Disclaimer: I own nothing of the properties within this story. All rights go to the creators and companies of said properties.
Beta by Slothful and Old man of the mountain
Chapter 1: On the Scene
There are several ways for one to enjoy the hobby of video games. Some like the stories of Japanese Role-Playing Games or watching their number increase. Some take pleasure from moment-to-moment gameplay in Fighting and Online Multiplayer Shooter games.
As for myself, I enjoy Mystery/Detective games. Especially those with a supernatural and horror element.
Whenever I solve a difficult puzzle in-game, I probably experience similar feelings to people who had gotten a high kill streak in a ranked match. I don't know why I like Mystery games as much as I do. Unlike other games, once you beat a Mystery game, there is nothing more. You already know the answers so you can't replay them unless you don't touch the games for years. And even then you can remember the solution.
I guess that's why I'm so addicted to this game.
It is a constantly updating Murder Mystery game, with each update bringing several new cases with increased difficulty. The game also spotlights whoever solves the case first, making it a race for us mystery fans to test their mental fortitude against each other. And the best part? It was free.
Sadly, all good things must come to an end. The game's creator announced the latest update will also be the last. But it wasn't all bad news, as he also announced that the update would be his magnum opus. He challenged us players to solve his greatest mystery and promised a special prize to whoever solved it.
Several people speculated about the prize. Some think the creator plans to make another mystery game, and the winner will be used as the basis for the game's protagonist. Others believe the creator will bring the winner on board to help design future cases. Others thought maybe the winner would get something like a gift card.
However, the prize didn't matter. What mattered was the bragging rights—to be the one who could say they solved it before anyone else could.
And because I wanted that person to be me, I took time off from work, using all my vacation days. The last time I was outside was when I bought drinks and snacks, and that was weeks ago. Outside of things like sleeping, eating, and bathing, I have been glued to my computer, racking my brain for the solution to this puzzle. I don't know how many days I have left of my vacation, but I should be okay.
Oh. My vacation ended. Over two weeks ago.
Well, I guess I'm unemployed. Thankfully, I have enough money in my bank account to last a few months. Besides, it will all be worth it in the end.
I know the answer.
I won't lie. I'm doubtful that I've reached the answer on my own. The cases of this game range immensely. Worlds where magic was real. Worlds where technology has advanced far beyond our own. Worlds with ghosts and demons. Worlds with aliens with unique abilities. The creator made countless worlds and settings to increase the difficulty of his game's mysteries.
And the creator's magnum opus uses all of them.
I'm positive that Knox is rolling in his grave as we speak.
But we players had a server where we could discuss the mysteries and share theories, all while being careful not to share too much. At first, thousands of us were thinking about the solution to this mystery, but that number began to drop after the first week, and now there are probably ten people left on the server, including me. But thankfully, before they left and quit the game, they shared where they went wrong, which helped me tremendously.
By knowing which clues or paths were red herrings, I began to see the truth.
Who would have thought the murder was a suicide?
It was something so simple, but we all overlooked it because the hundreds of earlier cases were all murders. Some may call it a cheap trick, but I can respect it. The creator challenged us, his players, and we all assumed it was another murder. The creator played us all for almost a month and a half now because we were so focused on the case being a murder case.
I type down my answer and press enter, receiving a small textbox with the words you cracked the case. To some, it would piss them off after putting so much work in, I did lose my job and probably damaged my health for this, but to me, it was amazing. My body slumps back into my chair, my tired brain overloading with dopamine. I think it's time for me to take a nap. I deserve it.
However, just as I was about to get up from my desk chair, my PC's screen turned black. Shit. Don't tell me my PC just crashed.
I lean down to examine my PC's tower, only for my vision to darken. I guess the days with minimum sleep and living on nothing but take-out and instant noodles are finally catching up to me.
As my face was about to have a very intimate meeting with the floor, my vision turned completely black.
Congratulations! You're selected to be the user of the Detective System.
Plus begin Character Customization
Character Creation Balance: 1000 CC (Character Credits)
Stat Perks
[Strong Body (250 CC)] - A body fit to fight crime. Increase the growth rate of the STR stat.
[Light Frame (250 CC)] - A body with great speed and reflexes to match. Increase the growth rate of the DEX stat.
