Chapter 110 Acting

It was not until night that the guests who had come during the day finally gathered together. They sat on either side of the long square table, looking at each other.

Edogawa Ranpo sat in the first seat on the left. He crossed his fingers and placed them on his chin, his eyes slowly scanning each person. He was assessing their identities and occupations.

The young man in a suit was a little impatient. He used a knife and fork to cut the steak. Because he was cutting too hastily, the knife and fork made a sharp friction sound on the plate. He frowned and said to the butler beside him: "Is this the ritual of his entertaining us? Throwing everyone together and not even showing their faces?"

The middle-aged man wiped his mouth and turned his head gently, saying, "Mr. Chunjiang is not in a good condition. Maybe he wants to entertain us, but he is unable to do so."

Well, it is confirmed that this person is a doctor. At least judging from his attire and wording, he is engaged in this field. The youngest one had already suppressed all his curiosity and excitement. When Edogawa Ranpo looked over, he said with a little trepidation: "I am the nephew of the owner of this house. I came here to..."

"Has anyone among you read the original story?" Edogawa Ranpo suddenly spoke up, his scrutinizing eyes piercing through everyone and interrupting the young man without any courtesy. The person who was speaking was stunned. He paused, and his previous uneasiness turned into inquiry. He asked calmly, "What story? Did uncle say what story he wanted to tell?"

Edogawa Ranpo sneered, not hiding his contempt: "Perhaps I should ask in another way, have you also received an invitation from the Transcendent to come to this story to play a role-playing game?"

Everyone was silent. The youngest man looked around but did not say anything.

Edogawa Ranpo was not panicked at all. He said calmly, "I was very confused before. I want to meet someone here, but the characters in the story are all fictional. How can I meet him? But after meeting you, I suddenly realized that sometimes, when people meet, they don't necessarily have to use their own faces. Since even the scene can be fake, instead of wearing a mask and disguising your body, it is better to meet me directly with another body. In this way, as long as you don't reveal yourself, the handover will be the safest."

"Don't make it sound like a gangster meeting!" The young "nephew" couldn't help but complain. Then, he looked at Ranpo and said, "I didn't expect that even the 'detective' is one of ours. But in this case, how will this story continue?"

"By the way, you can call me 'Long Yi'. I'm also a detective like you." He obviously had no intention of hiding anything further and readily revealed a little bit of his own information.

As a result, Edogawa Ranpo, who had been unable to hide his identity from the beginning, seemed to be completely exposed.

Seeing them talking, the middle-aged doctor relaxed. He rubbed his brows in distress and said worriedly, "Hey, I still have a lot of work to do. I was suddenly invited here, and it's hard to refuse... You should call me 'doctor', so it's easier to recognize me. But to be honest, I think I acted quite well. How did you recognize that we were not the real people?"

Edogawa Ranpo looked at "Ryuichi", and "Ryuichi" smiled awkwardly: "It seems that I didn't play the role well..."

Edogawa Ranpo said calmly: "I asked the housekeeper here. Although the nephew of this owner is young, he is actually a person who is good at eating, drinking, whoring and gambling."

"Long Yi" smiled bitterly. He couldn't grasp the essence of this character for a moment. Even though his mother was a world-famous movie star, his acting skills could only be considered passable.

"As long as I know that there are more than one participant, it is easy to infer that other people may also be actors. There is nothing wrong in trying to ask." What Edogawa Ranpo didn't say was that when they were still settling downstairs, he had already obtained all the information about their identities from the maid in the villa, and he did not miss any small details.

He looked at the young man in the white suit. The young man had put away his domineering attitude, but his attitude was still cold. "Call me 'Kyosuke'."

"So, back to the question just now, does anyone among you know what this story is about?" he asked.

"You mean, we are entering a story, a story with a predetermined beginning and an end, as well as a narrative process in the middle?" The "doctor" asked again, as if he had just realized this.

"That's right," "Long Yi" explained, "It's just like the fan fiction on some fiction websites, where the protagonist travels from the outside world into the story and changes the direction and ending of the plot. We are such characters."

He sighed, "The one who threw us in didn't explain it clearly, just saying we were participating in a game. To be honest, when I first came here, my already precarious worldview was shattered to pieces. Now I can't even put it back together."

