The Con Artist's Professional Skill

"Start counting!"

The voice of the 'Eagle of Justice' slowly drifted over just before the last sliver of light was swallowed by the tunnel.

"1."

"2."

"3."

"..."

When it reached four and no voice came, Qin Shang's expression darkened.

The fourth person was the beautiful woman. In front of her was the doctor, 'Heart-to-Heart Sister,' and behind her was the gangster, 'So Handsome They'll Chop Me.'

Although no one could see the others' expressions in the darkness, everyone's face had grown more solemn, and their hearts had sunk completely.

The gangster, 'So Handsome They'll Chop Me,' was so frightened that he did not dare make a sound. For a long while, there was no movement.

"Big Brother, count! Big Brother, count!"

"Chop Me? Count..."

No one answered, and Qin Shang's heart sank again.

He had still been able to hear 'Chop Me's faint breathing just now, but now there was not even a sound.

In front of the noblewoman, 'Don't Touch Me, I'll Turn Green,' was 'Heart-to-Heart Sister,' while behind her was 'So Handsome They'll Chop Me.'

The instant the noblewoman had fallen silent, these two people had been Qin Shang's prime suspects.

But now that 'So Handsome They'll Chop Me' had also fallen silent, Qin Shang's expression finally sank into uncontrollable frustration.

"The killer is 'Heart-to-Heart Sister.' The people holding her hands are the Elder Priest and 'Don't Touch Me, I'll Turn Green.' The Elder Priest hasn't shown any reaction, which means that woman is the murderer."

"She first killed 'Don't Touch Me, I'll Turn Green,' then killed 'So Handsome They'll Chop Me.'"

A thought flashed through Qin Shang's mind.

It seemed the murderer could be identified as 'Heart-to-Heart Sister.'

After the clever Miss Mary led the team into the tunnel, she had thought her plan was foolproof. However, Miss Mary had failed to realize that the murderer might not be limited to killing only one person at a time.

What was more, what if the murderer had an accomplice? The hand-holding strategy might have worked if it targeted only the murderer, but if he had an accomplice, the strategy would immediately fall apart. Just as Miss Mary thought of this, she heard a scream from a companion in the neighboring carriage...

Just as Qin Shang was about to leave the tunnel and explain his analysis,

a cold electronic prompt suddenly poured ice water over his heart.

A thought also surfaced in his mind. The dungeon's background story was neither a mission prompt nor a clue. It only had reference value and should not be relied upon...

Boom—

Qin Shang's expression changed drastically.

The dungeon's background story tricked all of us.

Because of the inertia of their thinking, everyone had subconsciously believed that the background story's method might be worth copying. Yet they had overlooked the fact that the story background itself was incomplete, and that its key conditions had to be gradually uncovered.

The background story had never said that Miss Mary had survived the tunnel section by holding hands and saved the other passengers!

Qin Shang's expression was solemn. The background-story prompt had still provided some useful suggestions.

For example...

"God Slayer has an accomplice!"

No wonder. No wonder God Slayer had remained completely calm while everyone had so quickly thought of a way to break the deadlock.

"Then the theory that the people on the edges are innocent can also be overturned. At the very front of the line are the Elder Priest, then the security officer, then the doctor, then the noblewoman, the gangster, and Little Loli."

"And me..."

Qin Shang—Little Loli—gangster—noblewoman—doctor—security officer—Elder Priest

If the security officer was God Slayer, then with an accomplice, he only needed to let go of the Elder Priest's hand. The Elder Priest would then be able to launch a precise attack.

Conversely, if the Elder Priest was God Slayer and the security officer was the accomplice,

the same thing would happen. They could kill whoever they wanted.

The two people on the very edges were not the safest. Instead, they were the most suspicious!

At that moment, Qin Shang's heart gave a sudden thud!

"Little Loli can't be trusted either. If either she or the doctor is God Slayer and the other is the accomplice, then they can likewise kill the gangster and the noblewoman without anyone noticing, right under my nose."

"In other words, there's no one here worth trusting at all..."

Once the broadcast ended, the accomplice theory immediately put Qin Shang on high alert.

