Chapter 1
(You might be the real murderer.)
Translator’s Note: This novel is not necessarily for the faint-hearted; viewers’ discretion is advised. This novel contains mentions of suicide and self-harm, and it regularly tangles with the topic of morality.
There were six cards on the simple and unadorned table.
Correspondingly, there were six people surrounding the table.
A dejected and bizarre voice rang out from the broadcast: “Welcome to a scenario based, deductive reasoning game. In front of all of you are six cards, including the [Murderer Card], [Detective Card], [Deceased Card], and [Normal Ident.i.ty Card]. Everyone, please pick a card to obtain the role you are supposed to play.”
Gu Liang furrowed his eyebrows before he went forward to pick a card.
The card surface had two parts and the first portion wrote: “The deceased today is called Boss Bai. You are Lawyer Zhang, male, 32 years old. You have a previous girlfriend called Girlfriend Huang. Girlfriend Huang has been s.e.xually a.s.saulted by Boss Bai before, and she is being coerced into cohabiting with him. In order to save Girlfriend Huang, you pretended to be a lawyer in order to get closer to Boss Bai and find an opportunity to kill him.”
An overbearing president forcing his love? What kind of dog blooded script was this?
Gu Liang raised an eyebrow, continuing to read on.
While first portion of the card face contained the character introduction, the second portion described the character’s timeline, with instructions on what the character should be doing at a specific time.
The timeline Gu Liang received was relatively simple.
“Morning 11:30, you walked past the kitchen and noticed there was no one inside, and took the opportunity to add a new type of insulin that can be taken orally into the chicken soup, wanting to make Boss Bai, who is not diabetic, die from low blood glucose levels. After observing him for a long period of time, you noticed that Boss Bai drinks his chicken soup everyday and without fail. Thus, you are confident that your plan will succeed.”
An insulin that could be taken orally?
How was this logical?
As he carried his doubts, Gu Liang glanced at the important reminders that were written at the bottom of the card.
“1, You might be the real murderer in this case, please ensure that you conceal your ident.i.ty.”
“2, The current script is the simplest novice introduction model, if you manage to get past it successfully, you will have the chance to experience quality scripts with h.e.l.lish difficulty levels. Hope you will have a happy game!”
What the f.u.c.k do you mean by happy game.
Gu Liang pinched the card harder, pupils shrinking slightly.
Five minutes later. As if it had tacitly recognized that everyone had read through the entire script, the bizarre broadcast sounded again: “Announcing the specific rules now.”
“Number One, Boss Bai is the deceased in this case, and he is about to pa.s.s away in accordance with the contents of the script.”
Just as the first rule was announced, Gu Liang noticed that the bald, middle-aged man diagonally opposite of him had already fallen over.
His complexion was pale, as if he had been frightened into a faint after hearing the broadcast.
Broadcast: “Interruption due to an unexpected incident, the player acting as Boss Bai has suffered from a fright and fainted, and the NPC will be giving him emergency treatment. Everyone, please do not panic. Now is not the time for him to die yet.”
Of course, what the broadcast meant was: Apologies hah, please wait for a moment longer before dying.
It was just that… do all the players that draw the [Deceased Card] have to die? Were they truly that unlucky?
There should be a way to break through.
As to how they should break through, however, he was afraid that they had to wait until they had a thorough understanding of the rules before they could figure it out.
Gu Liang squinted his eyes. Soon after, he saw two people clad in black seemingly materialise out of nothingness and they started to carry out an emergency treatment for Boss Bai.
The bald man woke up quickly, and the men in black hauled him out of the room.
It was apparent that the two men in black were the NPCs that the system had previously mentioned.
Their entire bodies were clothed in black and they wore plaited bamboo hats, obscuring their faces with a layer of gossamer black, which made it impossible to discern their faces.
When they appeared noiselessly, they brought the surrounding temperature down by a few degrees, causing people to a.s.sociate them with the black messengers of death in ghost stories.
The broadcast continued to announce: “Continuing on with the announcing of the game rules. Number Two, during the segment where the story unfolds, please follow the contents of the script strictly, offenders will be punished.”
“Number Three, the card is of paramount importance to the players, please take care of them properly; additionally, presenting, exchanging, s.n.a.t.c.hing, stealing or likes of such actions are not allowed. If attempts are made to check the script contents of another player’s card, the offender will be forced to leave the scenario premises under the escort of the men in black.”
“Number Four, there is a voting segment at the end of the game where everyone has to vote for the murderer. Everyone has one chance to cast a vote, please be prudent.”
“Number Five, the person with the most votes after the voting segment, regardless of whether they are the real murderer or not, will have to accept the death penalty. Guilty as charged! For the deceased, pay with your own life! You are too evil! How could you kill someone! Die with the deceased!”
“Number Six, detective please try your best to solve the case , and guide everyone to find the real murderer.”
