Newbie Scenario · Class Reunion (Twenty-Six)

They had been saved!

Chapter 26: Newbie Scenario · Class Reunion (Twenty-Six):

[The police arrived at Eastern Suburbs Villa immediately. Brother Hao was dead. Doctor Zhen was dead. The game was over.]

[Congratulations, players, on achieving the perfect ending for "Class Reunion."]

[Since you are the first team to clear the perfect ending, all participating players will receive additional rewards and a group achievement medal.]

DM's neutral mechanical voice rang out above everyone's heads.

[Now, it is finally time for the final murderer vote. Please choose who you believe to be the true killer.]

It rather felt like picking the girl who made your heart race.

Zhen Liu slowly opened his eyes from the agony of being poisoned to death. He stood there in a daze for a long while before his brain finally seemed to start working again. The corpses were gone, Brother Hao was gone, and even that excessively realistic near-death experience had vanished without a trace. He found himself leaning against Lucien's shoulder, looking at the bright, spotless villa as though a lifetime had passed.

"It's over?" Zhen Liu asked.

"Yes, it's all over." Lucien replied softly. His hand moved to Zhen Liu's temple, massaging and kneading it. It looked like an ordinary technique, yet it somehow had a calming effect.

For a moment, Zhen Liu could not help feeling lazy, wanting it to continue like this forever.

But that peaceful feeling was soon shattered by Basketball Qiao's excited voice.

"We won! We actually won!" Basketball Qiao leaped three feet into the air. Seeing that Zhen Liu was awake, he could not wait to rush over and kiss someone. Of course, Basketball Qiao did not succeed. His brother, Second-generation Zhao, stopped him immediately, and Lucien was watching from the side with an unfriendly look in his eyes. If Basketball Qiao truly dared to overstep, Lucien would truly dare to kill someone in the game.

During that brief gap, Zhen Liu had already sat up on his own and pulled himself together. He opened and closed his right hand, feeling the sensation of having strength again—of being alive again.

Zhen Liu had expected that he would die, but he had not expected the pain before death to feel so real.

This game's realism was truly terrifying, as if the game's programmers had really died once themselves.

As DM's murderer-voting prompt appeared, a floating light screen that only they could see appeared before every player. It displayed a multiple-choice question—who was the true culprit behind Ying De's death in "Class Reunion"?

A. Professor Lu B. Lawyer Jin C. Doctor Zhen D. Basketball Qiao E. Second-generation Zhao

The ending of "Class Reunion" had changed. The souls bound here, Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao, had finally faced reality, stepped out of the past, and seen the possibility of a different future. But the murderer vote still had to be held.

Within the allotted time, every player had to choose the culprit they believed in.

The final result would be decided by the traditional rule of majority wins.

333's explanation appeared in Zhen Liu's ear at just the right moment: [This isn't necessarily a single-choice question. Newbie scenarios usually have only one culprit, so you don't need to worry. But when you play in the future, be sure to pay attention. There could be two culprits, or multiple culprits. The killer might even have an accomplice who can resist being voted out. There are quite a few variations.]

Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao looked at each other, then tacitly turned to Zhen Liu, waiting for him to speak. It was as though they would follow his lead in everything.

That was just how Xiao Zhao and Xiao Qiao liked to stick together and vote as a bloc. Only this time, it was Zhen Liu's turn to experience the power of calling the shots. Whoever he said to vote for, Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao would vote for without hesitation. Even if Zhen Liu were the true culprit, they would help him vote someone else to death and let Zhen Liu earn the final 8 points for escaping.

Just as Second-generation Zhao had said before, he truly did not care whether Ying De's death received justice. He only wanted to know the truth of how they had been burned to death in the villa back then.

It was heavy, but it also made him suddenly see the light.

He really had been wrong.

Recognizing and admitting that was difficult for Xiao Zhao, because not everyone could bear the pain of having caused a loved one's death. Xiao Zhao was no exception. Perhaps deep down, there had once been a moment when he suspected it too. But he simply lacked the courage to follow that line of thought, which was why he had acted so extremely in the game. He could not face the fact that he had caused his own brother's death. That feeling was truly too painful.

It was bitter, like a piece of orange peel left sitting for many years.

Its color was no longer bright, and its taste was no longer sweet.

It was a flavor Lucien did not particularly like. Of course, if it were used as seasoning to stew certain sinful souls, it could occasionally produce a wonderfully strange taste.

If it had to be described, it was probably like beef stew with aged tangerine peel—strengthening the spleen and stomach, replenishing vital energy, and dispelling dampness.

While Lucien pondered what Xiao Zhao's soul would taste like if he made it into a dish, Xiao Qiao silently took his brother's hand. Only then did he realize that both their hands were so cold—an icy chill that not even a furnace could warm, the stillness of death from the depths of their souls.

Yet for some reason, Xiao Qiao firmly believed that at the moment their hands clasped, he had still felt warmth. He gave the suspicious-looking Xiao Zhao a carefree smile, with not a trace of blame in his eyes.

Although Xiao Zhao deeply regretted causing his brother's death, his brother... had never felt that Xiao Zhao had dragged him down and gotten him killed. After all, it had been a decision they made together, had it not? Along the way, he had never regretted it. He was even glad that they had always had each other. Otherwise, how painful would it have been for Xiao Zhao to bear all this alone?

He had finally found his younger brother again. He could not leave him behind again.

Jin Zhuang, the "Orphan Card," was still excited over the group achievement medal for the perfect clear. He had played so many scenarios, yet this was the first time he had received such a medal. With this, who cared about that little bit of prize money for winning? Vote however you wanted, vote for anyone you wanted. Even if Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao insisted on voting for him again this time, he would not care. An unjust lawyer like Lawyer Jin really ought to face the law's punishment!