When the plot-skips players into the game world

Within a certain painting, Aiwass and Arsene walked to the nearly empty front row of the music hall, and then heard the commotion behind them.

Turning around, the seats two rows back were already filled with all sorts of bizarre-looking phantom demons.

At that time, Aiwass was already struggling to keep his composure.

If a silent extra person appears behind you, and you can always see them following you whenever you turn around, that might be called terrifying. Not to mention their forms themselves are full of freedom and imagination... But if many dozens of people silently appear behind you, you might doubt whether you're the one who's unnecessary.

The horror film had turned into a comedy.

...Thankfully, most of them held no hostility towards Aiwass and his companions.

Only a very few phantom demons from transformed paintings would brawl with humans on sight; more paintings only led to these creatures suddenly emerging because they inadvertently violated some taboo.

As for those phantoms from outside... They were simply curious about Aiwass and his companions' appearance and purpose. They all stayed far behind, blatantly and unabashedly "following." Their presence attracted other phantoms, so the crowd grew larger and larger.

The beings of the Path of Beauty have an abundant curiosity, which is perfectly normal. All those fairies are like this—

For instance, the Fairy Queen herself already had the power of a Celestial Marshal. Though she didn't have the Celestial Marshal Shard... But she was already this strong without it, and if she could obtain her own Celestial Marshal Shard, she might even become the leader under the Gemini Mirror.

—Of course, this is limited to within the Path of Beauty. There are simply too many monsters outside.

Although Aiwass didn't know where these spectating phantom demons had sprung from, they looked quite friendly and courteous, so Aiwass also felt it inappropriate to proactively expel or harm them.

He could only keep them hanging around for the time being.

But just as Aiwass was starting to feel a bit numb about it, he led Arsene from the hallway through a hanging painting, and rushed into another library world.

Aiwass originally began unconsciously observing the surrounding world, searching for "related paintings" that were more similar to the world Arsene had described. But this time, both Aiwass and Arsene felt it was quite difficult... because they felt they were already very close to their destination.

Not until they passed by Sherlock did they suddenly come to realize... that they'd already arrived!

This was the world Arsene described!

Everything was exactly as described—Sherlock was relaxed, holding his forehead in thought. Behind him were towering bookshelves, and in front of him were two golden candlesticks, with each one holding a black and white candle respectively. The entire space had no one else.

"Sherlock!"

Arsene called out to him.

He was quite excited, quickly stepping forward.

Seeing Arsene, the previously idle Sherlock immediately brightened up.

He opened his mouth to say something, but suddenly thought of something else and looked at Aiwass.

"You two have worked hard..."

Sherlock muttered softly, his eyes slightly red as he stood up.

Arsene immediately reached out and hugged Sherlock, patting his back.

"Alright, Detective. Look who came? I've brought your friend to rescue you."

In front of Sherlock, Arsene's voice returned to its magnetically low tone, no longer sounding foolishly silly, "Even in front of the Duke, there's no need to fear. No matter what you're investigating, I suggest you smash them and come with us!"

"Good brother..."

Sherlock hesitated, also reaching back to pat Arsene's back, looked at Arsene and sighed, "Without you, I wouldn't know what to do... As for the Duke, don't worry, I can handle it."

But upon hearing this, Aiwass suddenly froze.

Aiwass swiftly realized something and looked back over his shoulder.

The library was extremely quiet, empty.

Except for the labyrinthine, enormous bookshelves, he couldn't see any "familiar person."

Those who followed them through several worlds had silently disappeared.

—And Arsene had yet to realize this.

Facing Sherlock's reply, Arsene unhesitatingly responded, "I've almost been tormented to death. I also seem to have some adaptability to the Path of Beauty, but walking within the Mirror Hall is still too troublesome... But I think the Duke isn't very busy, you should hurry back. Your Queen is about to get married, and that's a matter that can't afford delay."

"Indeed."

Sherlock sighed, got up and walked towards Aiwass, casually instructing Arsene, "Help me tidy up the documents under the table, okay?"

"Of course..."

Arsene immediately agreed.

"You mean under the table, is this..."

He said as he crouched down and opened the drawer with one pull.

But before Arsene could finish speaking—or rather, as soon as the drawer was opened, it suddenly exploded!

Arsene could only shut his eyes. Once the explosion dust settled, Arsene's face was as black as a pot's bottom.

Arsene was full of question marks, clearly not having fully grasped what had happened.

"Hee-hee-hee-hee-ha-ha-ha!"

A sharp voice like a clown rang out, "You've been duped!"

The original "Sherlock" had somehow turned into a slender, white-skinned, red-clad individual wearing a dark red wooden "smile mask," with indistinguishable gender. The only identifiable personal trait was a burgundy ponytail and a thin braid.

—And Aiwass had long anticipated this.

"May I ask," the clown with the red mask politely inquired Aiwass, "where did I slip up?"

"Attitude."

Aiwass chuckled, "Sherlock would never address me with that tone. We're well beyond needing to be polite with each other. Basically, we're at the level where we'd curse at each other, yet if anyone's in trouble, the others would absolutely step up and help."

"Ah, I see."

The red mask tore off the "smile" mask, revealing yet another mask underneath—a face with an innocent bitter smile, "But... is that really... the only reason?"

"You..."

Arsene finally understood, stepped forward to question, "Who exactly are you? It's not right for an art master to deceive like this... Where did you take Sherlock?"

But Aiwass directly blocked him.

"—If I'm not mistaken," Aiwass spoke, "this should be the Playful Sky Department."

"...Playful Sky Department?"

Arsene was taken aback, somewhat bewildered.

"Exactly."

The Playful Sky Department praised, "But how did you recognize it was me?"

"Puppet Face Technique... my fiancée can perform it too."

Aiwass smiled, "So I know some of its flaws."

"...Oh, I recall now!"

Playful Sky Department reminisced for a while, then recalled the truth, "Your fiancée is named Isabel, correct? I visited her a while ago when she was learning the Puppet Face Technique.

"But unfortunately, her aptitude for the Puppet Face Technique wasn't quite high, ultimately she didn't have the 'stage-building' talent... Nonetheless, it's enough. At least she could privately perform a few times without issues."

"Speaking of which..."

Aiwass inquired, "Since you have Sherlock's puppet face, does that mean you've seen Sherlock?"

"Of course... or rather, not only that. He's currently in my territory."

With the bitter smile mask removed, the Playful Sky Department turned into a persona full of performance enthusiasm, "But—gentlemen! If you're looking for Sherlock, why don't I take you there directly! Consider it as an apology for the prank earlier."

Upon hearing this, Aiwass and Arsene immediately breathed a sigh of relief.

Finally able to find Sherlock's soul...

Although the process was a bit torturous... at least they found the right direction!