Chapter 3
Chapter 3
The princess on the carriage lifted the curtain. As Ning Shuo met her gaze, a prompt for Player identity confirmation popped up on his Virtual Screen.
The princess said softly, “I am Third Princess Murong, and this is my personal guard, Jiang Jiang. Please do not take offense, Priest.”
She curled her lips into a smile. “I am the Emperor’s own daughter, after all. I trust the Priest will grant me this small courtesy?”
Ning Shuo merely looked at her calmly for a few moments before leading his followers away.
A standard Murder Mystery Game usually consists of five to ten people. Including the newly confirmed Players and Ning Shuo himself, there were only four.
Was this a discrepancy between the System and a standard Murder Mystery Game, or was there…
A fifth Player he hadn’t discovered yet?
After returning and checking the calendar, Ning Shuo realized that tonight was the full moon.
Given the choice between killing someone to save himself or refusing to kill and dying instead, Ning Shuo would certainly choose to stay alive.
However, he didn’t particularly want to actually kill anyone.
As he was pondering this, the Attendant who was dead set on eating him approached again. “Lord Ning, could you perform a divination for me?”
As he spoke, he placed a coin purse on the desk in front of Ning Shuo.
Ning Shuo was about to brush him off with a cold refusal when the Virtual Screen suddenly flashed: [Based on your money-loving persona: Accept, perform divination.]
“The time has come to see if he’s a True Half-immortal!”
“I want to see what kind of flowery nonsense he can come up with.”
“He wouldn’t actually tell the guy, ‘A bloody calamity awaits you today,’ would he?”
Ning Shuo motioned for the Attendant to hold out his palm. While examining the man’s palmistry, he took the opportunity to check his pulse.
The heart pulse was intact.
Is he human?
But what kind of human eats people? Ning Shuo’s mind raced as he gave a sheepish smile. “I don’t…”
The Attendant’s heartbeat suddenly stopped, replaced by the unmistakable pulse of the dead.
As if understanding something in an instant, Ning Shuo’s expression chilled slightly. “I won’t give you a favorable reading. After all…”
“With this little money, you can only pay to avert disaster.”
The mention of money immediately pulled his persona back in line. The Attendant’s pulse returned to normal, showing no sign of the internal decay and deathly aura from a moment ago.
So that was it.
The rules mentioned two identities: “Murderer” and “Innocent.” When the Murderer’s mission was issued, it could have clearly been phrased as “The Murderer must kill at least one Innocent,” yet while the word “human” was used in one specific description, every other instance used “Murderer” or “Innocent.”
Currently, as long as a Player did not go OOC, a Ghost/Monster appeared to be a perfectly normal human.
The person killed by a Murderer could also be a Ghost/Monster in human form.
This was a Hidden Rule.
Ning Shuo said deliberately, “At the stroke of midnight tonight-within half an hour at most-a bloody calamity will befall you.”
“LMAO, he actually said it.”
“Why do I feel like I saw this coming?”
“I actually believe this Ghost/Monster is going to have a bloody calamity.”
“Stop joking, guys. This is a Script, the realm of Ghosts/Monsters. What danger could they possibly face?”
“It’s over, he’s going to get eaten. That handsome face is about to disappear…”
The Attendant clearly didn’t believe him either. “Lord Ning, if your prediction is inaccurate…”
“Heh. If that is the case, you are more than welcome to come find me.”
As long as no one went OOC, this Attendant was technically human.
The Attendant’s eyes gleamed, clearly convinced that nothing would happen to him.
In that case, he would just wait until midnight to eat this man.
The Attendant took his leave, and Ning Shuo weighed the coin purse in his hand.
It was quite heavy.
Ning Shuo confirmed his theory about the Hidden Rule with the System.
[Congratulations to Player Ning Banxian for discovering a Hidden Rule: ‘Human’ sometimes refers not only to Players, but also to Ghosts/Monsters in human form.]
The Hidden Rule was not revealed to the Live Stream Room. Even if some viewers could read lips, all they would see was the System-altered message: “This Player has discovered a Hidden Rule.”
