Beginner Scenario · Class Reunion (2)

***

In a low-key black SUV parked by the roadside not far away, Lucien, who had already finished his game for the day and was ready to head back, watched everything unfold at the shop entrance and suddenly found himself interested again.

The young man sitting rigidly upright in the passenger seat, dressed in the same white shirt, tensed the moment he saw Zhen Liu, his hands unconsciously clenching. But he did not dare question Boss's decision. He could only pretend nothing had happened and subtly remind Lucien, "Boss, shouldn't we be heading back?"

Lucien narrowed his eyes and looked at the young man in the front with a half-smile. The man's soul had already begun to sizzle with oil, carrying a heavy lemony sourness—the scent of jealousy.

A squeeze of lemon juice over salmon sashimi could remove the fishy taste and make the flesh more tender. But if it were soaked directly in white vinegar, then...

It would become utterly flavorless.

"You cost me a delicacy." Lucien's magic clamped tightly around the young man's throat. "However, I have always been magnanimous, haven't I? If you want to keep that fragile neck of yours, answer me. Why were you trying to stop me from approaching that human?"

By the time Lucien stepped out of the car, the young man was long gone from his side. He had kept his promise and left the young man's neck for his Three-Headed Hound.

They loved carrion most of all.

Author's Note:

Nonsense Mini-Theater:

Lucien, the top, smiling: As a god of fine food, it's perfectly reasonable for me to keep a few Infernal Three-Headed Hounds, right?

Zhen Liu, the bottom: ...

PS: There is more than one transmigrator in this story, but both the top and bottom are natives.

Chapter 2: Beginner Scenario · Class Reunion (2)

[Welcome to the Twilight Mystery Club (L049 Branch). I am your dedicated AI, 333.]

[The murder mystery script you are about to enter is "Class Reunion."]

[Before the game begins, I will first conduct physical and mental examinations on you...]

Zhen Liu was already lying flat inside the game pod, undergoing a full-body tomography scan. A highly neutral synthesized voice sounded above his head, then brought him into a vast sea of stars.

In the darkness, Zhen Liu lowered his head slightly and saw a floating hexagram beneath his feet. Golden light shot upward from the formation, forming a dazzling pillar that illuminated a small area around him. There were many similar pillars around Zhen Liu, scattered like stars, some near and some far. Some shone so brightly they were nearly impossible to look at directly, while others had already dimmed like candles in the wind, ready to go out at any moment.

The game's effects were generally quite thoughtfully made, highly realistic, if a little overly melodramatic.

[Examination complete—no history of contact with related scripts. Connection permitted.]

[

System

The backend is connecting to your game preference settings. Please wait.]

As the preference settings changed, 333's electronic voice became that of an

older man,

a smoke-roughened voice that was forever broad-minded, forever warmhearted, and just a little nagging: [Ah, Xiao Liu, while searching just now, I discovered that it wasn't merely that you had no prior contact with "Class Reunion"—you had absolutely no experience playing murder mystery games at all. Is this your first time playing this type of full-dive game? Shall I activate a beginner's guide for you? I absolutely have to activate a beginner's guide for you.]

"Okay." Hearing the familiar voice, Zhen Liu remained expressionless.

A text-based instruction manual appeared on the control panel, which had taken the form of a magic book.

333 began explaining as well, its tone more humanized, as though it were simply chatting with Zhen Liu: [A murder mystery game, put simply, is a "role-playing plus detective deduction" game. It offers a fully immersive experience. The "Class Reunion" you're playing today is a beginner scenario, set in modern times with classic deductive reasoning. It has relatively few players—five in total, including you.]

Then, a black silhouette appeared before Zhen Liu, lying on the ground and surrounded by a white outline, with the words "Deceased" written across its forehead.

[As the name suggests, murder mysteries inevitably revolve around a murder case.]

[A homicide has occurred in "Class Reunion." Someone has died, and the five of you players will each play one of the five suspects. The timeline runs from the night before the crime until the case is solved.]

[In this scenario, there is one and only one murderer, and that person is definitely among the five of you.]

Although Zhen Liu had never played this type of game before, he quickly understood the purpose of the setup. "In other words, the players are naturally divided into two camps—the 'murderer' and the 'good guys.'"

The murderer's task was obvious: conceal what he had done and avoid being exposed.

The good guys' task was equally clear: solve the mystery and identify the real culprit.

In other words, this was essentially a faction-versus-faction game.

"That doesn't sound very fair to the 'murderer.'" Zhen Liu's voice was even more like an AI's than 333's, a rare coolness in this summer. "Whoever draws the role of 'murderer' is basically fighting one against four. But Xiao Qian told me there was only one winner in each round."

[That's right, there is only one winner. Only the winner receives prize money, though the amount varies. The specific tiered standards are on the last page of the manual.] Considerately, 333 flipped the manual to the last page for Zhen Liu out of thin air. When the pages turned without wind, they even produced golden special effects—very magical, and... even more melodramatic.

One reason Zhen Liu had agreed to come was to fill in for a friend; the other was to earn money.

As Zhen Liu carefully studied the pyramid chart for prize distribution, 333 continued explaining the game's victory conditions: [Finding the murderer does not guarantee victory. The game uses a points system. Take your scenario as an example: the 'good guys' receive 2 points for completing the main quest, while the 'murderer' receives 8 points for completing it. During the game, everyone also has their own exclusive side quests. Different side quests grant different bonus points. The game also requires you to reconstruct the truth of the story—the more thoroughly you reconstruct it, the more points you receive.]

In other words, the "murderer" was a lone wolf. Even without doing side quests, as long as he completed the main quest, he would have a high chance of winning.

The "good guys," meanwhile, had to complete both their side quests and the main quest, while also reconstructing the story.