Everyone was a villain

The scorch marks left by the flames also revealed the order in which things had burned.

The workers had died in different ways, too. Only a few had actually burned alive; most had suffocated in the thick smoke. After they died, however, the fire had spread fiercely, consuming their bodies along with all the machinery in the factory. Their corpses had become fuel for the flames.

They had already reached the factory's most important area, yet the Instance System had fallen silent again, as though it were preparing something big.

Old Eugene stood in a corner with his leg trembling, growing nervous. He was the only player who had yet to answer a question. The next one would surely fall to him.

He could not be sure the other players would not set him up, nor could he be sure that 39 would save him, so all he could do was make himself sound as valuable as possible.

"I have a certain standing in the real world. If I get out, I'll certainly be grateful to anyone who helped me in the instance. I'll treat them with the utmost respect. I'd even work myself to the bone for them."

He stared fixedly at Xie De as he spoke. His gaze was rather sinister, adding a touch of awkwardness to Xie De's already strained nerves.

I should never have agreed to help him. All that money really went to my head. I dug myself a hole.

Xie De averted his eyes and said succinctly, "Let's find some clues first."

They could clearly feel the heat of the flames turning from illusory to real. Despite the freezing weather, it scorched them so fiercely that the moisture in their bodies seemed to evaporate.

The Foreman they had seen first thing that morning reappeared among the flames, his eyes wide as he dutifully made his rounds.

Yue Xiamo gritted her teeth and walked over. Her expression faltered at the sight of the House Centipede on Xie De's shoulder, but she asked no questions. She was pressed for time now and made no effort to avoid the others, spilling out all the clues she had seen the moment she arrived.

"See that Foreman wandering around? The boss only just hired him. He isn't the key! During the reenactment, I hid in the second-floor hallway and saw the Boss's Wife arguing with Chunju over Wu Yong. The Boss's Wife told Chunju to keep her boyfriend in line. Based on that, I think the Boss's Wife's eventual death had a lot to do with Chunju."

The Boss's Wife was the female corpse they had encountered.

Wei Yanchi also quickly recounted the clues he had found.

Old Eugene was now like a frightened bird, terrified that he would be unable to answer the instance's question. Breathing rapidly, he kept saying, "It's not enough, not enough. There are too few clues. There are still so many unanswered questions! It's not enough..."

As he spoke, his gaze darted around the factory.

Wei Yanchi was pondering as well. "This instance wants us to resolve the boss's problem. What exactly is his problem?"

Beiwei offered coldly, "The boss's problem should be why a fire suddenly broke out in the factory. And why are all the clues we've found about their conflicts and romantic entanglements? Could the fire be connected to the backstory?"

Xie De was not as capable as they were and could not offer any analysis, so he could only try to find whatever clues he could in the factory. But flames were about to swallow the entire space, leaving only a staircase leading up to the second floor.

455 popped up again with another terrible idea. "Host, why don't you go up to the second floor and take a look? Search a few more dorm rooms."

The mention of the dorm rooms reminded Xie De of the ghostly hands and feet he had seen when he first entered the dormitory, along with the hanging corpse.

Despite the roaring flames all around him, his hands and feet felt cold.

"455, you really know how to come up with ideas. You want an ordinary person like me, who couldn't even truss a chicken, to take those horrors head-on? None of these veteran players have gone up there. Wouldn't I just be going to my death?"

455 urged him, "Don't say that. They don't know the plot, but I do..."

Before it could finish, Xie De cut it off.

"Your plot isn't even complete, and some of it might be wrong!"

455 hurriedly said, "Hear me out. In this instance, most rewards come from taking risks. You have to be willing to put yourself on the line if you want a chance of getting what you're after. Host, don't forget that you've been unemployed for three months. You still don't even dare message your family. Finding a single item could mean millions, even tens of millions. Are you sure you're not tempted?"

"I'd still have to live long enough to collect it."

"But, host, I really think you should go up to the second floor now, because the fire is coming this way."

Fuck, why didn't 455 say so sooner!

The veteran players were still analyzing the situation and had already come up with plenty of theories. Xie De did not understand them. He merely gave them a warning, then started upstairs.

The second floor was as bloody and sinister as before, with not a trace of the heat from downstairs. Thunder still roared outside, drowning out the horrifying wails from the first floor. The rain pattered with cruel irony, making this place feel even more eerie than downstairs.

Xie De stood at the top of the stairs, staring expressionlessly as every door opened and all sorts of bluish-black hands crawled out.

"455, I think I could do with passing out for a bit. You wanted me to look for clues, but look at this. I think I'll have to die first."

The veteran players followed him upstairs, but before they could react, the Instance System's icy voice rang out again.

"Player Number Five, state the relationship between Chunju and the Boss's Wife and explain your answer."

Their relationship? And an explanation, too.

For a moment, Old Eugene looked utterly at a loss. The terror on his face was far greater than Beiwei's had been when she was selected.

"You have 30 seconds to answer."

Old Eugene blurted out in panic, "Best friends, friends-no, no, they're frenemies!"

Xie De saw a pair of bluish-black hands with long fingernails clamp around Old Eugene's neck.

"That's wrong!" Old Eugene shouted, his eyes almost bulging out of their sockets. "Save me! Hurry, save me!"

The hands tightened further and further, and Old Eugene's face began turning bluish-black as well.

This time, Xie De truly felt himself break into a cold sweat. "455, do you know the answer? Old Eugene looks like he's about to die."

455 said helplessly, "No. Forget it. If he dies, he dies. There's only so much we can do. We can't save him."

"Then I'll burn some extra paper money for him when I get out." Watching Old Eugene being strangled to death right before his eyes made Xie De feel genuinely sick.

He reached into his pocket and found that he had already smoked all his cigarettes, leaving him no choice but to force down the nausea.

After Old Eugene died, Beiwei let out a contemptuous snort. "He couldn't even answer such a simple question. They were romantic rivals."

Xie De looked at Beiwei in surprise, only to discover that the other two seemed to have known the answer as well. Yet not one of them had told Old Eugene.

Yue Xiamo was equally disdainful. "Useless."

Beiwei said as though it were only natural, "Hah, what's so impressive about his influence in the real world? Mr. 39 has no need for useless trash who betrays his own side." After speaking, she looked at Xie De as though expecting praise, completely oblivious to his discomfort.

39 silently looked elsewhere.

Only Wei Yanchi offered a cigarette at just the right moment. It was the one Xie De had given him, which had remained untouched in his pocket. "Craving another smoke, Mr. 39?"

Xie De took the cigarette, placed it between his lips, and lowered his head to light it. "I'll pay you back next time. Thanks," he said indistinctly.

The clues pointed to the Boss's Wife having been beaten to death by the boss. What had led to her death were the rumors circulating in the factory that she was having an affair, most likely with Wu Yong. Wu Yong and Chunju were a couple, and the Boss's Wife had once warned Chunju to keep her boyfriend in line, so the Boss's Wife had not actually been having an affair.

But that did not stop Chunju from seeing the Boss's Wife as a romantic rival.

Figuring out their relationship really had been very simple.