Recaps

Zhen Liu refused to accuse Lawyer Jin without evidence and used Basketball Qiao’s recording to uncover the lawyer’s history and his connection to the victim. The chapter revealed that the second-in-command had killed Basketball Qiao’s mother, while Second-generation Zhao’s possible family tie to them explained his determination to blame Lawyer Jin.

• Zhen Liu argued with Second-generation Zhao, insisting that Lawyer Jin’s guilt had to be established by evidence rather than suspicion.
• Zhen Liu obtained Basketball Qiao’s recording of Lawyer Jin destroying evidence and noticed a suspicious detail in the news footage about the second-in-command’s traffic accident.
• 333 unlocked Lawyer Jin’s character card after Zhen Liu gathered more than seventy percent of the information about him.
• Zhen Liu learned that Lawyer Jin and Ying De had worked together, and that Ying De eventually pulled the lawyer into handling shady cases for Brother Hao.
• The character card revealed that the second-in-command had killed Basketball Qiao’s mother in a traffic accident, and that Basketball Qiao had sought justice but lost his future in the process.
• Zhen Liu considered that Second-generation Zhao might be Basketball Qiao’s full brother and could be seeking revenge for their mother.

Zhen Liu pieced together how Lawyer Jin and Doctor Zhen had separately poisoned the deceased, leaving the exact cause and timing of death dependent on the timeline. After the Black Room session, Second-generation Zhao’s Early Referendum proposal failed when Professor Lu joined Zhen Liu, Lawyer Jin, and another voter in rejecting it.

• Zhen Liu determined that Lawyer Jin had planned to poison the deceased with Class A Poison before their argument, and had hidden it inside a wineglass.
• Zhen Liu learned that Doctor Zhen had premeditated poisoning the deceased with Class B Poison by soaking clothes in it, though Lawyer Jin’s poison may have sped up its effects.
• After three hours in the Black Room, Second-generation Zhao called for an Early Referendum, hoping Zhen Liu would change his vote.
• The Early Referendum failed by a vote of three against and two in favor, with only Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao supporting it.
• Professor Lu returned to Zhen Liu’s side and said he was ruled by love, leaving Lawyer Jin delighted that Second-generation Zhao had been rejected.

At the class reunion, Professor Lu’s devotion to Doctor Zhen drew scrutiny when Basketball Qiao revealed that Professor Lu had apparently killed people who bullied Doctor Zhen. The chapter ended with Lawyer Jin suggesting Professor Lu may have killed Ying De to stop Doctor Zhen from acting first.

• Lawyer Jin sat at the far end of the table after Professor Lu refused to let him sit beside either Doctor Zhen or himself.
• Basketball Qiao said Professor Lu had been taking revenge on Doctor Zhen’s former bullies and was a serial killer.
• Basketball Qiao suspected Professor Lu had pretended to be threatened so he could get close to Ying De and kill him.
• Professor Lu challenged Basketball Qiao to explain why he would kill in front of Doctor Zhen if he wanted Doctor Zhen to love him.
• Lawyer Jin suggested Professor Lu had improvised and killed Ying De because Doctor Zhen was about to act.

Zhen Liu and Lawyer Jin compared the suspects’ likely murder methods and evidence of a nighttime cover-up, narrowing suspicion toward Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao. Zhen Liu proposed that three different people may have killed the victim, hidden the body, and later returned it to the victim’s room.

• Professor Lu admitted he might have acted before Zhen Liu, but said he would have ensured the victim was dead before Zhen Liu killed him.
• Lawyer Jin matched the suspected methods to the five suspects and concluded Professor Lu likely acted last, leading him to focus on Second-generation Zhao.
• Zhen Liu presented laundry records and Luminol photographs showing blood had been washed from clothing during the night.
• Zhen Liu argued that either Second-generation Zhao or Basketball Qiao had covered for someone, possibly based on a mistaken belief about who had stabbed the victim.
• Zhen Liu suggested that one murderer might have killed the victim impulsively, another hidden the body, and a third returned it to the victim’s room.

Zhen Liu realized that everyone at the villa had been drugged, suggesting someone had deliberately obscured the timeline or that Ying De had drugged them himself. The group debated Ying De’s reason for gathering them, while Second-generation Zhao accused Lawyer Jin of drugging everyone and further implicated him in Class A Poison.

