The most conspicuous item in the room was the black notebook sprawled open on the table.
The city lord must have flipped through it before being teleported out.
Upon closer inspection, the contents matched the cases similar to Eoryun’s condition that the city lord had ntioned.
The group gathered nervously around the table.
Illiya stood in the center, holding the power to turn the pages—probably because he was the closest.
Illiya reached out his hand, and under everyone’s held breath, he flipped a page.
Blank.
It was a blank page.
Illiya: "..."
That didn’t seem right.
Maybe he was mistaken.
He flipped another page.
Still blank.
Taking a deep breath, Illiya flipped again, yet it remained an empty page.
The whiteness of the paper was almost glaring.
The others were just as stunned by the unexpected developnt.
It gave them an odd sense of frustration, like scratching an itch through a thick boot.
Eoryun was not soone with much patience, and he had a peculiar intuition.
That very instinct urged him to take over and flip through the notebook himself.
Blank.
Still blank.
No matter how many pages he turned, they were all blank.
Eoryun silently thought, I knew it.
This notebook was nothing more than bait, ant to lure them in with curiosity and push them further along the path set by the relic’s creator.
"I really am a genius," Young Master Eoryun praised himself with satisfaction.
The mont he spoke, his companions gave him strange looks.
Eoryun didn’t even bother deciphering them—he already knew whatever was in their eyes wasn’t anything good.
I shouldn’t even argue with you people who haven’t lived through the era of big data gaming, he thought to himself.
But he still couldn’t resist showing off. He began explaining to his teammates, "We’ve already speculated that this relic operates like a treasure-hunting ga. And what’s the most essential part of a treasure-hunting ga?"
Darius automatically answered, "A treasure map?"
Eoryun shook his head. "Of course not. The most important thing in a treasure-hunting ga is an attractive treasure! If the treasure isn’t tempting enough, what’s the point of having a map? If people already know the treasure is worthless, who would bother looking for it?"
"So this half-written case in the notebook is bait! Even when fishing, you need bait—why wouldn’t a treasure hunt need sothing enticing?"
Darius felt Eoryun’s theory was a bit far-fetched.
Sothing about it seed off, but with no additional clues at the mont, he could only go along with the idea.
"If we follow your logic, does that an our next step is to look for the missing clues and find the second half of it?"
Eoryun shot him a look that said, Now you’re getting it.
Their conversation didn’t escape Illiya’s ears, naturally. Mainly because they were talking right behind him—there was no way he wouldn’t hear it.
But unlike Eoryun, Illiya had a different thought.
He didn’t believe everyone shared Eoryun’s way of thinking.
That peculiar train of thought wasn’t sothing an ordinary person could follow.
Most people had a more straightforward approach.
As for this half-written case?
Illiya felt it was just the author’s twisted sense of humor.
If they really abandoned the notebook to chase after so elusive, non-existent second half, that would be the real loss.
With this in mind, Illiya continued flipping through the pages one by one.
When he finally reached the last page and saw what was written there, he was very glad he hadn’t thrown the notebook aside.
Though the ssage left by the creator made him want to scream.
Still, confirming his own theory was correct made Illiya feel several degrees happier.
His voice was light, unable to hide his smugness. "I knew it wouldn’t just stop halfway. See? The second half of the case is right here on the last page!"
The mont Eoryun heard this, his face turned bright red—just like a fully ripened tomato.
He couldn’t believe it.
The half-written case wasn’t bait at all—it was just the author’s sense of humor.
Instead of continuing the case normally, they had written the rest on the last page of the book.
Damn it.
His theory was wrong.
Now, he even doubted his previous assumptions about the ruins.
Had he just gotten lucky with his guesses before?
For so reason, he felt a little guilty now.
Eoryun’s gaze flickered briefly, but he quickly tossed aside the embarrassnt.
The most important survival skill in life was a thick skin.
Life was long—no one could avoid embarrassing monts entirely.
Look, he had just experienced a mont of social death!
If he didn’t have a thick skin, how would he survive this suffocatingly awkward atmosphere?
After a quick ntal reset, Eoryun was back to his usual self—the smart, confident, and poised Young Master Eoryun.
He leaned in, wanting to see what was written on the last page.
But when he read it, he desperately wished he could erase the mory from his mind.
"...Illiya, you really didn’t ntion that the author’s ssage would be so painful to read."
Darius who is curious, leaned in as well.
After reading the text, an amused smile appeared on his face.
The urge to ss with him surfaced again.
Deliberately, he read the words aloud, one word at a ti.
"Don’t overthink it. The second half of the case is on the last page simply because I wanted the notebook to look thicker. I didn’t want people to realize that I only wrote half a book. As for whatever self-important conclusions the reader might jump to, I can’t guarantee anything."
A certain self-important Young Master Eoryun: "..."
At this point, Eoryun wished he was deaf.
That way, he wouldn’t have to endure the inevitable verbal roasting from his companions.
He really hoped that a certain swordman would show rcy and spare him from further humiliation.
Unfortunately, that swordman was not a rciful person.
Darius completely ignored the pitiful "please let go" look from Young Master Eoryun and focused on his reading mission.
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