Am I the only one streaming Sword Art Online on the entire internet?

He picked up the whole book and shook it twice, revealing a key and a few scattered pieces of notebook paper.

You have obtained "Key #2, which is smaller than Key #1".

You have obtained "Pisagros's Diary (Part 1)"

[Mission Objective 3: Decipher Pisagros's Diary]

"Alright, we've finally found the first thing related to that unfortunate city lord. This notebook is readable, and it might contain information related to the decryption."

As Suolin spoke, he placed the few sheets of paper in front of him and began to study them.

“Theron is a good kid, he’s very talented, and I have no doubt he can surpass me in the future. It’s been a long time since I’ve encountered a puzzle that has challenged me; it’s so boring…”

"Today, Theron gave me the answer to the last number puzzle. Although this book is just a drop in the ocean of thousands of puzzles in my mind, it still exceeded my expectations that he could get to this point so quickly. It seems that his talent is even better than I thought."

"...I feel like the city lord's character doesn't quite match Theron's description. He seems like a very pure person, not the kind of guy who would get so angry and kill someone over a puzzle he can't solve." Sorin speculated for a moment, then put away the notebooks and took out the [Key 2, which was smaller than Key 1] again. "There aren't many enclosed rooms in this building, and we might need to take this key back to the two drawers in the workshop to check. The description of it being [smaller] might be a hint that this isn't the key to a particular door."

Solin returned to his workspace and tried the key on a drawer of his workbench, opening the second drawer. Inside the second drawer was another key and a piece of paper, but this time it wasn't "XX's Proverbs." It depicted a bookshelf with several books on it. The design of this bookshelf suddenly reminded Solin of the bookshelves he had seen in the study earlier.

"This hint should tell us to arrange the books on the bookshelf according to the instructions on the paper, but with this design... there must be some kind of hidden door, but where does this hidden door lead? And it only gave one arrangement for the bookshelf, but there are three bookshelves in there..."

He pondered, then returned to the study and carefully placed the books scattered on the floor during his search back onto the left-hand bookshelf, one by one, according to the instructions written on the paper. If this bookshelf was a hidden door, then the only possible location for it was the left-hand bookshelf leading to the master bedroom. But after placing the last book, the entire bookshelf suddenly shook violently and then sank beneath the floor.

Sure enough, this was the normal way to access the master bedroom, or rather, this was how Paisagros had gone to his study. And after this passage was opened, Sorin also saw the girl he had been searching for so long in the master bedroom.

You have completed mission objective 2: Find Yuna.

Testimonials

You might not believe it, but this is the third post I've written before announcing my book's release.

I just checked, and I started writing this book on February 2nd, and I've already written over 200,000 words. I've always been a very diligent author because I genuinely intend to make this one of my professions.

I could have easily updated twice a day and stockpiled drafts before the release, but I decided to give you as much free content as possible before the release date (laughs). Of course, I'm prepared for the number of favorites to drop after the release, so for those of you planning to leave after the release, I'll give you a final bit of reading material here—some Easter eggs and behind-the-scenes tidbits. Since I've already included Easter eggs and behind-the-scenes tidbits in my release announcement, I won't put that part at the beginning.

I never expected this book to do so well when I started writing it. Originally, this book was just to fulfill two obsessions: one was that I felt Yuna's ending in *Ordinal Scale* was really sad, so I wanted to give her a better ending in another story. As for Yuuki, whose ending was also very sad… why not ask the mysterious Mr. Gustav? (laughs)

The other one, in my opinion, is the pinnacle of all the meme-filled novels I've ever read. The fact that this book will eventually become a meme encyclopedia is also a tribute to it.

Originally, the main characters of this book were Kawakawako and her friends, after the initial design (of course, the tone of the encyclopedia was already set). At the time, I imagined Qin Chuan, Tian Ge, the Emperor, and their group playing Sword Art Online together and then getting locked up inside. Thinking about it, I found it very interesting, but it wasn't easy to explain things in reality, even if they weren't in the same country... so this option was passed over.

Later, the design of the protagonist's prototype reached a stalemate. Then a senior of mine asked me if the protagonist's ID could be Solin, because he liked the character. Then I thought about it... since I've already added so many random references, and I'm a card player myself, why not try something related to MTG?

So it was decided that the protagonist's ID would be Sorinmarkov. The remaining details were gradually added along with this ID, resulting in the current setting.

