Newbie Scenario · Class Reunion (20

After all, the coroner would examine the fatal wounds. They merely wanted to take a different approach so the police would not realize they had been fanning the flames and plotting everything behind the scenes.

Basketball Qiao said, "The murderer is either Professor Lu or Lawyer Jin. I swear, what Second-generation Zhao and I encountered were definitely corpses."

"You think we'd still believe you after you say that now?" Lawyer Jin sneered.

Zhen Liu... actually did believe him. Only that could truly explain Basketball Qiao and Second-generation Zhao's series of somewhat baffling actions.

The conventional formula in murder-mystery games was for every character to be on their way to kill someone. But a formula was called a formula because most people wrote it that way; it did not mean everyone would. There could also be unexpected situations, such as a character pretending to be on their way to kill someone in order to complete their own trap.

Second-generation Zhao raised a hand and requested a pause from his personal AI. "I want a one-to-many private chat."

Only then did Zhen Liu, who was not very familiar with the game's procedures, realize that private chats were possible. Since there was one-to-many, there should also be one-to-one.

[Okay, please select the participants for your private chat~] Second-generation Zhao's AI had quite a lively voice. Though its voice and tone differed, its manner of speaking still gave people a strangely familiar feeling.

Second-generation Zhao said, "Me, Basketball Qiao, Doctor Zhen, and Professor Lu."

Lawyer Jin: "???" This was a private chat? Wasn't he just fucking blocking me out? Pah!

But whether Lawyer Jin was willing or not, the one-to-many private chat began.

The four of them appeared in the Black Room specially created by the game. Only the four of them could hear and see what happened inside—though, of course, the gods' followers in the livestream could as well.

Second-generation Zhao once again tried to persuade Zhen Liu and Lucien to join their side. He was very confident that he would succeed this time, because he had found something Lucien could not refuse. Last time, he had been careless and thought Lucien would care about evidence unfavorable to himself. But the facts proved that Lucien was lovesick. He simply did not care what happened to himself. So this time, Second-generation Zhao brought out evidence unfavorable to Doctor Zhen.

"We suspect Doctor Zhen has a split personality."

Zhen Liu had actually suspected the same thing. The handwriting that had suddenly appeared, the person he had secretly loved in his youth but could never find... all of it pointed to one possibility—Doctor Zhen was a narcissist. The person he loved was actually himself.

There appeared to be five suspects, but there were actually six.

As for why Zhen Liu's character profile contained none of this, the answer was simple: Zhen Liu was playing the second personality. The personality that knew nothing and possessed its own separate system and memories.

This was both Doctor Zhen's secret and the truth Zhen Liu needed to uncover for his side quest.

It was also the secret Professor Lu had discovered and wished to conceal.

Lucien's expression finally turned ugly for once. Second-generation Zhao and the others had guessed correctly.

"Let's make a deal." Second-generation Zhao's meaning was already obvious. He believed Doctor Zhen's primary personality was the killer. The primary personality knew everything and had even accounted for Class A Poison and Class B Poison accelerating each other's fusion. To evade police interrogation, Doctor Zhen's primary personality had released the secondary personality, who knew nothing, after doing everything. "If you don't vote for Lawyer Jin with us, then we'll vote for Doctor Zhen together with Lawyer Jin."

Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao were practically invincible, because from the start, they had naturally been in the same voting bloc. Whoever they leaned toward voting for had an extremely high chance of being voted out.

And that was indeed the case.

Basketball Qiao also joined in the persuasion. "We don't actually care that much about whether we win or not."

Second-generation Zhao continued, "If Lawyer Jin really is the murderer and we vote for him, he won't get the eight points. Everyone will be back at the same starting line, but we can guarantee Doctor Zhen's secret won't be exposed. Then Doctor Zhen will have one more point than all of us. If Doctor Zhen is the murderer and we vote for Lawyer Jin, then Doctor Zhen will receive the eight-point bonus for escaping. Either way, it's a sure win."

Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao looked at Zhen Liu together, certain he could not possibly refuse such temptation.

Newbie Scenario · Class Reunion (20

[Ah, we've come to this point again.]

[So boring. Why is it this again...]

[Because this is a dead end. No matter how many times Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao choose, once they forget this experience and start over, they always end up back on the same path. And ordinary players usually can't resist the temptation of winning either. Sigh.]

[Our Zhen Liu is different!!!]

[How different can Zhen Liu be? I'm dying laughing. Don't forget, everyone who can participate in the game is a suspect from another world. I've already seen no idea how many settings where every last person is evil. You followers of the God of Love should save it. Besides, even if Zhen Liu really is a good person, why would he refuse something that benefits him without any downside? To them, this is just a game. Fine, stop waiting. Disperse. There won't be any other ending.]

[But I... just feel that this time might be different.]

"Class Reunion," as a newbie scenario, had been listed for sale in the Twilight Mystery Club for many years. The murderer was not actually difficult to deduce. There were only five suspects in the entire case, and even counting the doctor with the split personality, there were only six possible suspects. Of those five people, two were already directly involved in the case. Even picking at random gave one a considerable chance of choosing the real culprit.

What truly made solving the case difficult was the human heart.

It was also why, after all these years, it had never truly been cleared.

Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao forgot again and again, participated again and again, and forcibly turned a truth that should have long been revealed into something bewilderingly obscure. Because they truly did not want to win, nor did they want the truth. They only wanted revenge for their mother. No matter what sort of player entered, they would eventually be dragged by the two brothers into the vortex of

revenge

and hand Lawyer Jin over to Brother Hao as they wished.

But...