Gamers of the Underworld

Brainiac went missing after Professor Bacon went missing.

Things started to become weird, but Sherlock was composed. He knew the truth.

The burnt down shop was cordoned off with warning tape. Occasionally, there were local residents who passed by and glanced at the shop. The gamers were no longer interested as they had searched thoroughly without finding anything.

“Lord Sherlock, do you think Brainiac is still here?” Bru said with surprise.

“I can guarantee that your loyal servants thoroughly checked the place. There are no traces of Brainiac. Even if he died in the fire, wouldn’t there be ashes?”

“Normal fire is unable to kill Brainiac. An investigation has to be conducted to find out if he’s still here.”

Sherlock said, and he scratched the parrot, Phoenix, on his shoulder.

Phoenix was taken aback. Then he flapped his wings and circled one time before landing among the ruins. He started searching using his claws.

Phoenix stopped at a spot and extended his leg as he said, “Over here.”

“What’s that? Lord Sherlock, is the phoenix able to find traps?” Bru asked in surprise.

“Phoenix is sensitive to Mana like a Hamster,” Sherlock explained and walked towards the parrot.

Sherlock didn’t use too much effort to locate the strange spot that was pointed out by Phoenix.

A Mana Rune was imprinted on the floor. Even though the surroundings were destroyed by the fire, the Mana Rune was intact.

Sherlock squatted down and used his finger to clear the dust from the Mana Rune before examining it.

“It’s a crude Mana Rune. Was it placed by the shopkeeper, meow?” Polio said in disdain as he waved his long tail and circled the Rune Mana Formation twice.

“Ha? How do you know? You only know how to control others using mental power. How would you understand Mana Runes?” the parrot, Phoenix, said sarcastically as he looked at Polio, who roared out furiously.

“Meow~”

Then Polio pounced at Phoenix.

When they recovered themselves, Sherlock was nowhere in sight.

“Lord Sherlock?” The parrot hopped as he called out suspiciously.

…

In the dream, Winterfell looked as if it was in the water with ripples.

The various passersby looked like the street scene, which gave an unreal dreamy feeling.

“Lord Sherlock? This… what is this?”

Bru was able to see the scene via Sherlock’s vision with permission from him.

“This is a fantasy-scape created by someone.”

Sherlock looked at the surroundings. It was the Don’t Want to Sell Clothes shop before it was burnt down.

“Who did such a thing? Isn’t the Mana impression supposed to open up secret tunnels? Instead, it created a fantasy-scape for us to watch a movie?” Bru asked with frustration.

“This isn’t an ordinary fantasy-scape. This is a completely immersive environment. We traveled to the fantasy-scape from reality via the Mana impression. This impression isn’t easily detected by normal creatures. And at crucial moments, it can be used to protect oneself if the Mana impression isn’t damaged.”

Sherlock saw the mole shopkeeper snoring in the shop. Outside the shop was the alley followed by the streets of Winterfell. From Sherlock’s location, one could see the decadent Underworld creatures outside. They sat in the boxes while reading books and chatting about mathematical formulas and topics.

After the initial blurring and distortion of the images, the scene before Sherlock became clearer. It looked almost like reality.

“What if the Mana impression is damaged?” Bru suddenly asked.

“If it’s damaged, the consequences are worse than death. The trapped creature can’t escape from the fantasy-scape and will become lost before becoming part of the fantasy-scape,” Sherlock said with composure.

“Let’s leave immediately, Lord Sherlock.”

Bru panicked and said, “Both Polio and Phoenix were defeated by you. If they know how the damaged Mana impression will affect you, they’ll destroy it.”

“Don’t worry, they won’t discover it.”

Sherlock had no intention to leave. He found a chair and sat down.

“This is a new technique that surfaced a few hundred years ago. Phoenix was sealed for thousands of years, while Polio was imprisoned in Bankazia for a thousand years. They were like hermits disconnected from society. How would they know such new technology?”

