After finishing breakfast the next day and saying goodbye to my parents who were heading off to the company, I quickly returned to my room and logged into the game.
Yesterday had been spent entirely on catching up with homework, so today I had to make the most of my time and crack this puzzle to obtain the holy relic inside.
But the moment I logged in, I saw that Evin and Cecilia had already been waiting in the game.
It looked like they had even taken a look around the surroundings.
Only after I appeared did the two of them hurry over.
“An An seems really happy?”
Cecilia picked up on my good mood right away.
“After all, we helped An An finish all the homework.”
Evin looked rather proud of herself.
“Better not to mention it. Talking about it just reminds me of those ridiculous answers in the workbook.”
I gritted my teeth and reached out to pinch her cheek.
“And you! What were you writing yesterday? Since when do elementary schoolers solve problems with binary linear equations and sequence operations?”
“You too, Cecilia. Elementary school essays don’t need that many famous quotes and philosophical insights. And most importantly, why was every single diary entry about the experience of eating desserts?!”
“Aren’t desserts delicious?”
Cecilia tilted her head.
“Of course they’re delicious… no, that’s not the point!”
“Then why do you still look so happy? Don’t tell me An An is actually a masochist… ow.”
Evin, who had escaped my clutches, rubbed her cheek.
“Otherwise what?”
I withdrew my hand and pouted.
“Dad gave me a test paper. I did decently on it, so he promised I wouldn’t have to do any more of these homework assignments from now on. He’ll explain it to the teacher.”
Controlling my score to hover right around passing yesterday had taken a lot of effort, but at least the final result was perfect.
I had no intention of lingering on the topic, so I asked the two little ones,
“By the way, you two logged in early. Did you notice anything around here?”
I had spent all of yesterday on homework and hadn’t had time to think about the puzzle.
I wasn’t expecting much, but I still asked on the off chance they might have found something.
As expected, both of them shook their heads.
“Then what are you looking at me for? Let’s keep searching for other clues.”
I didn’t stay idle either.
I walked around the area trying to find anything new, but midway through I received messages from Syl and Satahia.
To be precise, they were good news.
From Syl’s report, ever since the Barenna Underground Fortress opened yesterday, almost every fire-resistance potion on the market had risen in price to varying degrees.
Guilds and workshops were crying foul, with some even posting long rants on the forums accusing the official designers of harming player interests.
As for those who had dumped their potion recipes because of the Barenna Underground Fortress entrance instance…
Among all the potions, the fire-demon potion in particular had skyrocketed the most.
It had gone from being completely ignored to selling for seven or eight times the original price.
Just yesterday’s single-day earnings had already reached over one hundred and fifty gold coins.
Satahia’s profits weren’t as high, but she had still made thirty to forty gold coins in one day.
The hype around the Barenna Underground Fortress would clearly last for a while longer, while the guilds here in Gloom City Ruins would probably need about a week to gather enough glowstone lanterns for their daily clearing runs.
That meant the gold coins coming my way would easily number in the thousands.
No wonder people said the most profitable business opportunities were written in the criminal code.
This kind of monopoly-style seller’s market dumping felt exactly like opening the key to Pandora’s box… key… wait…
I closed the friend message window, leaned over the railing to look down at the first floor, and a spark of inspiration suddenly lit up in my mind.
I called the two girls, who were still observing the surroundings in the distance, back over.
“An An, did you find something?”
I motioned for them to look below.
“Look at the pattern on the first floor and the colors of the books on the rows of bookshelves behind it. Think about the concept of a key. Does anything come to mind?”
They hadn’t noticed it before, but now that they looked carefully, Evin and Cecilia realized the other five rows of bookshelves were arranged in clockwise order following the color sequence of the first row.
It was just like a key slowly turning toward the final fitting point of the lock.
Seeing the sudden realization on their faces, I smiled slightly and reached out to rotate the combined glass panels embedded in the groove by one full turn.
Click, click—
The sound of ancient clockwork gears turning rang out.
The central area of the first floor suddenly sank downward, followed immediately by a dazzling white light that swallowed us whole.
“Eh? Did we solve all the puzzles? Also, where is this place?”
“It looks like a lounge.”
Hearing the voice beside my ear, I opened my eyes again and found that the surroundings had completely changed at some point.
Just as Cecilia had said, the room looked like a lounge.
A luxurious carpet covered the center, the floor was made of birch wood, and the mahogany furniture added plenty of warm tones.
Books and paintings were scattered across the floor here and there.
Although it looked a bit messy, it gave the entire room an extra touch of warmth and coziness.
While I was observing the surroundings, someone tugged at the hem of my clothes.
Evin’s voice came from beside me.
“An An, there’s a pretty big sister over there.”
Following the direction Evin pointed, I finally noticed a tall purple-haired girl standing in front of an easel not far away.
She was completely focused on her painting.
A soft, gentle, and elegant voice suddenly sounded, as if she had heard the noise in the room.
“Guests who have come from afar, please wait a moment.”
A few seconds after she finished speaking, the girl set down her brush after completing the final stroke of color.
She stood up from her seat, revealing a delicate and refined face.
But before she could finish her sentence, she froze.
Or rather, it wasn’t just her.
I froze in place as well.
Clearly, though, the reason she had frozen wasn’t the same as mine.
After a moment she recovered and her face lit up with pleasant surprise.
“Such adorable little sisters, all three of you! May I paint a picture of you… ah, no, no. I need to paint one for each of you… wait, no, several for each… I’m sorry, I’m just too excited. It’s been so long since I’ve seen children as cute as you. May I hug you?”
The purple-haired girl had completely lost her previous elegance and refinement.
She spoke in a rush, and before we could even react she pulled all three of us into her arms at once.
But in reality she wasn’t nearly as crazy as the loli enthusiasts back at the monastery.
She only held us for a brief moment before letting go, her face full of delight.
“That was wonderful. I suddenly feel like I have so much more inspiration~”
Only then did I finally snap out of it.
I pointed at her in shock.
“Wait, who exactly are you? Why do you look so much like Kashalia—”