Game World 1: Guessing Opportunity Attempt 1

Before he could even start thinking, Aectaeon's body moved on its own. He lurched towards the arrow clue, falling an inch away from the spot where it was pointing at.

He immediately grabbed the item and stood up, struggling all the way. Aectaeon then looked at the item and, in that instant, he dashed to the desk. He quickly searched for a pen -- scouring through the disheveled piles of documents -- and found one just underneath a clipboard.

"Solon Tarick, Hunter Germont," Aectaeon repeated the names of the two soldiers as he straightened the pieces of parchments on top of the desk.

On the white parchment, he wrote 'Hunter Germont' and 'Salon Tarick' on the black parchment. Once he was done, he ran towards the hole, crumpled the parchments, and threw them to the blazing forest fire.

{{ Time Limit: 00 D ; 00 H ; 00 M ; 02 S }}

{{ Time Limit: 00 D ; 00 H ; 00 M ; 01 S }}

{{ Mission 'Find Out the Identity of 2 Unnamed Soldiers Before the Time Limit Ends' Accomplished }}

{{ Reward will be imposed }}

[[ Player's progress: "_ E _ R _ T _ _ S : _ _ E _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ _ A _ _ _ _N" ]]

[[ To View Progress: recite "Jus ad Bellum" ]]

{{ Commander's Pardon Ticket x 1 Added to Inventory }}

Aectaeon didn't bother reading the systems' messages. He just stared at the fire raging below him. Unsurprisingly, the burnt body of the irregularity was the only thing in his sight. A teardrop unknowingly rolled down his grubby cheek.

"The Emperor's trick," He muttered, "The fool is higher than the sun. Hunter is first, Solon is second."

The man blew a breath before his legs gave up. He sat afore the opening, not minding the heat. Aectaeon lowered his head, his eyes landing on his trembling hands. His breathing hitched as he remembered the incident that happened just a few minutes ago.

"Merlon… Merlon is a human. I killed someone."

Aectaeon covered his face with his hands, rubbing it to hopefully remove the sensation lingering on his palms. He stayed in that position for a while, oblivious of the new panel that appeared.

All of a sudden, a knock on the door was heard. At first, Aectaeon ignored it. But when the repeated knocks became intolerable, he dropped his hands to the ground and glanced at the door.

"There are a lot of important documents inside! Get me the key this instant!"

"I'll send one of the guards to fetch it. Meanwhile, we'll try busting the door open."

"Make it fast!"

The soldiers outside the door started kicking the door. Aectaeon simply diverted his stare back to the fire. At that point, his attention was finally caught by the panel.

[[ Guessing Opportunity ]]

[[ Number of Attempts: 1 ]]

[[ Would you like to Guess now? ]]

[[ Yes ]] [[ No ]]

As if his finger had its own mind, Aectaeon was forced to tap on the 'Yes' icon. Afterward, two panels -- one for the title display and the other for the keypad -- appeared.

[[ _ E _ R _ T    _ _ S : _ _ E _ _ _ _ _ _    _ _ _ A _ _ _ _N ]]

Aectaeon sighed deeply, shaking off the loudness of the soldiers outside the room. He shut his eyes tightly as he tried to bring back his calm.

'I'm still in the game. I'm still in the game.' He thought while counting the number of letters, 'I want to get this done as soon as possible. I want to rest.'

His hands reached for the keypad panel, though he had yet to make a decision. However, a second later, he retracted his hands. Aectaeon moved towards the hole, letting his legs dangle on the edge.

"If I fail, should I just jump? For sure, the Commander will suspect me. I don't think the pardon will cover this kind of crime."

As he was talking to himself, Aectaeon's hands reached for the keypad once more. He began to fill in the blanks. Right at the moment he finished, the door was broken down. Soldiers scrambled to enter the room and collected whatever documents they could find in the Commander's office.

It was only after a whole minute when someone noticed Aectaeon. The Commander himself did. He couldn't recognize Aectaeon from the back alone, so he made his approach.

Stopping a meter away from Aectaeon, the Commander spoke.

"Who are you and what are you doing in my office?"

"I also don't know." Aectaeon responded, "Can you enlighten me instead?"

"What are you on about? Get out of my office now." The commander said as he looked around the room.

The instant he spotted the fire kit on the other side, his eyebrows furrowed. He returned his gaze at Aectaeon forthwith.

"Perhaps, are you the one who started the fire?" The Commander queried as he took a step towards Aectaeon. He grabbed the man's collar, but he was disregarded.

Aectaeon merely gazed at the panel, humming as he did so.

'Should I submit it? But I can't see any other answer than this. I haven't encountered a game with this title. Maybe it's from another world.'

Seeing that Aectaeon didn't want to pay him any heed, the Commander let go. He then motioned for a couple of his soldiers to come near him.

"Capture this man and interrogate him. He might be the cause of this fire."

The soldiers gave him a salute and immediately approached Aectaeon. The man promptly raised his hands before they could even grab him.

"I will go with you willingly. But first, I have something to do."

The Commander nodded his head at the soldiers, so they stepped back. Aectaeon proceeded to lower his hands as he heaved a heavy sigh.

His gaze remained on the panel, thinking once more if his answer was the right one.

'If I get this right, it's a first timer's luck. If I get this wrong, it's a first-timer's misfortune.'

A smile crawled up his lips as he looked at the sky. Unfortunately, it was already covered with the smoke coming from the fire. Still, Aectaeon was satisfied.

"Either way, I'm still doomed. I won't be able to go back to Earth with just this." He muttered to himself, tapping on the submit icon thereafter.

[[ Are you sure you would like to submit? ]]

[[ Yes ]] [[ No ]]

Aectaeon wasted no second tapping the 'Yes' icon.

[[ Player Igor Vali's Submission Acknowledged ]]

[[ S E C R E T    O P S : O P E R A T I O N    M E G A L O D O N ]]