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He had been as ordinary as dust.

Professor Lu would never forget how shamefully he had chosen to be a deserter back then, thinking that if he closed his eyes, he could pretend not to see; if he covered his ears, he could pretend not to hear; if he told himself he had no feelings, he could pretend that he...

No, in the end, he had still loved Doctor Zhen.

Watching the person he secretly loved suffer such humiliation and bullying at Brother Hao's hands, it was not as though Professor Lu had not been angry. It was simply that back then, he could do nothing and had not dared to do anything. Even after growing up, Professor Lu could still feel the resentment he directed at himself over that helplessness.

Then Professor Lu felt that he could not go on like this. He had to do something.

What had brought about such a drastic change in Professor Lu was the affection and guilt he had accumulated toward Doctor Zhen over time, as well as... a diagnosis stating that he did not have long to live.

Yes, what truly weighed on Professor Lu was neither the report everyone assumed it was, nor the serial killer identity Basketball Qiao and Second-generation Zhao had mentioned. What had made Professor Lu look so awful lately was his conversation with his attending physician. He had been told that he had cancer—cellular carcinoma—and at most six months to live.

Once his life entered its countdown, Professor Lu, with nothing left to lose, had gone mad in that silence.

He did not ask for the world to remember him. He only wanted Doctor Zhen to know that there had once been a timid, cowardly person like him who had loved him. Though his love was worthless, it was still his love. Professor Lu had never expected a response from Doctor Zhen, nor did he think Doctor Zhen ought to respond to him. He was not worth loving at all. He merely wanted to be willful once before dying and let the other man know how he felt.

But if he rashly showed up and confessed his love, never mind whether Doctor Zhen would believe him—Professor Lu himself would despise his own shamelessness. He shut himself away and thought for a long time, agonizing over what he could do for Doctor Zhen before he died.

Then...

Through his long-term observation of Doctor Zhen, Professor Lu discovered Doctor Zhen's secret.

At that point, the character card stopped writing and skipped directly over a section of the plot.

Zhen Liu was equally surprised, because there had been no secret whatsoever in the character biography he had seen for Doctor Zhen. His memories were coherent and complete—at least, that was how Doctor Zhen himself felt. He did not have any secrets. What exactly had Professor Lu learned? His plan to kill Ying De?

While that explanation did make sense, Zhen Liu still keenly sensed that something was wrong. Something must have been omitted here, and it was extremely important.

But before Zhen Liu could continue thinking, Professor Lu spoke, interrupting his train of thought. "After I discovered that you wanted to kill someone, I followed you here, because I had to kill them before you did." After saying that, Professor Lu looked at Zhen Liu expectantly, as though he could hardly wait for him to ask a question.

What could Zhen Liu ask? Naturally: "Can I know what secret of mine you discovered?"

Professor Lu did not answer. Zhen Liu had no idea whether he was doing it deliberately or simply having a lovesick episode, but he said, "I thought you would ask me what my name is. So you could distinguish me from the character Professor Lu."

Zhen Liu: "..." Why would I need to know your name? I can distinguish you from Professor Lu. The two of you are really quite different.

But the stern young man opposite him had already begun talking to himself. "My name is Lucien. Lucien represents light and truth."

Zhen Liu's only thought was that he turned out to be an international friend.

Then the international friend asked again, "How did you know I was the one who misled Second-generation Zhao?"

"Because Second-generation Zhao was inexplicably confident that you would side with him and vote Lawyer Jin out." Both Zhen Liu and Second-generation Zhao had gone to visit Lucien in the little black room, one after the other. Their purpose at the time must have been to persuade Lucien to vote. Zhen Liu had made quite a few preparations to convince Lucien, though he had not needed them in the end.

By the same logic, Second-generation Zhao naturally had leverage as well. It was something important enough that he was certain Lucien would listen to him.

So the question was, given the circumstances at the time, what could Lucien possibly have had that was important enough for Second-generation Zhao to be certain he would compromise—and something Second-generation Zhao could have learned about in advance?

The answer was already obvious. Most likely, Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao had privately compared their methods and timelines, making Second-generation Zhao—who believed he had cleaned up after Basketball Qiao—realize that someone had carefully misled him.

Zhen Liu knew Doctor Zhen had not done it.

That meant the only people left who could have misled Second-generation Zhao were Professor Lu and Lawyer Jin. But if Lawyer Jin had done it, given Second-generation Zhao's hatred for Lawyer Jin, he would definitely have said so the moment he found out. Yet he had not. That left only Professor Lu.

And that was indeed the truth.

Zhen Liu had already seen it in Professor Lu's character biography: Professor Lu was the one who had stabbed someone. But it was not merely that Second-generation Zhao had mistaken Basketball Qiao for the culprit. The two of them had both mistaken each other for the stabber and repeatedly covered for one another and cleaned up after each other. They had really been busy that night.

That was also why Zhen Liu had not found the stabbing weapon in the locked room. Second-generation Zhao had not disposed of it. Basketball Qiao, who had mistakenly believed Second-generation Zhao had killed Ying De, had hidden it.

Basketball Qiao had smothered someone with a pillow so blatantly only because he had intended to leave evidence behind so the police would arrest him. He wanted to take the blame for Second-generation Zhao.

Their brotherhood was quite solid, and the players portraying them had somehow become deeply invested as well.

Speaking of genuine feelings, Zhen Liu could not help looking at another player who was also deeply invested. Lucien and Professor Lu, who was like a creature in the corner, were worlds apart in personality. Yet Lucien seemed extremely determined to stay true to the role. Even though his acting was a complete mess, he still insisted on being lovesick at this point and refused to break away from the character he had set for himself.

Zhen Liu had no choice but to advise him, "There's really no need to go that far." Everyone had more or less broken character already.

But Lucien refused. "How could that be? If I say I love you, then I love you. Just wait—I'll definitely make you feel my love!"