Dawn of the next morning.
The card started vibrating at 6:30, signalling that a new plot was issued to Gu Liang.
Gu Liang continued to lie in bed for the next 10 minutes before he crawled out with much difficulty.
After skimming through the new plot once, Gu Liang stumbled out of bed with squinted eyes and took a shower to reawaken his consciousness.
However, despite being blown by the electric fan for the entire night, his head was still aching slightly, so he massaged his temples for a short while like how Yang Ye had taught him, and he only went out of the door when his headache turned for the better.
Gu Liang managed to reach the dining hall punctually for breakfast.
But he was the last one to arrive.
After entering the dining hall, Gu Liang surveyed the space. Apart from Waitress Jing and Chef Huang, everyone was present.
All the players were still sitting at the round table from last night, and the seating arrangement was exactly the same.
Yang Ye beckoned Gu Liang with his hand, and Gu Liang proceeded to walk up and sit beside him.
After some time, Waitress Jing walked into the dining hall from the kitchen, carrying steamed and stuffed buns for everyone to partake in.
“There are still a few dishes that Chef Huang is currently making, I’ll bring them over in a short while.”
Through that sentence, Gu Liang affirmed the fact that the chef was still alive.
It seems like there were no homicidal cases last night, since all the characters were eating breakfast.
While they were eating breakfast, Waitress Jing served the guests some tea and beverages as she asked: “Has everyone decided where they want to go?”
In response, Yang Ye, as the actor of President Gao, glanced at Tourist Jia. “When we were idly chatting in the morning, I heard that you like climbing mountains. I like mountain climbing too, should we climb the mountain together and share some tips on working out with each other?”
Tourist Jia nodded: “Sure. I know of you. We have a few intersections because of our businesses. Let’s go together then.”
After saying that, Tourist Jia tossed a question at Girlfriend Jia, who was sitting beside him. “Do you want to join us?”
“If you’re climbing the mountain… Forget it, I don’t feel like going.”
Girlfriend Jia looked towards Recluse Wang, “I stayed with Recluse Wang last night. Both of us discussed it briefly and we wanted to go to Beilin. Furthermore, both of us have an interest in chess, so we’re planning to play chess at the pavilion once we’re done exploring Beilin.”
“Sure, you can go ahead then. We’ll meet in the afternoon,” said Tourist Jia.
After Waitress Jing heard that, she placed down a small dish of shelled peanuts and asked Gu Liang and Li Xiao Yu: “What about School Senior Hua and Zhao Meili? Is there anywhere you would like to go?”
As School Senior Hua, Gu Liang answered the question in compliance with the plot he received in the morning. “I’m not exactly fond of exercising. I’ll go fishing then. Please take me to the fishing gear later.”
Waitress Jing said: “No problem.”
As Zhao Meili, Li Xiao Yu chimed in, “I’ll go fishing with School Senior Hua.”
Immediately after, Li Xiao Yu distinctively felt a scorching hot stare.
And once Li Xiao Yu turned her head, she collided with said stare. It goes without saying that it was Yang Ye.
Hurriedly, she said: “Character design, it’s all character design!”
After spending 30 minutes to eat their breakfast and then grabbing the fishing gear, Gu Liang brought Li Xiao Yu out of the inn. They wound around the inn, following the mountain path downwards and walked for another 30 minutes before they reached the plain water lake at the foot of the mountain.
Gu Liang checked his card. The time indicated on the display was nearly 8:10.
From the moment where they exited the inn, Li Xiao Yu’s expression had a slight heaviness to it.
Having noticed her expression, Gu Liang stirred the fish bait as he asked her: “What’s wrong?”
“It’s nothing really. I should be getting used to it. It’s just… Mn, when we were leaving through the inn’s entrance, I remembered how there was a fog there yesterday. And yesterday, that Chef Huang…”
Li Xiao Yu rubbed her face, “I don’t know if people like him will actually die in this game.”
We’re sorry for MTLers or people who like using reading mode, but our translations keep getting stolen by aggregators so we’re going to bring back the copy protection. If you need to MTL please retype the gibberish parts.
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Gu Liang picked up another fishing rod and placed the bait on the hook. Following, he swung the rod, allowing the fish bait to sink into the water.