Clang—clang—

Just then, the echoes inside the tunnel disappeared.

At the same time, a faint ray of light shone through the carriage windows.

Everyone knew they had exited the tunnel!

But at that moment, everyone's hearts were heavy.

Because they all knew the truth.

Two people had died this round.

God Slayer had still made his move...

There had been a stretch of echoing noise while they passed through the tunnel. The instant the buzzing echo beside their ears vanished, the train slowly emerged from the tunnel. The newspaper-covered walls outside once again revealed speckled patches of light.

According to the story's setting, it might have been daytime outside. In fact, only half an hour had passed since the train set off, yet two teammates had already been killed...

A trace of fear inevitably surfaced on Qin Shang's face.

This was too difficult. Was this what the Divine Road game was like?

If his wife had participated in such a terrifying game, Qin Shang truly could not guarantee that kind and sweet Jiang Qiqi could remain untouched amid the schemes and struggles between teammates and NPCs...

"They're dead. The two of them are dead..."

"'So Handsome They'll Chop Me' and 'Don't Touch Me, I'll Turn Green' are both dead."

After passing through the tunnel, they were not very far apart, so they could still see one another's expressions.

Qin Shang looked up and swept his gaze over everyone. Fear and helplessness filled every face.

Little Loli beside him was trembling especially violently. The corpses of those two people were still spurting blood, their bodies separated from their heads.

Unless one was a professional killer, it would be difficult to kill someone in a single strike so quickly...

Unless... God Slayer and the accomplice in this game possessed a skill like the werewolves in Werewolf, where they could directly choose and kill someone after the night began.

Otherwise, how could the murder weapon be explained?

Qin Shang still did not know whether he alone could hear the electronic prompt from earlier or whether all the players had heard it.

Therefore, he did not rashly choose to speak.

He merely kept his face grim and slowly widened the distance between himself and the others.

"The game requires everyone to work together, but it's obvious that everyone has their own ulterior motives. In this situation, surviving to the end is nearly impossible. This stems from the fact that the system has given everyone different side missions and different individual prompts."

"Everyone is unwilling to share information. And now there are two traitors in the group: one God Slayer and one accomplice. I originally thought everyone's game prompt identified them as passengers, but I've discovered that I was wrong—horribly wrong..."

"If only we could piece together the complete side missions and prompts!"

The instant this thought flashed through his mind, Qin Shang's gaze swept over the corpse of the beautiful woman, 'Don't Touch Me, I'll Turn Green,' and the gangster, 'So Handsome They'll Chop Me.' He immediately felt a sharp pain in his mind.

Game ID: Don't Touch Me, I'll Turn Green

Class: Teacher

Your identity: Assistant

Assistant!?

Not a passenger?

Ding! Side mission acquired: Find the one and only Team Leader among the six players and follow the Team Leader. As an assistant, you must help the leader clear this round of the game and preserve the passengers' lives as much as possible. You must protect the Team Leader, or the mission will be considered failed.

Hint: The clue may be hidden right under our noses.

Wh-what was this?

A game ID, class, side mission, and personal hint?

Qin Shang's expression froze, and then his pupils widened.

This was the dungeon information of the dead noblewoman, 'Don't Touch Me, I'll Turn Green'...

Why had her prompt appeared here?

A skill!?

I have a skill too?

Did the con artist have a basic skill?

Could it only be used at special times?

The con artist's skill was to see the personal prompts and side missions of dead players.

In a dungeon filled with mutual suspicion, where the werewolf could strike whenever a player died, a con artist with such a divine skill was practically invincible!

Qin Shang suppressed his shock and swallowed.

Hidden side mission acquired: Find the one and only Team Leader among the six players and follow the Team Leader. As an assistant, you must help the leader clear this round of the game and preserve the passengers' lives as much as possible. You must protect the Team Leader, or the mission will be considered failed. (This mission came from the Teacher. During this round of the game, you will obtain that player's class skill.)

The next moment, a new mission and hint appeared on the panel before Qin Shang's eyes.

On the pale-blue panel, beneath his existing main mission, an additional side mission had appeared.