A Twist of Fate

Chrono roared and punched a withered tree beside him. Snow fell on his shoulder, but he shook it off as his shoulder trembled with rage.

"I know who it is."

To everyone's surprise, Lin, who had remained silent after seeing the body, spoke in an indifferent tone.

He raised his head, his sharp gaze fixed on one of the people in the crowd.

A group of fourteen people were gathered at a villa in the mountains when a disappearance occurred.

With roads blocked and communications disrupted, thirteen people were murdered one after another, and the killer was found lurking in a mansion!

A falling out between former friends.

The truth is shrouded in mystery.

A terrifying and eerie prophecy.

Deeply hidden grudges.

A tangled web of love, hate, and passion.

A series of tragedies and mysteries unfold here, revolving around a bizarre prophecy concerning the Thirteen Paths!

The one who saw through all of this was Lin, an ordinary person who appeared to be a young man but was actually still a young man!

"Hey, isn't this too cliché?"

April Fools' Special: The Snowy Mountain Villa Hero Team Annihilation Incident

"I know who it is."

Lin looked at one of the people in the crowd, pointed his finger at that...

"It's Chrono, or rather, Kevin disguised as Chrono."

"..."

The atmosphere that had been carefully built up vanished as a cold voice interrupted the narration.

Everyone silently stared at the helmeted man who had ruined the atmosphere. He picked up his tea and took a sip as if nothing had happened, seemingly oblivious to the gazes of the others.

Elysia, who had deliberately turned off the lights and used her tone to create an atmosphere of suspense to the extreme, looked at him with a resentful gaze.

"It's not hard to guess. You specifically pointed out the appearance and voice of the replaced Chrono, so you should be able to tell." Lin Sao tried around, "... Why are you looking at me like that? Vill-V, at least you can tell."

"Um..." Vill-V spread her hands under Elysia's gaze and said, "Lin, do you know what the most taboo thing in magic is? It's having your tricks and techniques exposed. If it's exposed during the performance, then it's a failed magic trick."

"But wasn't Elysia talking about the novel she's planning to write?"

"..."

Vill-V patted her forehead.

It's hopeless.

"Is the murderer... Kevin's brother?"

At this moment, Griseo raised her hand and asked a question, the one directed at Lin.

Lin looked at Elysia.

"... Hmph, whatever, since you've already said it, you might as well finish it." Elysia puffed out her cheeks and huffed.

Since the parties involved have said so, Lin naturally revealed the answer to the mystery of this unfinished story without any hesitation, "There are two murderers. One is Kevin, who killed Chrono and then disguised himself as Chrono. The other is Su, who has been missing since the beginning."

"Lin, wait a minute." Hearing her name called, Su asked somewhat strangely, "According to what Elysia said, and your analysis in the story, shouldn't the other murderer be a woman?"

"Lin Cong in the story never thought the other murderer was a woman. Footprints are the easiest way to disguise misleading traces. The simplest deduction is the depth of those footprints." Lin explained unhurriedly, "The story specifically mentions the depth of the footprints. In normal suspense and mystery novels, the murderer is a character who has already appeared. They wouldn't suddenly introduce a character with no information at all. But the woman in the story wouldn't weigh enough to leave such deep footprints in the snow."

At that moment, Mobius's gaze subtly fell upon Elysia returned a smile.

"So that footprint was actually the murderer misleading others into wearing women's shoes. Based on the men who appeared and excluding Kevin and Kosma who were obviously dead, there was only one man without a body, and that was Sue."

The others looked at Elysia for confirmation, and she nodded. "These are also what I planned to have Lin say in the story... So now it's considered to have broken out of the original framework and started a new story arrangement?"

"Then let's continue analyzing the information in the story. First, there's Sue's disappearance. That's the first trick, the information asymmetry in time." Lin Shu raised a finger and calmly analyzed, "The story specifically mentions the signal problems before and after the blizzard to create the illusion that 'Sue was late and was killed on her way to the villa,' making readers think that Kevin and Eden only made the call after Sue was killed."

"But here's the problem: the phone didn't fall particularly far from the villa, and it was already nearby before the blizzard. So, is Su Neng considered 'late'?"

"One of the missed calls was probably Kevin testing whether Sue's fake death was perfect and whether the signal had been blocked. The figure Griseo saw was Sue, who had already arrived and was preparing to kill him."

It must be said that once a complex and bizarre event is explained and analyzed in a simple way, the original mystery and horror are completely swept away. Moreover, with Lin's seemingly flat voice, it doesn't seem scary at all...

"However, this is reverse reasoning based on the information that 'Su is one of the murderers'. Before the clue of the footprints outside the house was revealed, it was indeed difficult to guess that the other murderer was Su."