“Do you see the bobber floating on the water? If the bobber starts to sink and jerk, it means that the fish has taken the bait. You shouldn’t reel your line too quickly because you’ll scare the fish if you’re too fast. But you can’t go too slowly either; because the fish might finish eating the bait and run if you’re too slow. If you can grasp the timing correctly, you will be able to catch the fish. You’ll get it once you give it a try.”
“Sure. I’ll try it then. Why do you know everything?” Li Xiao Yu smiled, “But isn’t fishing typically an activity for older people? You’re quite similar to an old official.”
“It’s true that fishing can help a mind restore its calm. It was Xun Feng who gave the suggestion that I should go fishing. Speaking of which, I haven’t seen him in a long time. I wonder how he’s doing in this game.”
As Gu Liang was speaking, Li Xiao Yu started to swing her rod.
However, he only saw her being unmindful as she took hold of the rod and swung it forcefully. With her large momentum, she nearly brandished the fish hook into Gu Liang’s ear.
Gu Liang ducked away from the danger before he shook his head. He put down his own fishing rod and took Li Xiao Yu’s fishing rod again, helping her get the bait into the water before he returned it to her.
Li Xiao Yu said quickly: “I didn’t do it on purpose!”
Gu Liang : “It’s fine. It’s normal if you don’t know how to swing it for your first attempt.”
Li Xiao Yu grinned again. “Wah, it’s truly rare to see you comforting someone!”
Gu Liang’s lips curled up as he made a shushing hand gesture, “Don’t scare the fishes away.”
Subsequently after, Gu Liang started fishing with a peace of mind.
However, Gu Liang noticed that he and Li Xiao Yu were not the only people at this location.
The lake itself was not large, and there was a fishing boat in the middle of the lake.
A fisherman was sitting on the boat and he was also angling for fish.
Sensing Gu Liang’s gaze, the fisherman raised his head to smile at Gu Liang. He asked in an airy voice: “Young man, you’re here to fish as well?”
Gu Liang nodded his head, unspeaking.
He reacted almost instantaneously. This person was a NPC.
Although the players’ performance in the script enactment segment became increasingly realistic as their scripts became more advanced, they still had some differences from the NPCs. Judging from the looks of the fisherman, it genuinely felt like he was a fisherman who had stayed on the lake for decades and experienced all the weathers and storms.
This calibre of acting skills — which resembled nature itself — was not something that normal players could accomplish.
After retracting his gaze, Gu Liang continued to fish in peace, and he managed to reel in a few catches after a while.
Meanwhile, Li Xiao Yu did not manage to reel in a single one. After 20 minutes, she had completely given up.
Li Xiao Yu played around with the fishes inside Gu Liang’s catch bucket, but she was really bored so she could not restrain herself from starting a conversation with Gu Liang. “How do you manage to stay silent the entire time? I’m about to die from boredom. I’m never going fishing again, unless I’m accompanying my boyfriend.”
“You’re young and your heart isn’t heavy. It’s normal.” Gu Liang uttered.
“You’re not that old either, no?” Li Xiao Yu could not help but sigh, “According to our timelines, we have to continue fishing until noon. There’s still a few more hours! How am I supposed to get through this? It would be great if I could use this time to revise and attempt some questions.”
“I probably won’t be a soy sauce character this time around.” Gu Liang peered at the fisherman NPC in the distance before he told Li Xiao Yu, “If my guess isn’t wrong, I suspect that I’m the detective this time around.”
“Why?” Li Xiao Yu asked.
Gu Liang replied: “Because after I’m done with my lunch, I’ll be coming here to fish again in the afternoon. My timeline today is particularly simple, I’ll be fishing for the whole day. This NPC should be provided by the system to give me an alibi.”
Li Xiao Yu stilled momentarily, “I… I have something to do in the afternoon. I won’t be coming here to fish later.”
When Gu Liang heard that, he put down his fishing rod and looked towards her. “I almost forgot. I should be telling you my thoughts right now. After coming to the inn, I seem to have fallen in love with Proprietress Ling at first sight. After I accidentally saw her showering last night, I fell in love with her irrevocably.”