[Sturdy Mass (250 CC)] - You'll inevitably get hit. At least you can take it. Increase the growth rate of the CON stat.
[Heighten Intelligence (250 CC)] - A mind like yours only comes once every fifty years. Increase the growth rate of the INT stat.
[Pretty Face (250 CC)] - You have good facial structure. Increase the growth rate of the CHA stat.
Perks
[Detective Vision (50 CC)] - You have a fine eye for details and easily spot things most people overlook.
[Human Lie Detector (50 CC)] - You can tell when someone is lying to you, though some lies can slip through the cracks.
[Silver Tongue (50 CC)] - You know your way around words, being able to lie as if it were second nature. You also gain a silky voice.
[Master of Unlocking (50 CC)] - No lock can keep you out.
[Rabbit's Foot (100 CC)] - Lucky you! You have Lady Luck's favor!
[Occult Knowledge (100 CC)] - You know things you shouldn't.
[Deep Pockets (100 CC)] - Expand your inventory.
[Nice Office (100 CC)] - Every detective needs an office. It also doubles as a living space. You can spend another 100 CC on upgrading to a larger office. You can spend a total of 300 CC on this perk.
[Master of Trades (100 CC)] - You can quickly pick up tricks and trades.
[Weapon Mastery (100 CC)] - You're decently skilled with any weapon you pick up.
[Spiritual Arts (100 CC)] - You have a unique skill set.
[Medical Knowledge (100 CC)] - You have basic knowledge of the human body.
[Criminal Ties (100 CC)] - You have a friend with connections in some not-so-legal practices.
[Your own Watson (100 CC)] - Every good detective needs a partner.
[Upgrades (300 CC)] - Flesh is weak. It's time to Chrome.
[Schnee Gene (300 CC)] - You are the bastard son of the Schnee family.
[Silver Eyes (600 CC)] - You have silver eyes.
[Detective's Privilege (1000 CC)] - People answer any of your questions honestly. The People won't stop you from entering a crime scene or walking into the evidence room. You can't use this power to ask who the culprit is.
You can earn CC by taking a debuff or challenge. You can remove debuffs by completing a quest.
[Frail Body (+100 CC)] - You have trouble gaining muscles. Halves the growth of your STR stat.
[Two Left Feet (+100 CC)] - You trip over nothing. Halves the growth of your DEX stat.
[Hollow Bones (+100 CC)] - Your bones break easily. Halves the growth of your Con stat.
[Empty Skull (+100 CC)] - Huh. There is a little clapping monkey inside there. Halves the growth of your INT stat.
[Elephant Man (+100 CC)] - Here. Wear this sack. Your face hurts my eyes. Halves the growth rate of your CHA stat.
[Bad First Day (+50 CC)] - Your first day in your new world isn't one to be envied.
[They Are Here (+50 CC)] - Adds supernatural entities to your world.
[A Detective's Vice (+100 CC)] - Every great detective has a vice, ranging from sweets to cocaine. Gain a random vice.
[Little Sister Big Problems (+100 CC)] - You have a long-lost little sister who might be slightly unstable. As her big brother, she's your responsibility.
[Mystery Pervert (+100 CC)] - You can't resist a good mystery.
[Tool Malfunction (+100CC)] - A specific tool of yours doesn't seem to work. Gain the trait [Impotence].
[Craze Killer (+100CC)] - A crazed killer has been unleashed in your world. Only you can stop them.
[They're Interested (+300 CC)] - You managed to gain the interest of three killer ghosts. Requires [They Are Here].
[I'm Never Wrong! (+300 CC)] - The very idea of being wrong is torture to you. You would rather tear off your nails with your teeth than admit you're wrong.
[Only The Truth Matters (+300 CC)] - You only care about the truth. You don't care about what methods you have to use or what you have to do. You must find the truth.
What the hell is this? Floating text-boxes? Character Customization? How hard did I land on my head for my brain to think up this?
I looked around but there was nothing but a black void. Perhaps this is some weird dream my sleep-deprived cooked up. It isn't the first time I had a crazy dream that makes no sense.
