Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 247 - 247 One hundred and four

247: One hundred and four.

All passed 247: One hundred and four.

All passed “I thought I would be the first to come out…

But if it’s you, I can understand why.”

Owen greeted Lu Li with a smile, looking in a good mood.

Compared to the reserved and reticent Daniel, this tall man with black hair and black eyes was even more inscrutable to him.

“Did you encounter something in the passage, your own heart knot too?”

“Sort of,” answered Lu Li, who didn’t need to be assessed as he had already been designated.

“Since you came out first, did you find any hints?”

“Behind the door is the final challenge.”

Hearing this, Owen looked toward the next wooden door, which was locked with five differently colored padlocks.

Two of the locks had been opened—the black and the green ones.

“It seems we must wait for everyone to come out before we can continue with the challenge.” For some reason, Owen had more to say.

“I wonder how Doma is doing; if it’s her… she probably would solve problems with a fight.”

…

“Twenty-seven.”

[No…]

“Twenty-eight.”

[Not quite]

“Twenty-nine.”

[…]

“Thirty.”

…

[You idiot, how many trees do you have to chop down to buy a boat!]

“Just another 113,400 trees to fell.”

Bang!

Old Frank threw another punch, but this time, Frankenstein caught it as he stood up, still short in stature yet seemingly imbued with an unwavering belief.

“I know it’s slow, but I’ve always been working towards a goal, not doing nothing, or even worse, like you and grandfather who never even saw the sea!”

[…]

Frankenstein slowly lowered his father’s hand, his gaze steadfast, shimmering with a brilliance that was unparalleled: “I don’t mean to blame you… I just want to say that I’ve always been working towards these goals.

That’s why I joined the investigators, to adventure and earn more money, to buy a ship that belongs to the Frankenstein family.

I’m doing this for the ideals of our family and for my own dreams!”

Old Frank’s weathered face became moved, and his clenched fist gradually relaxed as his ethereal body began to fade.

[Child, I’ll be waiting for that day]

Old Frank’s figure completely disappeared, leaving only his voice echoing in the passage.

Frankenstein stood there, unable to distinguish whether this scene was real or an illusion brought by the trial.

But after a few seconds, his fist clenched tightly, carrying the warmth that still seemed to linger from his father, and he headed toward the exit that was cracked open.

…

[This is too dangerous… Aren’t you afraid of being controlled by their power?]

Daniel sneered, an unsettling coldness emanating from him: “It’s not the power that’s wrong, but the person who uses it.

Only the weak fear powerful forces, considering them wild and uncontrollable.”

[Actually, I’m not in such a rush for revenge…]

The cold and vengeful woman’s voice regained some of Rachel’s tone, as she tried to steer the dire situation back to normal.

The purpose of this challenge was to draw out the newcomers’ obsessions, to understand them, to test them.

Generally, the newcomers would temporarily forget that all of this stemmed from illusions due to the foundation laid by the previous challenges.

Hence, they often exhibited their true emotions in this challenge.

But this time it seemed to be a failure.

Lu Li, who had been internally selected, simply skipped this challenge.

Owen took a shortcut by being clever.

Daniel lost control of his emotions due to deep-seated obsessions.

Doma… her obsession seemed to be to become smarter, but she tried to brute-force the puzzle.

Only Frank truly passed the test in a normal manner, incidentally moving some muscle-headed brute in the process.

“You all seem to have misunderstood one thing.”

Daniel’s cold gaze was laced with mockery.

“I no longer live for revenge.

I have discovered something much more interesting than revenge…”

…

Lu Li and Owen looked toward the opened blue wooden door and Frankenstein, who seemed to have undergone some changes.

“You look a bit different from before,” Owen greeted Frankenstein.

“And to think you came out so soon.”

“You’ve become much more cheerful too,” Frankenstein smiled, a sunny smile that was starkly different from before, like he had transitioned from a big boy to a grown man.

“Mr.

Luli is still the same old.”

“Are you all here waiting for your companions?”

“Come on… It’s just that we need all five people to come out before we can continue,” Owen turned his head away.

“Owen, you’re still as insincere as ever…”

“Don’t act like you know me so well.”

…

“Fifty-seven,”

[…]

“Fifty-eight,”

[…]

“Fifty-nine,”

[…]

“Si—”

[Wait a minute!]

The exasperated puzzle-solver finally interrupted Doma’s counting.

“You’ve finally decided to fight!” Doma lit up, a twinkle of goodwill in his eyes.

[No, just a suggestion within the rules.

You can continue counting from eighty—]

“Eighty-one.”

[Including eighty]

“What do you mean ‘including eighty’!”

[It means you can count eighty, rather than starting from eighty-one]

“Eighty.”

[The answer is correct.

You’ve successfully passed this puzzle challenge, congratulations]

“So, can we fight now?”

[…]

In Doma’s disappointed gaze, the figure of the puzzle-solver faded and vanished.

…

[Something more interesting than revenge…?]

“Yes, I am no longer the machine bent on revenge I once was; I’ve found my true pursuit.”

[That power?]

“Exactly, that dangerous power is so intoxicating.”

[But…

I appeared because of the obsession in your heart]

Daniel, smirking coldly, suddenly froze: “What do you mean?”

[It means only your inner obsessions will appear before you.

But now that you see me instead of the power, it means that despite what you say—]

“Enough!”

Daniel suddenly burst out, gripping his bandage-wrapped left arm with his right hand, his eyes dark and gloomy, with a hint of panic that was hard to detect.

“If you don’t believe me, then I’ll have no choice but to unleash the dark, evil side of me that I’ve kept sealed…

and then my dark power will envelop the entire city!”

[Pfft…]

“…Did you just laugh?”

[No]

“Really?”

[Mhm!]

…

Doma walked out from behind the red wooden door, still not fully cooled from her heat and sweat.

It seemed she had endured a fierce battle.

That’s what Frank and Owen thought.

Only the pink lock remained unopened on the door to the final challenge.

Frank’s worry persisted for a few minutes before the pink wooden door finally opened slowly.

“Are you okay?”

Frank approached Daniel with concern to ask.

“…”

Daniel gave Frank an indifferent look, said nothing, brushed past him, and walked to the door.

The pink lock fell, and the final barrier standing in their way to the last challenge had disappeared.

Before everyone set off, the narrator’s voice rang out in the room at that moment.