Chapter 36
Chapter 36
Upon hearing this, Zhao Zhaozhao’s gloomy mood suddenly found an outlet.
She could completely use this high-profile Player as a shield. Even if something really happened, between herself-a mere background character-and this high-profile Player, people would surely suspect the Player first.
As long as one Player made an Accusation against Ning Shuo, Zhao Zhaozhao could make a clean getaway.
The secret Player joined the high-profile Player’s team, rejoicing at her opportunity to hide. Little did she know that the moment she asked to follow them, Ning Shuo had already fixed a meaningful gaze upon her.
***
Zhao Zhaozhao’s expression was ashen, looking as if everything was over.
Suddenly, the man wearing glasses adjusted them and said gently, “Don’t worry. Exposing you was just to confirm that you are indeed the secret Murderer. If you cooperate, we guarantee you can walk away unscathed, alright?”
“Besides, looking at you, you don’t seem like the type who enjoys killing.”
“Cooperate with us, and we can help you.”
Qi Yang only snapped out of his daze once Zhao Zhaozhao confessed everything, preparing to join their conversation.
However, before he could hear more than a few words, he was hauled away by the younger of the Twins.
Claiming he was going to buy a few drinks, Ning Wang asked Qi Yang to help carry them.
Qi Yang followed blankly. Ning Wang bought two sodas-one without ice-and a fruit tea for the girl. “What do you want to drink? Take a look for yourself.”
Qi Yang ordered a drink and was about to pay when Ning Wang beat him to it.
When making a payment, the Virtual Screen defaults to displaying the balance unless the Player has manually changed the settings.
But Ning Wang had only just escaped; all his configurations were still at factory defaults.
Standing right next to Ning Wang, Qi Yang happened to see the balance: 6,739,027.
He doubted whether he had miscounted the digits.
Qi Yang didn’t usually watch live streams. Even when he did, he only watched specific Big Shots who kept their Live Stream Room visuals open. Therefore, while he had heard of Ning Banxian on the Forum, he had never actually browsed the related threads.
Much less did he know about the Big Shot who had suddenly appeared on the Ranking List-a mysterious figure who had only ever shown his face in Ning Banxian’s Live Stream Room.
So, when he met Ning Shuo and Ning Wang, he truly took them for Twins. Even when he heard other Players discussing “Ning Banxian,” his perception of them as “Twins” never wavered.
Having never watched the streams, Qi Yang truly couldn’t imagine the paradox of two people from different timelines existing in the same place.
His hand trembled, nearly dropping the drinks.
Ning Wang was quick to steady them. “The aftereffects of your fear of heights haven’t worn off yet?”
Qi Yang hurriedly took the drinks. “No, of course not!”
Ning Wang thought to himself that the next time they encountered a situation like this, he really ought to exchange for a Truth-Telling Item.
Otherwise, if they ran into another person like Qi Yang who valued face and denied their fear of heights beforehand, it would end up like this.
Ning Wang looked with pity at the retreating back that seemed draped in gloom.
Look at how lonely he looks.
***
Ning Shuo took the drink. Noticing Qi Yang’s strange state, he asked softly, “What’s wrong?”
Qi Yang reacted reflexively: “Nothing!”
Ning Shuo looked at Ning Wang suspiciously: ?
Ning Wang waved his hands innocently: ^_^
Zhao Zhaozhao’s mission required her to manufacture a Murder Case.
And to manufacture a Murder Case, one first needed a victim.
Zhao Zhaozhao had extremely good luck; for over a year, whenever she entered a PvP Mode Script, she always received the role of an Innocent.
Perhaps that was why the System had set the content of this Secret Mission as manufacturing a Murder Case and making her kill someone for once.
Zhao Zhaozhao shrunk her neck and asked Ning Shuo, “Then… how do we manufacture it…?”
She didn’t say the words “Murder Case” out loud because Qi Yang was present.
