Chapter 14: Choice

After a night of troubled sleep, Adeline propped herself against the headboard, her gaze shifting back and forth between the map and the card on the table.

The clock was still ticking, its slender hand creeping notch by notch along the dial, moving at a pace that made her impatient.

She had no idea how long this loading process would take, so she could only wait.

Every now and then, she glanced at it, checking whether the hand had reached the end, whether anything new had appeared on the map.

The sky outside the window hadn’t fully brightened yet.

Adeline yawned.

She was actually a little sleepy.

She hadn’t rested well last night, but at the same time, she wasn’t all that eager to sleep.

The excitement brought by the card and the map outweighed the physical fatigue, leaving her in a strange state—her mind was sharp, but her body felt weary.

She glanced at the clock again.

The hand had only moved a short distance, still far from the finish line.

Just then, a change suddenly occurred on the map.

Adeline sat up straight immediately.

At a certain spot on the hand-drawn map, the ink was writhing, as if an invisible pen was writing across the map’s surface.

The strokes curved, intricate, bearing an elegant arc—each line seemed like a meticulously designed calligraphic character.

One by one, ink-colored characters emerged from the map, arranged in a row.

[I am quite familiar with this path. I walk here often. Sometimes for work, sometimes because of life.]

Adeline’s eyes widened as she leaned in closer.

The ornate calligraphy hovered silently above the map, the ink evenly shaded and the strokes as fine as strands of hair.

She reached out to touch it, and her fingertips passed beneath the text, still encountering only the smooth surface of the table—nothing unusual.

Before Adeline could examine it more closely, the line began to fade.

The ink color visibly receded, like water stains dried by sunlight, the strokes gradually blurring and dissipating.

In about three seconds, it vanished completely into the air.

She stared at the spot where the writing had disappeared for several seconds.

This was… Lai’en Kelin’s thoughts?

No sooner had this idea crossed her mind than a new change appeared on the map.

A striking trail extended from one of the houses.

It was a series of tiny footprints, imprinted on the winding roads of the map.

The color of the footprints was deeper than the surrounding ink, standing out conspicuously against the gray-black map.

The trail was lengthening, slowly stretching outward.

Every few seconds, a new footprint appeared at the leading edge, advancing along the road.

Adeline stared at the trail of footprints for a moment, then understood: this must be the path Lai’en Kelin had taken or was currently taking.

As the footprints extended, new changes appeared on the map.

Lines of text emerged once more, one after another, rising above the area where the footprints passed.

[A place that sells tools—I might be able to buy something useful, if I have the money.]

[A secondhand clothing stall. Do I really need that?]

[A vaguely familiar face. It’s one of the employers.]

Each line of text only existed for a few seconds before slowly dissipating, just like the one before.

But soon, new text would pop up elsewhere, like spring water constantly gushing from underground.

Not just text—Adeline noticed that silhouettes of people were beginning to be sketched on the map.

Those silhouettes were extremely simplified, only the most basic outlines: a human shape pushing a cart, a few blurred figures crouching together, a contour standing behind a stall.

Like the text, they appeared, lingered for a moment, then gradually faded away, as if they had never existed.

Whatever Lai’en Kelin saw, the map presented it?

Adeline’s eyes lit up.

‘Now this feels like a game.’

She stared at the footprints on the map for a long time, watching them cross one alley after another, turn one corner after another, their speed fluctuating between fast and slow.

Then she remembered to glance at the clock on the card.

The hand had already traveled more than half the circle.

Not long after, the hand completed the final arc and returned to the starting point.

The circular clock pattern dissipated from the card’s surface, vanishing without a trace.

At the same time, the trail of footprints on the map finally extended to the card’s location, connecting with Lai’en Kelin’s card.

New text appeared next to the card.

[This place looks familiar. I need a closer look.]

Before Adeline could process the meaning of this sentence, a new clock appeared on the card.

This clock was completely different from the previous one.

The markings were unusually sparse, and the hand started spinning rapidly the moment it appeared.

In the blink of an eye, the hand had already completed a full rotation.

It was so fast that Adeline thought she might be hallucinating.

She stared at the card, waiting to see what new change would happen this time.

Just then, a crisp sound reached her ears.

Click—

Adeline turned her head toward the sound.

The box she had placed on the bed because it obstructed the map—a gap that hadn’t existed before had now opened on one of its sides.

A new card was protruding halfway from the gap, with the rest still stuck inside the box.

Adeline reached out and pulled the card out.

The gap on the box immediately disappeared, the surface returning to that seamless, smooth state, as if nothing had happened.

She examined this brand-new card.

The face was a blank light gray, but soon, ink-colored patterns began to spread from the center of the card.

The lines outlined the silhouette of a building.

A two-story brick structure, the outer walls mottled and worn, the first-floor windows boarded up, with a few dirty glass panes remaining on the second floor.

In front of the door were stacked several broken wooden crates and a tipped-over iron bucket.

Unlike the simple human silhouette on Lai’en Kelin’s card, the building on this card was drawn with considerable detail.

Adeline flipped the card over.

Dense, ornate cursive text lined the back of the card, the ink darker and the strokes thicker than before:

[This is one of the Sharp Hook Gang’s strongholds. They gather here and use this place as cover for smuggling and fencing stolen goods. You could try searching the place. If you’re lucky, you might find goods that haven’t been moved yet. If you’re unlucky, you might end up dead in the street.]

Sharp Hook Gang… is that a mafia?

The description on the card was quite straightforward.

Adeline pinched the card and carefully felt it.

The texture was a bit subtle—different from the previous card, as if it were thicker.

She gently rubbed her fingers over the card’s surface, and to her surprise, the card split apart along a certain direction, dividing into three.

Adeline blinked in surprise.

She examined the three cards.

Their fronts were identical, all depicting that same rundown building, but the writing on the backs was completely different, each representing a distinct choice or action.

[Choice·Sneak: I’m confident I can evade everyone’s notice. Sneaking in and stealing the goods will be a breeze.]

[Choice·Call Police: The patrol force in Ash Lane is thin, but they do exist. The question is, will they actually be useful?]

[Choice·Break In: Let them all come at once.]

Adeline looked at the three cards and barely held back a laugh.

Although the three cards looked extremely similar—the same building front, the same card material, even the same size—the danger levels implied by the text on their backs were clearly not on the same level.

The least risky option was Call Police, but even the card itself questioned whether they would be useful.

That was less a question and more of a mockery.

Adeline didn’t know the specifics of this so-called “Ash Lane,” but it sounded like some kind of slum.

Just from the words “slum police,” she couldn’t muster any extra expectations.

As for Break In, that was even more brainless.

The description was arrogant, but it sounded no different from suicide.

So, although three choices were given, there was really only one Adeline could pick.

Sneak.

Adeline pinched the card labeled “Sneak” and twirled it in her hand a couple of times.

But the question was: how was she supposed to tell the game that she had made her choice?

This wasn’t an electronic game where you just click a mouse to select and get feedback.

Adeline thought for a moment, then pinched the card representing Sneak and pressed it against Lai’en Kelin’s card.