“Did he discover a Hidden Rule?!”
“How did he even find out???”
“System, don’t you dare tell me he actually calculated it.”
Ning Shuo changed into casual clothes and left the palace.
The reason he had recited that prayer was because Ning Shuo himself had originally belonged to this world.
Of course, he hadn’t initially considered the world he lived in to be a Script.
As far as Ning Shuo was concerned, his memory was fully intact. He clearly hadn’t died in his past life, yet when he opened his eyes, he had inexplicably arrived in the modern era.
Perhaps due to the transmigration, his once-healthy body had become frail and sickly, leaving him gasping for air after even a little physical exertion.
After living there for some time, he was pulled into this Murder Mystery Game.
As luck would have it, he had encountered everything in this first Script-from the background setting to various rumors-during his past life.
The world he originally came from was actually a Script.
Ning Shuo snapped his fan open and shook his head, sighing at the twists and turns of life.
He headed toward his former residence.
Ning Shuo’s birth name was Xie Ning. After being adopted by his master, he became a Swordsman and changed his name to Ning Wang. Following his master’s death, he had purchased a small courtyard in the capital to serve as his home.
Later, when he arrived in the modern world, he decided to start anew and took the name Ning Shuo.
The small courtyard was now dilapidated and deserted.
By the looks of it, no one had lived there for a long time.
To prevent being recognized, Ning Shuo wore a veiled hat.
Seeing that it was uninhabited, he lamented that he had indeed been overthinking things.
He could feel several gazes peering at him from the shadows; he estimated these were the “live stream cameras” mentioned on the System interface.
Without showing any outward sign, Ning Shuo tucked the items hidden in the courtyard into his sleeves. Just as he turned to leave, the door vanished.
His footsteps faltered. A cold, damp aura crept up his back, and a woman’s chilling, delicate voice whispered in his ear, “You have a familiar scent on you.”
“Like that damned Swordsman.”
“Ning Wang… you’ve come back!”
Ning Shuo finally remembered. When he had bought this house, the middleman mentioned it was haunted because someone had died there. At the time, he had simply laughed and said that if a ghost ever showed up, he would cut it down and send it straight to reincarnation.
However, Ning Shuo had never encountered any hauntings back then. Who would have thought he’d run into one now?
He casually picked up a wooden stick, fending her off while speaking unhurriedly, “I believe you have the wrong person, miss. I am not the Ning Wang you speak of.”
“Nonsense! I could never forget your aura! Ning Wang, Ning Wang… to think you’ve become so weak! Hahahaha!”
Ning Shuo retreated further as they fought. To the Ghost/Monster, it looked as though Ning Shuo was unable to hold his ground, which only fueled her arrogance.
Just as she prepared to deliver a fatal blow, her hand was suddenly jerked back as if caught by something.
Looking back, she saw countless golden threads binding her in place.
Ning Wang had actually been laying a formation while fighting her!
Seeing her pinned to the spot, Ning Shuo tossed aside the wooden stick. He flicked his folding fan open and tapped the Ghost/Monster on the head, his posture radiating effortless charm. “Next time you see me, remember to call me Half-Immortal.”
“I’m quite gifted at divination, you know.”
He paused, then added with mock regret, “Though it’s a pity I likely won’t be coming back. You’ve lost your chance to have me read your fortune.”
With the Ghost/Monster subdued, the door reappeared. Ning Shuo pushed it open and strolled out boldly.
Following his departure, the Danmu in the Live Stream Room exploded.
“He’s the first one! The first one I’ve ever seen! Fighting a Ghost/Monster without any items! And he actually won!!!”
“Brother Ning! You’re my god!!!”
“Brother Half-Immortal! Quick, calculate when I can finally leave this damn System!”
Then, amidst the cheers of the Danmu…
Ning Shuo’s pace faltered. He looked around to ensure no one was watching before leaning against a wall and slowly sliding to the ground, gasping for breath. “That scared me to death… scared me to death…”