I examine the perks, debating which ones are worth it or not. And honestly, a lot of them are good. I don't know why having silver eyes or being a bastard child of some family is worth so much. I want [Detective's Privilege] but it's too pricy. It sets solving mysteries to easy mode. I can get four of the five stat perks and all of the other perks, besides [Schnee Gene], [Silver Eyes], and [Detective's Privilege], if I take all of the downsides and one stat debuff. [I'm Never Wrong] will be annoying, but I can simply hold off making any theories or claims until I get all the needed evidence. [A Detective's Vice] is risky because I could end up with a drug addiction. But if Sherlock can be addicted to cocaine and be considered the world's greatest detective, then so can I. After a while, I decided to take the [Frail Body] debuff. You can't be a good detective if you have a rock for a brain. Charisma is also important for a detective, sometimes even more important than intelligence. And if I do end up in a fight, hopefully, a high dexterity and constitution stat offset my low strength stat.
[A Detective's Vice - Women] - You're a sucker for pretty faces, making you easy prey for femme fatales.
[Wind Weaving (Beginner)] - You can use the air around you as a weapon. You can also use wind ether in place of wind. You can gain wind ether by destroying wind-associated items and devices, such as fans and AC units.
[Wind Bullet] - Fast, but weak, wind blast.
[Water Weaving (Beginner)] - You can use the water around you as a weapon. You can use water ether in the place of water. You can gain water ether by destroying water-associated items and devices, such as water tanks and watercoolers.
[Water Disc] - Fire a wide, razor-sharp disc of water.
[Fire Weaving (Beginner)] - You can use fire around you as a weapon. You can use fire ether in place of fire. You can gain fire ether by destroying fire-associated items and devices, such as fuel tanks and engines.
Name: Beige Graves
Rank: No-name street detective
Strength (STR): F-
Dexterity (DEX): E+
Constitution (CON): E+
Intelligence (INT): E+
Charisma (CHA): E+
E? How good is an E rank?
Ranks are dictated on a letter scale, with F- being the lowest. F- is followed by F+, F, E-, etc.
I finished creating my character. Now what? Do I just drop in?
Instead of answering me, the textbox fades. Fuck you too.
Shortly after the textbox faded, a dull pain rang throughout my body.
"..re ..u ..y?" A muffled voice rings out from the voice. "Ca.. u ..ar me?" the voice asks, sounding slightly clearer. While the voice becomes more understandable, the pain my body is in intensifies.
"Can you hear me?!" the voice yells. I let out a painful groan as I opened my eyes. The voice owner was a woman, who appeared to be in her early to mid-twenties. Her yellow eyes were full of concern. The woman has gray hair, but I wasn't that focused on her hair color.
I was more focused on the fact she has cat ears.
Before I can ask what is going on, another ping of pain runs through my body. My vision begins to darken again.
"What happened to you?! Hey! Stay with me!" the woman yells, probably noticing me blacking out again.
But it was no use, as my world turned black again.
{Unknown amount of time later}
I groan as I open my eyes, blinded by the bright fluorescent light. Despite my body yelling at me not to move, I push myself into a sitting position, trying to figure out where I am.
I'm not in a hospital, that's for sure unless hospitals here put patients on old strained sofas.
The sofa isn't the only thing needing to be replaced or fixed. There were several mysterious stains and cracks on the walls, a coffee table held up by duct tape and books with some items on it, and a TV that looked older than me. I turn my head around, pain flaring, as I spot a tiny kitchen with a sink overflowing with dirty dishes, more stained walls, and a patch of what looks to be mold.
I still don't know where I am, but I know one thing.
This place is a dump.
I left my shirt, seeing several nasty-looking bruises forming on my chest and stomach and some cuts, but nothing that points to me having my kidneys robbed.
"Oh. You're finally up." a voice rings out, causing me to turn to it out of reaction, which causes me to wince from more pain. It was the cat-eared woman from earlier, but now I have a better look at her.
She has a gray cat tail wagging behind her. She's also wearing a long-sleeve white blouse, black leggings that reach her mid-thigh, and shorts that leave very little to the imagination.
"Here. These should help with the pain." the woman said as she handed me a bottle of painkillers. "I will get you something to drink." The woman walks off. As she walked away, my eyes focused on two things. One was the woman's tail, which was attached to the base of her spine, telling me it was real and wasn't some fancy prop. The second was her ass.
My eyes were glued to the slightly jiggling cheeks, watching them lightly bounce with each step and when the woman bent over to open a mini-fridge. I had never been that interested in sex before, mainly because I saw dating was more trouble than it was worth. Perhaps this was the effect of my vice. The woman is attractive. She can put most of the models I have seen online to shame.
