Chapter 9 Mysterious Map
Everyone felt that everything was too fishy.
"Brother Bho, does this town have the capabilities and funds for having a Challenger Hall?"
"Unlikely. But if they do, then it means that there are some hidden forces in this town that we aren't aware of. After all, not just anyone can open up a challenger hall."
"Hmm... You're right. And judging from the punishment rules, it looks like the people behind it are powerful."
"I agree. But still, the prices are too much, right? Who would pay that amount for a single hour?
They are clearly trying to rip these people off!" Yan Jin added.
"That's also another possibility. Maybe these townsfolk haven't been to bigger cities before, so they don't know that they're losing money to these people. How about this? It'll be open tomorrow.”
“You're right. In that case, we’ll know whether it's a scam or not. I'm interested in seeing what this Gaming Hall has to offer. And if they can't satisfy us after taking our money, we'll make our move on them."
"Hmmm. Worst comes to it, we can always use the escape talismans Master gave us."
"That's right. Tomorrow, we'll see what tricks they have up their sleeves. But brothers, the board said that we must have membership cards if we want to participate in the games."
"Membership Cards? What's that?"
"I have no idea. But, there are instructions here on the box.”
<Park Maps. Insert hand to receive Map>
Eh?
"This... Do you think it's a trap?"
(°^°!)
.
The trio looked at the box as if trying to laser its contents.
Who could blame them?
Apart from being very skeptical, they were also anxious as well.
They even crouched down and tried sending in their swords or weapons.
But for some reason, it didn't even go in.
Could there be a barrier around the home that only recognizes flesh?
Did such a thing even exist?
They shook their heads at the silliness of their thoughts.
But the more they thought about it, why did it seem to be the case?
They were all very perplexed now.
Should they put their hands in there and try their luck?
But wasn't that scary?
Who knows if something on the other side would bite or slice off their hands?
What to do, what to do.
They shuddered when picturing themselves losing their hands.
Should they, or should they not do it?
Bho Su thought for a while before taking a deep breath and calmly putting his hand in the strange box attached to the building's front wall.
Here goes nothing.
"Brothers, if they dared to do this, they won't do anything to us."
And just as he finished talking, something dropped in his hands, secretly startling him.
Of course, he still showed his brothers his heroic confident look.
But his heart almost gave way just now.
The box was attached to the building and had a hole, asking people to send their hands in.
No one could see what happens to the hands once it's in the hole.
So no matter how confident he was in his analysis, there was a part of him that was still scared of having his hand sliced or bitten off.
Bho Su pulled out his hand and sighed in relief.
His face was calm, but his brain was a party, dancing around in glee.
He was right!
They wouldn't do anything to them since they dared publicly put this box out for all to see.
They were worrying over nothing.
At least the people behind this strange place had some common sense.
Now, it was time to take a closer look at the map.
Eh?
--silence--
Everyone froze the moment Bho Su unfolded the map.
(0∆0)
Eh?
What were their eyeballs seeing?
.
The moment the map was opened, it made a mysterious magical sound that made them feel like they were looking at a priceless object.
~Hoaaaaaaawwww~~~
The epic sound lasted for 5 seconds.
And while the music played, a very bright light shone from within the map, almost blinding them.
The f***?
Everyone closed their eyes and looked away with one of their hands blocking their faces.
~~Hoaaaaaaah!~~
The music came to an end, and the light dimed.
Soon, everything became clear, and the map seemed to have a life of its own.
Bho Su's heart almost leaped out of his chest.
What sort of magical map were they looking at?
His eyes gleamed with excitement and expectations.
Suddenly, something strange happened.
On the empty map, several words slowly popped out word-for-word writing.
[Welcome to Wenji Entertainment Park, Mr. Bho Su.]
What?
Bho Su was so shocked that he almost dropped the map in fright.
Did the map just mention his name?
How did it know who he was?!!
There were artifacts inscribed with rune markings on them that could detect a cultivator's true age, cultivation level, and so on
But one that could know their names, without the individual registering one's name, didn't exist!
In essence, Runes were unique markings that needed time and dedication to master and can be written on Talismans, Charms, inscribing on knives, and other objects... all of which invoked or gathered qi for specific uses.
And an Array was just a magical circle done with the use of Runes.
Of course, Formations were typically 5 or more large Arrays (magic circles) in different orientations... And the larger Runes within each Array were generally used as Formation Points.
In short, Runes were the key to it all.
And at times, some runes could be hidden while others remained visible.
In fact, Bho Su's sect badge had no visible name on it.
But if he took it back to the sect, they would be able to know that it was his.
His sect badge has a particular rune inscribed by the Sect that registered his identity.
But this was only done after he passed the entrance examination and had his information recorded.
This was the case for all Sect members.
How would the elders and sect officials know who was who without recording their information first?
He was a little famous since he came from a big clan.
So they might've already known about him, but what about others who came from ordinary backgrounds?
Everything was recorded during the entrance examination before having their identities inscribed on the badges.
But in this case, he didn't do any of these.
So how did the map know his name?
And how could it start communicating and writing out things on its own?
Was this a soul artifact of a fallen immortal that accidentally dropped to the Lower realm?
More importantly, how could the owners of this building give out such a treasure for free?
Were they crazy?
What the hell were they thinking?
.
Bho Su's hands trembled as he watched the words appear magically, line by line.
[A word of caution, Mr. Bho.
This map will belong to you for just a day.
And after that, it will vanish.
But if you want to keep it forever, you'll have to get a membership card.
To activate the map, all you have to do is say the word <activate>.
You can do so either verbally or through your mind.
Once more, welcome to the Wenji Entertainment Park, Mr. Su.]
('0')
What?
He could communicate with the map using his mind?