Beginner Scenario: Class Reunion (5)

When they reached the second floor, Lawyer Jin happened to come out of his room as well and joined them on the way downstairs.

"I had a bit of a headache, so I thought I'd go back to my room, take some medicine, and rest for a while." Lawyer Jin volunteered the reason for returning to his room without waiting for anyone to ask.

Honestly, not staying downstairs to entertain people really did not suit Lawyer Jin's sociable nature.

Once Lawyer Jin joined them, the formation of the three heading downstairs became Lawyer Jin in front, Doctor Zhen trailing a step behind in the middle, and Professor Lu like a silent shadow, always protectively behind Doctor Zhen. He had completely lost the talkativeness he showed when chatting with Doctor Zhen, becoming utterly taciturn and preoccupied instead.

Therefore, no matter how Lawyer Jin tried to liven up the atmosphere, with the other two being less than cooperative, there was little he could do.

Fortunately, the staircase was not long, and they soon reached the hall.

Downstairs, Ying De was loudly needling Basketball Qiao, who was now a basketball coach. This big guy was the tallest of them all, nearly two meters ten. Despite his towering, burly build, he had a somewhat timid personality. At least, that was how the character Zhen Liu was playing had judged him in the character brief.

But the player portraying Basketball Qiao was clearly not someone with much patience. After only a few remarks, he became seriously angry and nearly came to blows with the NPC.

The noise Zhen Liu had heard earlier was precisely the commotion Ying De and Basketball Qiao had caused.

Whether it was part of the program's setup or something else, Ying De had nearly been beaten up by Basketball Qiao. Yet once everyone had arrived, he began targeting Basketball Qiao again, saying that everyone had become successful after graduation, except for Basketball Qiao, and hoping he would work harder.

Basketball Qiao's fists clenched again.

While noting everyone's interactions, Zhen Liu also observed the first-floor surroundings. The place had been completely transformed, piled full of all sorts of things: new decorations that had yet to be put up, tables laden with fruit and snacks, and an increasingly lavish dinner spread. Of course, none of it had been prepared by any of their old classmates. It had been done by the people Second-generation Zhao had brought.

After finishing everything, Second-generation Zhao's butler and bodyguards left. Thus, only the five players and tonight's victim remained at the final dinner table.

The prospective victim, Ying De, raised his glass. Zhen Liu noticed that he had opened the wine Zhen Liu had placed in the kitchen earlier. It was a bottle of red wine a family member of one of Doctor Zhen's patients had given him in thanks. It had a good vintage and was said to have a rich, mellow flavor. Doctor Zhen did not drink, so he had brought it along when buying the beverages, originally intending to open it at tomorrow night's Class Reunion. Yet Ying De had already started drinking it on his own.

No one knew where Ying De had found the wine glasses. They were not the paper cups they had agreed to bring beforehand.

"Come on, classmates. Let's raise our glasses."

The five people seated at the table wore varying expressions. Basketball Qiao even laughed loudly in mockery. But in the end, under Ying De's vaguely threatening insistence, even Professor Lu, who looked least likely to spare anyone's feelings, raised his glass with the rest. Despite his germophobia, Doctor Zhen still picked up his wine glass with a cloth.

Ying De looked utterly exhilarated. He looked down imperiously at the former

campus

celebrities, who at that moment all seemed like dolls in his dollhouse. Proud and satisfied, he took a deep breath, puffed out his belly, and raised his glass with his left hand. "To friendship."

Everyone echoed in unison, "To friendship."

The next day, before dawn, accompanied by a scream that pierced through the entire villa's roof, the man who had only just toasted friendship was found dead in a second-floor room.

And the other five people he had toasted were the only five suspected of killing him.

No good ever came of a banquet.

Beginner Scenario: Class Reunion (5)

The DM's voice rang out above everyone's heads.

["Doctor Zhen" has discovered the deceased. The third phase officially begins. All participants, please gather in the hall.]

[From now until the murderer is found, none of you will be able to leave East Suburb B&B Villa No. 4.]

[It has been learned that the deceased, Ying De, owed a large amount in usurious loans. Brother Hao, the loan shark, is extremely angry and has sworn that you must hand over the murderer within forty-eight hours, or he will burn all of you alive inside the villa.]

Zhen Liu carefully listened to every word in the system announcement, which reminded him of the main mission he had seen at the end of his character brief—determine whether you are the murderer in this case. If you are, conceal it; if you are not, assist the police in catching the real culprit.

The police and Brother Hao were two entirely different matters.

333's voice then appeared beside Zhen Liu's ear, beginning the beginner guidance for the third phase: [To put it plainly, the third phase is just a simple round of self-introductions. After all, everyone has only read their own character brief so far and isn't familiar with the roles played by the other players. All you need to do is provide your basic information and the shortest possible timeline. You understand, right?]

Zhen Liu nodded. The more he said, the more mistakes he might make. Before all the information became clear, he certainly would not reveal everything. What if he later discovered that he was the murderer? There would be no explaining his way out of that.

So far, Zhen Liu had only one question: "Does the murderer clearly know that they're the murderer?"

[Not necessarily. The scenarios at Twilight Mystery Club are divided into two types. One is the kind commonly found at murder-mystery venues on the market, where the murderer's character brief will generally state very clearly—"You are the murderer." The other type is Twilight's own original scenarios. The "Class Reunion" you are currently playing is one of those, and the murderer is not explicitly identified.]

Zhen Liu fell into thought, secretly guessing that this was also meant to balance the opposing sides. The murderer had to first deduce that they were the murderer before taking further action.

That was also why the timeline jumped directly from the banquet to the murder, without requiring the players to act out what happened that night. They could only learn the most crucial information about last night from their character briefs. In other words, to reconstruct the truth, they had to fully exchange information with one another.