VIP Chapter 549: The Last Letter She Sent (4k)
The Adventurer’s Guild, located in such a remote town and once disregarded, might never have imagined it would become the “processing center” for all adventurer inquiries.
“Phew… the twentieth box of letters. Because Dear revamped the inquiry section, I can’t tell where the anonymous reply letters are coming from anymore, so I have to search slowly,” Iaar said, carrying a large box and wobbling up the stairs from the second floor.
“Okay. No problem, let’s throw this box over to Liya to check for encryption magic first.”
“Leave it to me!”
In the scorching summer, even Liya couldn’t stand her big hat anymore. Sweating profusely, she rolled up her sleeves.
“This one has been confirmed to have no encryption magic. Treya, I’ll leave it to you.”
“Small problem. Compared to the documents I have to review every day, checking this is very easy.”
“Speaking of which, is it really okay for you not to go back to work?! You seem to have been here for a long time!”
“Mmm… I found a substitute. At least… it should be fine for a few weeks for now. Recently, because of you, all the attention has shifted to the adventurers…”
Treya, for the first time in a long time, tied her long hair into a high ponytail, with stray hairs that couldn’t be tied up falling down. She had also changed into a more convenient and cooler pale blue hip-hugging dress, standing amidst boxes full of letters. This made Will, for the first time, associate Treya with the image of a cool senior working part-time.
“Huh? Wait, what substitute?”
“Last time, I told you that your clone could be retained, but it couldn’t be brought out of Zeroth Heaven. So I also thought of using a clone to do the work for me—after all, the Royal Palace and Zeroth Heaven are one.”
“That’s truly genius!”
While the two were talking, Liya pushed a box of letters they had already checked towards them—
“Mmm… this box doesn’t have encryption either. Will, does she really know how to use encryption magic? Is Shuna’s magical skill that high?”
“We did communicate this way before. But, given her current situation… it’s hard to say…”
“Uh…”
Liya realized she had habitually sounded arrogant just now, and it seemed to have hurt Will.
“Alright, alright. I remember now, I fought with her last time… she really does have that kind of skill.” She said, reaching out and patting Will’s head as he sat in his chair.
“Then, as you said, let’s continue with this method. I’ll screen the boxes that might have encrypted replies, and you and Treya will look for the replies without ‘encryption’. Iaar will continue to be responsible for the physically demanding tasks.”
“Mmm… are you taking advantage of me sitting down, finally having a height advantage, to pat my head?”
Mentor Will could tell that Liya intended to “pacify” him. He raised his head and even grabbed her hand. The “anonymous replies” in front of him were opened one by one. He didn’t actually read the content of the letters; the communication on the reply board wasn’t special, it was all about the questions.
“I… I heard the tone of your voice just now and thought you were… feeling down again, and I wanted to comfort you.”
“I am the kind of person who knows what needs to be done at all times,” he said, holding a letter between his fingers and smiling. “The most important thing now is to find Shuna’s possible… second letter for us.”
That’s right.
The reason they were searching through letters one by one here. It was the answer Will had come up with based on his own considerations as an “undercover agent”—
If it were him, while undercover, discovering the risk of exposure, but having one letter that had to be sent out no matter what. The best method would be…
To write two!
Or even three!
Of course, don’t misunderstand, this wasn’t a “human wave tactic.” The first letter, as a “smokescreen” of being “reported,” and the letter delivered through a different method than the previous one, was the real content. And the most convenient way for her to deliver a letter in such a tense situation…
Will had already imagined it.
The cautious Shuna, particularly in the Adventurer’s Guild where he was a “monster” in the dungeon, carrying a letter that could be discovered, had perhaps already noticed a tracking gaze. At this moment, she would only look… towards the inquiry board. To the other questions on the inquiry board.