Gu Liang’s tone of voice was extremely calm, completely devoid of fluctuations or feelings.
Li Xiao Yu, however, was amused. “Fuck, that’s an explosion of emotion. Does Yang Ye know about this?”
Gu Liang reminded her: “Pay attention to your character design.”
Li Xiao Yu changed her expression immediately. “This vixen! She actually tried to seduce school senior! School Senior, you shouldn’t let yourself be beguiled by her!”
Gu Liang narrowed his eyes, “Logically speaking, you should be fishing with me in the afternoon, but you just said that you wouldn’t be. Could it be that, after you learnt that I fell in love with Proprietress Ling during our recent conversation, you started feeling murderous intentions towards her and you’re planning to act in the afternoon?”
Li Xiao Yu mimicked Gu Liang’s tone. “Pay attention to your character design. I can’t tell you.”
While Gu Liang fished for the entire morning, Li Xiao Yu remained bored throughout the morning to noon.
When 12 o’ clock arrived, both of them returned back to the inn’s dining hall punctually.
All of the travellers were present, except Tourist Jia.
When Waitress Jing was serving the food, Gu Liang heard Girlfriend Jia ask: “Were you in the inn for the whole morning? Did you see Tourist Jia?”
Waitress Jing said: “He hasn’t returned? I’ll help you ask the others in a short while.”
“Okay. Thanks.” Girlfriend Jia proceeded to ask Yang Ye, who was playing President Gao, “You don’t know either? Didn’t both of you climb the mountain together?”
Yang Ye shook his head, “He became tired halfway through and he said he was returning first. I went to the peak of the mountain alone and I didn’t see him afterwards.”
Gu Liang could not resist shooting a glance at Yang Ye.
After the two of them became overly familiar, he could essentially perceive the fact that Yang Ye was lying.
Yang Ye blinked at him, choosing not to say anything for the time being.
Apart from Tourist Jia’s absence in the afternoon, there was still another person that Gu Liang hadn’t seen— Proprietress Ling.
However, he did hear Proprietress Ling’s voice.
Proprietress Ling travelled over from the distant courtyard. “Waitress Jing, is everyone satisfied with the food? Help me ask them.”
“Sure.” Waitress Jing raised her voice and replied from the corridor outside the dining hall, “You must be exhausted from last night, you look rather wan and sallow right now. You should go back to your room and rest.”
Proprietress Ling merely said: “I’ll be going to the lobby to do the account settlement. It’s fine.”
“I’ll go back to serving the dishes then.” After saying those words, the sound of Waitress Jing’s footsteps indicated that she was moving towards the kitchen.
Once lunch had concluded, Gu Liang followed the script requirements and went back to fishing again.
It was around 12:30 when Gu Liang finished his lunch, and it was approximately 1 o’ clock at noon by the time he reached the lakeside again.
As anticipated, Li Xiao Yu did not join him.
Gu Liang honestly felt that she was going to kill Proprietress Ling because he could find another motivation for her to kill tentatively.
After fishing for a full half-hour, Gu Liang caught a glimpse of something from his peripheral vision so he raised his head.
— There was an arched stone bridge above plain water lake, which linked the mountain that the inn was located on to another mountain northwards.
At this moment, Waitress Jing was crossing the stone bridge.
The lake was not large, but it took Waitress Jing roughly 15 minutes to reach the opposite bank.
After she reached the opposite bank, her figure plunged into the clustered forest very quickly and she disappeared from his sight very swiftly.
A few wooden houses could be barely discerned on the opposite bank, but similar to the inn, most of them were concealed by the mountain body and greenery, which made it difficult for him to perceive them immediately.
However, Gu Liang did not see Waitress Jing return after she went to the opposite bank.
For the same reason, Gu Liang was exceedingly mystified when he saw that Waitress Jing was actually at the inn when he returned back to the inn at 5 o’ clock once he was done fishing.
When Gu Liang was trudging towards the inn’s courtyard entrance, he saw Waitress Jing holding a first aid box as she strode towards the inn’s lobby.
Gu Liang could not help but call her to a stop as he asked: “Who was injured?”
Waitress Jing said: “When Tourist Jia came back at 5 o’ clock, he picked a fight with President Gao!”