• Zhen Liu concluded that someone had hidden the body and someone else had put it back, then suspected that everyone might have been given sleeping medication.
• Zhen Liu summoned 333 and DM for examinations, and the results showed that every person had sleep-inducing drugs in their system.
• Zhen Liu suggested that someone among them—or Ying De—had drugged the group, and the others considered why Ying De had gathered them.
• Second-generation Zhao accused Lawyer Jin of drugging everyone to confuse the timeline, and Basketball Qiao speculated that he had altered the villa’s clocks.
• Second-generation Zhao again tied Lawyer Jin to Class A Poison, and Lawyer Jin decided to make Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao lose a point.

Zhen Liu searched the villa for a secret room while Professor Lu investigated everyone’s phone usage. Basketball Qiao confirmed the room existed and offered to reveal its location in exchange for Zhen Liu’s vote against Lawyer Jin and help persuading Professor Lu.

• After the group split up for the second round of evidence gathering, Zhen Liu told Professor Lu that Basketball Qiao’s theory about changing the time was flawed.
• Professor Lu proposed using phone usage records to estimate when people had been active, while Zhen Liu decided to search for evidence of a secret room.
• Zhen Liu passed Second-generation Zhao and Lawyer Jin as they argued on the third floor, then mapped the villa’s rooms to find discrepancies in its layout.
• As Zhen Liu prepared to investigate an unusually thick wall, Basketball Qiao called him into a nearby room and offered the secret room’s location in exchange for his vote against Lawyer Jin and help persuading Professor Lu.

Zhen Liu learned that Basketball Qiao and Second-generation Zhao wanted to use Brother Hao to kill Lawyer Jin for revenge, but he insisted on uncovering the truth. He found the secret room by smashing through the villa wall, leaving Second-generation Zhao devastated.

• Basketball Qiao told Zhen Liu that Second-generation Zhao wanted Lawyer Jin dead to avenge their mother, not to avenge Ying De.
• Zhen Liu argued that the truth mattered more than settling personal grudges and questioned whether sacrificing a life for revenge was worth it.
• Zhen Liu took an iron hammer and an axe from the villa's firefighting equipment and asked 333 whether damaging the walls would break the rules.
• Zhen Liu smashed a hole in the wall beside the stairway and uncovered the cramped secret room as the other players watched.
• Second-generation Zhao felt as if his whole world had fallen apart.

Zhen Liu exposed the villa’s secret room and learned how it had been created and used. Second-generation Zhao described his plan to hide the deceased’s body there, but Zhen Liu recognized that he was lying, leaving the group to investigate what really happened.

• Zhen Liu uncovered a narrow secret room running through the villa’s floors, and Second-generation Zhao explained that it had once been an elevator shaft converted into an escape-room feature.
• Second-generation Zhao said he had planned to kill the deceased and hide the body in the secret room, though Zhen Liu realized he was lying.
• Second-generation Zhao said he had found no fingerprints but had discovered bloodstains on the secret room’s first floor.
• Zhen Liu searched the secret room with Lawyer Jin and Professor Lu, while Lawyer Jin questioned whether Second-generation Zhao’s account was true.
• Professor Lu stepped between Lawyer Jin and Zhen Liu and mocked Lawyer Jin for trying to cling to someone’s side.

Zhen Liu and the others concluded that Second-generation Zhao had probably hidden Ying De’s body while cleaning up someone else’s mess, rather than carrying out a planned murder. After Zhen Liu accused Professor Lu of being behind that mess, Professor Lu eagerly revealed more about himself, and Zhen Liu unlocked his character card.

• Professor Lu argued that Second-generation Zhao’s account of hiding Ying De’s body was unreliable, and Lawyer Jin reasoned that the escape room was too exposed to serve as a long-term hiding place.
• Zhen Liu agreed that Second-generation Zhao was more likely covering for another person than following a plan to kill Ying De, and Lawyer Jin left to investigate the brothers further.
• Zhen Liu privately accused Professor Lu of making the mess while disguised as Basketball Qiao, and Professor Lu delightedly assumed Zhen Liu had chosen his side.
• Professor Lu voluntarily shared details about his actions and past, allowing Zhen Liu to unlock his character card and learn that the real Professor Lu had been timid and insecure about his feelings for Doctor Zhen.

Professor Lu’s character biography revealed that he loved Doctor Zhen, had terminal cancer, and planned to kill the person Doctor Zhen intended to kill. Zhen Liu uncovered why Lucien had misled Second-generation Zhao, while Lucien insisted on staying in character and expressing his love.