“But Sherlock, what if…”

Bru wanted to persuade Sherlock, but he lifted his hand to interrupt Bru.

“I have a reason for not leaving.”

Sherlock pointed to the approaching Skeleton in front. From the crack on his forehead, he was Professor Bacon.

“It’s highly likely this was the lead left by Professor Bacon for Brainiac.”

Bacon looked as though he didn’t see Sherlock as he walked briskly into the shop.

When Bacon entered, the mole awakened in shock.

“Welcome… Professor Bacon?”

The mole’s nose quivered. He had recognized the scent of Professor Bacon.

“It has been a long time, mole shopkeeper.”

Professor Bacon looked exhausted. He walked to Sherlock’s side but didn’t sense the presence of Sherlock. The scene was depicting history.

“Why are you in Winterfell? Aren’t you busy at college?”

The mole shopkeeper poured a cup of bloody chrysanthemum tea for Professor Bacon and wiped the table in front of him. Though the shopkeeper was blind, his nose was very sensitive.

“I have an important item to hand over to you,” Professor Bacon said nervously after looking around.

“Can I place this item here?” Professor Bacon took out a box. It was a box with a puppet kitten.

“What’s this?”

The shopkeeper took the box and sniffed carefully. He couldn’t figure it out.

“This is an item for my student Brainiac. If he comes here, please give it to him,” Professor Bacon said.

“Wait, I don’t know your student. Did you give him my address? This isn’t an easy place to find,” the shopkeeper hesitated for a while before asking.

“I didn’t give him the address directly, but he will find your location. You must give the box to him,” Professor Bacon said solemnly.

“Professor Bacon, did you encounter trouble? Are you in debt? Though I don’t have money, if you need help, please tell me!” the shopkeeper said with concern.

“No, you aren’t able to help me, and it’ll be troublesome. If I’m not careful, I’ll be killed. I don’t wish to implicate you.”

Professor Bacon waved his hand. The shopkeeper said, “Ah, I see. Forget about it…”

“Okay, since you want to know, I’ll tell you…” Professor Bacon said quickly.

“The incident started from Specter College…”

While Professor Bacon was speaking, the world disintegrated while his figure distorted. There was no sound.

“What’s the situation?”

Bru’s nervous voice appeared in Sherlock’s mind. Sherlock lifted his head and observed the world disintegrating. He frowned and said, “Someone destroyed the Mana impression.”

…

Five minutes ago.

When Sherlock vanished, the “loyal” Polio and Phoenix became nervous. They looked around for Lord Sherlock.

“Lord Sherlock, meow—!”

“Lord Sherlock?”

Sherlock was nowhere in sight.

As they couldn’t find Lord Sherlock, they became anxious.

“Lord Sherlock… is missing?”

Phoenix stood in place, bewildered. He looked around and didn’t find Sherlock.

“Does that mean… we can leave, meow?”

Polio showed his gleeful expression. Phoenix was dumbfounded, then he shouted, “Lord Sherlock! This stupid cat is going to escape! Kill him!”

Phoenix shouted for a long time, but Sherlock was nowhere in sight. He lowered his head and thought hard.

“Why did you do that, meow?”

Phoenix replied to Polio’s accusation, “I wanted to confirm whether Sherlock was around. That really is the case. Most likely, it’s due to the Mana impression. He could have been killed by it!”

“Ha! Dead? Why are you shouting for him? That Devil deserves to die. He beat me up real bad. Now that he’s dead, it’s cause for celebration, meow!”

Polio would be tempted to applaud if he could achieve such a difficult action.

“Lord Sherlock! Polio is saying bad things about you!” Phoenix shouted again. This time, Polio’s hair stood on end.

Phoenix waited for a while, but there was no response.

“Ah, Sherlock’s really dead.”

“Are you a fool? Or are you trying to fool me, meow!”

Polio stood up angrily. He looked as though he was going to duel Phoenix, who said, “Now isn’t the time for our personal grievances. Let’s leave this dangerous place. I was trying to confirm Sherlock’s absence. It’s not personal.”

