There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

"Was that child just now Emily?"

Old Wang immediately turned around and said to the female office worker, "I saw she had a doll in her arms, I'm not sure if it was her, but she was holding something."

The female office worker raised an eyebrow, "And then she just disappeared?"

Old Wang: "..."

Yes, the glance he took probably lasted no more than two seconds. Before he could even react, the child was gone. The only reason he could remember what she looked like was because of his strong observational skills.

She was a little girl with blue eyes and two braids, looking about seven or eight years old.

Because the matter at hand stimulated her nerves, the female office worker temporarily put aside the tempting aroma of the food at the tip of her nose.

However, the two of them searched for a long time around the serving window, but couldn't find any door leading to the kitchen; the cafeteria only had two doors, a front door and a back door.

The range visible to the kitchen from the window was limited, making it impossible to see where the interior doors were situated.

"Could it be outside?" the female office worker frowned.

"Let's go out and take a look," Old Wang thought for a moment and said, "You keep looking around in the cafeteria. I'll go outside and find where the kitchen door is, to prevent the child from coming back to steal some food after we leave."

"Okay."

The female office worker nodded, walked back and forth by the serving window, leaning in to peek through the transparent glass into the kitchen.

However, after a while, she turned her head only to see Old Wang still wandering around in the cafeteria.

She asked in confusion, "Why haven't you gone out yet?"

Old Wang, scratching his head in bewilderment, said, "I want to go out, but I can't find where the door of the cafeteria is!"

The female office worker: "???"

She looked incredulously at the open door not far away and said while walking over, "That damn door is right there, can't you see it? Are you telling me you can't find it?!"

The female office worker walked straight toward the door, but the next moment, she suddenly stopped dead in her tracks.

She stared ahead blankly, "I was walking towards the door just now, right? Where is the door now?"

Old Wang looked at her, "To your left."

The female office worker turned her head to the left and sure enough, she saw the door there. Her current position was completely different from the direction she initially walked in. She couldn't even understand how she ended up here!

"Damn it!"

The female office worker quickly strode toward the door again, but in the blink of an eye, she found herself off course once more!

What was more important was that she clearly felt she was heading toward the door!

"Something's not right!"

"Indeed, something is not right."

"Did you see me walking towards the door just now?"

"No, you were walking to the side."

"..." the female office worker.

She thought she was displaced in space, but it turned out that she had been going in the wrong direction from the start?

Wait, Old Wang seemed to also clearly see that she was running in the wrong direction.

Considering this, the female office worker said, "Old Wang, you direct me towards the door."

Old Wang had obviously thought of this too, and immediately said, "Alright, walk forward three steps first, stepping toe-to-toe in a straight line."

The female office worker walked straight ahead.

"Turn right, seventeen steps."

"..."

"Turn left, if you keep walking straight you'll reach the back door."

"Are you sure?"

Yet the female office worker abruptly stopped, turned her puzzled face and said, "The hell, there's a wall in front of me! You're telling me to walk this way? And you've been directing me the wrong way from the start!"

Old Wang: "..."

Old Wang stared ahead and sure enough, there was a wall in front of the female office worker, so he sank into thought as well.

It seemed that giving directions to others was futile too.

Overall, it appeared that as long as they had a destination in mind, they would go the wrong way for sure!

Old Wang, feeling exhausted, sat down on a bench and said while massaging his temples, "We can see where to go, we can move freely, but we always end up in the wrong place. It's likely that our spatial cognition is out of balance. In layman's terms, we're lost!"

The two of them, lost in a cafeteria with a clear view of everything!

Who would believe such a thing if they told the story!

The female office worker also sat down on a chair, a serious expression on her face as she pondered.

She said thoughtfully, "You mentioned there are many overlapping spaces here. Could it be possible that our brains are being influenced by these multiple spaces affecting our judgment?"

Old Wang agreed, "What you're saying makes sense. On the other hand, our eyes may also be receiving incorrect information."

Upon hearing this, the female office worker tentatively suggested, "What if we walk with our eyes closed?"