Ning Shuo said gently, “Zhaozhao, there’s no rush.”
“Remember what my Knight said? Even though we were bluffing before, we really have scrolled through the Forum.”
“In every previous Large-Scale Murder Mystery Game, there were quite a few Murder Cases. The Clown must have been busy to death.”
…
The four of them went to ride the Ferris wheel together. Ning Shuo and Qi Yang shared a cabin.
A dazed Qi Yang finally noticed something was off. “Why aren’t you Twins ever together? I could stay with Zhaozhao… I would protect her!”
Ning Shuo replied, “No, he is not my Twin Brother.”
Qi Yang was successfully distracted. “Huh? Then what is he?”
Ning Shuo said solemnly, “He is the only peer Knight in this world who shares my bloodline, looks exactly like me, and was even born on the same day as this King.”
Qi Yang: …
Qi Yang grew indignant. “Isn’t that just being Twins!”
Meanwhile, Zhao Zhaozhao was staying with Ning Wang. Facing this man who looked exactly like Ning Shuo but seemed much more assertive, she was clearly a bit intimidated. “Why did we have to separate from them?”
Ning Wang raised an eyebrow and pointed into the distance. “To find a corpse for you to use.”
Following the direction Ning Wang pointed, Zhao Zhaozhao looked over and saw a man chasing a girl with a machete.
Moreover, from Zhao Zhaozhao’s perspective, the scene was exceptionally eerie.
It was as if there was an invisible barrier around the pair, such that several passing Players nearby couldn’t see them at all.
However, this barrier had no ceiling.
Thus, Zhao Zhaozhao could see the man’s head and half his torso flickering in and out of view as he chased and hacked at the woman.
Realizing who the victim Ning Wang was pointing at was, Zhao Zhaozhao asked, “There are items there, how are we going to kill…”
“Fly over.”
Zhao Zhaozhao: ?
No sooner said than done. Ning Wang grabbed Zhao Zhaozhao by the waist, muttered an apology for the offense, and then jumped straight out of the cabin window.
The sensation of weightlessness made Zhao Zhaozhao’s pupils contract. Before she could even scream, she heard Ning Wang grumble, “You’re much lighter than Qi Yang. This is actually quite easy.”
The scream at the tip of her tongue turned into a silent sob. “…I’m a slender girl. It would be abnormal if I were heavier than Qi Yang!”
Seeing her emotions relax slightly, Ning Wang smiled.
Qi Yang seemed to hear his own name and instinctively turned his head to look out the window. “King, your subject seems to have heard his name.”
Ning Shuo said with paternal affection, “Child, you heard wrong. Let’s keep chatting.”
“Oh.”
…
This wasn’t Zhang Zhi’s first time playing a Large-Scale Murder Mystery Game, so he knew that if one killed someone during the game and successfully escaped, they could also gain a lot of Heat.
This was considered a Hidden Rule of the Large-Scale Murder Mystery Game, and it gave Zhang Zhi the perfect opportunity to act.
To this end, he had specifically spent some Heat Points to buy a Shielding Item that most other Players considered practically useless.
This item could only shield one from Players, but not from NPCs.
To PvE Players, this thing was utterly worthless.
To PvP Players, it was also very easy to expose oneself; staying invisible among Players for a long time made it easy to be isolated, making it harder to gather clues.
However, Zhang Zhi had discovered that this was one of the few items that could be used in the Rest Area.
During the last Large-Scale Murder Mystery Game, he had used this item to kill two people and successfully escaped during the Accusation phase, earning twenty thousand Heat.
Having tasted success, Zhang Zhi prepared to continue his killing spree this time.
He had set his sights on a weak, solitary female Player. After luring her to a secluded spot, he activated the item.
The girl realized she was trapped within a specific range. Just as she was about to ask Zhang Zhi for help, she saw the cold, sinister smile he gave her.
Fear washed over her face as she finally realized she had been targeted.