“What if Sherlock’s still around?” Polio questioned the parrot with a malicious gaze.

Phoenix lowered his head and thought for a while before saying, “Let’s go. Let’s escape together.”

He said after contemplation, “No, you’ll escape on your own. I won’t escape with you, meow!”

Polio chose a direction and was about to leave when the parrot behind him shouted, “Ah! Eggface, you’re here at the right moment. I saw Polio escaping! That stupid cat, he’s betraying Lord Sherlock!”

“No, not me. I didn’t. He’s framing me! He’s escaping!” Polio rebuked as Eggface walked over with his obese body.

“What are you doing? Where’s Lord Sherlock?”

Eggface was puzzled. He noticed the Mana impression on the ground.

“What’s this?”

The parrot and the black kitten looked at each other. Then they looked at Eggface and asked, “Don’t you know? Don’t you know where Lord Sherlock is?”

“Of course, I don’t. I’m here to look for Lord Sherlock…” Eggface said as he moved to the front of the Mana impression. He then said, “Let me take a look… is Lord Sherlock inside?”

Eggface lifted his claw and slammed down on the Mana impression.

A crisp slapping sound was heard, and the Mana impression disintegrated. To be more precise, the entire floor disintegrated.

“What are you doing, meow?” Polio gaped at Eggface in astonishment.

“To save Lord Sherlock! He’s likely trapped inside. If I break the Mana impression, won’t Lord Sherlock appear?”

“Why did you do that? What if he appears?”

Phoenix shook his head wildly, as though he was going crazy.

“Ah! You did that? Lord Sherlock! I had no intention of escaping, meow!”

Though Sherlock hadn’t appeared, Polio started explaining himself.

While Phoenix was going to be the prosecuting witness to expose Polio’s escape, the Mana impression broken by Eggface started glimmering. Once the light rays vanished, Sherlock appeared before the Black Dragon, parrot, and black kitten.

The three of them became quiet as they stared at Sherlock.

Sherlock frowned. He looked at them and asked Eggface, “Did you break the Mana impression?”

“Lord Sherlock! I’ve saved you!”

Eggface looked excited, but Sherlock frowned and asked, “Who is Master of Dark Flames?”

“Ah?” Eggface looked befuddled. Sherlock raised his sandbag-sized fist and punched at Eggface.

Sherlock’s fist landed on Eggface and penetrated his fat body as though it was a paper window.

Eggface didn’t bleed or wail in pain.

Phoenix and Polio were terrified. Sherlock killed the Dragon with a single punch because he was unhappy. Sherlock was too violent.

Eggface fell to the ground, but he didn’t die. It wasn’t Eggface on the ground.

The Black Dragon’s body melted like a piece of chocolate in the hot sun and stuck to Sherlock’s body. The black mud wrapped around Sherlock’s arms.

Sherlock’s arms emitted white rays, and the black mud writhed in pain before falling to the ground and hardening into gray blocks that looked like dried mud.

“What’s that, meow?”

Polio walked over and touched the gray blocks with his paw while sniffing them. Polio was shocked.

“That’s the Ancient Gods clan!” Phoenix said confidently.

“Interesting.” Sherlock used his leg to gather the mud together.

Bru said, “I didn’t expect the Ancient Gods to be involved. Why did the imprisoned Ancient Gods stop you from investigating the missing Professor Bacon? Are they involved in this matter?”

“Who knows? I guess so. The Ancient Gods have been imprisoned for too long. It’s understandable for them to create some trouble during their free time,” Sherlock said.

“But the leads are broken again, Lord Sherlock.”

“No, there are leads. We’re going to Specter College.”

…

At Victoria City.

“All members, get ready! Put the carriage behind the horses!”

Lancelot was in Moonlight Forest or the outer boundary of Victoria Forest, supervising the gamers to create a horse-pulled carriage. It was improvised for the invasion of the York Territory.

Queen Victoria was serious about conquering the York Territory.