There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

"Boom!"

It seemed as if some monster was forcefully stomping on the roof of the carriage, leaving a dent in the roof of Carriage Thirteen.

Inside the carriage, which was tilted at a forty-five-degree angle, three players whose forms were hidden by magic huddled under their seats, now looking at each other in bewilderment.

A young woman leaning on the washroom sink at the carriage connection was also completely baffled.

It was as if they had all spaced out for a moment.

The evil ghosts that had been slashing and biting were gone, and so was the Abyss that had risen into Carriage Thirteen—only the gigantic creature that had just landed on the roof remained outside.

At this moment, Xu Shuo, wearing a white lab coat, was being held in the hands of the creature inside the carriage.

However, the little ghost opposite him now also had a face full of confusion, its dark pupils staring at him blankly for quite a while, seemingly unsure what to do next.

So, the young man smiled at it, warmly and gently.

[The theater "Green-skin Train" has come to an end. We will soon leave this world. Please prepare yourselves, players.]

Male Salesman: "..."

Female White-collar Worker: "..."

Youth: "..."

The three unharmed players just stared at each other, their blank expressions perfectly encapsulating the essence of "Who am I? Where am I? What am I supposed to do?" as the final seconds ticked away in their confusion.

The figures of the five players instantly turned into points of light and dissipated.

The stunned Little Ghost suddenly realized what had happened and let out an angry and ferocious roar!

...

The derailed wreck of a train still hung in mid-air.

Gigantic tentacles stretched out from the massive vortex, dragging the train, while a huge blood-eyed monster stood on the roof of the last carriage, followed by countless hideous evil ghosts climbing behind it.

Suddenly, a holy and brilliant column of light descended from the clear sky and struck the very center of the vortex with force!

"Boom—!"

Within the dark, flowing vortex, countless monsters let out piercing, agonizing screams as their twisted bodies were utterly extinguished by this dazzling light!

The holy light mercilessly exterminated everything!

At that moment, the Abyss shook violently, like a gushing volcano, as thick darkness surged from the depths of the vortex into the sky, twisting around the column of light, trying to flow upwards against it!

"Tch."

It sounded as if someone voiced from within the light.

Then, a barely visible golden silhouette projected into the center of the column, shooting straight down toward the Abyss below.

Boom!

Another earth-shattering explosion resonated, and dazzling brilliance burst forth at the heart of the darkness, a blinding white light quickly engulfing heaven and earth, and cracks spread across the sky!

Finally, with a crash, like the shattering of glass...

Fragments of space fluttered down, reflecting a rainbow of colors amidst the light, extremely brilliant and stunning.

After a long time, the white light gradually faded away.

The surrounding scenery came into view.

It was similar, yet slightly different from before.

Here, the mountains were steep, and weeds grew wild; in the distance lay a glistening, lengthy river, and above their heads spanned a huge red overpass, connecting two mountains.

The figure with golden hair landed on the ground and then slowly crouched down, staring intently at a small, ten-centimeter crack at his feet that was emitting black vapors.

After watching it for a while, he looked up to survey the surrounding landscape.

"Which world is this?"

...

...

Normal University Affiliated High School.

During lunchtime, Xu Xi was reading in her dorm room, but although her eyes were on the book, her pupils lacked focus, and she seemed to be daydreaming.

Suddenly, her phone vibrated a few times, drawing her attention.

Xu Xi picked up her phone and opened the text message, then a faint ripple of emotion, tinged with confusion, crossed her otherwise expressionless face.

Still, she quickly replied to the text.

[Okay.]

...

Radiant Game Studio.

Xu Shuo had just set down his phone and taken a sip of coffee when he saw a notification pop up in the upper right corner of his peripheral vision, with red dots stacking up, indicating the sender's anxious mood.

He closed his eyes, his consciousness entered the Script Space, and at the same time casually opened the door for Hong Rao.

Actually, after he entered the "Green-skin Train" script, Hong Rao did send him a message, but at that time, Xu Shuo was busy observing the monster and really had no mood to pit his wits against the "Little Flying Message" blocking feature, so he didn't reply.

After the game was over, he was more concerned with investigating the Yang Suburb Railway, so he didn't stay too long in the Script Space.

At this moment, a woman with long legs clad in a black embroidered cheongsam stepped out of the Light Gate. Hong Rao had a stern face, but her excessively delicate features held no seriousness at all.