"You got something to say?" The woman asks, sounding slightly annoyed. I guess my staring was a little too blatant.
"I was wondering why you have cat ears and a tail," I said honestly. I mean, I was wondering why she has those traits.
The cat-eared woman rolls her eyes in clear annoyance. "Because I'm a Faunus. Smartass."
"The hell is a Faunus?" I asked, earning a more annoyed glare.
After a couple of seconds of tense silence, the woman's eyes widen. "You aren't joking, are you?" My silence gives her my answer, causing her to sigh. "I guess your head turma was worse than I thought."
"Speaking about my injured self, what happened to me, and why didn't you take me to a hospital or call the cops?" I ask. "Also, what is your name? I'm Beige Graves." I said casually. I know it wasn't my original name, but I can't remember it so I have to roll with it.
"Silver Josef. I don't know what happened to you, but I'm guessing you got jumped by some brats wanting to mug you. I just heard some noises and thought someone needed help, by the time I reached the scene, you were on the ground, beaten to a pulp. The cops that make patrols here are sometimes worse than the thugs on the street. And you're better off with me treating you as the closest doctor is a drunk that would rip you off. That's if he doesn't kill you in the process." Silver explains, handing me a bottle of water, which I took.
I took Silver's explanation with a grain of salt, but I have nothing else about this world to go on, so for now, I will take her words as the truth.
I open the bottle of pills, pour a palmful into my mouth, and shove them into my mouth, taking a big gulp of water to help me swallow them. I set the bottles down on the coffee table, worrying that the weight of the objects would cause the table to give.
"Do you mind if I ask you some questions, Silver?" I ask, watching Silver open a Coke can and take a sip.
"Sure, not like I can leave you alone as is. You would be easy pickings for some low-life thugs." Silver bluntly states. She isn't wrong, but she could have worded it better.
"For starters, where am I?"
Silver lets out a snide chuckle. "You're in Vale. The place where so many children dream of going so they can enter Beacon and become Huntsmen or Huntresses, like yours truly."
"What are Huntsmen and Huntresses?"
"People who trained all their lives to become the first line of defense against the endless horde of Grimm."
"And Grimm?"
"Perhaps we should take you to a hospital." Silver chuckles, making me roll my eyes. "Grimm are monsters without souls. Usually, they look like bears or wolves with black fur, red eyes, bone masks, and spikes. There are other kinds of Grimm, but those are the most common."
"Are you a huntress?" I ask.
Silver stops drinking her soda, and her grip on the can tightens, denting the can. I guess I shouldn't have asked that.
"No. I retired from the Huntsman business a few years ago. Now, I'm jumping from one part-time job to another, barely scraping by." Silver said.
While I could tell there was more to the story, I decided it was better to stay quiet. My social skills are shit, but even I can tell I'm approaching dangerous and sensitive territory.
"Oh. I almost forgot. These belong to you." Silver said, pointing at a black wallet, a decorative key, and some white card with a yellow diamond in the center. So those were my belongings. "I doubt it's everything, but it's all I can find."
I groan as I reach out to the wallet, opening it to see a diver's license, an old photo of a young brown-haired boy being hugged by a little girl with black hair in the style of short twin-tails, and what best can be described as a smug smile. I open the wallet's folds, greeted by the sight of it empty.
"Seems I was mugged. That or I'm broke." I joked.
Silver chuckles slightly. "Aren't we all? Though, I'm surprised they didn't take your scroll. Maybe they heard me closing in on them and decided the risk wasn't worth it."
I guess this white thing is my scroll. Whatever that means.
"Mind showing me how it works?"
"Press the center button, and it should open as long it isn't broken. Push the button again to put it in standby mode." Silver said.
Following Silver's instructions, I pushed the yellow button, causing the device to expand, taking on a similar shape to a smartphone. So scrolls are this world's version of phones. I pocketed my wallet and scroll, grabbing the last item on the table, the key.
The key is a skeleton key with a loop at the end, the space filled with what looks like stained glass.
[Office Key] - A magical key connecting you to your office. Insert the key into a door knob or handle, regardless if the handle or knob has a keyhole or not, to make a portal to your office. Should the key be lost, damaged, or stolen, it will respawn in your inventory.
