Beginner Scenario: Class Reunion (7)

"What exactly was on the TV?" Basketball Qiao was still hung up on that detail. Although he had also been in the living room at the time, he had been busy making arrangements with his back to the TV.

Lawyer Jin had finally reached the end of his patience. His desire to shut Basketball Qiao up was obvious, but he did not forcefully step forward himself in the end. Instead, he shot Second-generation Zhao a look. Xiao Zhao, who habitually put himself in the role of lackey, immediately stepped up to smooth things over.

"We all have a side quest. No matter who the murderer is or who the good guys are, this clue is only worth one point. I suggest we keep things amicable. As long as this side quest doesn't affect the main quest, there's no need to dig into every last detail. What do you think?" Second-generation Zhao offered a trade: no one would pry into the hidden details of anyone else's side quest. Everyone would give up one point, leaving them all at the same starting line.

Something that should have required only unspoken understanding had been forced into the open.

Logically, the viewers in the livestream should not have been able to tolerate something that felt a little like cheating together. Yet everyone accepted it well, because this was a game about exposing human nature, and negotiations between players were also a form of game theory.

Who knew whether they would actually keep their word later?

After considering it for a moment, Zhen Liu nodded in agreement. It was not that he truly thought it was necessary to cling to that one point, but that he felt it was still too early to make enemies.

Only after Zhen Liu agreed did Professor Lu casually nod along.

That left only Basketball Qiao, who had no idea what had happened. Second-generation Zhao could only pull him aside for a brief private meeting. When they came back from their brainstorming session, Basketball Qiao finally looked enlightened, his eyes brimming with excitement. "Right, right. This is a game about finding the murderer, after all. We good guys need to stick together."

Basketball Qiao did not mention the TV again.

After the introductions ended, they entered the fourth stage, the real meat of the game—the first round of on-site evidence gathering.

They could freely enter and leave every room in the villa, inside and out, upstairs and downstairs, but there was a time limit: six hours. After lunch, they would no longer be allowed to enter other people's rooms without cause.

Once the search began, everyone had their own preferred first location. For example, Zhen Liu thought examining the crime scene and the corpse took priority, so he planned to go to the victim's room first. Lawyer Jin, however, stayed in the living room. He really did seem concerned about the secret Basketball Qiao had accidentally exposed. Although the players had reached a preliminary gentleman's agreement, he still could not relax. Who knew what he intended to do by staying in the living room?

Zhen Liu ignored him and headed straight for the victim's room. Professor Lu silently followed.

To avoid suspicion, Second-generation Zhao took Basketball Qiao to the attic farthest from the living room. Yes, above the third floor, the villa had a small attic. Second-generation Zhao held the layout of the entire villa and knew it better than anyone.

The five of them temporarily split into three teams and went their separate ways.

Once only Zhen Liu and Professor Lu remained, Professor Lu took the initiative to speak. "Is there nothing you want to ask me?" His hint was obvious. There had been too many people earlier, and there were many things he had not wanted to say. But now, he could tell Zhen Liu everything he knew.

But Zhen Liu was wholly focused on examining the corpse's fatal wounds. He had to admit, this holographic game was far too realistic. Zhen Liu had never seen anything that made him worry this much about whether a game could pass censorship.

Professor Lu: "..."

He had no choice but to take the initiative again and say that he could provide more clues.

This time, Zhen Liu finally heard him. However, his hands did not stop moving as he casually asked, "Do you want to form an alliance with me for now?"

Professor Lu fell completely silent. Only after a while did he speak again with difficulty. "Why would you think that?"

Zhen Liu was extremely surprised. "What else could it be?"

"Maybe I'm doing this because you're special."

Although things were moving a little fast, the followers of the God of Love in the comments were a bunch of hopeless romantics. They were already howling about how sweet this was, and some were even asking why Zhen Liu had not agreed to start a relationship with Professor Lu.

Zhen Liu finally stopped moving, but not to respond to Professor Lu. He was merely recording a new deduction on the light screen—Professor Lu had a secret crush on Doctor Zhen. This might be the secret Professor Lu was being threatened over. Because he was an educator, homosexuality was still a relatively sensitive topic in this

era

context, which was why Professor Lu had recently seemed so preoccupied.

This could also serve as Professor Lu's motive for murder.

Seeing Professor Lu's subtle expression and his hesitation to speak, Zhen Liu took the initiative to say, "Don't worry. I want fair competition. As long as you don't betray me, I won't reveal your secret either."

One point each—how fair was that? I may want to make money, but I have principles and limits too. Zhen Liu thought he was doing great.

Professor Lu: "..." What Little Pillow? He was just a Pineapple Head with no emotions!

Beginner Scenario: Class Reunion (7)

Emotionless Pineapple Head Zhen Liu ignored Professor Lu and crouched down to focus on examining the corpse. He turned it over and over, inspecting it thoroughly, and took plenty of photos and videos along the way.

In the game, every player had a recorder that could photograph or record anything they found suspicious, so they could present it during the later group discussion for everyone else to study. The players had only received these recorders that morning, after Ying De's death had been confirmed.

When 333 gave Zhen Liu his recorder, it also provided a beginner's guide for the evidence-gathering stage.

For example, from the evidence-gathering stage onward, the players' fingerprints would no longer be entered into the database, nor would they pick up traces such as blood from the crime scene.

Likewise, DM would provide a simple autopsy report at an appropriate time. Each player could also submit certain items to their personal AI for fingerprint comparison.