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It was unclear when exactly the ever-present covert filming had quietly come to an end. The bullying had ended as well, after the School Bully was expelled for fighting.

"The School Bully had been getting into fights outside school for more than a day or two," Second-generation Zhao said. Back then, he had been fairly close to the School Bully's crowd, so the period had left a deep impression on him. "But for some reason, one day he was suddenly expelled over this ridiculous excuse." Second-generation Zhao shot Professor Lu a suspicious glance.

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, rarely, visibly flared. "What do you mean, ridiculous? Scum like the School Bully should have been sent to a labor camp long ago. Getting expelled was letting him off easy."

"Does anyone remember that we were talking about Lawyer Jin?" Zhen Liu guided 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, promising model youth has quite an extensive network. Among the representatives in several of his cases, look who I found? Brother Hao."

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

Second-generation Zhao gave the answer outright. "The loan shark who trapped us here."

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

Lawyer Jin had not expected that, even with Class A Poison as his shield, Professor Lu would dig out something even deeper. He took off his glasses and pinched the bridge of his nose, forced to explain voluntarily. "Brother Hao was the School Bully at our school 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 the School Bully, everyone's expressions visibly changed.

Professor Lu continued, "I had been wondering before: in this game, everyone's roles seem to be paired off. So what is the purpose of your role?" In theory, Lawyer Jin should have had some connection to the four suspects present. Now, the answer was finally about to emerge. "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 knows Brother Hao, and Brother Hao needs this sort of gray-area lawyer as a precaution. Even if he fails to identify the murderer, Brother Hao would not truly do anything to Lawyer Jin. That is why Lawyer Jin dared to make his move without fear."

Second-generation Zhao, who had at least maintained a superficial friendship with Lawyer Jin until now, unceremoniously took the opposing side this time. "Looking at it this way, Lawyer Jin really is highly likely to be the murderer. Sorry about that, Brother Zhuang."

Jin Zhuang was Lawyer Jin's real name.

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

"I won't agree to it." Lawyer Jin was being attacked by everyone at once, and his expression turned terrible. He had not expected that merely mentioning Brother Hao's connection would result in such an unequivocal targeting of him. He somewhat 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. But he roughly understood. The game was not over yet, but once enough players agreed, they could vote early and 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 refuse. "Why are you wasting everyone's time?"

"Because I don't want the real murderer to get away!" Lawyer Jin truly looked panicked. After being a veteran player for so many years, he had always been the one setting the pace and guiding others. Newbies were supposed to be his playground, a vacation trip, yet now they were about to become his psychological trauma.

The people's hearts had scattered. This team was too hard to lead.

Lawyer Jin still tried his best to persuade everyone to turn back. "I don't 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 the one point for concealing a secret, they still could not beat the murderer's eight points.

Basketball Qiao curled his lips dismissively. "But what if you're the murderer? Then we'll each rely on our own abilities."

"I also suspect you are in such a rush to hold a referendum because you're afraid I'll find further evidence that you and Second-generation Zhao are biological brothers," Lawyer Jin said, stubbornly clinging to his theory. Although Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao's explanations made sense, he still felt the family connection was worth digging into. "And I think one of Second-generation Zhao's side quests must also be related to Brother Hao. You want to kill me because I handled cases for Brother Hao."

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

"As for the murderer..."

Lawyer Jin's sharp gaze locked onto Professor Lu. There was no need to doubt it: all of his hatred was now focused on the other man. Some people were just like that when playing games. Whoever called them a wolf, they would definitely bite back.

Professor Lu was not afraid either. He returned Lawyer Jin's gaze with a provocative smile, as though saying, Looks like you can't afford to lose.

And then?

Then there was no then.

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

easily

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

Lawyer Jin had never lost control so badly before, while Professor Lu seemed to have tasted something delicious and found it immensely enjoyable.

Zhen Liu: "???"

That was allowed?

Of course it was not allowed. The DM quickly intervened and used Misaligned Space to separate the two.

This sort of scene, where people got so immersed in the plot that they started fighting each other, was not unheard of. During live-action games, it could even make the news. After the shift to holographic games, neither fighter would be hurt in reality, but they would still be locked in the Black Room by the DM for an hour to cool down. The game absolutely did not encourage violence.