"The princess of a neighboring country, is she talking about me? Should I play along with this Mr. Rabbit? It feels so embarrassing." A series of thoughts flashed through Audrey's mind. She curtsied gracefully, holding her skirt slightly, and said, "Your Majesty, hello. This is my first time here, and there are many things I'm not familiar with. May I ask you about the rules here?"
In front of her, the rabbit dressed as a king seemed to have its vanity greatly satisfied. The joy in its crimson eyes was completely unconcealed. After two seconds, it composed itself, cleared its throat twice, and said to the back, "Ahem~ Of course, you may. Scribe, please organize some basic knowledge from the World Tree into a book and present it to this beautiful princess."
As the king spoke, a rabbit wearing a white shirt, a brown vest, a beret on its head, and holding paper and a pen, stepped forward quickly from behind.
Under Audrey's curious gaze, it directly reached into its empty embrace and pulled out a notebook, about a thumb's thickness and palm-sized, handing it to Audrey.
"This…" Audrey took it in surprise.
She didn't quite understand why the other party could conjure things out of thin air. When she first entered here, she realized that her Beyonder abilities were ineffective, leaving only some basic observational skills and instincts as a "Spectator."
"Each identity has its own unique ability. It is a Scribe, so it can directly turn information it has mastered into a book and take it out. I am the King of the Carrot Kingdom and can rule and command every creature in the kingdom."
"So that's how it is. I understand now. Thank you, Rabbit, no, Mr. King."
Audrey nodded thoughtfully to the rabbit king in front of her, expressing her thanks. She suddenly became curious about her own identity. The king can command every creature in the kingdom, but what about a princess? Can she command some creatures to a limited extent? Oh, right, I still don't know which country's princess I am.
As soon as the thought flickered, her identity card appeared on its own. Audrey was a little surprised as she reached out and took it, carefully reading the small print at the bottom of the card:
Princess of the Northern Forest, who escaped from the palace due to an accident. Noble and elegant, she is born with the magic to summon blizzards and create frost.
This introduction is so concise! I feel like there are many more stories to uncover behind it. Is this for the experiencer to explore their own identity? No wonder Mr. World described it as an immersive stage play. The environment and atmosphere here truly make it easy to get immersed.
Mr. Tower might be a very talented writer. This world clearly hides many stories. Let's wait a bit. If no other Tarot Club members arrive soon, I'll explore The World outside this square myself. Hmm, I can also go with Mr. Rabbit, oh no, King Rabbit. I wonder if the Carrot Kingdom is full of carrots?
As her thoughts drifted, Audrey saw two more figures appear in the center of the square. Their forms were simple human puppets carved and assembled from gray and white wood.
They look somewhat like the unfinished models in doll shops. Did I also appear in this strange form at first? I seem to have subconsciously ignored the thought of examining myself just now. Is there a psychological hint in this square regarding that?
Audrey suddenly felt her vision blur for a moment. When she looked again, an old man with a grizzled beard had appeared beside the two puppet models in the center of the square.
He wore a classic off-white robe, a hood, and held a wooden staff, resembling a respected hermit or a learned sage.
Leyton's figure subtly appeared beside him, saying with a hint of helplessness, "Don't casually add loopholes to my world. Repairing them is very troublesome."
"Heh, I've been very restrained. If it were Amon, He would have already stolen the characteristic you used as a cornerstone."
"Alright, I'm going to take a look at this stage-play-like world. Perhaps I can even help you find some errors in the rules."
The old man in the off-white robe chuckled twice. As his words fell, he leisurely stepped forward, his figure flickered twice, and then he vanished directly from everyone's sight in the square.
Among the two newly appeared puppet models, the one on the right asked, "Why can He still use His Beyonder abilities?"
"Because it's 'He,' not 'he'."
Leyton simply explained, then reached out and tapped twice in front of him. Brilliant starlight flashed over the two newly appeared puppet models, and their appearances instantly changed, transforming into a wandering poet holding a lyre, and a Magician in a long trench coat and top hat.
Audrey had already approached, curiously observing the transformed wandering poet and the Magician, guessing their identities in her mind.
Leyton's voice timely sounded, giving them a simple introduction: "This is Miss Justice. These two are The World and Star."