“If a good person dies unjustifiably, the detective has to accept the death penalty as well. I find it very regretful too. But who told you to allow the real murderer to escape with impunity? If the murderer escapes, who should be responsible for the deceased? Who will be responsible for the good person who died without reason? Detective, you have to pay because of your powerlessness!”
“This is the end of the rules announcement. Presently, there are ten minutes for questions. The players are welcomed to ask!”
The broadcasting voice stopped for the time being, and the large hall plunged into a strange silence in an instant.
Half a beat later, a girl that was roughly eighteen years old raised her hand. Her visage was ashen pale and her hand could not stop trembling.
“Ik2026; I have a question.”
Broadcast: “Any child who knows how to ask questions is a good child. Please ask!”
The girl asked: “If I was the real murderer, I have to kill the person in accordance with what the script writes? As in, I really have to kill the person? It’s not an act?”
Broadcast: “Of course! Please act in accordance with the script strictly!”
The girl’s entire body started shaking. “I… I don’t want to! Let me out! I didn’t willingly join this game! I don’t know why I’m here! I don’t want to be a murderer!”
After saying that, the girl ran towards the exit immediately.
Just as the girl ran out of the large doors, sudden fierce winds swept her up into the air.
She could not put up a single shred of resistance; her body was akin to an airborne dead leaf, whirling, before it dropped to the ground directly in the next moment.
When she crashed into the ground, her neck slanted and her entire person went utterly still.
A puddle of blood flowed out from the back of her head soundlessly, evidently warm to the touch.
It was at that moment where Gu Liang understood— leaving the villa during the allotted time for the scenario game was equivalent to death.
Prior to this, the game had reminded them that checking the cards of other players was a violation of the rules, and offenders would be taken away from the scenario premises by the men in black. In this instance, the ‘premises’ was naturally referring to the villa.
It seemed like if players were to directly consult the cards of others, they were essentially seeking death.
That made sense; if they mutually shared the plot in their cards, they would instantaneously discover who the real murderer was. What was the point of playing the game then?
“Sigh. The game has yet to start and someone is already dead, how pitiful is that!” The broadcast let out a sigh, “Due to the reduction of a single player, the only course of action left is to arrange a NPC to subst.i.tute her. The wastage of system resources is const.i.tuted as harmful conduct! Your rewards have to be deducted!”
Once the broadcast said those words, a NPC appeared.
She walked down from upstairs, and her disposition bore some resemblance to the girl who had just died.
The NPC walked to the front of the crowd and greeted, “h.e.l.lo there everyone. I’m Boss Bai’s maid! I’m called Maid Liu!”
The broadcast asked again: “The ten minutes for questions and answers have yet to conclude. Are there any other questions?”
Gu Liang raised his hand.
Broadcast: “What questions do you have?”
Gu Liang: “The script settings are a.s.sumed to be reasonable, and it’s not necessary to consider the factor of realism, right?”
— Not only did the game have an oral insulin that was non-existent in the real world, it could be used to kill someone?
Broadcast: “Of course, all your conjectures should be based on the script settings.”
After a short moment, Gu Liang offered his next enquiry: “Can the detective be killed?”
Broadcast: “……”
Other people: ???
The broadcast’s voice sounded a little stranger than before. “Naturally, you are allowed to freely develop a narrative outside of the script. However, your actions have to conform to your character design.”
“Since this is an introduction level scenario, you are not required to deeply immerse yourself in the character and act. Problems with your line delivery or acting skills will not be heavily factored into the judgement of being OOC for the time being; but, once the player acts in a manner that severely impacts the progression of the plot, the system will carry out an independent judgement; if the player is given the verdict of being OOC, they will have to suffer a terrifying punishment.”
Gu Liang comprehended what the broadcast was trying to drive at.
He merely wanted to take a step first and look around before taking the next.
“Okay. The time for questions has ended. Everyone, please start acting out the script. Once the enactment segment ends, the game will enter the centralised discussion and voting segment. When the time comes, you are requested to wait for the broadcasted notice.”
“Next, a general narration of the plot will be read out. It is currently nine in the morning, and everyone is resting in their rooms on the second floor. Please follow the script strictly and return back to your respective rooms immediately, violators will be punished!”
After the broadcast’s voice landed, the large hall went quiet.
For a moment, no one spoke. Some of them were still submerged in the shock of watching a little lady die right before their eyes, while others seemed incapable of processing what had just transpired in general, and they could stare at their cards in a daze, unable to lift their feet.
* * *
“Clang clang clang!”
Perceiving that none of the players had moved, the broadcast’s urgent reminder rang out. “Please act in accordance with the general plot developments and take action, or else everyone here will trigger the penalty for breaking the rules!”
Gu Liang was the first to move.
After the girl died, there were four more living players apart from him.
