Dear Consulting Detective,

Thank you for engaging with this story. Your interest has inspired me to create more captivating chapters, filled with thrilling mysteries for us, along with the characters, to solve.

Welcome to Version 4. In this iteration, the events you previously encountered have been made even more mind-blowing and thrilling.

Please note, this book is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places, and incidents are products of the author's imagination or are used fictitiously. Any resemblance to actual events, locales, or persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental.

Enjoy the journey!

Sincerely,
Loraine

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The plot is somehow altered from the earlier versions. This was made to make the story's foundation even stronger and make the story more thrilling and interesting.

I was 15 before when I wrote the first version, but now, after the challenges and lessons I learned, here I am again, reviving the story I once had.

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A Little Roleplay

You were about to skip the story when you saw someone approaching.

"Hello, there," the lady called out as she ran towards you. "Wait!"

You stopped and both your paths crossed at the streets.

"I'm Loraine and I'm the author of the story you're about to read," she spoke as she caught her breath.

Questions began to arise. You only want to get over and have a peak on the story and yet you are still being bothered by the author.

"You'll need a ticket before you enter," she added.

"What ticket?" you asked.

"Most of the readers will just skip this part and yet, here you are halfway through," she replied. "If you want to be about 10 percent of the readers, or you are one of my 21 engaged readers (as of 30 July, 2024), you would want to come with me to an interview first."

Shall I skip or shall I continue? you asked yourself.

(Skip. You gladly left the tour and went towards the Prologue or the first chapter)

Continue.

"First of all, I would like to ask you why you chose to read the story?" the woman holding a microphone that just appeared magically began and you answered.

"Now this one's for you, Loraine," the woman with the microphone spoke, pointing her microphone to the other lady beside me. "What would you expect from this story?"

"Readers shall surely experience a roller coaster of emotions. Expect a lot of easter eggs and twists on the parts that you didn't expect," she answered.

"Your turn to ask her. Ask away," the woman spoke as she gave the microphone to you.

"You said something about easter eggs, what do you mean by that?" you asked.

"For those who don't know what easter eggs are, those are the hidden messages found in the story. Only the sneaky ones might find it so if you can spot those, you might be fit to become a detective," she responded with a smile.

"How about twists?"

"Oh, there's a lot of twists inside of there. Sometimes, it'll take you to read a lot of chapters before you figure out something amiss," she replied.

"Is this your typical mystery book?" you inquired. "I mean, how is this different from those high school detective books, movies, or stories?"

"I might say... no, it's not your typical high school detective slash mystery book. First of all, the main characters are college students. Second, we all know that each of our brains are wired uniquely, right?" she spoke.

You nodded.

"My brain is full of imagination as well," she continued. "Sure, you might find something inside that can make you say that 'Oh, I know this! I know what's going to happen' or 'I saw this on television or read this in a book once!', but still, this is what I will say — 'Expect the unexpected'."

"Where is this story inspired?" you asked.

"You probably have a hunch, am I right?" she inquired, smiling.

You answered.

"Well, I've been a fan of mystery and thriller ever since I was a little child. I watched and read a lot about the genre and it's just like researching. You compile all the ideas you gather and voila, you'll end up with a masterpiece," she replied.

"But tell me," you jested. "Are my hunches right?"

"Alright, I can give you some of my inspirations," she replied with a grin. "Come closer and I'll reply to your query in a whisper."

You did what was told and she replied in a whisper. "All you need to do is to read the story."

"Oh, okay. You got me there!" you spoke, straightening your sitting position once more.

"Most of the time the inspirations will be visible. You'll know," she responded. "But then, here's a tip: Observe, not just see."

You nodded once more.

"Back to the question, is this inspired or somehow related to nonfiction?" you queried.

"The characters' personality, yes," she replied.

"Is that why you named your main character Lorraine Adriella de Verra?" you asked.

"Uh, no, not really. The reason why I named her Lorraine is because before I started to write this — the plot and whatnots — I thought 'What if I make a story with a name a little similar to mine, just for fun?'. And that was when I picked the name," she replied.

"You and Raine's character, are they the same?"

"In some ways," she answered. "You might find something somewhat familiar to a series as you go to the chapters but most of them are indeed me. The series' main character and I are just quite similar."

"Raine's parents, how are they related to you? As I read your stories, I found out that most of them have the 'parents tragedy scenes'. And later, even though in the early version of this story, they will be adopted by their aunt?" a voice from somewhere asked.

"Honestly, I don't know," the author replied.

"Oh, how about the secondary character's connection to you?" you asked, diverting the topic.

"Zane? Zane was actually supposed to be a girl but the cover I ordered was a boy and a girl. That was why Zane, who was supposed to be Nhikki, became a man with the same personality as the one he's inspired with," she answered.

"To whom was he inspired?" you spoke.

"To the woman in front of you, Nikki," she replied. "It was her idea to add those swear words you might encounter later. But don't worry, they are censored because I don't swear!"

"Tell me some sneak peeks about Raine and Zane? Is this a romance story?" you inquired.

"Expect Raine's life to be mysterious. Zane will become the reader's guide in order to figure out what happens to her after what happened in the Prologue," she explained.

"What happened in the Prologue?" you asked.

"No spoilers," she chuckled. "All I can say is that, according to one reviewer, it is a gem in the story."

"How about the mystery plots? Can I have some information about it to get me going?" you added.

"Psychology interests me a lot lately. The plot revolves around psychological facts I learned throughout my studies and research. The mind is such a mysterious thing and it's so powerful," she replied. "I'm not a psychologist, a doctor, a police, or a lawyer. The mystery scenes are made with the help of my research and compilations of what I see or read, but with twists. You'll encounter a thing there that Raine does — the mind thingy that I shall not speak off for now to avoid spoilers — and it's part of psychology tricks."

"Before we end, here's another trivia," the woman in front of us asked. "Do you know that we already made more than a thousand words in this little interview?"

"We did?" you asked.

"Thanks for bearing this interview with us. Here's your ticket," the author replied, giving you a golden ticket with the words The Game Goes On on it.

As you touched the ticket, a bright light blinded you as you felt yourself falling gently towards the unknown.