"No need," Penguin Helper replied.

Tomi coldly added, "How many times do I have to tell you? Kumakichi-kun is completely different from us. He doesn't have the ability to see through dimensions, nor does he have the intelligence we possess. In fact... he can't even follow logic and common sense in the general sense. He's just a pervert who was born to be set as... constantly committing crimes, constantly confessing, and constantly being arrested again."

"That's right." Penguin Helper continued, "We just led him into the alley, scared him away with the fake corpse and prop blood we had prepared in advance, and then I shouted." He looked at Xiao Tan, "Your performance in this incident surprised me quite a bit. I thought you were just another guy's sidekick, but... your reasoning was quite impressive, and about seventy percent of it matched the facts."

Xiao Tan didn't feel happy at all when he heard the praise. Because he was afraid of saying the wrong thing, he didn't respond, and he kept his expression as unchanged as possible, but... he thought to himself, "That forced reasoning to help Kumakichi get away with the crime... actually coincided with the actual situation?"

"After creating the illusion of Penguin Helper's death, we observed you for three days." After a few seconds, Tomi continued, "During these three days, Kumakichi was quite well-behaved and didn't commit any crimes. And Neko Saburo and Hayabusa Taro didn't show any more abnormalities. So... we conducted another crucial test..."

"You let the already dead Penguin Helper appear in front of Neko Saburo and Hayabusa Taro..." Feng Bujue interrupted before Tomi could reveal the answer, "...is that right?"

"Hmph..." Tomi snorted, which was considered an affirmation of Jue-ge's reasoning, "In short... after that, the fact that you were 'high-dimensional controllers' was basically verified."

"Next, we temporarily stood still." Penguin Helper continued, "Following Tomi-chan's 'retreating to advance' strategy, we tolerated your behavior and observed your patterns of action in order to speculate on your purpose and identity."

"Jue-ge... at that time..." At this moment, Xiao Tan thought of something and called out to Feng Bujue.

"Ah... I know." Feng Bujue knew what Xiao Tan was going to say before he even opened his mouth, so he replied directly, "The real purpose of the system suddenly arranging side quests for us... was actually to disrupt the investigation of these NPCs."

"To change the time period in which we controlled Neko Saburo and Hayabusa Taro, so that we could obtain more information..." Xiao Tan continued.

"Unfortunately... we didn't even have a concept of these situations at the time." Feng Bujue responded in a low voice, "If we had been slightly aware, we could have conducted multiple counter-tests during the outing..."

"Ah... to think of these things now..." Xiao Tan sighed, "It seems like we're being a bit of a hindsight expert..."

He was right, it was no longer meaningful to discuss these things at this moment.

"Well... we're about to get to the main point." Penguin Helper said, "That is... the 'Phantom Thief BeArs_eye incident'..."

"That incident was indeed committed by Kumakichi himself." Tomi said, "The crime announcement card was written by him, and the identity of BeArs_eye is also obvious."

"When you were talking to Kumakichi in the school toilet, I was hiding in the innermost cubicle of the toilet, standing on the toilet lid." Penguin Helper said, "I heard all of your conversation."

"After school, Penguin Helper found me and quickly formulated a plan." Tomi said, "In this plan... we asked Hirata-kun to help."

"I guessed that much..." Feng Bujue said, "With just you two elementary school students, it's impossible to mobilize so many police forces and arrange such a grand scene, just to catch a few panty thieves..."

"I can interfere with the thinking of those extra characters to a certain extent." Hirata explained in a timely manner, "And Inu no Suké... is just an extra."

"That night..." A second later, Tomi continued, "Your reactions when you were surrounded by the police confirmed that... you are definitely not 'readers', 'viewers', or 'time-travelers'; you two have a clear, but illogical purpose—to prevent Kumakichi-kun from being arrested at all costs, and to reduce his guilt when you are powerless to do so."

Penguin Helper said, "This characteristic is completely consistent with the 'players' we know."

Tomi continued, "Plus your intermittent control over Neko Saburo and Hayabusa Taro... we understood... your mission is to constantly appear in the plot where Kumakichi is about to be arrested, and prevent him from being arrested."

"Our investigation into you has come to an end." As Hirata said this, he approached the two players unhurriedly, "In the days that followed, Tomi continued to pretend that she didn't know anything, and played her role in a conventional way, revolving around Kumakichi... and interacting with you."

"Of course, since we decided to take a step back to move forward..." Tomi interjected, "...I naturally let the water go on purpose." She spread her hands and shook her head, "Otherwise... Kumakichi would have been arrested every time, and it would have been useless no matter what you said."