Lin Chengxin's praise made Elysia's nose twitch in delight.

"Then comes the first real murder in the story, the case of 'Kevin' being killed. 'Kevin' was tied to a dead tree and burned to death. The murderer locked the door from the inside and returned to the group. There are some obvious loopholes in this. For example, if you want to lock the door without a spare key, you only need to lock it from the inside, go outside through the window of another room, put it in Kevin's room, and then return the same way, which can create the illusion that 'the spare key was stolen'."

"The actual process of committing the crime was similar to the locked-in procedure. The murderer went into the victim's room, knocked the victim unconscious, went out the window, tied the victim to a tree, set it on fire, and then returned to his own room through the window. He then came out from another place to indicate that he had just arrived at the crime scene."

"The reason I was able to see that the later Chrono was Kevin in disguise is because, given Chrono's personality, he would have questioned Aponia on the spot after hearing what she said, instead of secretly reporting it to me. Aponia probably entrusted me with this matter before she died, which exposed Kevin's disguise."

"Of course, there are other clues, such as the unusual things I found when investigating the footprints. For example, the marks outside the windows of each room are different. Kevin's room has marks of people coming and going. This is also what the story was going to say when it was about to reveal the mystery."

Kevin and Chrono, who were used as material, didn't show any reaction. Kevin closed his eyes, seemingly lost in thought, while Chrono listened intently to Lin's explanation with his ears tucked in, appearing quite absorbed.

"The second murder was committed by luring Kosma to the second floor and having Su do it. The method was to disguise himself Chrono Kevin and tell Kosma that he had something to talk about alone and asked him to wait on the second floor. After seeing the private conversation between Chrono and me, Kosma would lower his guard and be ambushed on the second floor. Kevin, who was not present, would not be a suspect."

"The third and fourth incidents occurred simultaneously. The method was simple: diverting attention. Judging from the order of the Thirteen Paths, it should have been assumed that Pardo would die first. However, in reality, after Su killed Sakura, in the midst of everyone's confusion, Kevin returned to the villa and smothered Pardo to death."

Pardo, covered by the blanket, was pale. She looked tremblingly at Kevin, who was resting with his eyes closed, and said, "Kevin, you wouldn't do that, would you?"

"..." Kevin shook his head speechlessly.

"What happens next is unknown, but based on the current clues, we can already identify the murderer. Therefore, the Thirteen Paths cannot continue. Your story structure is flawed."

When Lin pointed out the truth, Elysia was taken aback for a moment, then smiled and said, "I, of course I know. Lin in the story is also preparing to reveal the identity of the murderer. The Thirteen Paths will lead to the revelation of the murderer and the third murderer hiding in the shadows... It's just that the plot hasn't reached that point yet. Hmm... There's still a lot of love and hate to tell."

"... Who is it?"

"Of course it's me, hehe. The storyteller himself is the biggest murderer. How about that? Isn't that amazing?"

"... Maybe."

Lin shook his head and stood up, glancing at the heavy snow outside the window. "Let's rest... Our vacation should end too."

"To be precise, it's the Thirteen Heroes' vacation and their monitors' working hours," Mobius corrected appropriately, her gaze remaining playfully fixed on Lin.

Lin said nothing and walked towards the second floor of the villa, his steps steady and powerful.

Yes, their time is running out.

How much time is left until the next Herrscher appears...?

"Is the storyteller himself the biggest murderer...?"

The pink-haired girl sat by the window in the moonlight, smiling softly.

Both her story and theirs are yet to be continued.

Whether it's the murderer in the story or the real murderer...

I'm taking leave today.

null

Chapter Fifty-Seven: A Chance Encounter

"Bang—"

A streak of azure blue pierced through the thick smoke, breaking through the smoke screen and delivering a powerful punch to the Honkai zombie's forehead, shattering him into pieces like a watermelon hitting a truck.

He drew the Collapse Bomb from his waist and threw it at the group of Honkai zombie. It detonated in mid-air, and the Collapse Bomb, developed with the power of the Herrscher of the Void, swept away everything around it. After the white light dissipated, even the corpses could not be reassembled.

Collapse Bomb are not actually explosions, but rather similar to Phase Transfer Device that transport objects within a certain range to another space. However, they are simpler and more direct, do not select specific targets, and do not have a return trip setting.

Because it cuts objects from a spatial perspective, most substances cannot withstand it, but it is also extremely dangerous. If there are friendly people within its range, the only possibility is that they will be accidentally injured.

After clearing out the group of Honkai zombie, Lin stopped in place and scanned the surrounding area to see if there were any surviving Honkai creature.

