Detective Agency of the Bizarre
Chapter 556 - 556 Seventy-five

556: Seventy-five.

The first test once 556: Seventy-five.

The first test once The once Richard squatted, leaning against the emerging dark red wall shadow behind him, whispering uneasily about something,

Meanwhile, Lu Li looked up ahead.

An eerie, thick black fog billowed not far ahead, mingled with a blood-like haze, from which children’s piercing screams and laughter eerily echoed in the near distance.

Lu Li had experienced this scene before, and he followed the instructions on the wall, blocking his ears to safely pass this test.

What would Richard do?

The whispering Richard stiffened, uneasily looking toward the direction of the sounds coming from ahead, but seemingly unaware of the black fog moving toward him from a dozen meters away.

Yet it only took a moment before Richard widened his terror-filled eyes, dumbfoundedly staring at the solidifying black fog appearing before him.

As the blood-tinged black fog approached, the sounds gradually became clearer and audible.

Lu Li listened carefully to the noises within the black fog.

As an Observer, he was unaffected by the projections that had once occurred.

It was a noisy chaos, composed of sharp laughter and high-decibel screams, with no information mixed within.

Richard didn’t know what to do until the black fog was just a few meters away, at which point he curled up, tightly closing his eyes and covering his ears.

Rather than recalling the instructions on the wall, his action was more like a purely instinctive reaction from extreme fear, similar to how most people hide under their blankets when encountering something bizarre in their sleep.

But that was never a life-saving straw that could protect people from monster attacks; it was just a thin piece of fabric that offered warmth.

Richard was lucky, he inadvertently stumbled upon the correct answer to the riddle.

The blood-threaded black fog moved past him, dissipating into nothingness.

Holding his head, Richard remained in this position for a long time before gradually opening his eyes.

Rising from the ground, Richard continued forward.

The second challenge was near.

An ordinary wooden door appeared a few meters in front of him, Richard, with a hunched back, stopped in his tracks, his dim and unlit eyes nervously staring at the door.

The next moment, the wooden door was pushed open from the inside.

Children dressed in colorful clothes ran out from behind the door, bouncing and running toward Richard.

Or perhaps it’s more apt to describe them as monsters in the shape of children.

Their features twisted together, some with eyes on their foreheads, others with noses on their chins, but unanimously, each face bore four to five mouths.

“Let’s go, let’s go play~” “We’re going to the slide and playing hide and seek~” “My mom bought a new fairy tale book.” “I’ll treat you to some snacks.”

Noisy speech came from those mouths.

“Get away!

You bunch of monsters!”

Richard, nearly collapsing emotionally, shouted, finally stopping his advance and turning to run back.

If he had kept running, he might have passed right through Lu Li following behind him.

But the blood-red warning phrases emerging on the walls beside him made him stop unconsciously.

[Do not look back!!!

Do not look back!!!

Do not look back!!!]

The unsettling repeated content warned Richard.

The monster-like children behind him closed in on Richard, grabbing his hands, pulling at his clothes, and pushing his back, chattering away as they led the futilely resisting, newly awakened Richard toward the wooden door.

Behind the door was dazzling sunlight, and a gentle breeze carrying the scent of fresh grass and laughter.

Compared to the oppressive, agitated red walls, the scene behind the door appeared more disarming.

Richard briefly felt this way, until his gaze met the surrounding monsters, startling him back to reality.

“Go to hell, all of you!

No one can bully me anymore, nobody!!!”

A sudden surge of inexplicable strength deep within his body allowed Richard to break free from the “children’s” clutches, and he excitedly began swinging his fists around him.

He was just flailing his fists randomly, and the strength that burst from his frail body seemed unable to knock out an old man’s teeth, but the “children” who were hit by his punches burst like fragile bubbles, vanishing entirely.

Exhausted, Richard stopped after a few seconds, panting heavily.

Not far away, the wooden door that had beguiled Richard with its beautiful, peaceful paintings had also closed.

As his breathing gradually steadied, Richard raised his head, wiped away the tears streaming down his face due to the emotional outburst, sniffed hard, and continued walking forward with his arms poised.

His footsteps silently became more resolute.

In quiet observation, Lu Li watched the former Richard step into the third challenge.

[Knowledge is disgusting, but it is your friend.

It will make you stronger, smarter, and more likely to gain an advantage]

[Food grants you novel sensory pleasures, and it’s essential for your survival, but unrestrained indulgence can easily ruin your life.

No matter what, please continue after you’ve eaten your fill]

Richard ignored the fragmented information displayed on the walls.

When those monsters, representing knowledge with their slender shapes, rushed towards him, swaying left and right with every step as if they were about to fall, a touch of fear appeared on Richard’s face, but he bravely raised his fists to meet them in the next moment.

They had no attacking power, when their faces touched his body, they would endow him with knowledge—Lu Li knew this, but Richard did not.

So when Richard’s fist swung at the faces rushing towards him, and the monsters vanished with their grimacing faces, he naturally believed his bravery and resolve had conquered the frightening creatures.

But how would Richard pass the final challenge ahead?

A few seconds later, Richard stopped.

In front of him the wall was covered with gray-black slender tentacles that crowded the downward path, occasionally revealing the descending steps between their writhing movements.

The blood-red eerie scene made the squirming tentacles seem like the entrance to hell.

Richard looked down at his clenched fists, then charged at them.

This was foolish.

But considering that Richard had been sent to the Asylum by this time, the unstable emotions and frail state indicated that his days in the Asylum were not good, worsening his condition.

So as previously stated, a madman might do anything.

Before Richard could get close, he was suddenly entwined by the elongating slender tentacles and dragged into the writhing mass, disappearing among them.

Of course, this could not be the end.

Even though they were just illusory hallucinations, Lu Li didn’t plan to walk into the disgusting writhing tentacles.

He moved to the edge and walked to the far end about ten meters away.

The writhing tentacle corridor did not keep Lu Li waiting for long; after a few seconds, Richard was spat out by the tentacles like uninteresting refuse.

The pain from the fall awakened the unconscious Richard, who crawled away from the slender tentacles.

This was already the last challenge, the road ahead, and the endpoint awaited Richard.

[This is just an ordinary day]

Lines of text emerged before Richard’s eyes, similar to what Lu Li had experienced.

In the end, he was “indoctrinated” with some truths and lay down on the appearing bed in front of him.

[So now, rest well]

[The existence that slumbers in the deep sea awaits your dreams]

Richard’s figure disappeared from Lu Li’s sight.