That's nice. At least I don't have to worry about shelter now. Any door leads to my office/house. I need to check out my office when I get a moment alone.
"Thank you for looking after me, but I should be on my way," I said, forcing myself up.
"No. You are not. It's late and if you go out now, you will only get yourself jumped again. And I doubt you will be as lucky as last time. Besides, if I let you, someone who lacks basic knowledge that even kids have, outside where someone will take advantage of you, I wouldn't be able to sleep peacefully." Silver said, barring me from moving away from the couch. "You can send a night here. We can get you checked by a real doctor in the morning."
"Are you sure about that? I am some guy you just met. What if I'm some sort of sexual deviant? I'm not, but it's something you shouldn't be brushing aside."
Silver gives me a smirk. "Try grabbing me." Silver challenge. "Don't worry. I won't bite~" Silver teases, her arms wide open as if inviting me to hug her.
I approach the cat-eared woman, her smirk never leaving her face. "Okay…" I awkwardly said, grabbing Silver's arm. I don't know why she is doing th-
Why did everything turn upside down? I looked down—or up—to see my feet pointed at the ceiling.
"SHIT!" I yell as Silver ragdolls me, swinging me around like a parent would with their child. How strong is this woman? I'm probably four to five inches taller than her and more than thirty pounds heavier than her! How can she be so strong?!
Silver set me back on my feet, though my knees almost buckled from how dizzy I was.
"As you can see, I can defend myself~" Silver teases.
"I think I'm going to be sick." I groan, causing Silver to laugh.
"Now that we have gotten that taken care of, let me get you some pillows and a blanke-" Silver was interrupted as heavy slams against her door filled the run-down house. Silver's good mood quickly dies as she releases a heavy sigh.
Silver walks to the door where the slamming was coming from, with me closely behind her. Silver opens the door, revealing an older man. The man is small in stature, but I think it's more due to how severe his hunchback was. His hair is white, showing his age, but the crown of his head is completely bald. The man is wearing a white tank top and jeans, both stained. The man is developing a heavy case of Jaundice due to how yellow his skin is. He is also missing several teeth. The man doesn't take care of himself well. The man's lips set in a bitter frown. And his eyes show clear annoyance at the situation.
Something Silver's eyes replicate. "What do you want, old man?"
The man's eyes sharpened into a heated glare. "You're late on your rent."
"Bullshit. I paid it last week." Silver argues.
"Yes. But you were two-thousand lien short." the bitter man states.
"Couldn't you wait until morning to bother me about this?" Silver questions. After a few seconds, Silver sighs, walks to her kitchen, opens a drawer, and pulls out two red plastic cards. She walks back to the front door, holding the man what I was assuming to be the requested money, which the man snatched from her roughly.
"Don't be late next time, or I will evict you." The man threatens. The man glances at me before sighing in disappointment. "Why are young people these days wanting to fuck animals more than a pretty girl?" The man questions.
What?
Silver slammed the door after that comment, her face red in anger. Muffled yells about 'filthy animals' and 'fur lovers' come from the door but quickly die down.
"Fucking racist fuck." Silver mutters heatly.
"The hell was that about?" I ask, my confusion visible.
"He is the owner of the apartment block and a fucking racist. I'm positive he is upping my rent to bleed more money off me just because I'm a Faunus." Silver sighs.
"I'm guessing the 'fur lover' comment was for me," I state, getting a nod from Silver.
"Yeah. It's a derogatory term for humans who go out with Faunus. It and 'Humanity traitor' are quite popular for them." Silver explains in a tone that silently tells me she doesn't want to continue this conversation.
We stood in awkward silence for several seconds, but it felt longer. I want to break the tense silence, but I don't know how. What do you talk about after something like that?
Thankfully for Silver and me, someone else broke the silence for us; A gentle knocking sound echos out, filling the room. The knocking was so soft that I'm positive we wouldn't have heard it if we were talking.
Silver lets out an annoyed groan. "He's still here?! If the cops were better, I would have called them for harassment." Silver's hand reached out for the handle, but I grabbed her hand before she could.
"It isn't the landlord." I quickly said, causing Silver to raise a brow. "Think about it, do you honestly believe the landlord would be knocking gently? He was pounding the door moments ago." I reasoned.
