Newbie Scenario: Class Reunion (13)

The first round of group discussion was forcibly cut short.

Second-generation Zhao continued searching for clues. Basketball Qiao said he wanted to go back to his room for an afternoon nap, while Zhen Liu chose to remain in the living room, sorting through his own clues and the various bits of information he had heard from others.

Basketball Qiao did not head straight back to his room. He first went to the kitchen to boil himself a kettle of hot water, and was now carrying a cup through the living room on his way to his room. Seeing Zhen Liu studying things alone in the living room, he poured him a cup as well and came over to chat. "Still investigating?"

Zhen Liu nodded.

"We can just vote Lawyer Jin out together." Basketball Qiao's hatred for Lawyer Jin was astonishingly high. He could not even be bothered to hide it in front of Zhen Liu. "I have footage proving he had a motive to kill."

Professor Lu had been right. Someone had indeed placed a recording device in the living room beforehand.

It was not Second-generation Zhao, but Basketball Qiao, the newbie who seemed the most guileless. When he had mentioned the dispute between Lawyer Jin and the deceased in the living room during his introduction, it probably had not been accidental either. He had wanted to put Lawyer Jin on guard, so that after everyone dispersed to search for evidence, he could capture the footage he wanted.

Zhen Liu neither approved nor disapproved of Basketball Qiao's methods. Everyone had their own way of playing the game. He merely asked Basketball Qiao a question in return. "Don't you think it's strange that Lawyer Jin and Professor Lu suddenly started fighting?"

"He was trying to stop everyone from agreeing to a public vote. Him disagreeing alone wouldn't have done anything." At the time, only Zhen Liu had yet to state his opinion. Lawyer Jin had not dared to gamble, so naturally he had needed to think of another way. Basketball Qiao understood that much. "Only the killer wouldn't want everyone to vote him to death, right?"

But Zhen Liu had a different thought. "Maybe he really is a 'good person' who wants to win."

Zhen Liu did not believe Basketball Qiao could not have thought of such a simple possibility.

Yet from the latter half of the discussion onward, Basketball Qiao seemed focused solely on dragging Lawyer Jin down. Or rather, Zhen Liu even felt that he was currently the only one wholeheartedly trying to solve the case.

Basketball Qiao fell silent for a long while, then tilted his head and asked Zhen Liu, "Is the truth really that important?"

"Of course." The answer slipped out of Zhen Liu's mouth instinctively. No matter what the truth was like, he felt it should be restored. After saying that, Zhen Liu quickly reined in his emotions and joked, "...No, money is what matters most."

Money was not omnipotent, but without money, nothing was possible.

Zhen Liu had understood that truth long ago.

Newbie Scenario: Class Reunion (13)

While a player was locked in solitary confinement, the other players could visit him.

Given Lawyer Jin's current position as the

universally hated one

he had never expected to receive a visitor.

The moment the visitation light came on, Lawyer Jin even suspected that there was something wrong with his eyes.

The visitor was none other than Doctor Zhen.

It was surprising, yet not entirely surprising.

Of the five players, Doctor Zhen was the only one who had not shown Lawyer Jin much hostility. Lawyer Jin felt that the dignity he had as an experienced player had been thoroughly cast aside that day. He gave Zhen Liu, standing outside the bars, a self-mocking smile.

The solitary confinement room where players were held was an independent space created by the game. It had all kinds of furniture and appliances. It did not feel like solitary confinement at all, but more like a vacation retreat. It would have been perfect if not for the bars at the door restricting Lawyer Jin's freedom.

Zhen Liu brought his own chair and sat down outside the bars, intending to have a proper talk with Lawyer Jin.

Zhen Liu did not waste time on pleasantries. He got straight to the point. "Do you think Second-generation Zhao and Qiao Basketball's hostility toward you is aimed at you personally?"

"What else could it be?" At the start, Lawyer Jin had thought victory was in his grasp and that he could call the shots, since his little group accounted for three of the five players. But what happened? The world changed in an instant. Two traitors had emerged from their group of three, leaving Lawyer Jin, now in the minority, temporarily unable to tell whether they had betrayed the organization or he had.

Zhen Liu did not know how to put it tactfully, so he could only speak frankly. "Have you considered the possibility that their character alignments require them to act that way?"

Since there could be side quests requiring them to protect others, there could also be side quests requiring them to "kill" others.

Lawyer Jin had actually considered that possibility. Second-generation Zhao's intentions during the earlier discussion had been far too obvious, and Lawyer Jin had pointed it out at the time. It was just that... "It can't be that two characters both have a grudge against my character, can it?"

"Three people." Professor Lu's provocations toward Lawyer Jin had also been quite obvious. But if Professor Lu and Lawyer Jin had not known each other before, it was unlikely that they had a personal grudge. In other words, everyone's "dislike" of Lawyer Jin was more based on their characters. In fact, Doctor Zhen did not fundamentally have much affection for Lawyer Jin either.

Zhen Liu even felt that Lawyer Jin's character could star in a web novel—Universally Hated Me Reaches the Peak of Life by Solving Cases.

Zhen Liu had previously suspected that Lawyer Jin was Doctor Zhen's secret crush, which was why he had not made any moves. But Zhen Liu no longer thought so. From the perspective of an author writing a story, Lawyer Jin's ties to the other characters were already too deep. If Doctor Zhen's character got involved too, it would be far too messy. This was a newbie scenario; it would not be that complicated.

"You should start with your character's past and think carefully about what grudges Brother Hao or you have with Second-generation Zhao, Qiao Basketball, and Professor Lu. Otherwise, your character will be very difficult to play."

"Will you help me?" Lawyer Jin caught the implication in Zhen Liu's words.

Zhen Liu did not agree immediately. Instead, he stated his condition. "If you are willing to share your story with me, along with any grudges between you and the other characters that you think of later."

"No problem!"

After visiting Lawyer Jin, Zhen Liu went to see Professor Lu again. This old man's accommodations were even better than Lawyer Jin's. Zhen Liu did not know whether it was just his imagination, but Professor Lu's appliances seemed more advanced. Professor Lu was utterly at ease. When Zhen Liu arrived, he was reclining against the headboard, reading a... cookbook.