Chapter 112: the blue door's rules

LUO YAN immediately touched his chest and then his thing down there.  He let out a sigh of relief when he felt that his chest was still flat and that his little brother was still there.  But seriously, why did he have to cosplay as some courtesan?  What did this have anything to do with the 'mystery' behind the blue door he entered?

He decided to continue reading what's on the screen first.

[Shishi is an orphan who was raised at Yuexing Pavilion – the most famous courtesan house in the red light district of Tenghou.  The courtesans of Yuexing Pavilion don't sell their bodies.  Instead, they sell their skills.  All of them are talented and proficient in singing, dancing, playing different musical instruments, and many other artistic skills.  That's why even the nobles have some semblance of respect for them.]

[One of your task is to play the role of Shishi.  She is a quiet and aloof beauty who takes great pride in her craft.  Her every performance was unforgettable.  Her very presence makes all men's heart flutter.  And that's what makes her the number one courtesan, not just in Yuexing Pavilion but also in the whole red light district.  While playing the role of Shishi, you need to at least unravel one mystery behind the blue door in order for your task to be considered a success.  Once you do, then you'll receive a corresponding reward from our majesty, the King.]

Oh?  So he had to be this 'Shishi' person while he's inside this blue door?  Wait- wouldn't that mean that other players who also chose the blue door had to take over the part of another NPC?  If that was the case, then why the heck did he end up with the role of a courtesan?  Could this game system actually perceive the level of his beauty?  Seeing how high his face value was, they just had no choice but to put him in the role of the most beautiful NPC?

Ah, what a mess.  Only someone as pretty as him could understand his predicament.

Then another screen appeared in front of him.  It read;

[Rules]

1. Other NPCs shouldn't find out that you're not the real Shishi.  If they do, then you'll be disqualified and automatically thrown out of the blue door.

2. All your skills have been temporarily turned off.  So try to avoid any danger.  Because once you're killed, you'll be thrown out.

3. You can't log off.  Because once you do, it would automatically mean that you're giving up.

4. If you recognized another player, you can team up with them.  But you could only do so with two players at most.  Once a team of three was formed, you need to decide who's going to be the leader.  Being the leader, they would receive higher quality rewards.  Of course, it wouldn't matter if you all solve a mystery together.  Because the best has to be given to the leader.  They're the leader, after all.

5. This event will be over by midnight.  If you already solved one mystery and you wanted to go out of the blue door, just pressed the crescent moon on the back of your hand.  A screen will appear where you can put in your solution.

6. And lastly, please do your best to give a very entertaining performance for our majesty, the King.

After reading all the rules, Luo Yan couldn't help but shake his head.

So the first rule was that he couldn't go out of character.  That's fine, he could do cool and aloof.  It's also a relief to know that he didn't have to do some unquestionable things with another guy.  But that's not exactly the main problem.  What did he know about singing, dancing, and playing musical instruments?  If he was asked to perform in front of people, wouldn't the fact that he's not the real Shishi be immediately discovered?

Aside from that rule, there were five others more.  Two of those, number 3 and number 6, he could almost neglect.  But the other three, he couldn't.

Rule number two meant that there's danger in this blue door.  A strong enough danger that could kill his current avatar.  So he had to be extra careful.

Then there's that unreasonable rule four.  What's with the 'he could team up with two other players, but most of the rewards should be given to the leader'?  Obviously, this type of rule could only cause discord.  If that was the case, then it's better to just do this alone.  It would be another matter though if his other team mates were also here.  He wouldn't mind teaming up with any of them.

Now that he thought about it, he wondered which door the others ended up with.  He hoped at least they were doing okay.  Especially Luo Jin.

There's also that rule 5 – a time limit until midnight.  Understandable, since the King's birthday would be over by then.  Luo Yan only planned to stay online until nine in the evening.  He wondered if he could solve whatever 'mystery' there was in this door before that.

But first, he stood up and tried to walk around the room.  Just as he thought, walking in this robe was a pain in the ass.  And yet, he needed to act all graceful and be the cool beauty that he's supposed to be.

Putting him in this kind of awkward position, Luo Yan was truly starting to dislike this so-called King of Arcadia.  Just what kind of entertainment did he want?

Then he heard knocking on the room's door.  Before he could even say anything, the door already opened and a pretty girl wearing a beautiful yellow robe entered.

"Shishi, are you still not ready?  Madam Ru has been waiting for you.  Have you already forgotten that we need to be at the prince's manor tonight?  You know we couldn't go there without you.  You're the center of our performance after all."

Prince's manor?  Center of the performance?  Luo Yan already felt a headache coming just by hearing those words.

So, what now?