Underworld Player Chapter 82 - A Sketchy Situation

"A painting, huh..."

Bai Zhi glanced at the "window", then at the handrails along the stairway, which was illuminated by light that seemed to come from said "window".

Not only that, when he extended his hand into the path of the beam, he could even feel the gentle warmth of sunlight on it.

"It's not that the window is painted, but this whole place is being transformed into a painting..." Bai Zhi's mind whirled with a million ideas. "Or could it be that we're inside a painting?"

Turning to Temperance, he said, "Anyway, you can come down now..."

His voice trailed off as he began to notice something odd.

Before him was the raven-haired young woman, who had placed her hand on the windowsill while she looked out the window supported by a stool beneath her feet...

At least, that's what he saw if he looked directly ahead. As soon as he shifted to one side and looked again, the three-dimensional scene was revealed to be a flat image. From her head to toe, the girl and even the stool she was standing on had been turned into a trompe l'oeil* that stretched from the wall to the floor.

"I only turned away for a few seconds... Well, supposing that the 'painting' is a medium, then touching the 'frame' must be the most direct interface..."

Bai Zhi sighed and quickly retreated to the upper steps, but not all the way—enough to put some distance between himself and the bizarre mural, while still keeping it in sight.

"Heh... You see! A Player's level doesn't always reflect their abilities. Experience earned by picking off a couple of neutral creeps isn't any real experience at all, the poor devil."

Bai Zhi, who had basically figured out the key to the bizarre stairwell, smirked as he gazed at the painting of Temperance Gentleheart on the wall.

"During the Newbie Run, you were running headlong into one pitfall after another, and now you're still touching things willy-nilly even though they're clearly suspicious... I, Bai Zhi, hereby recognize you as the champion of asking for it, I'll give you that much."

Shaking his head

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