“Simply put…” Penguin Assistant interjected, “The highly intelligent life forms in our universe possess the insight to ‘perceive beings from higher dimensions.’”

Usami also said, “And Hirata-kun…was the first person to achieve this.”

“Going from 1 to 2 is easy, but going from 0 to 1 is as difficult as climbing to the heavens.” Penguin Assistant continued, “All of us are grateful to Hirata-kun; it was he who made us understand…” He gazed at Jue-ge and Xiao Tan and said, “Above our world, there exist ‘you.’”

“I see…” Feng Bujue responded, “But…why do you…call us ‘players’?”

As he asked this question, Wang Tanzhi belatedly thought, “That’s right…even if they know they’re characters in a manga, what reason do they have to call us ‘players’? According to general logic, shouldn’t they call us ‘readers’ or ‘audience members’? Calling us ‘players’ suggests…”

“Because…” Hirata answered Feng Bujue’s question, “Besides ‘higher dimensions,’ we also discovered ‘parallel dimensions’ to our own.”

“It was a nerve-gear game called *Thriller Paradise* that sent you here, right?” Penguin Assistant continued, “No need to look so surprised…” He was naturally speaking to Xiao Tan with that sentence, “Before you, we also encountered other ‘players,’ and more than just one group…”

Hearing this, the last shred of doubt in Jue-ge’s heart dissolved, and his expression visibly relaxed.

“…Compared to you, those people’s actions could be described as quite reckless; extracting information from them wasn’t difficult,” Penguin Assistant continued. “The difficulty lay in…due to the dimensional difference, verifying your identities required long-term, targeted planning.”

“And also…” Usami added, “Even if we lock onto a target, we can’t be 100% sure that the target is a ‘higher-dimensional being.’ Because our world also has countless guys like Xiong Ji…whose IQ and EQ are full of things to make fun of; when they do something abnormal, it’s hard to tell if they’re ‘being controlled’ or just goofing off.”

“Jue-ge…” At this moment, Xiao Tan lowered his voice and said to Feng Bujue, “The situation isn’t right…it seems we can’t hide it anymore.”

“What’s the panic…” Feng Bujue also lowered his voice, replying in a tone only Xiao Tan could hear, “Has the system notified you that the main quest failed?”

“Not yet…” Xiao Tan replied.

“Then that’s that.” Jue-ge calmly replied, “Don’t rush, wait until they finish talking…”

After the two whispered these few sentences, Feng Bujue raised his voice again and said, “So…where were we just now?” He asked insincerely, taking the opportunity to steer the conversation back, “Oh, right…that ‘stalker letter,’ that was your first test, right? So what was the result?”

“Very successful.” Usami replied, “From my observation, you…” He looked at Jue-ge, “…are a very smart and eloquent person, and you have a considerable understanding of our world. If there’s any obvious weakness, it’s that…you have a very high opinion of yourself, you could even say you’re narcissistic.”

“Seriously…these great detectives are so amazing! Their observations and analyses are so accurate!” Xiao Tan complained in his heart as he listened, “I’m also a dr, but mixing with you guys suddenly makes me feel like my IQ isn’t high enough!”

“I believe that dealing with someone like you through direct confrontation would be quite difficult,” Usami’s words continued. “However…retreating to advance should have a miraculous effect.”

Penguin Assistant picked up the thread: “Therefore, regarding the result of the ‘stalker letter’ incident, Usami hesitated slightly…and chose to compromise.”

…………

“I understand…it seems you’re not just a simple peeping tom and violent man; Detective Neko Saburo of Beast Elementary School really lives up to his name.”

…………

At this moment, Usami’s response at the time flashed clearly through Feng Bujue’s mind.

It had to be said…retreating to advance was indeed the best strategy for dealing with Jue-ge. Usami’s compromise caused Jue-ge to overlook many subtle anomalies…

“So, I gave up on calling the police.” Usami continued, “I wanted to see your next reaction.” He paused, looking at Jue-ge, “As a result…your personality underwent a noticeable change.”

“Oh?” Feng Bujue said, “How so?”

“Mr. Player…” Usami’s gaze changed slightly, “Neko Saburo, no longer controlled by you, has a very different manner of speaking and tone than you.” He pointed at Xiao Tan, “This isn’t as obvious with Hayatarō.” He pointed at Jue-ge again, “But you…you are a very unique person, Mr. Player. If the main character attributes in gag manga are divided into ‘fool’ and ‘straight man’ categories…you don’t belong to either.”

Hirata, who was standing next to him, continued, “When you were justifying Xiong Ji, you used the perspective of a higher-dimensional being to empathize with a virtual character, and then used what you thought was ‘the logic and way of speaking of our world’ to solve the problem at hand.”

“Although on the surface, it doesn’t seem like there are any flaws…” Penguin Assistant added.

“But…there’s always a slight feeling of ‘unnaturalness.’” Usami said, “If you were to ask what the problem is, it’s probably…your thinking inadvertently switches between ‘fool’ and ‘straight man.’”

The three of them spoke in turns, answering Jue-ge’s question with great coordination.

“I see…” Feng Bujue still seemed very calm, “Based on the ‘success’ of the first test, you planned the ‘Penguin Assistant’s Death’ show, right?”

“That’s right.” Penguin Assistant himself replied, “After the first test, we gathered all the information we had previously obtained and discussed it. We also established a certain level of friendship with the real Neko Saburo and Hayatarō, deepening our understanding…Then, we made a hypothesis…”

Usami continued, “When Xiong Ji does something that would lead to his arrest, and is about to turn himself in…‘you’ (here, ‘you’ clearly refers to the players)…will appear.”

Penguin Assistant continued, “In order to verify this hypothesis, Usami, I, and Sarukichi, used some props borrowed from the drama club to put on a show in front of you.”

“And I was feeling guilty for so long…” Xiao Tan muttered dejectedly upon hearing this, “So that monkey was in on it too…”

“Wait…” Suddenly, Feng Bujue interrupted their narration, “This show…you didn’t discuss it with Xiong Ji beforehand?”