"What a let down," I murmured.
I let out a long sigh.
After hundreds of advertisements and tweets showering this game with praise I really expected more.
"Of course the suspect was the butler." I let out a pitiful laugh.
The twists couldn't have been more obvious and each clue was laid out in plain sight. Almost as if they thought the player was an idiot.
As the numbers flashed on my screen I couldn't help but feel amazed. Wasn't this game too easy?
CONGRATULATIONS #1 RANKED IN THE WORLD
CLEAR TIME OF 2:04:12 BEATING OUT THE PREVIOUS BEST TIME OF 2:32:02
"What a waste of time."
Since forever, I've always loved mystery.
From the twists to the unveilings I could never get enough.
Whether it was Sherlock Holmes deducing a man's entire life from his pocket watch, or Phoenix Wright catching contradictions in witness testimonies, I lived for that moment when everything clicked into place.
But lately? Nothing scratched that itch.
I leaned back in my chair, staring at the credits rolling across my monitor. Murder at Blackwood Manor - the so-called "god game" of the mystery genre.
The one that was supposed to revolutionize detective games with its advanced AI suspects and branching investigation paths.
What a joke.
The AI was predictable. The branching paths all led to the same conclusion. And the red herrings were so obviously red herrings that they might as well have been wearing neon signs.
I moved my cursor to close the game when a notification popped up.
SPECIAL MESSAGE FROM THE DEVELOPERS
My finger hovered over the mouse. Probably some generic congratulations message for reaching rank one. I clicked anyway.
The screen went black.
Then text appeared, one letter at a time, like someone was typing it out in real time.
So you think our game is too easy, Hiroto Takatana?
I straightened in my chair. How did they know my name? I'd used a random username - DeductionKing47. My real name wasn't linked to my account anywhere.
More text appeared.
We saw your forum posts. Your Reddit comments. Your tweets calling our masterpiece 'child's play' and 'an insult to the genre.' Quite harsh words for someone who spent $60 on it.
My jaw clenched. Yeah, I'd complained online. So what? The game deserved it.
You claim to be a TRUE mystery enthusiast. Someone who craves a real challenge. Is that correct?
I typed into the chat box that had appeared at the bottom of the screen. "Yeah. And your game wasn't it."
How interesting. Tell me, Hiroto - have you ever solved a REAL mystery? One with actual stakes? Where failure means more than just restarting from a checkpoint?
"That's not the point," I typed back, irritation creeping into my fingers as they hammered the keys. "A good mystery doesn't need 'real stakes' to be engaging. It needs solid logic, clever misdirection, and satisfying answers."
You sound very confident.
"I am."
Then how about we make this interesting?
I frowned at the screen. What was this, some kind of ARG? An alternate reality game meant to drum up publicity for DLC?
We'll offer you something special. Something we reserve for players like you - the ones who think they're too smart for our puzzles. We call it...
The text changed color, bleeding from white to crimson.
SHERLOCKIAN DIFFICULTY
Despite myself, I felt a spark of interest. "What's that supposed to mean?"
It means we transport you into a mystery so complex, so layered with impossible contradictions and inexplicable evidence, that even the world's greatest minds have failed to solve it. No tutorial. No hints. No saves or reloads. Just you, your deductive skills, and cases that will push you to your absolute limit.
I snorted. "Right. And I suppose this involves VR equipment I don't have?"
Nothing so mundane. This is a one-time offer, Hiroto Takatana. Prove you're as skilled as you claim. Solve the mysteries we place before you. Or...
The text paused.
Admit you were wrong. Admit that perhaps our 'easy' game was perfectly calibrated for your actual skill level, and you simply got lucky.
My hand clenched into a fist.
They were baiting me. Obviously. This was clearly some marketing intern's idea of viral engagement. Any rational person would close the window and go to bed.
But that last line...
Got lucky.
As if I hadn't spent years devouring every mystery novel, true crime documentary, and detective game I could get my hands on. As if I hadn't trained myself to spot inconsistencies and logical fallacies in everything from movie plots to news articles.
Lucky.
My cursor moved to the response box.
"Fine," I typed. "I accept your 'Sherlockian Difficulty.' Bring it on."
The screen flashed white, so bright I had to shield my eyes.
EXCELLENT CHOICE
"Wait-"
PLEASE STAND BY FOR TRANSPORTATION
"Transportation? What are you-"
My room started to spin. No, not my room. My vision. The walls blurred together, colors bleeding and mixing like watercolors in rain.
My stomach lurched.
"This isn't funny!" I tried to stand but my legs wouldn't respond. The chair beneath me felt like it was dissolving.
GOOD LUCK, HIROTO TAKATANA
YOU'RE GOING TO NEED IT
The last thing I saw before everything went dark was my monitor, displaying a final message:
TUTORIAL COMPLETE. BEGINNING MAIN GAME.
CURRENT OBJECTIVE: SURVIVE
Then the world swallowed me whole.