Gu Liang’s gaze swept past them. After studying them briefly, he took the initiative to stride out of the large hall.
Like the catalyst for a chain effect, the first and foremost piece in dominoes, everyone finally began to walk outwards in succession once Gu Liang made a move.
The large hall where they drew their cards led into a corridor. At one side, the first room was demarcated by the “Centralised Discussion Room” written on the door, and further forward was the bathroom, followed by the kitchen.
The corridor opened up to a rather s.p.a.cious living room at the very end.
Additionally, there was a side balcony facing a flower garden at the end of the living room.
Pulling back his gaze, he noted that the opposite of the living room was the dining room and bar. In between the bar and the dining room was a spiral stairway leading up to the second floor.
Gu Liang followed the turns of the staircase and reached the second floor.
Upon counting, he found a total of seven rooms on the second floor.
All in all, this game had six characters and the rooms happened to reflect that fact. Every character’s name was accounted for on the door plaques, making it understandable at a glance. As for the additional room, the two words “Miscellaneous Room” was inscribed on the door plaque.
From the beginning, Gu Liang was already aware of four characters, namely [Boss Bai], [Lawyer Zhang], [Girlfriend Huang] and one [Maid Liu].
And through the names of the door plaques, Gu Liang now knew the names of the last two characters, one being [Son Bai], and the last was called [Brother Bai].
The names that the system gave were concise and explicit; it was not difficult to guess that Son Bai was the son of the deceased Boss Bai, and Brother Bai was his brother.
Now that he was clear about the circ.u.mstances, he walked straight to the room that had the characters “Lawyer Zhang”. Pus.h.i.+ng open the door, he entered and immediately shut it behind him.
The furnis.h.i.+ng of the room in relation to the entire house was consistent: it kept to the ancient style of 19th century Europe from the bed, sofa, carpet, all the way to the small tray meant for snacks on the square table and the household utensils for black tea…. Each and every object was exceedingly exquisite.
If this was really a game and all these objects were game props, then it could truly be considered as a luxurious game.
However, Gu Liang did not give himself much time for appreciation as he started to search the room carefully instead.
According to the script, the Lawyer Zhang he was acting as had to be in the kitchen at 11:30 to drug the chicken soup with insulin.
In spite of that, no NPC type role had been forthcoming with any prop.
Gu Liang pondered, it probably means that I have to find it myself.
As he had expected, he saw a small white medicine box when he pulled open the drawer at the head of the bed, and the description of “Insulin” was stated in a direct manner.
At this moment, knocks sounded at this door.
“Who?” Gu Liang asked.
A male voice that was deep and rather pleasant to the ear answered from outside the door. “Your girlfriend.”
Gu Liang: “I don’t have a girlfriend.”
The person outside the door gave a pause before he said, “I’m Girlfriend Huang. I drew a female role, I didn’t wish for it either.”
With that admittance, one of the initial doubts that Gu Liang had was clarified.
According to the script, their current instance had two female roles – Maid Liu and Girlfriend Huang.
But when they were drawing cards in the large hall, Gu Liang only counted one female player in their midst.
Now, he understood. It turns out getting reverse roles for the character portrayal was possible.
It was just that, did Girlfriend Huang come and find him because he was abiding by the script requirements, or was it more appropriate to say he was doing this out of personal motivations?
And if he was fuelled by personal motivations, what was his purpose?
Despite the numerous suspicions in his heart, Gu Liang shut the drawer properly and walked up to open the door.
The man standing outside the door was tall in stature and his facial features were extremely profound.
He was clad in a pressed suit that conformed to his frame, and wore a pair of silver rimmed gla.s.ses, looking extraordinarily refined.
But closer scrutiny revealed a different result.
His suit jacket was not clasped together, the top two b.u.t.tons of his white s.h.i.+rt were undone, revealing a sliver of his clavicle, and these small details affected his entire person with an unruly and unrestrained air.
Mn, just these alone was enough to exhibit the fact that he was not that solemn.
Gu Liang continued to stand at the door, still without the intention of offering the person to come in.
However, that person moved around him and walked into the room like a stream following its own course. He surveyed the entire s.p.a.ce before he looked at him again to ask: “When and how are you planning to act?”
This individual’s actions were a little rude and his interrogative tone did not help matters either. Annoyance simmered in Gu Liang.
But because he was harbouring thoughts of wanting to see what he was up to, Gu Liang did not ask him to leave. Instead, he closed the door quietly and ambled towards the sofa in the room to sit down.
Without a single utterance, Gu Liang sat down, expression conveying that he would never allow strangers to transgress.
On the other hand, “Girlfriend Huang” smiled like the spring breeze, kindly and pleasant in countenance, and the contrast between the two was incredibly sharp.
