After sending off his guests, Kaguya Shinomiya and Ai Hayasaka, Amamiya Ren began his daily journal entry.
【Today was a surprise. The diary holder I've been trying to identify actually appeared.】
【I thought they would be different from my clumsy self and use a direct self-explosive approach to test the waters, but they used the most direct, self-explosive method.】
【Kaguya Shinomiya, Ai Hayasaka.】
【VIP students of Shuchiin Academy, and the youngest of the Shinomiya family.】
【I didn't expect them to expose themselves so quickly.】
【But because they exposed themselves early, I didn't actively approach them at school.】
【They still managed to find me outside my apartment.】
【As I guessed, it was a test.】
【A test of me, and also a test of the diary.】
【I don't think it's a bad thing. It's actually good for me to know the rules of the diary early on.】
【Of course, I'm more concerned that Kaguya has broken free from the shackles of the Shinomiya family.】
【During our conversation, I judged that Kaguya hadn't used her violence to control the Shinomiya family.】
【Then I received a shocking answer.】
【Sangenya!】
【It's not just three stories intertwined, it's many stories merging together.】
【Sangenya Nagi… this name reminded me of the Four Moes.】
【Shana, Sangenya Nagi, Louise, and Furukawa Nagi.】
【They all share striking similarities: short stature, strong personalities, and modest figures.】
【Ding Miyaxing characters, I didn't expect to know one so easily.】
【So, Sangenya Nagi, are you reading this diary now?】
Amamiya Ren stopped writing here.
There was no word limit for his daily entries. He only needed to record them properly every day.
But today's journal was slightly different.
Some black text appeared beneath the diary entry.
【Achievement Unlocked: Found the Diary】
【Congratulations on receiving the Special Reward "Accumulation".】
【Accumulation: Accumulates the number of draws. The more you accumulate, the higher the quality of the rewards.】
"A decent feature."
"You can get better rewards with more accumulations, like combining treasure chests into a higher-level treasure chest."
Amamiya Ren didn't dislike this function.
But it was clear that he wouldn't need it during the probing phase.
He would draw directly.
He was summoned to a large roulette wheel that began to spin. The pointer landed on a spot.
【Lord of Mysteries】
【Acquired Sequence 9 Potion: "Apprentice"】
A vial containing a special pink solution.
"Another potion reward."
He reached out to pick up the potion on the table.
After taking a look, he pulled out a 500-yen coin from his pocket.
"I won't have any problems drinking the Apprentice potion now."
The coin flipped in his palm, landing heads up.
"Seems like I'm fine."
"It must be the "Unfettered" characteristic being too powerful."
Confirming this, Amamiya Ren immediately pulled out the cork and drank it down.
The potion had a sticky, gooey texture. It was even worse than the "Fortune Teller" potion he'd consumed before.
Hmm, it's getting closer to snot.
"If consuming a potion involves such risks, can they at least make the taste better?"
Even after consuming the potion, Amamiya Ren still grumbled about its taste.
Of course, this was an excessive complaint.
The risks for non-Extraordinary individuals who don't possess the "Unfettered" characteristic when taking potions are much higher than they think.
Especially since Mister Door was contaminated. When consuming the "Apprentice" potion, he would hear Mister Door's muttering. That voice would be fatal to a non-Extraordinary individual who was already in an unstable state due to consuming a potion.
Therefore, the Path of the Door is one of the most dangerous paths among the three Paths of the Lord of Mysteries.
But for Amamiya Ren, who possesses the "Unfettered" characteristic, it's absolutely fine to follow multiple potion paths.
Especially on the path of Sequence, the Path of the Door, the Path of the Fool, and the Path of Error are adjacent paths.
To become the "Lord of Mysteries," you eventually need to master the power of the adjacent paths.
Originally, you could choose one path, walk it to the end, and then accommodate the uniqueness and one Sequence One Extraordinary characteristic of the adjacent path.
Of course, you can choose to walk the three paths of the Lord of Mysteries from the very beginning.
But this is no different from seeking death.
At least for ordinary non-Extraordinary individuals, as long as they touch potions of other Sequences at low Sequences, they will inevitably face loss of control over their own power.
Only Amamiya Ren, with his "Unfettered" characteristic, can ignore the basic rules of the path of Sequence and follow multiple paths.
Amamiya Ren looked at the vial in his hand and smiled.
"It seems there aren't that many loopholes to exploit."
"Because of my meeting with Kaguya Shinomiya, we agreed on mutual benefit, so it was only a normal reward?"
Today's draw explained everything.
Today's reward was almost on the same level as yesterday's. This meant that the diary also had certain restrictions.
"Actions that benefit both parties aren't so easy."
"It seems the diary looks at the impact I have on the diary holder, and that influences the quality of the things I get from the draw."
"The diary is tricky."
"I wonder if Kaguya has tried to draw as well."
Amamiya Ren thought for a moment and then pulled out his phone.
【Amamiya Ren: How was it?】
【Kaguya Shinomiya: … A bottle of strong liquor.】
【Amamiya Ren: No easy loopholes.】
【Amamiya Ren: Let's not try to find loopholes next time. The rules of the diary may have safeguards in place for all the methods we can think of.】
【Kaguya Shinomiya: Such a shame.】
Kaguya Shinomiya put down her phone and looked at the bottle of strong liquor on the table, feeling a sense of disappointment.
"It seems the diary doesn't have any loopholes."
"That's the case on my side, and it should be the same for Amamiya."
"What a shame that I missed a draw."
But Kaguya Shinomiya wasn't really disappointed.
This answer was actually crucial. It proved that the diary rules might not have any loopholes.
Knowing this, she could save up more draw opportunities in the future.
She could accumulate them and see what kind of high-level rewards she could get with a certain number of draw opportunities.
The Ice-Ice Fruit was a great initial reward.
Kaguya Shinomiya wasn't greedy. She knew that sometimes, not being greedy was the best choice.
Otherwise, she might lose more.
PS: New book, looking for data.