As for Rainbow Six Siege, this story actually continues from my previous book, but in a different direction. Because it's a live broadcast, it's easy for questions to arise, such as, "Why wasn't the protagonist disturbed by any country or organization that could communicate with the outside world?" or "Why didn't the Japanese parents find the protagonist's live broadcast room?" and similar questions.

So we decided to set it as a sequel to the previous story. After all, the ending of "A Hacker's Daily Counter-Terrorism Journey" was in 09, and this book starts in 2022, which is a good continuation in terms of timeline. So the outline of the story was set up like this.

Okay, I have the outline, the main character, and the female lead. Let's go, brothers! I tried writing the first chapter on the first day of February and posted it. In the beginning, because I needed to think about other details while writing, and because I hadn't serialized a long novel for a long time, I maintained a frequency of one update per day for the first few days.

Later, after getting used to the rhythm, I started updating twice a day. After getting used to the rhythm of updating twice a day, I started to let myself go. Friends who followed the book from the beginning should know that I once stayed up all night and updated eight times in a row, which was a mysterious operation. This operation first happened with "The Tenno Hamsters in Griffin". I can also directly answer here why that book was abandoned. I bought 1,000 copies and the first subscription was 49. Anyway, I can't generate that kind of electricity, and there were also problems with my writing.

I'm getting off-topic... This book actually had pacing issues at the beginning; the female lead didn't appear until chapter 37, and the world-building wasn't unlocked until chapter 46, which was incredibly confusing. But thankfully, my writing was quite interesting, so you all managed to overlook the issues with the female lead (laughs).

There aren't any other Easter eggs, and saying more would easily spoil the plot, so it's better to say nothing. Below is the proper launch message.

Thank you to all the readers who have been following this book since R6. I apologize for keeping you waiting and thank you all.

Thanks to Earl Purple Sweet Potato, the first friend I made on my writing journey, and who has always supported me.

Thank you to the first author of this book, Little Short Cat Fierce, for giving me so many hate letters and providing over 50 extra chapters by yourself.

Thank you to every reader who voted for me, even though I've never managed to get a spot on any of the voting lists.

Thank you to every reader who has given me a reward, even if you're just taking advantage of the fact that I haven't set a limit on the reward (laughs). Don't worry, I'll still say that I'll definitely be able to repay the debt with updates. I'd rather work myself to the bone than crossdress.

And thank you to every reader who has made it this far. Some of you may know that I have a habit of including references to movies I've just watched in my books. My favorite line, however, actually comes from Halliday's last words to the protagonist before he vanishes in *Ready Player One*: "Thank you for playing my game, thank you very much."

So I'd like to say thank you for reading my book, thank you so much. Of course, this isn't the end, it's just the beginning. The story of SAO is arguably not even halfway through, and the real beginning of this book is after SAO. Please stay tuned then.

Last but not least... please subscribe! Friends! Don't stop! (points to turn the page)

And, most importantly, I guarantee 15 chapters tomorrow, but the editor's requirement is 5 chapters on the day of release, so any more than 5 chapters will be considered bonus chapters. That's all. I'm going to skip the Captain Marvel premiere to give you all the updates.

101. Escape Room (Part 3) (Seeking first subscription!)

In just about ten minutes, Yuna experienced a sense of helplessness and panic she had never felt before in her life. So much so that when Sorin saw her, she was already in tears.

She sat huddled in the corner of the master bedroom, her hands barely supporting her on the ground. She looked utterly helpless, and her eyes had lost their former sparkle.

Solin sighed, slowly walked up to You Na, squatted down and hugged her, gently stroking her back with his right hand.

"I'm sorry, Yuna, I'm late." His voice was full of self-reproach. "Don't cry, okay? I'm here. Don't be afraid."

While Sorin continued to comfort Yuna, a sense of unease suddenly arose. Normally, since he had received a special mission notification, Yuna should have received one as well. However, it seemed that Yuna had been abandoned here without knowing anything.

"I wonder if this child has claustrophobia. We should keep an eye on him in the future."

As Suolin pondered this, his hands continued moving. He felt the trembling of the girl in his arms gradually subside, leaving only faint sobs.

"Solin, I'm so scared..." Youna's trembling sobs made Solin feel even more sorry for her. Although he couldn't control the inevitable event, he still felt quite guilty.