Walking up to Gu Liang, he inclined his body and stretched out his hand. His gestures were extremely respectful and it was evident he wanted to shake his hand. “My name is Yang Ye. Sir, your honourable surname is?”
His appearance was that of a gentry.
Gu Liang raised his right brow before he said faintly, “My surname is Gu. Gu Liang. Liang from law-abiding citizen.”
“Law-abiding citizen? Right, in your opinion, if everyone were law-abiding citizens, would they be sent here?” Yang Ye asked, his tone of voice concealing some probing intent.
When he asked that question, his gla.s.ses happened to balance out the incisiveness of his gaze, and the amus.e.m.e.nt hanging off his mouth could be considered as gentle.
But Gu Liang still felt the accusatory nature of his words.
It was probably because his eyes and brows were overtly sharp.
“What do you mean by that?”
Gu Liang’s stare became sterner but there was no fluctuations in his voice. His entire person sunk into the soft sofa, giving the impression that he was indolent and scattered.
Yang Ye’s eyes crinkled. “No particular meaning, really. It’s just that I have some faith in G.o.d and believe that everything is met with karma. I remember I was originally in a meeting when I suddenly lost consciousness, and when I woke up, I was already in the card drawing hall.”
“So you did something that weighs on your conscience, and you believe you were sent here for the sake of punishment?” Gu Liang asked him.
Yang Ye shook his head, not replying.
Retaining a calm and collected visage, Gu Liang said, “How unfortunate, this humble servant has always been known to observe the law since childhood, and he truly is a law-abiding citizen.”
“At seven in the morning, I was leaving my house to go to work, and I even helped an old lady cross the road. After escorting her, my vision went black and I fainted. If I hadn’t arrived here, I would have honestly a.s.sumed that I was routed by her.”
“……”
Half a beat later, Yang Ye looked towards Gu Liang. “Sure. There’s not much meaning in discussing this now. Let’s go back to the matter of the current scenario instead. From the story that I received, I only know that you possess the motivation to kill Boss Bai. Because you want to save me.”
Gu Liang opened his mouth to give two lines of explanation. “This type of game is called murder mystery game. If you’ve never played it before, I can explain the general routine of the game to you briefly.”
“It is possible that several people have received the murderer card and all of them have the motivation to kill the deceased, and all of them have acted. For example, A used poison, B stabbed him with a knife. Ultimately, determining the real murderer who caused the death of the deceased is still dependent on the clues and evidence in relation to the character’s timeline.”
Gu Liang gave Yang Ye a sidelong glance. “I’ll be honest with you here and now, I do possess murderous intentions towards Boss Bai and I intend to use poison. But what kind of poison I use, when I use it, how long it takes for the poison to flare up, and whether his death is correlated to my poison… you have to find that out for yourself.”
“En, I understand. Thanks.” Yang Ye nodded his head.
No longer looking at Yang Ye, Gu Liang leaned back against the sofa, head tilted upwards. His eyes naturally followed to gaze at the ceiling, as if he was only observing the dust floating in the void senselessly.
After a long moment, Gu Liang said softly, “That girl who was asking questions downstairs just now, the task she received, it’s possible that she has to stab Boss Bai directly or something. She was unwilling to do it, therefore…”
A living person died before them just like that, and there will be more people who will die before them ceaselessly.
Having reached this point in his contemplation, the fingers of his clenched hands exerted more pressure, causing light blue veins to protrude out from the back.
Noticing Gu Liang’s movement, Yang Ye continued to stand there quietly, the smile on his face receding as he started to scrutinise him in earnest.
Gu Liang was wearing a faded brown wind-jacket. Still seated on the sofa, his arms fell down, landing elegantly on the arm rest.
The red cord around his wrist became more conspicuous.
His irises were rather faint in the hue of tea. Owing to the fact that his head was slightly inclined, he came under the illumination of the light, and it was apparent that it was a very pretty colour.
His sort of colour was similar to the red maple leaves found in forests during late autumn, where a leaf – no matter big or small, for all was suitable – was picked up, then raised under direct sunlight because that was the only way to perceive it.
— And when light filtered through the maple leaf, an almost translucent gold tea colour will appear, mesmerising to the point where it was like an illusionary dream.
However, Gu Liang was too white; and now that he was seated in a room styled after the 19th century Victorian era, he kind of resembled a vampire.
“Towards this game, your att.i.tude has remained largely positive. For this reason—”
Giving a short pause, Gu Liang’s gaze, one that held investigative intent, swept towards Yang Ye.
“Are you the detective?”
The author has something to say:
Some people have been asking about the absoluteness of the deceased card, so I’ll explain it briefly in advance. Players drawing the deceased card have nothing to do with luck, for this is a system arrangement; how these things are arranged will be explained later on, this is for the sake of suspense and foreshadowing.
I can only say now that drawing the deceased card is not equivalent to dying immediately.