The Master had suddenly vanished.

"—Did he sneak away?"

Ai Shiping looked to Ming Po for confirmation. "Or did he never come in at all?"

"No, I saw him come in for sure—"

Ming Po frowned slightly.

The chat seemed to verify this point as well.

Ai Shiping lowered his voice, artificially creating a horror atmosphere, and whispered, "Did he go out again?"

"Probably not."

Ming Po shook his head.

"Really?"

Ai Shiping's brow furrowed, his voice trembling slightly. "He couldn't have been—taken by something, right?"

Ming Po didn't answer.

He glanced at Ai Shiping, who was getting more and more into character, and found it a bit hard to bear.

In truth, Ming Po's own acting skills were quite exceptional.

He had always used acting to conceal his barbarism, madness, and aggression.

That was why he looked so much like a calm, lethargic scholar or researcher.

For instance, during the Preliminary Match, Ming Po had been able to completely hide his inner hostility.

At that time, Ming Po hadn't yet returned to his Anchor Point, hadn't slowly recalled his memories upon seeing those things, nor realized the meaning of his survival. His anger and madness had been at their absolute peak, to the point where he entirely disregarded his own life and death.

Now, however, that chaotic fury had been smoothed over significantly.

Perhaps it was because Gao Fan and Ai Shiping were both good companions, and Chen Bingwen, along with the other two from the previous game, were fine young men. Just watching the light of humanity radiating from them was enough to make Ming Po feel slightly healed.

Of course, it might also just be because taking out Lin Ya had slightly calmed the restlessness in his heart.

But still...

Perhaps it was because he had an acquaintance right beside him that Ming Po felt a little embarrassed.

Putting on a persona that someone who knew you intimately was entirely unfamiliar with—it felt exactly like telling your parents your internet handle, or singing and dancing for a crowd of relatives at a family gathering.

Yet, this guy Ai Shiping acted like he had absolutely no sense of shame.

Even with Ming Po staring at him from behind, his performance aligned more and more with the streamer persona introduced in the plot.

He was frivolous, exaggerated, tacky, and even deliberately acted stupid just to bait the chat.

Well, whatever.

As the streamer in the foreground, the more active he was, the more reason Ming Po had to remain silent.

He just felt it was far too stupid.

It was like when a friend started acting crazy on the street; all you wanted to do was keep a straight face and walk stiffly beside them, terrified that passersby might think you two were together.

For Ai Shiping, however, Ming Po's reaction seemed to be part of the fun.

Seeing Ming Po keep his mouth shut and refuse to play along, Ai Shiping laughed silently and wildly before his expression grew a bit more serious.

He moved his phone a little further away and whispered to Ming Po, "If there really are three people—should we randomly eliminate one first after going in?"

Although his wording was vague, Ming Po knew exactly what he meant.

After all, they had to maintain their streamer personas and couldn't blatantly discuss things outside of their characters.

If it were Ming Po, he wouldn't have brought it up at all.

In Ming Po's eyes, Ai Shiping's vaguely worded question in front of the camera was already bordering on breaking character.

Therefore, Ming Po didn't answer him, simply shooting him a warning look.

"Let's ignore him for now."

Ming Po said softly, "At least our things are still here."

"True."

Ai Shiping knew when to stop and readily accepted the advice.

He pulled a shiny silver piece of gum from his pocket and looked at Ming Po. "Want a piece of gum?"

Without a doubt, this was a hint.

Ming Po realized this was Ai Shiping reminding him that the Treasure they had brought in could be used.

He stealthily reached into his own pocket and, sure enough, found two pieces of gum inside.

Aside from that, there were a few extra surprises.

Ming Po was astonished to realize that even though he wasn't wearing the clothes he had on in reality—

His pockets actually contained his screwdriver and wrench.

"No need, I have my own."

Ming Po took the two pieces of gum out of his pocket, signaling that he had received the hint.

But as he looked at the gum, a few lines of text suddenly appeared above it:

[Tension Gum (2/5)]

[Type: Treasure, Consumable]

[Effect: Each time this gum is chewed, gain "Transcendent Chronosense LV1" for the next three seconds.]

[Restrictions: This effect can be triggered a maximum of sixty times; it loses all effects ten minutes after it is first placed in the mouth; the gum must be used entirely to take effect; each piece of gum can only affect one person; once the gum is used, it loses all effects immediately upon leaving the mouth.]

[Description: An unpackaged piece of chewing gum, printed with a lightning bolt symbol.]

—Is this the passive effect of the Detective Title?

This was the first time Ming Po had triggered this effect.

He was certain he had handled this piece of gum in reality, and absolutely no subtitles had appeared over it then.

Unlike Werewolf and Frankenstein, this effect didn't seem to work in the Material Realm.

—No, that's wrong.

Ming Po's Thought Speed was noticeably faster than before—so the moment this idea surfaced, he immediately rejected it.

Actually, it was hard to say.

After all, Ming Po had never used the true passive effect of Frankenstein in reality, either.

Its passive effect allowed Ming Po to use his own or others' body parts to heal severed limbs—in a way, this Title was actually a healer Title. It was just that Ming Po had never once used this effect.

And as for the Werewolf's passive effects, Ming Po hadn't tested the one that increased wound healing speed either.

However, the effects that simply increased attributes definitely took effect the moment they were equipped.

—If that were the case, then it was possible that the passive effects of Titles simply couldn't be triggered in the Material Realm.

Right now.

Ming Po had only just taken out the piece of gum to show Ai Shiping.

"Don't eat it yet. It sounds terrible when you talk while chewing gum. Can't a big streamer like you pay a little attention to your image?"

He used a method that wouldn't break his character to hint to Ai Shiping that he shouldn't eat it yet.

The effect of the Tension Gum that Ai Shiping had told him about earlier wasn't entirely accurate—this thing didn't only last for three minutes. If used slowly, it could actually last for ten minutes.

If they took turns using these three pieces of gum, they could probably keep the effect active the entire time.

After the Master's sudden disappearance, Ming Po had finally gotten serious.

He didn't want himself or Ai Shiping to end up like that guy, vanishing the moment they turned their heads.

Did he think he was Batman?