"Also," he hesitated, and then said, "Although I don't know what this story is about, I know what its name is..."

Several people looked at him together.

"Long Yi" said embarrassedly: "This should be a book, a book called "Blood of Dusk"."

"Haven't you seen it?" the man named "Kyosuke" asked for the first time, frowning and looking unhappy.

Is this guy a big shot out there who won’t be disobeyed? "Long Yi" thought secretly in his heart and overturned his own guess. No, in a game like this, anyone's personality might not be real. To be specific, the game hasn't started yet. Now we are just giving them time to get to know each other.

Long Yi scratched his face and said, "My girlfriend did buy a copy. She told me about the beginning, so I could recognize it quickly. But the rest..." He looked ashamed, "I haven't read it yet."

What he didn't say was that he and the author of the book are good friends in real life. It's a pity that he was the only one who came this time. If the author himself had come, I wonder how comfortable he would have been in his own story.

Several people looked away in disappointment.

Edogawa Ranpo pushed up his glasses, but the next second, his empty nose bridge reminded him that he had taken off his glasses and placed them on the table of the detective agency. The sudden question just now was a kind of rhetoric, which could guide people's thinking and allow them to take control of the discourse.

He said calmly: "It's not necessarily a bad thing that you haven't read the plot. Although this story is derived from that book, the plot inside doesn't necessarily remain unchanged."

"You're saying," the doctor raised his eyebrows, "that letting us in might change the plot of the story?"

"It may not be him, it could be someone else." Thinking that there is still no trace of Edgar Allan Poe in himself so far, he can be sure that he must be observing himself with another vision outside the story.

The big raccoon outside let out another sharp and rhythmic laugh, as if it was looking forward to what was to come. A miniature raccoon was trying hard to climb up, but he couldn't get his owner's attention, and he was so anxious that his eyes were filled with tears. But as time passed, the changes in it gradually became apparent.

"I've heard of that book, too. It's a popular new work this year." Kyosuke relaxed his brows, his expression revealing his true feelings. "Unfortunately, others said it was a sad story, so I didn't pay much attention to it."

“I don’t like tragedy.”

"That is to say," the "doctor" clapped his hands and said, "None of the four of us here knows where this story is going. In other words, we can't find any help from it?"

"Ryuichi" was not shocked at all. He stood up with his arms folded, and said confidently: "What if there is no plot? Are you willing to give up? As long as it is a 'case', it can be deduced by people. Or rather, it is better this way. The truth that is exposed at a glance is extremely boring. Unveiling the veil bit by bit is the greatest challenge to the unknown. Don't you think so, Detective Edogawa?"

Edogawa Ranpo pulled the brim of his hat. He could almost see the youthful, confident and upward posture from this kid... Could this guy be the "Colorless King"?

No, once he accepted the idea that everyone might be acting, some external behaviors would not be enough to judge a person's character. Everything might be fake, and what he saw might also be... No, he couldn't scare himself.

But why did the "king" do this? Since you promised that Excellency to build a platform for them to meet, why did you remain silent before they met?

Is there any other test that he needs to pass? The rule is to find him out of these people? Edogawa Ranpo's gaze moved back and forth between the several people.

"Really?" Edogawa Ranpo responded: "I've never seen anyone who can surpass me in the detective field. I look forward to your performance."

"Guests, here are your salt-baked prawns. This is the last dish. I hope you enjoy your meal!" The tall butler came out from behind the door. He was wearing a black vest and a white shirt, with a handkerchief tied around his chest. After politely setting the table for everyone, he retreated again.

The dinner ended with the two detectives staring at each other. Although it is a story, there is not a trace of falsehood in either the things or the characters. They have traveled all the way here and are already physically exhausted. The dishes they put into their mouths are real, tender and juicy, which really relieves their hunger.

Without having time to think more, they all fell into a deep sleep on the first night they arrived.

It was not until the next morning that a scream broke the silence.

Edogawa Ranpo suddenly opened his eyes and jumped off the bed. He had not taken off his clothes last night, so he just picked up his hat and went out.

He opened the door and walked towards the center of all the chaos. He knew that the story was beginning to take a turn for the worse. There, he saw his three "teammates" had arrived. When they saw him, they nodded at him and then slightly made way.