The moment the two cards overlapped, a change occurred.
The Sneak card attached on top began to “melt.”
The patterns and cursive script on the card scattered together, turning into pitch-black ink that seeped along the edges where the two cards touched into Lai’en Kelin’s card.
The ink-like fluid writhed and spread like a living thing, gradually merging into Lai’en Kelin’s card.
The whole process lasted about five or six seconds.
When the last trace of ink disappeared from Lai’en Kelin’s card face, the card representing Sneak had vanished completely, as if it had never existed.
At the same time, a new progress bar appeared in the upper left corner of Lai’en Kelin’s card.
A circular clock icon appeared, and the hands began to turn slowly.
Adeline shifted her gaze to the remaining two cards.
Those two Choice Cards underwent some change right before her eyes: the edges of the cards began to turn scorched yellow, like paper licked by flames, yet no visible fire was seen.
The burn marks spread from the edges inward, quickly covering the entire card face in a few seconds.
The cards curled up on the quilt, shattered, turned into a small pile of gray-white ash, and then even the ash dissipated without a trace.
What a pity.
She had wanted to study those two cards carefully.
Adeline had no choice but to turn her attention back to Lai’en Kelin’s card.
The progress bar finished quickly.
The moment the hand returned to zero, the entire map underwent a dramatic change.
The outlines of buildings began to shift, and the lines rearranged themselves.
The ink that had formed the street map contracted inward, the lines of streets and buildings faded away, replaced by the layout of walls, doors, corridors, and rooms.
A few seconds later, a brand new map appeared on the tabletop.
This was an indoor map of a building.
There were two floors total.
The first floor was a larger space, probably a foyer or warehouse, with a corridor leading to the back, and several small rooms on each side of the corridor.
The stairs were on the side of the building, leading to the second floor.
The layout of the second floor was much simpler—a single corridor running all the way to the end, with three doors on each side.
The innermost door had an extra lock pattern compared to the others, indicating it was a locked room.
And Lai’en Kelin’s card was positioned right at the side entrance of this building.
Adeline picked up the card and moved it to the only locked room at the end of the second-floor corridor.
After the card was placed, faint footprints slowly extended from the side entrance on the first floor, all the way until they stopped in front of that door.
Then with a click, another card popped out of the box.
Adeline took the card.
The front showed an old-fashioned door lock pattern.
And on the back was:
[Lockpick: This simple lock can’t hold me back.]
‘She has practical skills too?’
Adeline was a bit surprised, but after thinking about it, it seemed only natural.
She pressed the card against Lai’en Kelin’s card.
The scene of melting ink played out again.
The Lockpick Card turned into pitch-black fluid and seeped into Lein’s card face, vanishing.
Just as the two cards merged into one, Adeline thought she heard the sound of a lock opening.
‘Was it an illusion?’
She wasn’t sure.
The sound had been too real.
Adeline didn’t dwell on it for long.
As Lein’s footprints entered the room and connected with the card, another clock with very few tick marks appeared, and it completed a full cycle in an instant—exactly like the clock that had appeared when he first arrived at the house.
However, this time no new card appeared.
Instead, several markings saying [Take] appeared inside the room.
Adeline stared at those markings for a while, then suddenly understood.
That extremely fast clock probably represented a quick check or search action.
After Lein entered the room, he spent a few seconds scanning the room to confirm which items were worth taking.
Once the progress bar finished, the search ended, and the items that could be taken were marked directly.
‘Pretty efficient.’
Adeline liked this style.
She manipulated the card and moved Lai’en Kelin’s card to the first marked location.
[A silver pocket watch, well-made, could fetch some money.]
Then she repeated the operation in order.
[A locket necklace. Someone’s keepsake?]
[A small bag of pepper. Hard currency.]
[A set of copper tableware. What would I need this for?]
[Several silver coins, just enough for rent and food for the next while, but…]
‘Why is it either cash items or money?’
Adeline moved the card away from the last marked location and watched as all the markings on the map disappeared.
She couldn’t help but purse her lips.
‘She had thought there would be something more interesting.’
After all, this was a gang’s locked room.
She had held some expectation, thinking she might find letters, account books, or something that could provide more information about the Gray Alley underworld.
But it turned out to be all junk that could be taken directly to a pawn shop for money.
Disappointed as she was, Adeline still manipulated Lai’en Kelin’s card to leave that room.
She followed the route on the indoor map and moved the card from the second floor to the side entrance on the first floor.
The map switched back to the street view.
Adeline held the card and considered what to do next.
There was probably nothing left worth looting in that building, but Gray Alley still had plenty of places to explore.
She had just seen so many building outlines on the map, each one could be a next target.
‘Maybe I should go check out a farther place?’
Just as she moved the card toward the farthest part of the map, a line of text appeared beside the card.
[I’m too tired. I can’t do anything else. I must rest immediately.]
“You’re already tired after just exploring one house?”
Adeline frowned.
She really wanted to keep playing.
After all, she had just figured out the basic operation of the game, and this was exactly the time to experiment more.
Besides, she was somewhat curious: if she really drained the stamina completely, what would happen?
Would the card’s status change from fatigue to exhaustion?
Or would there be some more severe punishment?
But then she reconsidered.
She only had this one character card.
If she actually broke him, what would she have to play with?
She had to treasure it a bit.
At worst, she could work harder to squeeze this “Lai’en Kelin” later.
Adeline sighed and moved the card back to the house where they started, watching the hand tick forward one notch at a time.
As she watched, a question suddenly popped into her mind.
‘Was this thing just a form of entertainment for Supernaturals? An advanced toy to pass the time? Or—did what it represented and presented actually correspond to a real, actual world? Were the words appearing on the map records of thoughts that popped into a real person’s head? Were those footprints every step this person took on real streets? Did every choice she made and every action she controlled happen simultaneously in some corner of reality? If that were true…’
Adeline stared at the slowly turning clock on the card face and tightened her grip on the blanket.
‘That would be very interesting indeed.’