There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

The next day, when Pei Sheng appeared yawning, he heard someone say, "Let's switch the train tickets back, I'm not taking the train anymore."

Pei Sheng: "???—Big brother, are you playing with me, or are you playing with mosquitoes?"

Hearing this, Xu Shuo turned his head to look at him, but it seemed that something occurred to him. His calm gaze fixed on Pei Sheng for a good while before he slightly furrowed his brows.

Pei Sheng immediately felt uneasy under the stare and was even more afraid that the man would suddenly smile.

Just as he was about to say something, he heard Xu Shuo say, "I won't switch, your ticket will be switched over."

Pei Sheng: "????"

He really was just messing with him, wasn't he!!

...

The following two days of business negotiations went fairly smoothly. Xu Shuo had some matters to attend to and loosened up a bit, and soon both parties had signed the contract.

Three in the afternoon was the previously scheduled time for the return journey.

Pei Sheng would rather be beaten to death than take a train which journey was extended by half an hour, but as he prepared to enter the station, he found out that Li Ziwen had switched his train ticket.

Even if he could buy a new ticket now, he would not be able to purchase one for this train service.

"Are you screwing with me!" Pei Sheng glared at that certain someone.

"See you in Sun City." Xu Shuo waved at him with a smile, left his small suitcase with the other, and entered the station, turning away with cold indifference.

Pei Sheng, left behind, trembled with anger, then quickly took out his phone, made a call with a ferocious look, and roared, "Arrange a helicopter back to Sun City for me right now! I'm going to fly there and scare the crap out of that guy!"

The other end: "..."

The call was mercilessly hung up.

Pei Sheng was so angry he wanted to throw his phone, but then remembered it was brand new, bought just two days ago.

...

...

On the high-speed train.

Xu Shuo found his seat, placed his lightweight backpack on the rack, and then began to rest with his eyes closed.

After that self-proclaimed Wanderer named Luo Kai had sought him out, Xu Shuo took the rare initiative to contact Hong Rao. Without giving her the chance to talk about other things, he directly asked his question.

"Why would a player be interested in a case from the real world?"

"Ah?"

Hong Rao was caught off guard by the question. The expression on her enchanting and stunning face showed confusion, but then she recovered and said composedly, "What you're talking about might belong to another profession, called 'Director'."

Just like she can reduce the frequency and duration of entering scripts by becoming a 'Mentor', there's also another role in Script Space—the 'Director', who specializes in creating scripts.

"If they come across a situation that can be extracted into a 'script', they need to personally participate in the case, reconstruct the course of events, and finally have the system produce it into a Scripted Murder Game for us players to challenge.

"Um, of course, for low-level common scripts, personal involvement isn't required; the system can automatically generate them based on information from the world.

"But with very complicated events, a player's direct involvement is necessary. Usually, these events are mostly Mutant Scripts, or those with so many twists that they give you a brain burn."

Hong Rao pondered as she spoke.

Xu Shuo narrowed his eyes slightly: "Are all the Scripted Murder Games here extracted from the real world?"

"Maybe." Hong Rao shrugged: "But you should know, there are countless worlds here, and players come from various worlds—who knows where those weird and odd scripts are extracted from."

"I understand now." Xu Shuo nodded.

"So why are you asking? Did you encounter one?" Hong Rao leaned in with interest.

"Thank you, I'm off." Xu Shuo turned and disappeared.

"..."

Damn it! She is his mentor after all, seeing her only as a tool is just too much!

Hong Rao puffed up her cheeks in indignation.

...

Time reverted to the real world.

Xu Shuo had just closed his eyes to rest for a short while when someone sat down beside him, bringing with them a heavy scent of smoke.

Almost in the same spot, Xu Shuo sat on the inside, while Luo Kai took the outside seat, his wide black hat nearly covering half his face, revealing only the lower half that was unshaven.

Luo Kai glanced at Xu Shuo, who still had his eyes closed, then took in the sights of the train carriage.

Compared to those heading to Pengcheng, there were not many people returning to Yangcheng from Pengcheng; passengers were sparse, sitting scattered around the carriage. Due to the lack of people, seats were basically chosen at will.

"What about your friend?" Luo Kai, with nothing better to do, couldn't help but start talking incessantly.

"He took a helicopter back." Xu Shuo replied offhandedly.

"..." Luo Kai gave him a blank look, his expression odd, "Cough, pretty wealthy, huh?"

He suddenly remembered that when the guy's phone had no signal on the train, he kept fussing about getting off and immediately changing phones.

Luo Kai remarked, "But it's good he didn't take the train, after all, the Illusory Realm is very likely to select tracks randomly, and it could appear on any operating high-speed rail or train."

Xu Shuo responded, then suddenly added, "So, are you really certain we'll encounter it again this time?"

"Fifty-fifty," replied Luo Kai with a smile, his gaze flickering slightly, appearing to be somewhat inscrutable as he watched the young man beside him still resting with his eyes closed, his head leaning against the wall of the carriage.

Soon, with a slight tremble, the high-speed train started moving slowly.

The carriage was very stable, with hardly any jostling, and the noise from outside was so faint it was almost nonexistent.

But after an unknown duration of travel, suddenly a loud booming sound flashed by, and Xu Shuo felt the sensation of light on his eyelids darken.

He opened his eyes, and before his sight was pitch darkness; the blackness outside the window flowed past like thick ink.

Amidst the faint conversation of the passengers, strange low chanting began to resonate from all around the carriage, indistinguishable and incessant, followed by the sound of something dragging and scraping.

An unpleasant stench of decay began to waft to his nostrils.

Luo Kai's expression turned solemn; he extended his finger and tapped twice in the air, then said in a low voice, "Brother, let's form a team."

[A team invitation is nearby, would you like to enter?]

They have this feature?

Without stretching out his hand, Xu Shuo willed his acceptance, and soon a team panel appeared in the upper right corner showing "Team Leader Luo Kai, Team Member Xu Shuo."

Luo Kai then continued to manipulate the air, presumably using his own Player's Handbook, but without authorization, others couldn't see it.

Shortly after, a progress bar appeared before Xu Shuo.

[Retrieving in progress…]

[Retrieval successful, the player must participate throughout the production, would you like to enter?]

[Agree.]

Boom——

Another massive boom sounded, and in an instant, the pitch black outside the window was replaced by a pleasant landscape, blue sky, white clouds, and brilliant sunshine; the bustling noise and heavy smoke also rushed in.

The ghosts that were just about to walk over from the tail of the carriage, along with the spreading dark red liquid and the foul stench of decay, had all disappeared.

Conversations, scolding, playful noises, the carriage filled with people bustled with the breath of life.

This was a very old-fashioned green-skin train.