Since the “encrypted” letter could be discovered and exposed to Daisianwei, it also proved that the watchers tracking Shuna, and Daisianwei, already knew Shuna’s encryption method. Therefore, the most likely…
Will’s speed in opening letters became faster and faster. He would first check if the anonymous signature was “S,” and then quickly scan the content to see if it was related. The most likely…
She would casually send another letter, disguised, to any posted question! As for having Liya screen the encrypted letters, it was a precautionary measure to prevent any omissions.
“This one… isn’t it either. Shuna… you’re really… you’ve really given us a difficult task.”
Will was already the Guild Master of the Adventurer’s Guild. If he wanted to, he could certainly find that letter. It was just that Shuna probably couldn’t guess that after becoming the Guild Master of the Adventurer’s Guild, he had further strengthened this anonymous posting section where they used to communicate. Therefore, the number of letters now placed before them was many times more than before. Opening letters one by one—in anonymity, the letters weren’t actually “private.” After being posted, if anyone within the guild was curious about the question, they could open and view it. They even used the Adventurer’s Guild’s fax “networking” method to try and let everyone see the content.
“Back then… this was still a function not many people used.”
Will numbly opened letter after letter. He could see the sunlight on the table shift from morning to afternoon, then gradually turn into the dim twilight, and finally, Iaar’s hand lit the hanging lamps. The natural sunlight slowly turned into faint but warm artificial light. The three of them also chatted intermittently, and the overall atmosphere wasn’t very “serious.” Looking at the letters in his hands, he always remembered…
He remembered when he received a letter from “Mr. S” in the past and excitedly opened it. Just seeing the anonymous “S” below the letter would make him feel at ease. For him at the time, that was an existence like “a supporting character master hidden in the human world”… For someone who still believed he was just a cannon fodder who would be killed by the plot, every letter was like a “chance encounter” that gave him confidence… For every solution provided within, it was like a “pity” from heaven, letting such a powerful person help him…
However, now… after truly knowing Shuna’s background, after truly knowing that she was indeed the person in the original “protagonist” position, after knowing that she… also regarded him as the motivation for her to live… After remembering that she was, under his decision, a “limited card” decided by someone from outside the world…
Will finally understood. Perhaps there was no “original protagonist,” and perhaps there was no “cannon fodder to be sacrificed.” What existed were… Those who, without any other purpose, traveled through the world’s dungeons, making it their life goal. Those who truly loved everything about exploring dungeons and wanted to tell their experiences of “living” here. Those who wanted to work hard to “live” in this world, and wanted this world to truly “exist.”
As Will thought about this, he unfolded a letter. A letter with very obvious creases, but the entire letter seemed to have been “opened,” lacking the compressed feeling of such obvious creases. It was as if it had been “opened before.” He heard his own heartbeat, as if there was a premonition in the dark, already feeling the weight of the letter. When the letter unfolded, the first thing he saw was always the content in the lower right corner, the place where he could choose to write an anonymous signature.
S.
Thump, thump, thump, thump.
Will clearly heard his own heartbeat. And that very familiar handwriting. He was looking at handwriting that was written seriously and forcefully, yet had a touch of wildness.
“Wait, I… I found it! This… this letter…”
Will unfolded it.
That’s right. It was definitely a letter written by Shuna.
“Mmm… the question she posted was, it seems…”
Iaar stood beside him and pointed at the “box” in front of Will. To facilitate distinction, each question had already been written on the box. “How to resist 200 degrees Celsius of steam with Ice Armor Infusion.”
“Ah… that’s quite a coincidence.”
With a sense of relief, Will chuckled slightly. Then he seriously looked at the content on the paper.
“So, what will Shuna’s letter say?” Liya leaned over first.
“I’m also very curious. What will her letter say? The method she risked her life to deliver, what will it be?” Treya also put down the letter in her hand and leaned her head over.
“Hey, hey, hey, let… let me see too. I can read letters now!” Iaar’s head rested on Will’s head, making Will feel something soft leaning against his back as she leaned over seriously.
“…I didn’t expect the content of this letter at all.”