• Professor Lu’s biography revealed that he had loved Doctor Zhen for years, regretted his past cowardice, and learned he had at most six months to live.
• Professor Lu discovered Doctor Zhen’s secret, but the character card skipped the details, leaving Zhen Liu unsure what had been omitted.
• Professor Lu told Zhen Liu that he had followed him to kill the person Zhen Liu planned to kill first, then introduced himself as Lucien.
• Zhen Liu deduced that Professor Lu had misled Second-generation Zhao, and the biography confirmed Professor Lu had stabbed someone while Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao had mistakenly covered for each other.
• Lucien refused Zhen Liu’s suggestion to stop acting love-struck and promised to make Zhen Liu feel his love.

Lucien mapped out the players’ weapons and challenged Basketball Qiao’s account of the victim’s movements after dinner. He then claimed he had followed and stabbed the victim outside his room, leaving the others to react to his startling revelation.

• The DM chose Lucien to explain the players’ movements because he supposedly knew their timelines best.
• Lucien used a holographic display to match each player with a weapon and noted that Lawyer Jin and Zhen Liu had poisoned the victim before dinner.
• Lucien questioned Basketball Qiao’s claim that the victim spoke with him until 12:30, arguing that the victim had left Lucien’s room before midnight.
• When Basketball Qiao challenged how Lucien knew he was the last person the victim met, Lucien said he had followed and stabbed the victim outside his room.

Basketball Qiao and Second-generation Zhao revealed that they had planned to turn Lawyer Jin and Ying De against each other, while the group investigated a poison prescription and discovered who had written the mysterious notes. The chapter left the prescription slip’s author unidentified and Basketball Qiao and Second-generation Zhao admitting they had staged evidence but denying they killed anyone.

• Basketball Qiao admitted he had lied about his timeline and said he found Ying De and the knife in the secret room after returning from preparing a plan.
• Second-generation Zhao claimed he had moved Ying De into the secret room and struck him with a golf club to create injuries, then presented a prescription slip suggesting Class A Poison and Class B Poison could have been combined.
• Zhen Liu denied writing the prescription slip, and the group compared handwriting samples but found no match for its author.
• Zhen Liu, Jin Zhuang, and Lucien noticed that Basketball Qiao’s handwriting matched the notes left in their rooms.
• Basketball Qiao revealed that he and Second-generation Zhao had used Ying De’s name to lure Lawyer Jin out and provoke him and Ying De into attacking each other, insisting they had not killed Ying De.

Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao tried to recruit Zhen Liu and Professor Lu by revealing that Doctor Zhen had a split personality and threatening to vote him out. They left Zhen Liu to choose whether to join their plan to vote for Lawyer Jin or risk exposing Doctor Zhen's secret.

• Basketball Qiao insisted that he and Second-generation Zhao had encountered corpses, while Lawyer Jin dismissed their claim.
• Second-generation Zhao started a private chat with Basketball Qiao, Zhen Liu, and Professor Lu.
• Second-generation Zhao revealed that Doctor Zhen might have a split personality, and Zhen Liu realized that he was playing the secondary personality.
• Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao offered to protect Doctor Zhen's secret if Zhen Liu joined them in voting for Lawyer Jin.
• The narration explained that Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao repeatedly steered the scenario toward revenge against Lawyer Jin, while the livestream viewers wondered whether Zhen Liu would break the pattern.

Zhen Liu rejected Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao’s offer to force a vote, choosing to keep searching for the truth. He realized the players’ victory condition required turning the murderer over to the police, and suspected that handing anyone over to Brother Hao would otherwise end with everyone burned alive.

• Viewers explained that the case would keep restarting because its characters had lost their memories and repeated the same choices.
• Second-generation Zhao urged Zhen Liu to accept their offer, but Zhen Liu insisted that finding the truth mattered as much as winning.
• Second-generation Zhao threatened that he and Basketball Qiao would vote together, while Zhen Liu pointed out that he and Lucien could also form an alliance with the professor and doctor.
• Zhen Liu recognized that the quest required the players to hand the murderer over to the police, not to Brother Hao.
• Zhen Liu suggested that Brother Hao would burn everyone regardless of whom they handed over, leaving Second-generation Zhao stunned.

Zhen Liu and the others reconsidered Brother Hao’s threat and the mystery of who drugged them, then compared their present investigation with the choices they had made in a previous failed run. They realized that they had once sacrificed Lawyer Jin to Brother Hao and were still unsure what Brother Hao truly wanted.

• Zhen Liu questioned why Brother Hao had arrived so quickly, who had drugged everyone, and whether his demand to hand over the killer conflicted with their mission to turn the culprit over to the police.
• Zhen Liu persuaded Second-generation Zhao to join the group’s discussion, then explained the situation to Jin Zhuang.
• Jin Zhuang argued that Brother Hao’s rapid arrival likely reflected the instance’s underlying reality rather than a contrived reason to gather the players.
• Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao recalled that, in their earlier attempt, they had agreed with the doctor and professor to hand Lawyer Jin over to Brother Hao instead of finding the killer.
• The four survivors had been burned alive in the villa despite sacrificing Lawyer Jin, and Jin Zhuang wondered what Brother Hao had actually been trying to accomplish.

