"It's like this." Hard Candy Hank, the shabbily dressed young man, cleared his throat and explained to his two unknowing companions: "I was lucky enough to acquire a special identity as a 'Beggar' in a previous game round."
"Wow! A special identity! I've never even seen one before, you're really amazing!" Ginger's eyes sparkled as she exclaimed enviously.
"It's nothing really, just a mere special identity..." Hard Candy Hank basked in Ginger's praise, but suddenly felt a chill run down his spine. He quickly turned around and cautiously glanced at his girlfriend. She rolled her eyes at him, a low-pressure aura surrounding her. Hard Candy Hank immediately lowered his gaze and straightened his posture.
"Hmm... this identity originally comes with a 'Begging' ability, which is to ask teammates for dollars..." Hard Candy Hank scratched his head, a little embarrassed as he said this.
The way he acquired this special identity wasn't difficult. Once, he helped an old beggar in the game, and the old beggar gave him a broken bowl and a tattered top (identity markers). After carrying these two items, he automatically gained this identity, which even he found baffling.
"When I combined my Personality with this identity to form a Persona, I unlocked an additional identity ability called 'Pleading,' which can be used on hostile targets to make them temporarily abandon their attack." Hard Candy Hank's Personality was 'The Sympathized,' and the Persona he gained after combining it with his identity was 'The Pitied Beggar.' In addition to the 'Begging' and 'Pleading' abilities, this Persona also provided a small boost to his Cautious Stance, which was quite good overall.
"So that's how it is! Then your Pleading skill is very powerful." Ginger praised him greatly.
"It's not that useful, really. It's more luck-based; the success rate of pleading isn't actually very high, and..."
"And what?"
"And every time I use it, I have to say some rather embarrassing and demeaning things, like 'Please, kind sir, have mercy' or 'Please, sir, pity me' or something..."
"Uh..."
The Persona system is a major feature of the game 'Pale Dawn.' Personas are formed by combining a player's Personality and Identity, which can either enhance the original effects of the Personality and Identity or grant entirely new abilities. Depending on the combination of Personality and Identity, players can evolve various Personas. Some Personas provide powerful buffs, while others are weak and hinder progress. Some are practical and useful, while others are bizarre and comical, all unique. Personas greatly assist in a player's overall strength. At the same stance level, sometimes the difference in player strength is mainly determined by the quality of their Persona.
However, because acquiring special identities has a certain difficulty, a large number of players in the early stages might not be able to have their own Persona. Caleb, however, did not have such concerns. He had long possessed a special identity as an Explorer and was only 3 games away from receiving his first Personality evaluation. Although Hard Candy Hank's Persona ability was quite peculiar, after witnessing it, Caleb also began to subtly look forward to the Persona he would soon possess.
After the four of them got to know each other, Ginger adjusted her framed glasses and began to enter her game state.
"Let me first share the clues I've gathered that are relevant to this game." She had mentioned in her self-introduction that she was quite good at deduction.
"Let's start with the opening narration. It seems like a discussion, but in reality, it's Orpheus talking to himself. Emmm... We can initially suspect that this Orpheus suffers from a mental illness like dissociative identity disorder." The player was clearly prone to excitement; after only a brief analysis, her expression already showed a tendency towards self-indulgence. "Then, what can be gathered from the discussion content is... Amelia runs a clinic, probably a doctor. Little Amelia is an arsonist, and the identities of the other two are unknown. The four of them plan to jointly open an orphanage to defraud the government of subsidies."
"They might also be involved in human organ trafficking and other such illicit activities," Hard Candy Hank added from the side, "It was mentioned in there."
"Oh, right, right! This is clearly a group of opportunistic and ruthless criminals!" Ginger stomped her feet excitedly, already reaching the critical point of explosive self-indulgence. "Plots involving mental patients and dissociative identity disorder are always so captivating~" The player had a look of obsession, as if she had reached an emotional climax.
"..." The three people, including Caleb, exchanged glances, feeling that this person was also quite peculiar.
"Uh, sorry, sorry, I accidentally got carried away... lost my composure." Noticing her teammates looking at her, Ginger awkwardly ended her self-indulgence and quickly reined in her fervent expression.
After clearing her throat, she continued her analysis: "If the above argument about dissociative identity disorder holds true, then both the arson case and the founding of the orphanage were actually done by Orpheus alone. It's just that when he was carrying out a specific event, he switched Personas. The Persona who spoke first clearly had a lot of influence. I guess he's the leader of the other three Personas and the planner of all the schemes..."
"Can I interrupt?" Hard Candy Hank spoke abruptly at this moment, but because of the playful and somewhat ambiguous word 'interrupt,' he immediately received a corrective iron fist from Sweet Candy Sky.
"What do you have to add, classmate? Please speak." Ginger nodded, her face flushed.
"I actually think these events might not have truly happened. After all, mentally ill people have vivid imaginations, so perhaps he's just playing a multiplayer role-playing game with himself?"
"That makes sense." Ginger adjusted her framed glasses, deep in thought.
Caleb felt that Ginger's analysis and Hard Candy Hank's additions were largely accurate. However, he always felt like everyone was missing some crucial detail.
"Let's take it one step at a time."
..."So, next, I think we should first find the escape gate of this Military Factory?" Ginger suggested. After all, the main quest of this game was to escape the Military Factory. If they didn't even know where the escape gate was, then there would be no way to escape, right?
Seeing that no one had any other opinions, she adjusted her framed glasses and added: "Considering the potential dangers we might encounter along the way, I suggest we split into groups."