He wasn't even sure what to do next. He felt that anything he said now would be superfluous, and he could only wait for the young lady to calm down before continuing to push the mission.

Fortunately, after a short while, Yuna finally recovered somewhat, and at least the sobbing that could be heard from time to time had stopped. With Sorin's help, she stood up from the ground, still holding onto Sorin tightly with her right hand.

“Listen up, Yuna, we’re in a special mission space right now. I know how to get out.” Seeing that Yuna had regained some of her mobility, Sorin explained the situation. “I know you’re not good at this, so just come with me in a bit.”

"Hmm." Yuna nodded seriously, but she still held tightly to Sorin's left hand. Suddenly, her voice lowered again, "Sorin, have I dragged you down again?"

“Everyone has their own specialty. When we go out to play escape rooms, I’m often the one leading a bunch of people. It’s normal.” Sorin turned around, reached out and ruffled Yuna’s hair. “Besides, with you holding my left hand like this, it’s not easy for me to perform well.”

“…I understand,” Yuna replied, then reluctantly released Sorin’s left hand. Only then did Sorin begin to look around the master bedroom.

"I suspect the door from the master bedroom to the bathroom is also locked; there's likely the next puzzle task here." He finally remembered he was still streaming, though he had intentionally blocked out all the annoying comments like "[FFF]" or "[awsl]", so the chat assistant was relatively quiet in his view.

The most suspicious places in the master bedroom were the double-door wardrobe under the bed and beside the bed, as well as the mural on the wall. The mural depicted a smiling middle-aged man standing in front of a table, explaining a Rubik's Cube to three other young people sitting at the table. He first walked over to the mural and tried to examine it.

The illustration depicts Pisagros explaining the Rubik's Cube to his students, and it's quite lifelike.

"It's hard to say whether it will be useful or not; perhaps the current information is insufficient," Solin pondered, then lay down on the floor and peered into the gap under the bed. However, the lighting here was already very dim, and given the location under the bed, Solin couldn't see anything at all.

"We can deduce whether there's any stuff under this bed based on the other items we can get later. With the inventory disabled, you really can't see what kind of junk is hidden under this bed unless you turn on something that can be lit. Of course, we can't rule out the possibility that you'd have to crawl inside to investigate, but look at me, even someone of my relatively small size as a male player can't fit in. If Agil or Yura came here, they'd probably have to wear Ant-Man armor. Of course, even if you had Ant-Man armor, it wouldn't be of much use here."

Once everything was on track, Sorin's commentary began to revert to his usual style, full of witty remarks. Although Yuna had studied Chinese, she couldn't understand some of the more subtle parts of Sorin's speech.

For example, if you don't ask, no English teacher will start by teaching you the various uses of the word fxck, and no Russian teacher will teach you Sukabret. When have you ever seen your own Chinese teacher use lines like WDNMD in class?

So, in the end, Yuuna's ability to understand general Chinese swear words is already at its limit; she's completely baffled by these kinds of suggestive and vulgar swear words.

"Although I can't quite understand what you're saying, shouldn't we investigate that cabinet now?" Yuna said, walking over to the cabinet and pulling open the double doors, followed by a scream.

"What's going on?" Solin walked over with a puzzled look. He wasn't worried about anything going wrong, since this weird quest had already removed all equipment and weapons, clearly a pure puzzle-solving quest. He was just worried that Yuna would be frightened.

"Yes...yes...Sorin, come and see for yourself!"

Yuna suddenly turned around and threw herself into Sorin's arms, then stretched her right hand behind her and pointed shakily at the cabinet. Sorin leaned closer to look and saw a decayed and shriveled head inside, with obvious wounds on its forehead.

"Judging from the marks... I think this should be the head of that unfortunate traveler. You can see the seam on it; it's clearly made by a block smashing into it." Sorin calmly looked at the skull, then picked it up. With the violent shaking, a metallic object fell out of the skull's eye socket, landing on the ground with a crisp sound.

You have obtained the "Unknown Skull"

You have obtained "Key No. 3"

"Interesting, there's a key hidden inside the head..." Solin held the key in his hand and weighed it. This key was the same size as key number one, and it seemed to be used to open a certain door as well. On this floor, both doors of the workshop lead to the second-floor corridor, the study does not require a key, and the master bedroom is also accessed through a secret passage. Thus, the only door that can be opened on the second floor is the bathroom that connects to the master bedroom.