Zhen Liu uncovered that Doctor Zhen was the serial killer and Professor Lu had taken the blame to give him a chance to start over. The group planned to lure Brother Hao to them and use Lucien’s hypnotic drug to call the police, but they still needed a way to ensure Brother Hao came alone.

• Zhen Liu confronted Lucien and revealed that Doctor Zhen, not Professor Lu, was the serial killer, while Professor Lu had planned to take responsibility for the murders.
• Lucien admitted that the hypnotic drug belonged to him and explained how he had tried to use it on Ying De at the villa.
• Lawyer Jin proposed luring Brother Hao to the guesthouse by claiming he knew about Brother Hao’s plans for Ying De.
• Zhen Liu rejected Lawyer Jin’s approach and suggested threatening Brother Hao with information about who had reported the second-in-command and killed Brother Hao’s former friend.
• Basketball Qiao suggested poisoning Brother Hao, but Doctor Zhen said he had brought no poison.

Zhen Liu met Brother Hao alone in the villa, using a bluff about criminal evidence to make him dismiss his men. As Brother Hao sat beside him, the humidifier’s mist continued to irritate him.

• Lawyer Jin said they had no poison, so the group planned to use sleeping pills and hide in the secret room; Zhen Liu rejected the volunteers and chose to confront Brother Hao himself.
• Brother Hao arrived at the villa with his men after the group refused to hand anyone over.
• Zhen Liu sat alone in the living room and greeted Brother Hao as an old classmate.
• Zhen Liu’s demeanor shifted, and he demanded a private conversation while claiming he would report Brother Hao’s criminal evidence to the police if he failed to check in safely.
• Brother Hao, wary of the threat, sent his men outside and sat beside Zhen Liu, then complained about the humidifier.

Zhen Liu revealed that he had killed Ying De and Brother Hao’s other former associates, while Brother Hao confessed that he had drugged the group to kidnap Second-generation Zhao. Zhen Liu’s plan to drug Brother Hao through the humidifier also incapacitated him, and Lucien’s call to the police brought the game to an end.

• Zhen Liu and Brother Hao exchanged questions, and Zhen Liu admitted killing Ying De and Brother Hao’s other former associates.
• Brother Hao admitted that he had used Ying De’s access to Second-generation Zhao to plan a kidnapping and extortion.
• Second-generation Zhao overheard the confession in the secret room and blamed himself for the deaths he believed his arrogance had caused.
• Brother Hao and Zhen Liu collapsed after inhaling the drug Zhen Liu had placed in the humidifier.
• Lucien found Brother Hao’s phone, called the police, and the game rang its ending bell.

After Zhen Liu recovered from the game’s death simulation, the players celebrated clearing the perfect ending and prepared to vote on Ying De’s killer. Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao reconciled over the truth of their deaths, while Jin Zhuang eagerly awaited the team’s achievement medal.

• The police arrived at Eastern Suburbs Villa, and DM announced that the players had achieved the perfect ending and earned extra rewards.
• Zhen Liu woke beside Lucien, learned that the game was over, and recovered from his simulated death.
• DM presented the final murderer vote, and 333 explained that future scenarios could have multiple culprits or accomplices.
• Second-generation Zhao and Basketball Qiao looked to Zhen Liu to decide their votes, while Zhao accepted that he had caused his brother’s death.
• Basketball Qiao took Second-generation Zhao’s hand and showed him no blame, and Jin Zhuang celebrated the team’s achievement medal.

Jin Zhuang pieced together evidence that Professor Lu had poisoned Ying De, but the group voted for Doctor Zhen and failed to identify the murderer. The DM revealed Professor Lu as the true culprit and explained that his medicine bottle contained an enhanced combination of Class A and Class B Poison.

• Jin Zhuang asked how Brother Hao and Doctor Zhen had died, and Zhen Liu admitted using another poison on Brother Hao.
• Lucien confessed that he had stabbed Brother Hao before the poison took effect and urged the others to vote for him.
• Zhen Liu told Xiao Zhao and Xiao Qiao to vote for Doctor Zhen, but Jin Zhuang showed a photo of Professor Lu's bedroom and argued that Professor Lu was the murderer.
• Jin Zhuang and Lucien voted for Professor Lu, while Zhen Liu, Xiao Zhao, and Xiao Qiao voted for Doctor Zhen.
• The DM announced that the Doctor Zhen vote had failed and revealed Professor Lu as the culprit, explaining that his medicine bottle held an enhanced combination of Class A and Class B Poison.

