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Thinking it over, Zhen Liu felt that his quest line was pretty awful. Not only did he have to figure out whether he himself was the killer, but he also had to figure out whether the person he secretly loved was the killer. One of Zhen Liu's side quests said this—if the person you secretly loved was the killer, would you choose to protect him? (Successfully protecting him earned 6 points.) But if he was a good person, then his main quest would be to solve the case and catch the killer, which directly conflicted with the side quest of protecting the person he secretly loved.

Zhen Liu suddenly had a bold thought. Could the other players' quests contain similar contradictions? Perhaps they each had someone they wanted to protect as well.

You covered for him, and he covered for someone else. That was how the truth became so elusive.

In other words, whether they could win in the end depended entirely on their own choices.

Of course, this was only Zhen Liu's rather immature personal deduction for now. Whether it was true still required further observation.

The five players all sat around the dining table in the hall. Each of them could use their light screens at any time to record information they learned from the others. The light screens were visible only to themselves—though, naturally, the livestream viewers could see them too. The only thing guaranteed was that the other players could not cheat by peeking.

Before everyone sat down, Second-generation Zhao suggested, "How about we sit where we did during dinner last night?"

Basketball Qiao had already pulled out the first chair and looked at Second-generation Zhao strangely. "Why? Do you suspect someone already made a move during the banquet? The victim died in the early morning. Do you know something?"

"Just taking precautions."

Seating was a trivial matter. Since Second-generation Zhao had said so, no one objected to copying their positions from last night. There were only five of them, so their places were easy to remember, and no one sat in the wrong seat. Still, Zhen Liu did not know whether he was overthinking it, but after Second-generation Zhao made the suggestion, Lawyer Jin exchanged a glance with him that seemed to say, You're being a little too meddlesome.

It was hard to say whether Lawyer Jin felt Second-generation Zhao was meddling because he was the killer and did not want too much information exposed, or because he was a good person but, due to competing with the other players, did not want Second-generation Zhao giving hints to newcomers.

In any case, Second-generation Zhao, Basketball Qiao, and Lawyer Jin were now seated in order along the left side of the long table, while Professor Lu and Doctor Zhen sat on the right. Last night, the victim had sat alone at the wide end of the table because he thought it was the host's seat, just like in television dramas. In other words, the two people closest to the victim during the banquet had been Second-generation Zhao and Professor Lu, while Lawyer Jin had been the farthest away.

Every position could be said to be rather delicate, with some unusual point that did not fit each person's character.

They were now facing each other in a three-versus-two arrangement.

Second-generation Zhao, the veteran player, had already spoken once, so he continued temporarily acting as the host. "Same old rules. Let's start by introducing ourselves. Are there any new players here?"

No one spoke. Only an idiot of a newbie would admit it on their own.

Before Zhen Liu could finish thinking that, Basketball Qiao raised his hand and cooperatively confessed, "I've only played once before."

"I know. We worked together in your last round. It's fine—if there's anything you don't understand, I'll help you." Second-generation Zhao looked very eager to help and teach others. "Let's begin the introductions. I'll go first, then Professor Lu, Basketball Qiao, Doctor Zhen, and Lawyer Jin. We'll alternate sides like that. Is that okay?"

Second-generation Zhao's final question was clearly not directed at everyone present. His gaze remained fixed on Lawyer Jin at the very end.

This led Zhen Liu to another deduction. Not only had Second-generation Zhao recognized Basketball Qiao, whom he had worked with once before, but he might also know Lawyer Jin. And Lawyer Jin was likely a veteran player more capable than Second-generation Zhao.

Although Lawyer Jin did not speak, there was a faint sense that he was the one pulling the strings behind the scenes.

In other words, the three people opposite Zhen Liu had a natural prior connection and had formed a small, if unstable, group first. A genuine newbie like Zhen Liu seemed a little

like an orphan

after all.

Lawyer Jin truly deserved to be called a veteran player with more experience. Unlike Xiao Zhao, he showed none of the unprofessionalism of temporarily stepping out of character. He raised his hand to glance at the gold watch on his wrist and urged, "Whoever's going, hurry up and start. I have an important client to meet on Monday, and I don't want this nonsense delaying my schedule."

Compared to the victim, Lawyer Jin cared more about his career. It was even possible to sense that, compared to the tension of forcing himself to socialize last night, he seemed to have breathed a sigh of relief after the victim's death today.

Basketball Qiao chimed in, "Yeah, yeah. Whoever the killer is, just confess already. Don't get everyone burned to death by Brother Hao."

Zhen Liu had no idea whether that was Basketball Qiao's character setting or the personality of the player portraying him. In any case, being able to say something like that was quite... remarkable.

Poor Xiao Zhao began leading the group with a bitter heart.

No one knew what Second-generation Zhao looked like in the game setting, but in this round, he looked exactly like Xiao Zhao. His slightly drooping brows diminished what should have been fairly handsome features, and his overall demeanor gave off the feeling of an insecure, honest man. He was quite different from the arrogant, overbearing rich second-generation heir described in the script.

Xiao Zhao was fine when he was fully acting, but when he stepped out of character like this, his lack of decisiveness became completely apparent.

It was not that he could be pushed around entirely by others.

Rather, he was the type whose resolve was easily shaken.

Second-generation Zhao set an example for everyone and gave a very standard self-introduction. "My name is Second-generation Zhao. I'm thirty-five years old, a rich second-generation heir, and professionally mooch off my parents. My father is Boss Zhao, a famous wealthy businessman in our city. This villa is also a guesthouse owned by my family's company. I lent out one of my family's properties to hold this Class Reunion for everyone.

"My timeline last night was simple. I ate here with everyone first. After the banquet ended, I went back to my room to play games. I played until late before going to sleep, then seemed to be woken up not long after by the noise.

"I had no real relationship with the victim, Ying De. We were just middle school classmates. That's all."