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No one knew when the pervasive secret filming had quietly stopped, and the bullying had ended as well after School Bully was expelled for fighting.

"School Bully had been getting into fights off campus for ages." Second-generation Zhao had been fairly close to School Bully's crowd back then, so the period had left a deep impression on him. "But for some reason, one day he was suddenly expelled over that ridiculous excuse." Second-generation Zhao shot Professor Lu a suspicious look.

Basketball Qiao, however, inconspicuously looked toward Doctor Zhen.

Zhen Liu looked back at him openly and gave him a smile.

Professor Lu folded his arms and sneered, his temper flaring unusually visibly. "What do you mean, ridiculous? Social scum like School Bully should have been sent to a labor camp long ago. Expulsion was getting off easy."

"Does anyone remember that we were talking about Lawyer Jin?" Zhen Liu steered everyone back to the original subject.

"Right, Lawyer Jin." Professor Lu curled his lips and enlarged a search screenshot on his phone. "Our city's outstanding model young man has quite an extensive network. Among the representatives in several cases he handled, look who I found: Brother Hao."

Basketball Qiao began racking his brains with an expression that said, "This name sounds familiar, but I can't quite remember it."

Second-generation Zhao supplied the answer directly. "The loan shark who trapped us here."

"You work for the Boss?!" Basketball Qiao stared at Lawyer Jin in shock, his expressive eyes filled with the words, "You traitor."

Lawyer Jin had not expected that even with Class A Poison as a shield, Professor Lu would dig up something even deeper. He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, forced to confess voluntarily. "Brother Hao was our school's School Bully back then. Ying De came to me and acted as the intermediary. I had no choice but to agree to defend him."

At the mention of School Bully, everyone's expressions changed noticeably.

Professor Lu continued, "I had been wondering before: everyone's roles in this game seem to be paired off, so what is the significance of your role?" In theory, Lawyer Jin should have had some connection to the four suspects present. Now, the answer was finally obvious. "You may not have love, family, or friendship, but you have hatred."

Lawyer Jin: "..."

"I even want to call for an Early Referendum, because I think Lawyer Jin is the murderer." Professor Lu laid out his reasoning and judgment. "Lawyer Jin knew Brother Hao, and Brother Hao needed this kind of shady lawyer as insurance. Even if he failed to turn over the murderer, Brother Hao would not really do anything to Lawyer Jin. That is why Lawyer Jin dared to act with such confidence."

Second-generation Zhao, who had at least maintained surface-level cordiality with Lawyer Jin before, now unceremoniously took the opposite side. "Looking at it this way, Lawyer Jin is indeed highly suspicious. Sorry about this, Brother Zhuang."

Jin Zhuang was Lawyer Jin's real name.

Basketball Qiao immediately echoed Second-generation Zhao. "Then let's vote."

"I will not agree to it." Lawyer Jin was being attacked from all sides, and his face turned utterly grim. He had not expected that merely revealing the lead involving Brother Hao would result in such open hostility. He regretted admitting it so readily and could only try his best to defend himself. "An Early Referendum requires at least four people to agree."

Zhen Liu did not voice an opinion, because he did not even know what an Early Referendum was. Still, he roughly understood: the game had not yet ended, but once enough players agreed, they could vote early to eliminate the murderer. In a five-player game, at least four people had to agree.

Professor Lu, Second-generation Zhao, and Basketball Qiao all looked as though they could not wait for Lawyer Jin to die.

Basketball Qiao complained to Lawyer Jin, trying to persuade him not to object. "Why are you still wasting everyone's time?"

"Because I do not want the real murderer to get away!" Lawyer Jin looked genuinely anxious. After being an experienced player for so many years, he had always been the one setting the pace and guiding people. Newbies should have been his playground, a vacation trip, yet this was about to become his psychological trauma.

The people had fallen apart. This team was impossible to lead.

Lawyer Jin still tried his best to persuade everyone to turn back. "I do not know whether you want to win, but I certainly do. If we vote now, though, the murderer will win one hundred percent."

Many of everyone's side quests had barely begun. Even if they earned that one point for concealing a secret, they still could not beat the murderer's eight points.

Basketball Qiao curled his lip dismissively. "But what if you are the murderer? Then we will each rely on our own abilities."

"I also suspect you are so eager for an Early Referendum because you are afraid I will find further proof that you and Second-generation Zhao are biological brothers." Lawyer Jin had begun stubbornly clinging to his theory. Although Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao's explanations made sense, he still believed the family connection was worth digging into. "And I think one of Second-generation Zhao's side quests should also be related to Brother Hao. You want to kill me because I defended Brother Hao."

Second-generation Zhao said nothing, but his expression was practically an admission.

"As for the murderer..."

Lawyer Jin's sharp gaze locked onto Professor Lu. There was no need to doubt it—Professor Lu now held all of his hatred. Some people played games like that: whoever accused them of being the wolf, they would definitely accuse right back.

Professor Lu was not afraid in the least. He gave Lawyer Jin a provocative smile, as though saying, Looks like you cannot handle losing.

And then?

Then there was no then.

Lawyer Jin lunged at Professor Lu and started fighting him. Professor Lu could clearly have

easily

subdued him, but instead kept dodging and shifting around, making Lawyer Jin look even more pathetic.

Lawyer Jin had never lost control so thoroughly, while Professor Lu seemed to have tasted some delicacy and was enjoying himself immensely.

Zhen Liu: "???"

That was allowed?

Of course it was not. DM quickly stepped in and used Misaligned Space to separate them.

This kind of scene, where people got so immersed in the plot that they started brawling, was not unheard of. During live-action games, it had even made social news. After the games became holographic, neither party would be hurt in reality, but DM would still lock them in the Black Room for an hour to cool down. Violence was absolutely not encouraged in the game.