436. Urban Life: I Went Out and Ran Into Evil
Qin Tiantian is watching Lu Ban's global live stream of escape room murder mystery games.
In other categories, this kind of nested behavior—where a streamer watches other streamers' streams, or a streamer watches other streamers' streams—might be considered as slacking off and not creating valuable content. However, in the virtual streamer category, it is quite common.
There's even a specific type of live streaming content called video appreciation, where the host and viewers watch interesting videos together, or even food documentaries or "The New Three Kingdoms".
Watching others watch your live stream can sometimes lead to unexpected connections and even develop into storylines like "the three of us".
Qin Tiantian doesn't have to go to work today because most of the company's staff went to the site to help out. As the mascot, she's staying home and doing a live stream.
"I guess I've managed to generate some buzz!"
She was perfectly justified.
Surprisingly, her live streams were quite popular, attracting significantly more viewers than her usual large-scale live streams.
Sometimes viewers have strange psychology. Watching videos or live streams alone can be boring, but watching them with the streamer can be fun.
Qin Tiantian sometimes really wonders just how much free time some people have.
After midnight, the live stream officially began. Most people were in the introduction phase. Some were in Detective Agency, some were sleeping in their own dilapidated apartments, and some were in big houses. The players also looked different.
Because the system advised players not to leave their houses late at night and wander the streets, most players stayed in their houses to check the surroundings and get a sense of the situation.
"Detective Agency, do you have any case files here? To be honest, we don't even know what the case is like right now, so let's investigate."
The High School Detective from the island nation, carrying a motion camera, paced around the Detective Agency.
He touched the tabletop and bookshelf with his hands.
"The texture is very realistic; it seems that a lot of effort was put into the Kung Fu."
Kusanagi Gaku took out a book from the bookshelf.
Normally, the books in such a locked room should be purely decorative, the kind that can't be opened. Even if they could be opened and read, they would be the kind of novels that can be bought anywhere else.
However, Kusanagi Gaku saw that it contained Gudu's novel, "The Shadows of Terror".
Kusanagi Gaku unclear about the details, but many viewers watching the live stream exclaimed in surprise.
[Holy crap, isn't this the horror novel from the Gudu in "The Mouth of the Madman"?]
Did Lu Ban really write another novel?
The content here actually seems quite plausible.
I suspect this was a prop from a movie shoot that was directly reused.
Why is this person stopping watching?
As Kusanagi Gaku rummages through the bookshelf, the audience discovers that the bookshelf seems to actually exist in the Ruined City city, with various texts and pictures on it presenting everything about the Ruined City.
Even Kusanagi Gaku, which he had only casually browsed, became so engrossed in that subject that he couldn't help but become absorbed in it.
Many viewers probably never imagined that they would find reading someone else's book so enjoyable late at night.
At this point, the camera shifts from the main perspective to the keyboard warrior wearing glasses.
He appears to be playing a gangster's henchman, and is even playing cards with someone.
"Do you even know how to play? How am I supposed to win if you play this card? Do you even understand the value of a win-win situation?"
While playing cards, he was also arguing with the NPCs.
This is also the first time that audiences have seen NPCs in a live-action game.
The NPCs looked fierce and menacing, as if they had committed several murders on their shoulders. Upon hearing the keyboard warrior's words, one of them glared at him.
From the perspective of the action camera at the first moment, it looks like he's staring at the audience, full of momentum.
"I just said it casually, I'm not fighting anymore, I'm not fighting anymore."
The keyboard warrior immediately chickened out, put down his cards, and stood up.
He was in a warehouse, and he glanced at the goods next to him, not knowing what they were. He then decided to go out and take a look.
"You'd better not go out; there are some unclean things in this place at night."
At this moment, a gang NPC intervened.
"What unclean things could there be? I don't believe it. Even if there were, they shouldn't be able to do anything to me."
Keyboard warriors habitually argue for the sake of arguing.
Although he read the script and understood that he was a henchman who had participated in gang warfare and was now working for Mackey, a distant relative of the Catania Family, his curiosity still made him want to go out and see the world.
Besides, he felt that he was a player in the game, so he couldn't let him encounter danger or leave the game early, could he?
He ignored the advice of others.
"And the boss went out just now, right? I'll go check on him."
Their leader, Mackey, had just left when the keyboard warriors felt something was off and decided to follow him.
He walked out of the warehouse. The Moon was shining on the city. It was hard to imagine that this was a small town on the outskirts of Jiangcheng and not some other world. He saw that the streets were empty except for a homeless man lying on the ground, fast asleep.
The sound of a dog barking came from somewhere, making him inexplicably nervous.
Wanting to check on the homeless man's condition, the keyboard warrior suddenly heard a sound coming from an alleyway to the side.
He was startled and moved closer.
At that moment, he was unaware that the main viewer was live-streaming him, and comments were flying by.
[A little nervous]
This first-person perspective is pretty exciting!
Wake up, this is all for the show.
[If it's a live stream, Lu Ban probably can't come up with any special effects, right?]
Wow, this first-person perspective late-night adventure is so exciting!
[Won't someone be eliminated immediately if they encounter the murderer?]
You think it's a detective and mystery game, but it's actually a survival game!
The keyboard warrior walked into the alley, where a dark cloud blocked out the moonlight, plunging the surroundings into darkness. He had never imagined that there could be such a dark place in the world.
For a moment, a sense of fear arose in his heart. This fear took root, sprouted, and gradually spread and swelled, engulfing his entire body and seeping out from every pore.
He found himself in deep darkness, with nothing in front of or behind him.
Only the distant barking of dogs brought him a sense of peace.
At this moment, viewers around the world watching the live stream were also unconsciously infected, as if they were in the midst of it themselves, and even the number of comments decreased significantly.
This realistic first-person perspective, though rough and unadorned, is grounded in reality and easily draws the viewer in, allowing them to feel the same fear.
In fact, most photographic techniques are designed to mimic real human behavior.
The keyboard warrior's legs trembled. He felt the surroundings getting colder and colder, as if the temperature had dropped below zero.
Just then, he heard a burst of laughter.
Hehehe
A childish laugh, like a prank, came from behind him, making the keyboard warrior's knees buckle and causing him to run forward.
Strangely enough, when he started running, it seemed like it wasn't so dark around him anymore.
However, the keyboard warrior didn't know the way either. He walked past an intersection and suddenly felt like there was something there.
The keyboard warrior stopped and glanced inside. It was pitch black, and it seemed like someone was lying there.
Thump—
His heart suddenly raced. Just then, the clouds drifted away, and the moonlight shone on the earth once more.
The keyboard warrior saw a person lying on the ground, and on that person's body, a Glass Flower was blooming.