"It might work, but have you considered…" Old Wang said with a grave expression, "if being lost is due to ourselves and has nothing to do with the cafeteria, then we will still be lost once we go outside, and it's impossible to keep our eyes closed at all times."

"..."

The world outside the dining hall was bigger and more dangerous. If they ventured out and continued to blindly feel their way around with their eyes closed, it would truly be a sign of having grown tired of living.

But if they continued to be affected by the debuff of getting lost, there was no telling if they would end up wandering straight into a monster's mouth.

So comparatively speaking, the dining hall could still be considered a safe point. However, they couldn't possibly stay trapped here, wasting time. In any case, the current situation was very frustrating.

Suddenly, the female office worker spoke up, "The visit manual doesn't mention that the dining hall could cause one to get lost, nor does it mention that there would be children hiding here, stealing food, nor does it say…"

"What to do when encountering a child."

"Based on these anomalies, what we should do now is follow Rule 19 of the 'Qiming Charity Hall Visit Manual': If any situation arises that is not listed in the manual, we should enter the office and take cover."

"Right, Old Wang?"

Old Wang picked up where she had left off, "Understood. The existence of Rule 19 implies that—the rules of the orphanage can change."

Any change beyond an Investigator's expectations could occur!

Just like the situation they were in now.

As for what to do when an anomaly occurs, aside from seeking refuge in the Director's office, there's another solution, not explicitly stated, which probably leaves room for them to improvise.

The female office worker looked toward Old Wang, who was sitting not far away, "Do you have the confidence?"

Old Wang wiped his face, raised his head, and his eyes shone with a firm light, "Yes! My master once said, one of the methods to break the Illusory Realm is to rely on the guidance of the heart. Secondly, to shatter falsehood with a punch! One strength breaks all magic!"

The female office worker raised an eyebrow at his words, "I didn't expect Marcia to have such a spirit. Then go ahead and do it now."

Since there were multiple overlapping Phase Spaces here, and since what might be affecting their cognition and judgment could be the overlapping effect of spaces, then they should just break all these spaces!

...

...

Qiming Building, third floor.

Director's office.
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The female social worker was investigating clues in the office when suddenly, she heard an explosion from outside in the corridor, followed by silence.

She listened intently for a long time and, reassured that there was no danger on her side, continued with the task at hand.

Just now, the female social worker had discovered that the printer on the desk had been used, and there were several sheets of paper inside it, meaning that some documents had likely been printed out.

Unable to turn on the computer, she could only try to start the printer and make it repeat its previous task.

In doing so, perhaps she could find out what it had just printed.

But just as she figured out the procedure, two more explosions sounded from outside!

The female social worker suddenly stopped what she was doing, frowning slightly as she looked toward the door, remaining alert for a while before reassuring herself that there was no danger.

"Could it be an intentional triggering of Rule 15?"

Recalling the three explosions she had heard, the social worker pondered for a moment, but didn't take it to heart.

Because it was none of her business.

[Congratulations on completing side quest two: The Swing in the Yard.]

Then, another system notification chimed.

The social worker paused, then reassured herself that there still wasn't a big problem and it still wasn't her concern. On the contrary, she should speed up and focus on her own task.

She once again stretched her finger towards the printer's restart button. If successful, she would immediately know the information that had just been printed, which could very likely be the mission objective!

Just at that moment—

"Boom!"

Another sound came from outside.

The social worker, her nerves on edge, flinched and failed to press the button.

She steadied herself, planning to continue…

"Boom!" — "Boom!" — "Boom!" —

However, after that, every ten or so seconds, another explosion would sound in the hallway outside.

Social worker: "..."

Listening to the rhythmic blasts that were almost musical, the social worker sat expressionless and at a loss for words.

Since so many explosions had occurred without any effect on the office, it could be concluded that the area was safe, so she might as well get things done before the Director returned.

The social worker breathed a sigh of relief, comforting herself to ignore the noises outside, and once again positioned her finger over the "restart" button.

Just at that moment—

"Click…"

The social worker's body suddenly stiffened, and she turned her head dully to see a crack slowly forming in the air behind her, at a corner of the room.

It was like the image of a shattered glass mirror, with the crack spreading like spiderwebs in all directions.

This space... had split apart!

...