Lord of Mysteries: Starting As A Reader

After chatting for a while longer, everyone prepared to rest… It was just past midnight, and there was still some time before the 9 AM train departed, so they needed to rest as much as possible.

After all, riding a steam train was quite "energy-consuming," and even a first-class compartment wasn't exactly comfortable…

Only Fors looked at the hot spring water, feeling a bit regretful… Even if the Magic Mirror "ate" the bodies cleanly, quite a bit of blood still flowed into the hot spring… At least, it wasn't suitable for bathing tonight.

Seeing this, Ebner's heart stirred, and he called out to them again.

Under the confused gazes of the three ladies and one lion, he spiritually communicated with the "golden glasses" perched on his nose, then brought everyone into "Alvin Abraham's Quiz Labyrinth."

—Although official Beyonders wouldn't detect the abnormality at the Gentle Words Hotel in the short term, some of the "demons" who escaped earlier might return, making the place essentially unsuitable for rest.

This time, Ebner did not appear in the quiz classroom, but inside a luxurious villa.

This villa was not only lavishly decorated with many rooms, but also came with its own hot spring pool, making up for the regrets of Fors and the others.

This was one of the privileges of Ebner's Level 4 authority: he could rent a "mansion" in the "Labyrinth" for 50 gold pounds per day.

Although the price was quite exorbitant, Ebner didn't mind. After all, this "Quiz Labyrinth" still owed him over 600,000 in debt, and the daily interest of one millieme amounted to over 60 pounds. This rent wouldn't even dent the principal of the debt.

On the other side, Fors, Helene, and Fanny, seeing that Ebner had no intention of explaining, wisely didn't ask too many questions. After choosing their respective rooms, they happily headed towards the hot spring pool.

Only Lion Leon surveyed his surroundings, then looked at the clock face, which was distinctly different from the outside world. His lion face showed a peculiar expression as he said, "This environment feels very similar to my 'den' in Lake Daniel…"

They were all transformed from the Mirror World, so of course they're similar… Ebner glanced at him and casually asked, "Where did you learn the Mirror World transformation technique for constructing your 'den'?"

This "Quiz Labyrinth" was incredibly stingy; it only displayed the "mansion" after it was modified according to his request, giving him no opportunity to "learn."

He had originally wanted to seize the opportunity to secretly learn, so he could develop a "Mansion Spell"…

"Naturally, I learned it from Roselle." Lion Leon said matter-of-factly.

The Great Emperor was truly a polymath… but that's also normal. He had "in-depth" exchanges with many Demonesses, so he wouldn't be unfamiliar with the Mirror World.

With rather unseemly thoughts turning in his mind, Ebner arranged a room for Leon, then "teleported" himself to a massive palace with five tiered platforms.

The columns, steps, and floor of this palace all seemed to be cast from gold, making it somewhat blinding…

Aside from the color scheme, the layout of this palace is very similar to the main hall at the deepest part of Daniel's Labyrinth… especially the "sacrifice" altars in front of each platform, which are identical.

However, I used to sacrifice "1-025" to open the third platform of Daniel's Labyrinth… whereas here, between each level, what needs to be "sacrificed" is money…

Perhaps Daniel also obtained this work from the "Wanderer" senior back then?

Ebner was currently on the fourth level, which corresponded to Level 4 authority, and he could freely travel between the first and fourth platforms. However, when he tried to ascend to the fifth level, he was blocked by an invisible force.

Afterwards, he first returned to the first level and unexpectedly saw a very old and disheveled set of clothes there.

This must be what Herta left behind, right? So he was only a Level 1 authority holder.

I saw in the Book of Knowledge extracted from his spirit that he liked to disguise himself as a beggar when carrying out missions… Despite being worth hundreds of thousands, he liked to pretend to be a beggar. Is there something seriously wrong with him?

And this clothing was so worn out that even the money-grubbing "Quiz Labyrinth" rejected it…

After tutting a few times, Ebner glanced at the Level 1 authority content and realized he might have somewhat misunderstood Herta.

It turned out that Level 1 authority granted very few abilities to the holder; it could only rent a small space less than 5 square meters, and entry and exit both required payment… and the fee was determined by a person's value.

If one dressed too well, their value would be higher, and the fee paid would be more… This might have been Herta's main reason for dressing the way he did.

