After bidding farewell to the plump woman, Lin Yu munched on his potato while hurrying to the next location.
"Got a 'Rule Exemption'... but I'm not even clear what rules exist in this game yet, so I'll save it for now," Lin Yu muttered to himself before arriving at two more bases in quick succession.
"Hello, I'm a player. You can call me 'Summer.' My profession is 'Veterinarian'—I wanted to use my ability to see if I could communicate with those 'snow monsters.'"
"Hey, bro, my ID is 'Old Yao,' and my profession is 'Thief'... Hey, man, relax, I'm not here to steal anything. I'm just looking around for food. I spent the whole day gathering firewood and I'm starving."
The next two players Lin Yu encountered had the IDs 'Flying Cloud' (profession: 'Reporter') and 'Level 8 Hurricane' (profession: 'Programmer'). Neither had much combat capability.
The 'Reporter' ability was 'Enhancement Type,' specifically boosting movement speed—and this speed increased further when moving toward humans.
Lin Yu briefly chatted with them using different tones and expressions, then left after obtaining the 'Veterinarian' and 'Thief' professions.
"Whew... That's all six fake identities based on the first instance used up," Lin Yu rubbed his temples as he walked. "For the second instance... 'Craftsman' and 'Student' aren't very useful, but 'Doctor' might be worth taking in case I get injured or something."
Surprisingly, all six professions from the first instance turned out to be quite useful in this one.
But... should he imitate 'April' when playing the doctor?
That woman had mostly interacted with her boyfriend in the last instance, so Lin Yu wasn't sure how to portray her solo demeanor.
"Guess I'll just improvise this role."
Lin Yu slowed his pace slightly.
By now, the blizzard had weakened, and the night had deepened into the late hours.
Lin Yu soon found the seventh base!
Faint firelight seeped through the window of the seventh base.
He knocked lightly on the door.
Soon, a lazy voice responded from inside.
Lin Yu steadied his nerves, exhaled, and prepared to roleplay as a medical student when—
The door opened, revealing the face of a young man.
The man wore a knitted sweater, cotton pants, and a fluffy red beanie. He had a slender build, a high nose bridge, deep-set eyes, and strikingly sharp features.
"Ethnic minority? Mixed race?"
Lin Yu thought to himself, but before he could speak, the beanie-clad man impatiently cut in.
"Yo, whatcha knockin' at this hour? Ain't ya got no sleep to catch? Damn it!"
The thick Henan dialect short-circuited Lin Yu’s brain for three full seconds.
After a long pause, he finally managed to recite his prepared lines.
"Uh, hello, my forum ID is 'May,' and my profession is—"
Before Lin Yu could finish, the man interrupted him.
"Hold up, bro," the previously drowsy man raised a hand, his eyes suddenly sharp as lightning. "Don’t tell me yet—lemme guess as a 'Detective'!"
Lin Yu blinked in surprise.
"Your profession is 'Detective'?"
A 'Detective’s' ability wasn’t about uncovering secrets from someone’s mind.
Though it was still 'Skill Type,' the actual function was to provide players with a 'clue' related to their current question.
"Damn right," the beanie man declared proudly. "I’m the most famous rookie 'Detective' player on the forums—ID 'Furbollo'—undefeated through sixteen instances, destined to become the greatest 'Detective' player ever!"
"If you’d lost even once in those sixteen instances, I wouldn’t be seeing you now," Lin Yu sighed.
Still, the name 'Furbollo' did ring a bell—probably an active forum user.
Ignoring Lin Yu’s remark, 'Furbollo' pushed up his imaginary glasses and spoke in a low voice.
"Judging by your refined looks but cheap clothes, you’re probably not well-off... Running around alone in the snow at night without fear suggests you’re used to staying up late..."
"I’ve got it—your profession is 'Security Guard'!"
"In real life, you must work security at some high-end place, right?"
Furbollo delivered his analysis with full Henan accent conviction.
Lin Yu exhaled deeply.
"What nonsense... That’s completely wrong."
"Are you even a real detective? You’re just some guy who read too many detective novels, aren’t you?"
Furbollo’s face twisted in offense.
"Moron, what I do in real life don’t matter! My in-game profession really is 'Detective'!"
"I believe you’re a 'Detective,' but I’m definitely not a 'Security Guard.'"
"My profession is 'Doctor'!"
He said firmly. Furbollo’s eyes lit up in realization.
"See? I was right! Doctors work night shifts, so you’re active at night!"
As Furbollo spoke, 'Trust' immediately manifested, and Lin Yu gained the 'Doctor' profession.
To which Lin Yu could only reply—
At first, hearing the man was a 'Detective,' Lin Yu had braced himself for the most troublesome, hardest-to-fool opponent yet.
He’d almost given up on playing 'Doctor' and considered switching to 'Actor' instead!
After all, if categorized by conventional standards, Lin Yu would most likely be an 'Actor.'
He knew far more about 'acting' than 'medicine.'
If this 'Detective' suddenly asked, "Pop quiz—how do you treat trigeminal neuralgia?" Lin Yu would’ve been sweating bullets on the spot.
But... this 'Detective' turned out to be the most naive and trusting of all seven players he’d met so far.
Apparently, profession awakening really was tied only to life experience, not personal capability.
"Anyway, Doc, why you runnin’ around in the middle of the night?"
"Oh, well—I’ve got this torch, so monsters won’t notice me at night," Lin Yu said casually. "Figured I’d check on people in case anyone got hurt on the first day."
"Respect, bro! A true healer’s heart!"
Furbollo nodded solemnly, utterly impressed.