President Gao? Isn’t that Yang Ye?
Is Yang Ye injured?
Gu Liang’s eyebrows furrowed and chilled as he rushed towards the lobby immediately.
It was at this moment where the public broadcast rang out.
“Ding dong! It is currently 9 June, 5:30 in the evening. The script enactment segment has come to an end. The investigation segment will be commencing next!
“All of the players have half an hour to look for the deceased; another half an hour will be dedicated to investigating the scene of the crime.
“The current scenario premise is comparatively bigger, there will be 7 hours for free exploration.
“Once the exploration time has been exhausted, the system will be issuing supper to everyone.
“After supper, the centralised discussion segment will commence. The discussion will last for 5 hours.”
When Gu Liang heard that, his first reaction was— Well, he was not sleeping tonight.
After listening to the broadcast in full, Gu Liang decided to go to the lobby to check on Yang Ye’s injuries first.
It was also at this moment where he heard someone calling out to him.
It was an address that made him feel strange— “Brother Liang.”
Upon turning his head back, Gu Liang saw Ming Yue at a glance.
Ming Yue sidled up to Gu Liang and said: “Now that the script enactment segment is over, I can talk to you about things outside of the script.”
Waitress Jing had already walked up to the lobby on the second floor using the stone steps.
The other players had yet to come out.
The courtyard was quiet, and in that moment, only Gu Liang and Ming Yue remained.
Gu Liang stared at him: “So you do recognise me.”
“Of course.” Ming Yue smiled, “I want to tell you something. I’m one of the murderers this time around.”
Gu Liang: “……?”
“It doesn’t matter to me. I’m a NPC, I won’t truly die even if all of you voted me out.”
Having said that, Ming Yue suddenly asked him: “Do you still remember that whenever we were reading the ancient poems with the words ‘Bright Moon’ in them during our schooling days, our classmates would always taunt me, saying that my name was too literary and artistic?”
Gu Liang shook his head. “It happened more than ten years ago, I can’t recall the details clearly. I only remembered that you were particularly skilled in chess.”
Ming Yue stared at Gu Liang, saying: “The only person who didn’t join the taunting was just you, Brother Liang. I have always been thankful towards you.”
Gu Liang did not respond and he only heard Ming Yue continue to say: “Which is why I’m willing to help you. I know you’re the detective this time around. It’s just—”
Ming Yue raised his head to look at the players who were entering the courtyard one after another.
He only spoke to Gu Liang: “This case is special, I’m not the only murderer. Who the other murderer is, I can’t say for certain. Therefore, as your old classmate, I can only help you until this point.”
The author has something to say:
Ming Yue: I’m the murderer.
Gu Liang: I will quietly watch you act.
Hmm suspicious 🤔
Definitely don’t like Ming Yue, with his annoying I-know-something-you-don’t attitude and smartass personality. I feel like he’s implying Yang Ye is the murderer and trying to sow discord between them. 🤔
And I wanted to note that there seems to be a small mistake.
’While Gu Liang fished for the entire morning, Li Xiao Yu remained bored for an entire afternoon.’
But they went fishing together in the morning, so how is she bored for an entire afternoon? This bugged me a bit, just saying
Thanks for the chapter!
Oh, thanks for pointing out that mistake! My eyes went blergh while translating since ‘上午‘ means ‘before noon’ or ‘morning’ and ‘下午‘ is afternoon and can stretch on to evening xD
It’s just a one character difference x(
Is Ming Yue digging a pit for Liang Liang?
I don’t trust him.
Thanks for the chapter! <3
ಠ_ಠ
I don’t really trust him but let’s see how everything developes
Thank you for the chapter!! ❤️❤️
Typo: While Gu Liang fished for the entire morning, Li Xiao Yu remained bored for an entire afternoon
It should be entire morning
Thank you for the chapter!
Ming Yue making his move! It’s obvious he has an obsession for Gu Liang…
MY sus
i feel like ming yue is one of those characters who are silently planning to take down the system from within, the super smart super sneaky type XD
thank you for the chapter 💖
Why do I feel like My is trying to get between GL and YY??? Something about his character just screams homewrecker 😅