Will had also wondered how Shuna would write a letter, knowing that she was about to be discovered. Would she hide the content in an acrostic? Or would she use some encryption method that they both knew, like a code using a few words on their shared stationery? Perhaps even more seriously, she might just use a few riddles for Will to figure out.
But… What Will hadn’t considered was… She didn’t hide it at all! This letter was written on a whole page. It even reminded Will of the “essay-level” answer that Shuna had shown him when she first wrote to him. A whole page. There was no attempt to conceal the name “Daisianwei,” nor a trace of concealing the name “Death Hall.” She didn’t even hide her purpose at all. After explaining the principles, she directly wrote the method to “Clear Death Hall” in the last paragraph.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
“The sun is rising. Dear. Then, let’s take a break for today.”
Exiting the Adventurer’s Guild, after a whole day of work, it was just barely dawn. Although Will often stayed up late in this world, he didn’t get “all-nighters” as easily as he did in his previous life. However… He clenched the letter in his hand. With such an almost “victory-making” gain, it was completely worth it.
“As for the method mentioned inside… whether it’s feasible and how we should execute it, you can let us know anytime after you’ve thought it through.” Liya lifted her hat. She was in the best mental state, as she seemed to have often pulled all-nighters at school.
“Phew… Ah, sorry. It’s… It’s okay, Will. As long as you decide, we’ll follow you.” Treya had the worst dark circles under her eyes. After all, for a little princess of the royal family who had been very well taken care of, this kind of high-intensity all-night work was a first time. Will chuckled lightly at being able to see the dark circles under the eyes of a beautiful and cool half-elf.
“Then, let’s head back and get some good sleep.” Iaar said to the other three, standing in the morning sunlight.
“Agreed!”
“Ag… greed…”
“Dear?”
“Of course.”
However, Will, gazing at the morning sun, felt… something was still missing at this point? Shuna had risked so much to deliver an unhidden letter directly. It was almost as if she was doing it for someone to see. She was as “cautious” as Will. If she really wanted to deliver this letter and its information, she wouldn’t have been so blatant unless there was a special purpose. After all, if it were discovered, it was possible that such information would… not reach Will’s hands. No matter how much she trusted Will, she wouldn’t do this…
Wait, speaking of “trust”…
“Big news, not to be missed. Exclusive interview with the top ten ‘Gate of Truth’ teams who failed to clear Death Hall.”
On the street in front of the Adventurer’s Guild in the early morning, Will suddenly heard a “shout.” Not far away, a paperboy clutching a thick stack of tabloids was already working earlier than any adventurer. Seeing Will’s group clearly walking this way, he wanted to make a sale. Without needing to ask, Will knew this paperboy was selling “Adventurer’s Tabloids”—newspapers that were not officially recognized and often contained absurd trivia and “rumors.” But… he had a habit of “never missing an issue of the Adventurer’s Guild Tabloid.” After all, this thing sometimes had faster information and was closer to the lives of adventurers, absolutely not to be missed. Although, after becoming Guild Master, this had become a bit difficult, as people selling tabloids would run away if he took one as Guild Master. He needed to find an opportunity to legitimize the Adventurer’s Tabloid. Looking at the three swaying figures, looking extremely sleepy in the distance, Will took off his Guild Master badge and covered his face slightly. He walked towards the paperboy and indeed did not arouse his suspicion.
“Big brother, would you like one?”
“Mm.”
Will took the tabloid. A tabloid so similar to what he was about to do, what would it write… He looked at the news on the paper. Immediately, photos of the interviewees who failed to clear the dungeon were printed. According to the interview content, they didn’t even get to see Daisianwei this time. However, as a team that had previously met Daisianwei, they had already achieved great fame.
“They… this time… fell on the floor of a mysterious woman with black hair.”
“…Isn’t that Shuna?”
“Dear! Hurry up!”
Will thought of something but was interrupted by Iaar. He put the newspaper he would examine carefully later into his pocket and followed her.