Hong Rao sized him up and down.

"Which script did you enter?"

"Green-skin Train," Xu Shuo calmly replied.

No sooner had he finished speaking than Hong Rao's eyes widened. She seemed all too familiar with that script, and then her gaze became even more peculiar.

If Hong Rao's initial reaction was anger, it had now turned into utter disbelief. The way she looked Xu Shuo up and down was as if she was seeing an Abyss Creature dancing.

A Low Rank player tackling a Rank Three assessment script—honestly, Hong Rao had only thought about it casually before.

She hadn't expected this guy to actually go in.

And to actually come out alive!

You see, when she found out he didn't enter the script she had arranged, she had spent the short half hour wait already lamenting to her friends that another student was gone.

Seeing her reaction, Xu Shuo paused and then said, "I lost." Find your next read at empire

Hong Rao choked, "…What happened?"

Xu Shuo, "I wanted to see what the Punishment Task was."

Hong Rao, "..."

Xu Shuo wasn't joking. Right after the young man had completed his mission of being the murderer, the system had already judged his mission as a failure, since it was a faction-based script where taking the initiative was what counted.

In fact, by enticing the young man to touch the suitcase, Xu Shuo had intentionally made him go and submit the mission in order to trigger the countdown mechanism after the game mission was halfway through.

If he had eliminated the opposing faction first, it may have caused them to turn hostile and frantically search for clues to submit their mission, rushing to end the game!

They wouldn't even have waited until the train reached the overpass!

So afterwards, to prevent the game from ending outright, Xu Shuo had no choice but to sit on his own mission and not submit it.

Thankfully, the timing was just right.

He was getting increasingly proficient at submitting the mission at the last second of the countdown.

And now, Hong Rao looked at the young man who calmly admitted "failure in the mission and wanting to enter the Punishment Task." She hesitated to speak, stopped, hesitated again, and finally, she let out a deep sigh.

Xu Shuo looked at her curiously: "What's wrong?"

Before, he had heard from Hong Rao that the Punishment Task after a game failure was dangerous but not necessarily fatal, and that the Script Space was quite friendly to new players, usually not throwing Low Rank players into Punishment Worlds beyond their strength.

Hong Rao didn't speak; she just sighed with a face full of melancholy.

She swiped open the system panel and said faintly, "Let's pick a Punishment World for you now."

Xu Shuo was slightly surprised, "The Punishment Task mentor can also arrange it?"

You never mentioned this!

Hong Rao gave him a peculiar glance—actually, she'd created the impression that Punishment Tasks were very dangerous precisely to prevent students from becoming lax in their approach to the game if they knew that the Punishment World could be arranged by a mentor!

In fact, many mentors taught their students this way.

But she never imagined that this guy's curiosity could be so strangely strong!

Losing the game on purpose just to go to a Punishment Task?

Are you out of your mind?

Wait a minute! It couldn't be because...

Just as she was internally voicing her disdain, Hong Rao suddenly realized—Xu Shuo had entered a Rank Three assessment script!

If that were the case, then as a newbie who'd just passed Rank One, it was only natural that he couldn't beat those halfway novices who were at Rank Two, right?

After all, a Rank Three assessment script followed the standards of a Rank Three script, and Xu Shuo was only Rank One before!

The disparity between player levels grew wider the higher they were!

A Rank One player couldn't contain an unbound monster with their bare hands, a Rank Two player could just about shield themselves from the Mental Contamination of the Abyss, and only a Rank Three player could trade blows with a monster, even eliminating it.

Previously Xu Shuo managing to clear a Rank Two script was already quite an achievement. Now attempting a Rank Three script, one couldn't set their expectations too high...

So on second thought, his loss in the game didn't seem so strange after all.

Probably just a big boy too embarrassed to admit defeat, so he simply used an excuse to gloss it over.

After all, who genuinely wants to lose a game? With a mission failure, the rewards would decrease, and considering the disdain he had shown for the rewards of a Rank One script before, it's even less likely he would deliberately lose!

Ah, so that's how it is!

Turns out this guy still has a bit of youthful spirit!

Realizing this, Hong Rao nodded in sudden understanding. When she looked at Xu Shuo again, her eyes held a trace of motherly tenderness.

Xu Shuo, "…?"