There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

The night was silent to the extreme, with only the occasional sound of water droplets coming from somewhere.

Xu Xi reviewed until around 10:30 pm, then went out to take a bath to prepare for sleep. When she returned to her room, however, she gave the room door across from hers a peculiar look.

Going to sleep so early today?

But why does it feel like they haven't slept yet?

Is it because of the heavy workload recently?

Xu Xi turned back to her own room, lying in bed without feeling sleepy at all. She stared blankly at the ceiling for a while, then decided that overthinking was useless, so she collected her thoughts and closed her eyes.

After this year's college entrance exams, things should be much easier, and then she'll have time to get a part-time job.

…

On the other hand, Xu Shuo browsed forums until midnight.

He was quite interested in their debate about Patient Six and Chen Chu's issues, then went out to look at other posts for information. When he finally felt too tired to continue, he checked the time...

Damn forum, messing with my rest!

Xu Shuo quickly exited the app, covered himself with the blanket, and turned over to sleep.

…

The next day, Xu Shuo got up early, energetically prepared two servings of breakfast, and also got ready the ingredients for lunch.

Xu Xi got up around nine and was somewhat surprised to see him bustling about in the kitchen.

"Eat breakfast first, and the lunch is here too. I'll drop you off at school later," Xu Shuo said while putting the prepared ribs into a pressure cooker to stew. If he started cooking now, it would be perfect by lunchtime.

After that, he stir-fried a simple dish and put it in the microwave to keep warm, ready to be heated up and eaten at noon.

Xu Xi, seeing his preparations, figured he was planning not to come back for lunch, most likely staying at the office for overtime.

"Didn't you say I would go to school on my own yesterday?" Xu Xi sat at the dining table, slowly eating her noodles without much emotion, and spoke indifferently.

"Dropping you off won't take long," Xu Shuo replied as he dried his hands and went to his room to change clothes, hurriedly getting ready for work.

With a soft click at the entrance, the small rental apartment fell quiet once again.

Xu Xi looked at the empty room and let out a barely perceptible sigh.

…

The morning work wasn't actually that tiring; it mainly involved building the game framework with everyone at the studio and also notifying relevant departments in advance, to ensure that everything wouldn't be held up at the launching stage after completion of the work.

As the team leader, Xu Shuo seemed to only need to give orders, not having much to do, but in fact, he had a little bit of everything to manage.

Busy and unaware of time, it wasn't until Li Ziwen had ordered fast food for everyone that he realized it was already twelve-thirty in the afternoon.

After checking the time, Xu Shuo paused. He opened the Player's Handbook and discovered that the countdown had already ended, but the system hadn't automatically pulled him into the game immediately.

[Rest period over, click to start the game.]

Whoa, changed from passive to active?

What if I never start?

Excited by this speculation, Xu Shuo closed the Player's Handbook and continued working while eating his packed lunch.

After finishing lunch, the afternoon work began. Xu Shuo and Pei Sheng went to the business street to supervise the construction of the shop. Afterwards, checking the time, he had to go pick up Xu Xi for school.

Three in the afternoon.

Xu Xi had already packed her things, which were actually not much: just some change of clothes and textbooks for revision, all fitting into one backpack.

"Don't you want to bring something back with you?" Seeing her simple baggage, Xu Shuo asked, "Do you want me to buy you a box of milk?"

"No need," Xu Xi said expressionlessly.

"If you're busy with studies, you could stock up on some bread for when you're hungry."

"No need," Xu Xi cut in calmly, "If we're any later, there will be more traffic."

Yangcheng, being a first-tier city, was always crowded with people and vehicles, especially during commuting times.

However, the high school affiliated with Normal University was in the Eastern Suburbs of another district. Xu Shuo, driving on the city freeway, found that since it was neither rush hour for office-going nor for going home, there was no traffic jam.

On the straight highway, only a white sedan maintained a steady pace.

However, just as Xu Shuo was carefully watching the road, suddenly everything went black before his eyes!

The next moment, Xu Xi, sitting in the passenger seat, abruptly turned her head to look at him, her eyes slightly widened, and she quickly reached out to grab the steering wheel, guiding the car gradually to the right side of the road.

Fortunately, there weren't many cars on the road at the moment.

Xu Xi looked at the young man who had suddenly closed his eyes, her expression growing progressively colder.

...

...

[You have entered the theater.]

[The Scripted Murder Game "Dancer in the Dark" is about to begin, please prepare yourselves, players.]

Xu Shuo opened his eyes to a field of darkness, but within that darkness, there seemed to be something strange floating about, slightly twisted and foggy.

He tried to move a little, but felt that his body was somewhat strange.

In the darkness, a huge mirror mounted on the wall reflected a distorted figure, which slowly straightened its upper body and lifted its head with an odd twist.

It raised its bent arm and touched its own neck, then with a "click" sound,

Twisted the neck back into place.

Xu Shuo stared at the ceiling, his pupils dilating into pitch darkness.

He heard the system's prompt just now, and in that instant, remembered that he seemed to have watched a video of this Scripted Murder Game before and thought, couldn't he just coast to victory?

But now, no matter how hard he tried to recall the plot, he couldn't remember any details.

"So that's how it is, no wonder..."

Xu Shuo spoke to himself, stopping mid-sentence because he found the sound of his voice to be truly strange.

Hoarse, gloomy, as if his throat had been slashed, the voice became jerky and sharp, akin to the wail of a fierce ghost, sending shivers down one's spine.

Xu Shuo lowered his head, lifting his hand to look at it.

A pair of pale and delicately soft hands, with some sticky substance clinging to them, indistinct in the darkness, but the scent of blood reached his nose.

He touched his mouth again, concluding that the blood probably flowed from his own body.

The darkness was icy and oppressive, in this utterly silent place, not even a breath could be heard.

Something viscous seemed to be flowing nearby, filled with a chilling malice; countless eyes seemed to open in the darkness, hiding in the sinister corners, greedily and expectantly watching the distorted figure. Explore new chapters at m_vl_em_p_yr

Xu Shuo quietly sensed all of this for a while; having failed to think through the plot, he remembered that he seemed to have been driving and needed to end the game quickly to get back.

Thus, he reined in his thoughts and opened the Player's Handbook amid the eerie atmosphere, receiving the information for this mission.

The character's name was "Qiuzi," a ballet dancer about to participate in a competition, but today, while practicing in the studio, someone twisted her neck.

Dead.

[Mission: Find the murderer who killed Qiuzi.]

Xu Shuo: "..."

No wonder he felt his body was so strange—his character... was actually a dead person??

What kind of terrifying script was this?!

Would he really not scare everyone to death if he ran outside?

At that moment, the rigid and creepy sensation of his body gradually dissipated and he regained some sensation.

Xu Shuo tentatively stood up, staggering a bit before finding his balance. Then, step by step, he slowly walked toward the giant, reflective glass in the darkness.

The eerie glow cast a reflection of a narrowing figure, petite and thin, dressed in a dark red ballet skirt, her slender legs possessing an elegant curve, giving the illusion that everything below the waist was legs.

The girl wasn't tall, but she had a nice figure.

Xu Shuo: "..."

Not only was he dead, but he was also a woman.