thoroughly rummaged through, and though a thin layer of fresh snow had fallen over it, the area could still be described as "a complete mess."
"This detective is really something, clearing out all the supplies here in just half a day."
Lin Yu idly kicked at the snow on the ground and activated his 'Chef' ability.
The food had basically been completely scavenged.
Combined with the open door and the absence of the 'Detective' nearby...
"Must have relocated, right?"
Lin Yu pondered, then headed for the nearest outpost.
Sure enough, after trekking through the snowstorm for a while, Lin Yu spotted Furbollo at the nearest outpost, diligently digging for firewood in the snow.
The tall, foreign-looking 'Detective' had changed hats, no longer wearing the bright red knitted cap from before but instead a furry winter hat with ear flaps.
This made him instantly transform from Santa Claus into a Soviet political commissar.
The Henan Province version, of course.
"Hey, Detective," Lin Yu greeted Furbollo.
Hearing the voice in the snowstorm, Furbollo looked up, arms full of firewood, and smiled.
"Oh, it's May... what a coincidence! We meet again!"
"Seems our 'outposts' aren't too far apart, huh?"
Furbollo spoke, but Lin Yu shook his head.
"No, actually they're quite far apart," Lin Yu approached him and said, "I came specifically to find you."
"Find me?" Furbollo seemed surprised.
"What do you need?"
"Of course, I need to borrow your abilities as a 'Detective,'" Lin Yu said naturally. "I've discovered some puzzles related to this game dungeon, but I can't investigate them alone. Could you come with me to check them out?"
Hearing Lin Yu's words, Furbollo became somewhat interested.
"Puzzles? If the place isn't too far, I can go take a look!"
"I don't want to go too far—it's freezing out here, my toes are about to fall off."
"And if two people travel together for too long, they might get targeted by that 'Chate'..."
Listening to Furbollo's words, Lin Yu didn't lie but spoke honestly: "No, the place is actually quite far."
"Then I won't go. I don't want to freeze and risk getting killed by monsters," Furbollo said. "After all, I'm more of an 'armchair detective.'"
He hugged the firewood and politely declined.
Lin Yu smiled and said, "You don't need to worry about that."
"Did you find some way to stay warm and avoid getting killed by monsters?" Furbollo asked curiously.
"No," Lin Yu pulled out his revolver and pressed it against Furbollo's head. "If you don't go, I'll shoot you dead."
"So, rather than worrying about those 'risks'... maybe think about whether I'll pull the trigger instead."
Lin Yu's gaze was unwavering.
The revolver's only bullet had already been fired—at Furbollo's impostor.
But Furbollo didn't know that.
So, with a gun to his head, Furbollo instantly froze up.
He dropped the firewood and raised his hands to his head.
"Not cool... Brother May, what's this about?"
"You could've just persuaded me more! I'm a 'Detective,' I love solving puzzles, I really, really love solving puzzles!"
Furbollo's voice trembled as he spoke.
"Monsters or no monsters, cold or no cold, nothing can outweigh my passion for puzzles!"
"So... Brother May, could you put the gun away first?"
"I'm a bit worried about accidental discharge."