Silver opened her mouth as if she was about to say something, only to close it and think about what I said. "Yeah. He wouldn't do that. The asshole would be beating the door, probably wanting to call me every slur in the book that he could think of." Silver said, drawing her hand back from the handle.
While we had our conversation, the knocking never stopped for a second. The rhythm never changes, much like a machine.
Silver approaches the door, peering through the peephole to see who was knocking.
"There's no one there." Silver said.
"Maybe someone left a recording of someone knocking? The landlord or someone else could have left a recorder or a similar device trying to spook you into leaving." I theorize. I don't know if the old landlord's behavior is part of this world's norm or if he is an exception.
"That's a possibility." Silver said. "But they made a mistake." Silver's hand grabs the handle. "If there is a recorder, they must have left their fingerprints all over it. I can use it to get the police to take my complaints seriously for once."
Silver opens the door violently, and the knocking stops. It was strange that the knocking stopped when Silver opened the door, but it could be the recording on the device finished simultaneously. It isn't impossible.
Besides, Silver was more concerned with finding the device than it stopped. Silver checked her mailbox next to her door and some potted plants but found nothing.
While Silver was searching, I noticed something on the ground.
"Hey. I found something." I told Silver, gaining her attention. I picked up what seemed to be a black postcard.
'Once Princess Kaguya returned to the moon, she said…
Lbamet's pboolay.
What does this mean?'
That is what the postcard says.
"What the hell does that mean?" Silver said.
"It is a word puzzle," I answered, causing Silver to look at me for an explanation. "There is a story about a bamboo cutter finding a princess inside a bamboo shot. So, if we remove the letters forming the word bamboo, we get…"
"Let's play." Silver finished. "If this was all for a prank or to scare me into leaving, they put quite a lot of work into it."
"Let's play," I whisper, the words oddly foreboding as if that phrase was unnatural.
My ears picked up a faint noise. It sounded like a flute. The flute sounds Eastern, or at least the song it was playing was.
And the song has some bizarre pull to it. Like the song was telling me to follow it.
"Beige?! Where are you going?!" Silver yells, but her voice sounds oddly distanced.
"Don't you hear the flute?" I ask, my feet walking toward the source of the playing.
"What flute?! I hear nothing?!"
She can't hear it? No. It wasn't that she can't hear it, it's that she couldn't.
A song only I can hear.
Logic and reason would tell me to stop heading toward the sound and write it off as my mind playing tricks on me. But I still head towards the sound, but this time, I break out in a run. It seems [Mystery Pervert] decided to bite me in the ass.
"Beige!" Silver yells, my ears picking up her footsteps behind me, telling me she was following me.
{Silver's P.O.V.}
"Beige! Stop!" I yell out. Beige isn't fast. I could tackle him if I wanted to stop him, but I'm worried that would only worsen his injuries. However, I'm surprised how fast Beige can run after he suffers a head injury.
Beige ran down the stairway, across the parking lot, through the entrance gate, and took a right. I chased him, yelling for him to stop or to explain why he was running. I didn't need to chase after him. Hell. Some may say I have already done more than enough. But I can't just leave him be. Maybe it is the huntress in me telling me I shouldn't leave Beige alone.
Beige finally stopped at the old playground next to my apartment building.
"Beige! What the hell was that all about…" My yelling came to a halt as my ears picked up something.
Flute music.
B-But I didn't hear anything earlier! Was the flute Beige asked me about before he ran?
I turned towards who was playing. It was a young girl with white hair and fox ears. She's wearing a traditional mistral robe. The girl is beautiful, her face looking like that of a doll. Her flute playing was just as pretty as her face and dress.
But, for some reason, the song makes my blood cold like ice. The core of my being yelling at me to run from the girl. My gut told me this little girl was more dangerous than any Grimm I had ever faced.
The girl stopped playing her flute, noticing our presence. She lowered her flute, giving us a childish smile. But that smile only intensified the feelings storming inside.
"Hey… Let's Play."
Author's note
I have been reading some of the new RWBY fics on the SGO server for some time and decided to make my own.
I'm also part of the SGO server, so if you want to join and chat, here is a link
/wd3tUYWVCd
I also started my server for anyone who wants to ask me about my fics or to hang out.
/DYqC3uNfbt