Star Leonard, who had transformed into a wandering poet, nodded slightly to Justice Audrey, then looked around and asked, "What's beyond the square? Everything around is hazy, and I can't see anything."
"This square is a transfer station that can lead to different worlds within the World Tree, but currently, only the fairy tale world is open."
"Come with me. Most of the staff here haven't started work yet, so I'll be your guide today."
As he spoke, Leyton was already leading the way, taking Audrey, Klein, and Leonard towards the edge of the square.
The moment they stepped out of the square, the surrounding scenery seemed to stretch, becoming blurry and distorted.
In less than a second, this blur faded, and the surroundings transformed into a small town where heavy snow was falling. Rooftops, lampposts, and the ground were all covered in a blanket of white.
The town was in the middle of the night, and there were almost no pedestrians on the streets, only the dim yellow light emanating from the condensation-covered glass windows of the houses on both sides.
"Achoo!"
Before they had walked two steps, Leonard couldn't help but sneeze. The wandering poet's clothes seemed a bit thin here.
Audrey curiously glanced at The World Gehrman Sparrow and Star Leonard, who were visibly shivering, then looked down at her own exposed shoulders and arms.
She could feel the surrounding temperature, but her body didn't feel cold. She had thought everyone was like this. Mr. World and Mr. Star certainly looked cold, so, is there something wrong with me not feeling cold?
As she pondered, Leyton had taken in their reactions, chuckling softly as he said, "Although some rules are different, in most cases, your experience here is no different from reality, such as cold, heat, or humid, dry climates."
"Then why do you two look unaffected by this?"
Leonard asked, looking at Leyton and Audrey with his eyes.
Beside him, Klein tucked both hands into his pockets, tightly wrapping his black trench coat around himself. His gaze swept over Audrey's attire twice, then he hesitated and said, "Because of our identities? We are a Magician and a wandering poet, and we don't have the ability to resist severe cold, but you two are different."
Miss Justice's attire looks very much like an Ice Queen, and as for Arrodes, a programmer who manages the backend would certainly not be affected by what he sets up.
"What are their identities?" Leonard asked, somewhat puzzled.
Audrey recalled the identity card information she had just seen, answering with a hint of uncertainty, "My identity card says I am the Princess of the Northern Forest, possessing the magic to summon blizzards and control frost."
While they were conversing, Leyton had already arrived at the entrance of a restaurant, pushing open the heavy wooden door. The warmth that greeted them made Leonard and Klein feel a little warmth return, and they quickly followed Leyton into the restaurant.
The temperature inside the restaurant made Audrey feel a bit uncomfortable. She felt like she would melt if she stayed in there too long. The snowy outside was much more comfortable, cool and refreshing.
The few of them sat down by the window, far from the fireplace. Leonard placed the lyre in his hands on his lap and brought his frozen hands to his mouth, continuously blowing warm air onto them.
After a while, he finally felt his body gradually recover, and then he had the energy to complain, "Why can't I throw away this lyre in my hand? If I stay out here with this thing for a bit longer, my hands will probably be crippled."
"Does the lyre also belong to the wandering poet?" Klein asked, looking at Leyton.
Leyton nodded, adding, "Normally, you wouldn't be able to obtain these identity cards with professions or status. This is a benefit of the testing phase, and I won't reclaim them later. You can use this identity indefinitely, provided you stay alive, of course."
"Dying in the game does not mean truly dying, but your identity cards will be destroyed. Afterwards, you can either switch to other identity cards to continue the game, or return to the initial model state, losing interaction with this world."
"There are two ways to obtain identity cards: one is to purchase them from the merchant in the initial square, but he hasn't started work yet; the other is to interact with the characters here, advance the story, and upon meeting certain conditions, you can receive rewards such as identity cards or knowledge of mysticism."
"What a strong smell." Klein couldn't help but complain, then asked, "If I'm not mistaken, purchasing identity cards requires extra spirituality or other things?"
Leyton nodded and said, "Spirituality, knowledge of mysticism, items, anything of value can be used."
The overly warm temperature inside the restaurant made Audrey disinclined to listen to what her companions were discussing. She uncomfortably leaned against the nearby glass window. The cold seeping in from outside cleared her drowsy head considerably.