Card simulation, starting with the Goblin Deserter

On the other side of the dungeon—

Gentry clutched the note in both hands, his forehead covered in a fine sheen of sweat, his eyes, the size of soybeans, squeezed into slits by the flesh on his cheeks.

He occasionally uttered a few syllables, seemingly trying to translate the questions on the slip of paper.

The butler, looking at him with concern, said, "Young Master, why don't you rest for a while?"

"When it comes to solving problems, if you don't know how, you just don't know how; you can't rush it..."

"Nonsense, I can do it!" Gentry glared at the butler, muttering as if explaining or encouraging himself.

"Last year, I almost made it into the top 1,000 in the Zuma Academy's written exam! How could this mere foreign language translation question possibly stump me!"

As he spoke, he stared intently at the note again, as if trying to decipher the question.

The butler said no more, but neither of them noticed that two figures had appeared outside the cell door.

Soraka could just see the problem Gentry was holding through the railing. She looked at it for two seconds and exclaimed in surprise, "This calculus problem is so hard! It's much harder than ours!"

Hayes looked at Soraka in surprise upon hearing this. The "question we were talking about" was exactly what was written on the note they had just found.

The question requires finding the one that doesn't follow a pattern among more than ten unrelated (according to Hayes) and seemingly random, scribbled figures.

Soraka immediately recognized the answer and explained that she had done it in a "fun quiz" before.

Although Hayes didn't know what a "fun quiz" was either...

This problem, for which Hayes only recognized one "solution," was actually much more difficult than the diagram problem, which explains why the two of them couldn't solve it.

At that moment, the two people in the cell reacted to the sound and turned to look at Hayes and Soraka.

The butler asked in surprise, "Where's that goblin? Has it been replaced?"

Gentry kicked him in annoyance, gesturing for the butler to take a closer look at Hayes's appearance.

His simple sportswear was stained with blood, and his handsome features revealed a wary look in his eyes...

Most importantly, he was carrying a large wooden stick that was disproportionate to his size, which he had obviously stolen from the goblin.

"You were also caught up in this secret realm, and you even managed to escape and kill the guards!" the butler exclaimed in surprise, then looked at Gentry with delight.

"Thank goodness, young master, we're saved!"

However, Gentry wasn't particularly happy. He looked at the slip of paper in his hand with a complicated expression. So it was a math problem...?

No wonder there was a "solution" mentioned earlier...

"Haise, can you help me?" Soraka looked at Hayes, who immediately understood.

Immediately afterward, under the questioning gazes of the two butlers, Hayes walked to the front of the cell and actually bent the two bars!

Gentry & Butler: "Holy crap!"

Breaking iron with bare hands? Is this even human?

But it wasn't over yet. Soraka turned sideways and nimbly slipped through the gap into the cell.

She took the note from Gentry, politely said "thank you," and then found a stone on the ground and drew lines of mathematical equations on the wall.

The enormous wall was quickly filled with various equations that the three of them couldn't understand at all, and Soraka's calculations were gradually coming to an end.

"Hays, could you please check if my calculation is correct?"

"It's the same as what I calculated."

Under the butler's questioning gaze, the shameless Hayes concealed the truth that he couldn't understand at all.

"That's good!"

Soraka happily wrote down her final answer on the paper, and the next second, the paper floated up, with lines of writing appearing out of thin air.

[Team B detectives used an unconventional method to complete the level: "help from others." Efficiency rating: Low; Fun rating: Medium. Keep up the good work!]

[Due to unknown reasons, the original guide is unable to provide further guidance. Please find your own way to the next level.]

That's it, I cleared the level?

The butler adjusted his monocle, looking at Hayes and Soraka with a mixture of gratitude and disbelief.

"Thank you both for your help! My young master is the son of the vice president of the Money Merchant Guild. Once we're out of this secret realm, the guild will surely reward you handsomely..."

"Young master, young master, say something too!" the butler nudged Gentry's broad waist and whispered.

However, Gentry was staring blankly at Soraka, his mind filled with her slender figure as she solved the problem, and he couldn't hear the butler's voice at all.

"Young Master! Young Master!!"

He didn't come to his senses until the butler shouted into Gentry's ear.

"Yes, yes, yes, a generous reward, a very generous reward indeed!"

Gentry rubbed his hands together, feigning nonchalance as he asked, "Where are you two from? Were you also accidentally swept into this secret realm?"

Hayes and Soraka exchanged a glance, and the latter thought for a moment before replying.

"We are students of Zuma Academy, and we originally wanted to enter the secret realm arranged by the academy for training."

"I don't know what went wrong, but I ended up here..."

Both the style and difficulty of the secret realm show that this is not a "beginner secret realm" arranged by the academy.

The statements of Gentry and the butler further prove this point—only sudden secret realms in the wild could draw unsuspecting card masters in!

"Wow, you two are both students from Zuma Academy! So you're classmates?"

Gentry felt a surge of secret joy, but outwardly he gave a serious explanation of the situation before he and his butler were drawn into the secret realm.

At that time, the master and servant were transporting supplies with the Money Merchant Guild's caravan. When they stopped to rest by the roadside, a vast and pure magical energy suddenly rose up nearby!

Before Gentry could react, he was knocked unconscious by the shockwave. When he opened his eyes again, he was in a cell with the butler.

Soraka listened attentively, thinking that this was no different from the usual process of getting involved with a card master in a secret wilderness. Hayes leaned close to Soraka's ear and asked in a low voice.

"Do you know the Money Merchant Guild they're talking about? It's a well-known and powerful organization."

Hayes's breath tickled her ear, making Soraka's legs feel weak.

"Eh, don't you know the Money Merchant Guild?"

Soraka looked at Hayes with some surprise, but was secretly pleased that he had a question he didn't understand.

"The Money Merchant Guild is the premier merchant group within the Zuma Empire!"

"They control the sales channels for the highest quality cards, magical materials, and luxury goods on the market, and their guild leader is also a seventh-tier card master!"

"Although they lack the protection of noble status, they are perhaps one of the most financially powerful forces in this land..."

Hayes' eyes lit up when he heard this!

When he heard that the other party's business association was named after the word "money," he knew that he had to befriend Gentry!

Now that Soraka has given his approval, Hayes even wants to go over and force Gentry's head down, forcing him to become his sworn brothers!

Well, if the other party doesn't agree, use the stick in your hand to beat them until they agree...

Just as the group was talking, a comical and ear-piercing applause sound suddenly rang out from the dungeon, accompanied by the laughter of several goblins, as if they had witnessed something extremely amusing.

Before the group could react, all the light sources suddenly went dark!

Immediately afterwards, a scrawled, blood-red character was projected into the air in front of everyone's eyes by light and shadow!

[Breaking news – Detective Team C has "left the stage," and the reason? Who knows?]

[Additional rule for this round: Successfully deduce the reason for "exit" to directly advance to the next level. Teams that perform well in this round's deduction level will receive extra help in the next level.]

[From King, your loving goblin!]