While contemplating this, Ebner ascended the stairs, exploring each level and focusing on reading the permissions for each level and the list of previous holders who had reached that level.

Just like that, upon reaching the third level, he suddenly discovered an unexpected, yet logical, name: Roselle Gustav.

"The Great Emperor was once a holder of the Quiz Labyrinth?"

"One of the conditions for Level 3 authority is answering 8 questions correctly. It seems the Great Emperor faltered on the last two questions and didn't enter the fourth platform."

"Speaking of which, the mechanism of the 'Dream Labyrinth Tower' is actually somewhat similar to this 'Alvin Abraham's Quiz Labyrinth'… Perhaps the Great Emperor got his inspiration here, which is why he created that miraculous item after becoming the 'Emperor of Knowledge'?"

As Ebner pondered, he suddenly saw a flashing "Details" prompt light up under the Great Emperor's name, very similar to the previous extraterrestrial "detailed information" that required "paid viewing"…

This was a "message" function that only became available at Level 3 authority, and the Great Emperor was the only person who "left a message" on this level, because there were no other Level 3 authority holders.

"10 pounds? That's not too expensive…" Ebner looked at the price, then directly "swiped" the debt to "open" the content.

Immediately after, a deep voice rang out: "Although the questions are not the same each time, they all seem to conform to some inherent logic… These questions might contain some deep meaning… Unfortunately, I never knew the answer to the varying ninth question, nor had I ever seen what the tenth question was."

That's it? No wonder it only cost 10 pounds, there's no useful information at all!

As for the possibility that those questions contained some deeper meaning, Ebner had actually suspected it after answering, but hadn't had time to sort it out, as it could have just been his illusion.

But since the Great Emperor also had this feeling, it wouldn't be a misunderstanding…

Ebner recalled the previous questions and mused:

"The first question asked about 'Dragon Ball,' and the answer was 'Shenron'… On the surface, this was about anime, but it might actually be hinting at 'wishing' and 'miracles'… And that 'Wanderer' senior was indeed preparing the 'Miracle Invoker' ritual in the Nation of the Evernight."

"The second and third questions were two history questions, with nothing special about their content or answers, but they referred to historical events after the War of the Four Emperors in the Fourth Epoch and the Pale Disaster, respectively."

"This should correspond to the eras when 'Blood Duke' Rhine Kalendia and 'Death Consul' Vincent Miranda were active."

"Perhaps it's hinting at these two Transmigrator seniors."

"The fourth question asked me to improve a ritual…"

"Combining with the previous ones, is this suggesting that if I want the 'Wanderer' senior to become a 'Miracle Invoker' and leave the 'Nation of the Evernight,' I need to rely on the knowledge left by seniors Rhine and Vincent to modify a secret art that can perfectly integrate with the 'Wanderer's' body?"

"So the second and third questions actually refer to 'Blood Feast' and 'Book of Necromancy'?"

"Next, the fifth and sixth questions were two anime questions, asking about 'Marineford War' from 'One Piece' and 'the name of the drug Conan was given'…"

"'Marineford War'… Is this hinting at a divine war? And what does the shrinking drug in Conan allude to?"

"The seventh question again asked about 'Miracle Invoker'… What does this mean? Does a divine war require the abilities of a 'Miracle Invoker'?"

"The eighth question, 'Hua Qiang Buys Watermelon'… On the surface, it has no meaning, but this TV show is called 'Conquest'… 'Conqueror'? Then could Conan earlier allude to 'Death'?"

"The ninth question, 'Name of Medusa's Mystic Eyes'… 'Cybele'."

"In Type-Moon's setting, Medusa is a degraded ancient Earth Mother Goddess, and 'Cybele' is precisely the name of that ancient Earth Mother Goddess."

"So, this refers to the 'Earth Mother Goddess'?"

"As for the last question, it undoubtedly points to the Evernight Goddess."

"But what do these latter ones mean when connected?"

Looking at the keywords laid out before him, Ebner couldn't help but grumble:

"It can't possibly be trying to tell me that the prerequisite for me to participate in the 'Marineford War' is to 'conquer' the Earth Mother Goddess and the Evernight Goddess by 'drugging' them, can it?"

"Ugh! I'm a 'Detective,' not a 'Cryptologist,' so I'm really not good at analyzing this kind of thing…"