Chapter 169: Loli's Secret!
[Part 3/4 of today's Mass release! Here you go fellas!]
Tick! Tick! Tick! Tick! Tick! Tick! Tick! Tick!
The Advanced Gift Box Wheel slowed to a stop once more, and Hugo leaned forward in anticipation.
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The lights flashed, the wheel dinged, and the result appeared on the screen.
[Ding! Host has received Common Grade Jiggy Beanie!]
Jiggy Beanie?
Hugo stared at the words, his excitement melting into a flat, unimpressed glare. "A beanie? A common grade beanie?" he muttered, his voice dripping with disappointment.
"You've got to be kidding me."
There goes his epic streak!
He sighed and fell back in his chair dramatically. "No epic grade reward this time? No divine blessing from the heavens? My streak… my glorious, legendary streak!"
He threw an arm over his forehead as if fainting.
Then he paused, frowning. "Wait a second. What streak? I've already gotten six epic rewards. SIX. Why am I acting like not getting one is abnormal?"
He groaned, shaking his head. "Man, the system's really messing with my brain. Next thing you know, I'll start expecting gold bars to fall out of my cereal box."
This was human nature, once something good or rare began to happen often, the human mind would swiftly consider it as normal.
Not only would they appreciate it less and less, they would also begin to expect it to always happen as if it was only natural...
Deciding to calm down, Hugo opened the item description for the Jiggy Beanie. A common grade Item was okay too. At least it wasn't trash grade...
His eyebrows arched as he read the text aloud.
[Jiggy Beanie: Once worn, Increases the host's ability to solve jigsaw puzzles by 100%.]
Hugo blinked. Then he blinked again. "Wait… that's it? Jigsaw puzzles?!" He grabbed the beanie from his inventory, holding it up like it was some cursed relic.
The name itself was a clue, but he hadn't expected it to be so specific!
It was absolutely useless. Not only was it's ability too niche specific, it was even more useless appearance wise. Especially...
'What a gigantic pompom...' Hugo thought in amazement.
The beanie was bright yellow with obnoxious purple stripes that looked like dancing Llamas, and an enormous pompom sat on top, wobbling with every movement.
Hugo stared at it for a moment before bursting out laughing.
"This thing looks like a traffic cone and a circus tent had a baby!" he cackled. It looked like something he could give his 3 year old cousin Alonzo back in Spain!
Even Alonzo would reject this!
"Who's gonna take me seriously in this? What's next, a pair of clown shoes that make me better at hopscotch?"
What could one expect from a common grade reward? This 100% boost it gave to solving jigsaw puzzles could already be considered good! Or at least okay!
Despite his ridicule, a spark of curiosity flickered in his mind. He glanced at the corner of his desk, where a purple puzzle lay gathering dust.
The Puzzle of Secrets.
Suddenly, an imaginary lightbulb lit up in his mind. It's bright rays suddenly shone light on a simple connection...
Hold on...
His laughter faded, replaced by a mischievous grin. "Wait a second… could this be the answer to my jigsaw nemesis?"
Without hesitation, Hugo slapped the beanie onto his head. If this common grade item could help him make full use of his epic grade items, it could already be considered very useful!
The pompom bobbed ridiculously, and he winced as he caught his reflection in his monitor, but he didn't mind anymore.
"Yup. I look like a total idiot," he muttered.
But the moment he turned his attention to the puzzle, something shifted. No, everything shifted.
He picked up the large puzzle and stared at the mess of shapes. It was really quite complicated. What's more, there were some pieces that were simply blank white!
And there were dozens of those!
But now that he was wearing the Jiggy Beanie...
A tingling sensation spread across his temples, and suddenly… everything made sense.
His hands moved with machine like precision, picking up pieces and snapping them into place at lightning speed.
The edges, the corners, the middle—it all came together effortlessly. It was absolutely natural, with him not having to stress his mind and waste brain cells.
"Oh my god," Hugo whispered, his eyes wide. "I'm a jigsaw solving god! Or at least I'm close!"
Piece after piece clicked into place. His fingers flew so fast they were a blur, and Hugo couldn't help but laugh maniacally.
"Look at me! I'm a semi pro now! The Jiggy Beanie is my Excalibur!"
After thirty minutes of non stop puzzling, Hugo held the final piece in his hand. His heart pounded as he placed it into the last empty spot.
The puzzle glowed, its surface shimmering with light. Hugo leaned in, practically vibrating with excitement. "Loli's secret… I'm finally gonna know it!"
The glowing subsided, revealing a crude stickman drawing. Hugo squinted at the image. Three male stickmen were surrounding a female stickman.
The males were holding her down to the ground and tugging at her clothes, and one of them appeared to be filming the moment on a phone.
Hugo's jaw dropped. "What the…?"
'What does this mean? What does...'
Then, it hit him. The truth. The terrifying truth. He didn't want to believe it, but it was right in front of him.
Unless the image had another interpretation that he couldn't decipher at the moment, it could only mean...
"She was… r*ped?" he whispered, his face turning pale. His mind reeled, piecing the story together. "They r*ped her, and then they—wait, what? They filmed it? Who films that?!"
Hugo couldn't believe it. Loli, the short gorgeous and exceptionally brilliant girl with a good sense of humour and bad taste in dressing... had been r*ped?
_____
Was she really? We shall find out later. Any ideas on what other interpretations this puzzle could mean?
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Power stone Goal!
50 PS - 1 Bonus chapter
100 PS - 2 Bonus chapter
200 PS (Quite an achievement as of now) - 3 Bonus chapters.
Castle - 20 Bonus Chapters!