Newbie Instance · Class Reunion (Twenty

Zhen Liu: ...This was probably the legendary case of being terrible at the game but hopelessly addicted to it.

Another round of group discussion began.

It was eagerly anticipated, with everyone practically craning their necks. Their eyes gleamed with the excitement of "I've got your little secret," as though they could vote for the right murderer and end the game at any moment.

But the game had no intention of stopping its mischief.

This time, the DM personally designated the first player to share clues and gave the reason for the choice: [Among all players, this player has the most accurate grasp of everyone's timeline of movements. Let him sort out what happened on the night of the murder for everyone.]

The highest accuracy did not necessarily mean entirely correct. Zhen Liu caught the trap in the DM's wording.

Immediately afterward, the DM called on Lucien to begin.

The other three all turned to look at him, growing even more wary of Lucien, whom they had already been suspicious of. In an environment where everyone was hiding secrets, the more someone knew, the more likely he was to be attacked by those trying to protect themselves.

That was human nature.

Lucien, however, remained unmoved. In front of outsiders, he finally put away that stubborn-bronze demeanor and returned to the mystery and forcefulness he had shown at the beginning. Even surrounded by hostility from the entire room, he remained perfectly at ease, sitting there like a masterpiece painting, every strand of hair radiating calm.

Just when everyone thought he would continue as before, sharing his clues without even standing up, Lucien unexpectedly rose and walked to the long table.

Unfortunately, no matter how eagerly everyone waited, Lucien showed no intention of explaining exactly how he knew everyone's movements. Zhen Liu did know—phone usage frequency. He just did not know how Lucien had obtained everyone's backend data without alerting them.

Wait, Zhen Liu froze. Lucien had never asked him about it from beginning to end.

What did that mean? It meant Lucien either already knew what he had done last night, or... he was planning to make it all up.

Lucien spoke. "To make it easier for everyone to remember, I'll write it on the display."

The familiar shared holographic display rose again before the long table. Everyone could see it, and it could be used for projection or typing. Yet Lucien chose to write on it himself. His handwriting was flowing and beautiful, the kind of elegance rarely seen in modern people raised in a technological environment. Especially considering that he was a foreign friend, it was even rarer for his writing to possess such character.

Still, Zhen Liu did not know whether it was just his imagination, but when Lucien deliberately showed off this skill, he looked exactly like a peacock spreading its tail.

And Zhen Liu... really did have a weakness for beautiful handwriting. He had never told anyone or shown any inclination in that regard. He could only assume it was a coincidence.

Lucien could not only write beautifully, but also draw. With a few simple strokes, he effortlessly sketched lively chibi figures. He drew five in total, and it was obvious to the naked eye that the little figure representing Zhen Liu was far more exquisite than the others. His favoritism was utterly unconcealed.

Once the little figures were finished, they began moving mechanically under the software's control.

"We now know that I used a knife and Basketball Qiao used a pillow, so Second-generation Zhao used a golf club." Lucien drew five chibi murder weapons in a row as he spoke, then began connecting lines, sending each person's chibi figure across the display to claim their weapon. "And Lawyer Jin has already admitted that he used Class A Poison, while my darling used Class B Poison."

When Zhen Liu's chibi figure received the vial of poison, Lucien did not forget to add a glittering heart beside it. Its impact rivaled that single word, "darling."

Lawyer Jin was afraid Lucien would start singing "A Night Missing You" the next second.

Zhen Liu said nothing, as though he had automatically filtered out Lucien's love-struck remarks and only heard the information related to the case.

"Lawyer Jin and my darling both administered poison before dinner. Everyone already knows that, so I won't repeat it. The key is what happened after dinner, when we each went upstairs.

"According to what Basketball Qiao said during his first introduction, the victim went upstairs at around 11:30 and did not come down to speak with him until 12:30. There were four people upstairs in total, which means that if Basketball Qiao was not lying, the victim spoke with each of us for around fifteen minutes.

"What they talked about is no longer important. What matters is whether the victim really acted according to the timeline Basketball Qiao gave us."

Lucien had rarely spoken so much in one breath, but he was still as sarcastic as ever, drawing aggro to the fullest.

As expected, Basketball Qiao voiced his dissatisfaction with Lucien. "Are you saying I'm lying? Lawyer Jin saw the victim go upstairs at 11:30 too."

"But Lawyer Jin did not see when the victim came downstairs." Lucien remained orderly and composed, perfectly embodying the principle of not getting angry when others did. He continued provoking Basketball Qiao in an even tone, making him burn with rage. "As far as I know, I was the last person the victim met. He left my room before midnight. In other words, he stayed in each person's room for only a minute or two on average, five minutes at most. How could he possibly have come downstairs at 12:30?"

Basketball Qiao was still unconvinced. "How do you know you were the last one?"

"I naturally have my ways of knowing." Lucien did not answer directly, merely staring fixedly at Basketball Qiao. "Do you dare swear that you were still talking to the victim at 12:30?"

"Why wouldn't I dare?"

Lucien tilted his head, doing a Conan impression. "Oh? But right after he left my room, I followed him and stabbed him. Could he still keep talking after that? If so, he was really impressive."

"!!!"

Professor Lu was certainly skilled enough to be bold. At such a sensitive time, when he could not be sure everyone else had already gone to sleep, he had simply acted directly. And: "I stabbed him right outside my own room."