"And I... have been secretly responsible for monitoring you." Penguin Helper said, "In order to test whether the previously observed 'control time period' rule was completely correct."

"When everything was ready..." Hirata continued, "I... brought you here."

"Hmm..." Xiao Tan was covered in cold sweat when he heard this, and he whispered to Jue-ge, "In this way... before we came here, the last side quest... was the 'ultimate hint' that the system gave us..."

"Yes." Feng Bujue responded, "The system gave us a whole morning to think... but I... didn't expect it..."

"Even after that side quest was completed, the system didn't give up. It used a scene transition to remind us that the next main quest was the last chance to see through these NPCs..." Xiao Tan continued.

"I'm really ashamed..." Feng Bujue pondered, "Familiarity with the script world has become a burden instead... If someone who doesn't know much about *Hiyori* had been assigned to play this scenario, they might have noticed something sooner..."

Their sighs couldn't change anything, and at this time, the man who had mastered everything was...

"In this world, Hirata-kun's ability is unmatched." Tomi said.

"He has been preparing for a long time, and unless there is external intervention, you will never be able to escape from here." Penguin Helper also said.

"Those players who came to this world before let me know that... 'you' can 'force quit', so I'm fearless." Hirata glared at the two of them and sneered, "Hehe... that's why I prepared for so long..."

Before he finished speaking, Feng Bujue had vigilantly opened the game menu and tried the option to forcibly exit the scenario, but...

[Operation Failed]

The system voice announced an extremely terrible thing.

In the same second, Xiao Tan saw the slight change in Jue-ge's expression and instantly realized something. They were indeed in sync, and Xiao Tan also summoned the game menu in the next second and silently tried to force quit...

[Operation Failed]

The same prompt entered Wang Tanzhi's ears.

"I see..." Feng Bujue was silent for a moment, then looked up at the three NPCs and said, "That's why... after the Phantom Thief BeArs_eye incident, you waited so long before bringing us here."

[Main Quest has been changed] As he spoke, the system prompt came again.

Jue-ge and Xiao Tan both quickly glanced at the taskbar... but saw that [Find a way to hide your 'player' identity before the end of the scenario.] had been erased, and replaced with [Leave the game pod].

"Hehe... System-kun has worked hard too..." Feng Bujue could actually still laugh, "Is this considered a forced change of the quest..."

"Jue-ge..." But Wang Tanzhi's expression was extremely serious, "This... should be the most terrifying quest I've ever encountered since I started playing..."

Now that things had come to this, they had no scruples when talking.

"Leave the game pod... that's easier said than done..." Feng Bujue said, "We're gaming in sleep mode, and it's hard to wake up on our own without disconnecting the neural connection." He touched his chin and muttered, "If we want to disconnect the connection with the power of the real world... unless someone opens the game pod from the outside, or something happens to us physiologically... such as being in a hurry to go to the toilet, or experiencing obvious discomfort such as pain or itching in the body to a certain extent..."

"Then it seems like there's no hope..." Xiao Tan continued.

"Yes..." Feng Bujue replied, and looked at Hirata again, "Hirata-kun, you are indeed very powerful... In your 'domain', even the 'system' of our world cannot compete with your abilities." He shrugged, "I know a few guys who can make the system 'unable to force disconnect'... but they only exist in the data layer of *Thriller Paradise* itself. But you are different... in your own dimension, you forcibly suppressed two high-dimensional spiritual entities."

"Heh..." Hirata sneered, "Flattery is useless, accept your fate..." His killing intent suddenly bloomed as if it were a substance, "I will let you two so-called 'players', so-called 'high-dimensional creatures'... also experience the feeling of having your minds manipulated by others. After being hit by my Consciousness_attack, when you wake up from your own world... you will either become mentally deranged madmen, or drooling idiots..." He laughed strangely, "Hahaha... wouldn't that make a perfect comedy duo? Hahahaha..."

After laughing for a while, he suddenly had a fierce look and shouted, "Get back to your own dimension! Go act out some goddamn gag manga!"

At this point, Hirata seemed to be ready to take action, but...

"Hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo hoo~" A lewd laughter came from the sky.

"Oh... it's finally here..." Feng Bujue smiled in relief, "Heh... I thought we were done for."

"Wh... what's going on?" Xiao Tan's expression changed from surprise to doubt, and he was confused.

Feng Bujue, with a smile on his face, said to Hirata, Tomi, and Penguin Helper: "You... have all oversimplified a 'person'."