The game revealed that Professor Lu accidentally killed Ying De with a knife after Ying De had already died from poison. Lucien was shaken by Zhen Liu’s sacrifice, then the God of Love and Beauty confronted him about trying to make Zhen Liu fall in love with him.

• The players learned that Professor Lu had accidentally taken synthetic poison from Doctor Zhen’s home, and Ying De died after drinking the poisoned water he had left in Professor Lu’s room.
• The truth showed that Ying De had drugged the group to kidnap Second-generation Zhao, while Professor Lu stabbed Ying De only after the poison had already killed him.
• Zhen Liu’s risky tests with Brother Hao and himself confirmed that Professor Lu’s bottle contained fast-acting poison, and Lucien replayed Zhen Liu’s decision to sacrifice himself for Professor Lu.
• Lucien shut off the livestream, but the God of Love and Beauty appeared and accused him of trying to make Zhen Liu recognize his devotion and fall in love with him.

Lucien tried to change the future he had heard about by making Zhen Liu fall in love with him, but Zhen Liu outplayed him during the mystery game. After the game, Zhen Liu collected his winnings and accepted a free bottle of mineral water from Boss Qian.

• Lucien told God of Love that he had learned he was destined to love Zhen Liu, who would not love him, and explained how he had returned to the game to rewrite that fate.
• Lucien assigned himself and Zhen Liu the roles of Professor Lu and Doctor Zhen, intending to win Zhen Liu over through devoted affection.
• The game scores showed Zhen Liu in first place with 9 points and Lucien with 8, leading Lucien to realize Zhen Liu had noticed and played along with his attempt to win his affection.
• God of Love laughed at Lucien for getting outplayed, then suspected Lucien might have genuinely fallen for Zhen Liu; Lucien said nothing and began thinking.
• Zhen Liu left the game pod, and Boss Qian told him the prize money and livestream tips would be paid out before giving him a free bottle of chilled mineral water.

Zhen Liu left after helping Boss Qian, who reflected on his determination to repay his late father's debts. Xiao Zhao and Xiao Qiao learned they had been brought back to life, while Lucien remained determined to make Zhen Liu fall in love with him.

• Boss Qian watched Zhen Liu leave and thought about how he had worked hard to repay the debts his father left behind.
• Boss Qian messaged Xiao Qian that Zhen Liu was reliable and said he would hire him again if he needed help.
• Jin Zhuang learned Zhen Liu had already left and asked the shop owner to pass along a message about teaming up for dungeons.
• The plump shop owner told Xiao Zhao and Xiao Qiao they had returned to life and could no longer join the game, and they chose to keep their memories.
• Lucien told the God of Love he had devised a plan to make Zhen Liu fall in love with him, and the God of Love questioned his motives.

Lucien decided to pay off Zhen Liu’s debts so he could propose a contract relationship, while Zhen Liu accepted an invitation to a second murder mystery game and worked at the café. The chapter ended when Lucien looked up and met Zhen Liu’s gaze at the café.

• Lucien told the God of Love that he planned to repay Zhen Liu’s debts and then ask him to pretend to be his boyfriend.
• Zhen Liu accepted Boss Qian’s invitation to the second murder mystery game and agreed to bring Qian Xiaoqian as a teammate.
• Qian Xiaoqian complained to Zhen Liu about being forced to work after failing every subject at college.
• Zhen Liu went to serve customers and overheard a discussion about wealthy CEOs and romance novels.
• Lucien looked up from his café booth and met Zhen Liu’s gaze.

Lucien tried to win Zhen Liu over by offering to pay off his debts, but Zhen Liu refused because he did not want to owe Lucien instead of his existing creditors. After several failed attempts inspired by romance novels, Lucien asked the God of Love for advice.

• Lucien arranged to talk with Zhen Liu at the café, while the God of Love tried to interfere and Lucien sealed his mouth.
• Lucien offered to pay off Zhen Liu’s debts, but Zhen Liu explained that he had already repaid the urgent debts and intended to repay the uncles who had helped his family.
• Lucien left the café dazed, while the God of Love celebrated Zhen Liu’s refusal and urged Lucien to give up.
• Lucien bought all the romance novels on Ajin Literature City and tried their courtship ideas, but his attempts repeatedly failed.
• Lucien finally asked the God of Love how to win Zhen Liu over.