The area he was in charge of was very small; to be precise, there was no area that a single person was responsible for. This cleanup operation was a collective effort, with 121 soldiers participating in the cleanup of the same area. This was something that would have been hard to imagine before, when at most two teams would be sent out to carry out cleanup missions.

Lin simply cleaned faster than everyone else, which resulted in a large empty area around him.

After confirming that there was no further activity of Honkai Energy in the vicinity, he headed towards Sakura's coordinates.

This cleanup mission was rather special, as a small-scale Honkai occurred in a bustling metropolis. The Branch 19 sealed off the entire area three minutes after the Honkai and deployed soldiers and Armed Puppet to clean up the Honkai creature and rescue survivors.

In fact, in recent years, more and more Honkai have broken out in cities, especially small-scale Honkai and some Honkai creature that are difficult to detect.

Furthermore, after the severely damaged Firemoth shifted its control over the outside world to a second round of internal reorganization, some ordinary people began to notice that something was wrong with this world.

Perhaps the day when Honkai and the Moths of Fire are revealed to the public will come sooner than we imagine.

"Are you done dealing with it?" Sakura had just sheathed her sword and gave the corpse a simple bow, a basic tribute to those who had been transformed into Honkai zombie the Honkai.

"It actually happened in the very center of the city..." Sakura, who rarely participated in ordinary missions, murmured with a sigh, then turned to look at Lin, "Did you go back?"

Lin nodded gently. "The finishing touches will be handled by the Squad Five and Squad Fourteen."

"Okay..." Sakura quickly came to Lin's side and walked with him toward the transport plane. "Have you been on some secret mission lately?"

"...No." Lin knew why Ying would ask that.

In the past two days, when he wasn't on a mission, he would leave the Branch 19, not knowing where he was going, and then return a few hours later without any equipment.

Judging from this somewhat furtive behavior, it does seem like they've gone on a solo secret mission.

However, Lin always answers every question. He said, "I was investigating something in a city in Australia... and I met a rather unusual person."

The person who, like him, observed the city from a different perspective, left some impression on him.

People rush about, and most people in Australia have become like zombies. Yet that person still observes and investigates. Although Lin Cong her few words that she couldn't truly see others from their perspective and that she herself was engaged in artistic work, Lin still gave her some recognition for taking the time to walk down the city streets and observe the most ordinary people.

He also unexpectedly discovered that the person seemed to be visiting various cities. When he went out to investigate the phenomenon of abnormally high temperatures in Australia, he would occasionally see her walking on the streets of the city wearing a hat, mask and sunglasses.

Because there were almost no other similar outfits in the summer, he recognized him easily.

However, this was just a minor incident, and Lin focused more of his energy on the investigation.

To be honest, this temperature anomaly is very similar to the Fifth Honkai War.

Everything still needs to be discussed with Mei...

"Wait a minute, Lin, there's a region where the Honkai Energy reaction is rising rapidly." At this moment, Himiko's communication made Lin and Sakura, who were about to board the transport plane, stop in their tracks.

There are only two possibilities for the sharp increase in Honkai Energy reaction.

One possibility is the occurrence of some unknown Honkai phenomenon, and the other is the birth of high-level Honkai Energy creatures.

And now, it's clearly the latter.

"Judging from the total amount of Honkai Energy reaction, it should only be a mutated lower-level Honkai Beast. The coordinates have been transmitted to you."

Most of the people involved in this cleanup were new recruits who had only undergone simulated training. It was quite impressive that they were able to clear out the Honkai zombie and ordinary Honkai Beast in their first real combat. Some special Honkai Beast required the experience of veterans to deal with them.

Lin and Sakura were enough to handle the mutated lower-level Honkai Beast, as the other veterans were too busy to deal with them, so they were left to handle the situation.

Let's go.

"Miss Eden, where have you been again? Do you know how much extra work you're doing all day?" The manager, sitting in the driver's seat, rolled down the window and sighed to the red-haired woman. "What if someone recognizes us?"

"No, why would they care about a singer these days?"

The woman called Eden shook her head, opened the car door, sat down, and said calmly.

"Before saying 'a singer,' take a look at your ranking on the global influence list..."

"That doesn't change the fact that I'm just a singer." Eden gazed worriedly out the window. "When will this kind of thing ever end..."

"So you said it yourself, you're just a singer. Can't you just do what a singer is supposed to do and sing to cheer them on?" The manager wasn't unaware of Eden's thoughts, but she clearly had a more open-minded perspective. "They have their things to do, and you have yours. This world doesn't function properly because of your kindness alone; it only functions properly when everyone does what they're supposed to do."

"... Maybe."