"This is only one cabinet. Let's look through a few more; maybe we'll find more."

102. Escape Room (Part 4)

After experiencing the "door-opening terror" just now, Yuna dared not touch the cabinets again and just obediently followed behind Sorin. Sorin opened the second door. There was no such thing as a "door-opening terror" or "door-opening scare" inside, just a piece of paper and a stack of papers.

The reason for using this description is that they are actually two props. One piece of paper has the Paisagros family crest in red on a black background, with the words "A poor performance will only receive the cheers of fools" written in the lower right corner; while the other stack of papers is naturally Paisagros's diary.

You have obtained "Rados's Proverbs"

You have obtained "Pisagros's Diary (Part Two)"

“When I was traveling in my early years, I met ten wise men from different places. Each of them gave me a proverb, and I plan to make these proverbs into a Rubik's Cube and pass it on to my most talented disciple, Theon. I am old now, and I believe he can become a good lord.”

"Theron asked me a strange question today. He said, 'What would you do if there was a problem that you didn't know how to solve? No one can solve all the problems in the world, and I know that's what I gave him. Or rather, if I really encountered such a problem, I would actually be happy.'"

“I think I’ve found something interesting, Yuna.” Sorin held the paper and turned to look at Yuna, who had suddenly crouched down with her head in her hands, with a wry smile. “Don’t be so scared, it’s just a skull.”

"What do you mean 'just' a skull?! That's really scary!" Yuna replied somewhat discontentedly. "You should at least try to understand how girls feel. I'm even afraid to watch horror movies, so of course I'm terrified of this!"

"Sorry, I probably only deal with those fiery women in chemistry and nuclear physics, so I've forgotten a bit." Sorin waved her hand, but her apology lacked any sincerity. "Seriously, I've been wondering before, if Paisagros really is a wise man who claims no problem in the world can stump him, then he should be the kind of person who seeks to be invincible. In other words, if there really is a problem that can stump him, he should feel happy rather than angry, which doesn't make sense."

"Thinking about it carefully... that's indeed the case." Yuna nodded in agreement as she listened to Sorin's analysis. "So that means..."

"So, it's uncertain whether the traveler died in the way Mr. Theron described, or even whether the traveler himself existed." Sorin's tone suddenly turned serious. "We've searched everything. Hey, wait a minute, do you think there might be a surprise if we lift up this blanket?"

"Then I'll hide further away first," Yuna said, turning around and squatting on the ground, once again adopting a defensive posture with her head in her hands. Although Sorin hadn't been sincere when he apologized earlier, he was at least considerate enough to wait until Yuna was ready before lifting the blanket. But when he lifted the blanket, he discovered that underneath was an uncovered bed board, and in the center of the bed board was a keyhole.

"So this is the real way to go downstairs?" Solin asked in surprise. "If I remember correctly, this should be the kitchen downstairs."

He tried inserting key number 3 into the keyhole in the middle of the bed, but only got a "key mismatch" message.

“Let’s go to the bathroom. There are no more clues left in this room.” Solin said, walking to the bathroom door and opening it. “Wait a minute? Don’t you need a key?”

“Although I haven’t played much, generally speaking, a key obtained on the second floor might also be usable on the first floor,” Yuna said hesitantly. “After all, there’s no rule that says you have to keep the first-floor key on the first floor and the second-floor key on the second floor.”

"That makes sense. The problem is that the bathroom is empty; there's nothing there. What's the point of having this room?"

Solin suddenly felt a little confused. He called this room a bathroom only because it was the bathroom in the Chicago mansion that Rainbow Six was besieging. But now it seemed like this was a completely blank room, as if the programmer had missed it.

It's not that there's nothing there, after all, there are three floor-to-ceiling windows on the outer wall of the bathroom, and bright sunlight shines directly in from outside, making Solin squint.

"I think I know what's going on."

After being blinded by the bright light, Sorin suddenly realized the purpose of the room. He left the door to the empty room open and found a spot where he could lie down without blocking the light. The beam of light shone directly onto something under the bed, reflecting a small amount of light back at Sorin. He reached out, touched it, and then retrieved it.

You have obtained a Key #4 that is a different size from both Key #1 and Key #2.

"I don't even know how to complain about this name. What is this garbage?"