IGSB – Chapter 29
Chapter 29: Who's the Murderer? (Part 10)
Today was the third day. At three in the afternoon, they would have to submit their first answer.
When they entered the classroom, the number of people was the same as yesterday. There was no change.
The student NPCs had not yet arrived, leaving only the five players.
Taking this opportunity, everyone continued to exchange and organize information.
After Sun Jun became a day student, the male dormitory was calm, and nothing else happened.
The information from the female dormitory, however, was plentiful. The truth that Xia Zhiyi and Jing Ruyu had discovered outside was enough to completely free them from the instance.
“Luckily, you two didn’t follow us over the wall yesterday, or you would have missed this crucial clue,” Chen Jianxiong said with great emotion.
Yesterday, he and Wu Yong had been chased across half the school before being caught and dragged before the head teacher for an hour-long scolding.
It was just too much.
He hadn’t been scolded by a teacher in over a decade, yet the New World had to give them a truly immersive experience!
Wu Yong nonchalantly blew at his bangs.
Getting scolded by teachers was like his three meals a day; he couldn’t care less.
Liu Xue sighed sympathetically. “But I never expected the Ghost King to have gone through something like that before she died. Sun Jun is truly disgusting and vile! He deserves everything that’s happening to him!”
A person who would use such despicable means to harm others would face retribution sooner or later.
And Sun Jun’s retribution was to be trapped in the Ghost King’s world, endlessly cycling through repeated suffering.
Wu Yong frowned but said nothing, his attitude still indifferent.
Chen Jianxiong pushed up his glasses, his brow furrowed tightly as he spoke, “But we still don’t know exactly how Zhou Xiuxiu died.”
“Could it be that we guessed wrong from the start, that she didn’t fall from a height? Was she directly killed by Sun Jun and the others? But the current timeline shows she’s still alive, so doesn’t that mean that after Sun Jun and the others committed their atrocity, they didn’t actually take her life?”
“Then how did she die, and who killed her?”
Chen Jianxiong’s words forced them back to the original question: Who killed Zhou Xiuxiu?
In the question posed by the Quest NPC, did “kill” refer to a direct act or an indirect one?
If it was the former, they would need to continue searching for the answer. If it was the latter, the answer had already surfaced, clear as day.
However, no one could give a definite answer right now, and they had to submit their first answer that afternoon. Time was pressing.
After a moment of thought, Xia Zhiyi turned directly to the Quest NPC. “Little Broadcast.”
The other three players: “...?”
Little… Little Broadcast???
Xia Zhiyi stared at the broadcast speaker and said bluntly, “Does your question count indirect harm? You’re not setting a trap for us, are you?”
Little Broadcast: 【...】
She was certainly direct, actually coming to ask.
【Players, please explore the instance on your own to find the answer. Asking the Quest NPC for the answer is prohibited.】
Xia Zhiyi raised an eyebrow and complained to Jing Ruyu as they walked away, “Good grief, even this counts as asking for the answer. I have to say, the New World is really stingy.”
“Little Broadcast is useless. I won’t ask it next time. We’ll just go ask Xiuxiu directly.”
Jing Ruyu nodded. “That works too.”
The three players: “...”
Little Broadcast: 【...】
You’re actually going to ask the Ghost King directly? You guys are really wild...
Since they couldn’t get anything out of the Quest NPC, Xia Zhiyi and Jing Ruyu discussed it and decided to find the head teacher later to ask if Xiuxiu was safe at home.
So far, Zhou Xiuxiu had not appeared in this timeline, and the head teacher had told the students not to disturb her. It was hard not to suspect that something had already happened to her.
If that was the case, they would have to leave the school again.
Soon, the students began to trickle into the classroom.
Day students and boarders, everyone was present. Even Sun Jun, who had been tormented the previous night, was there. However, his memory had clearly been sealed again, and he looked as if he had no idea what had happened.
His expression was just not very good today, as if he was greatly troubled by something.
The classroom instantly became lively again.
The class president, as usual, was responsible for filling out the daily duty roster on the blackboard. She erased yesterday’s date and wrote today’s.
Jing Ruyu inadvertently saw the newly written date and raised an eyebrow slightly, a trace of doubt in her eyes.
Raising her hand, she gestured for Xia Zhiyi to look at the blackboard. “Yesterday was clearly the 10th, so why is today the 15th?”
She clearly remembered that the day they entered was the 9th, and the next day was the 10th. The dates had been consecutive, so why was there such a big jump today?
Could it be that the timeline of this instance wasn’t continuous?
Or perhaps… the timeline was closely linked to what the instance wanted to show them?
She fell into deep thought, silently sorting through the clues.
So far, something had happened every day in this instance, as if it were re-enacting the scene, allowing the players to see the full picture.
Of course, that was on the premise that the players could trigger the corresponding plot.
If they hadn’t chosen to follow the day student Sun Jun yesterday, they would have inevitably missed the incident in the dark alley, and it was uncertain if they would have had another chance to make up for it.
So, if her guess was correct, the reason the timeline suddenly jumped to the 15th was most likely because something important was going to happen today.
She stated her conclusion with a serious face, “Something might happen today.”
Hearing this, Xia Zhiyi couldn’t help but stare at the number “15” on the blackboard.
The timeline had jumped. What would happen today?
The players’ serious atmosphere was out of place in the noisy classroom.
The students gathered in twos and threes, mysteriously chatting about the news.
“Do you remember the media report from a few days ago about Zhou Xiuxiu being assaulted?”
Jing Ruyu and Xia Zhiyi’s gazes instantly locked onto that student.
Reported a few days ago? Zhou Xiuxiu’s case had already been reported by the media?
The student NPCs were still talking, completely oblivious to their stares.
“I know, I know, who wouldn’t know about something so big? What’s up? Has the censored ‘Sun’ been identified?”
“Yes, it seems to be our class’s Sun Jun.”
“Ah?!”
“Someone saw the police go to his house to find him.”
“Damn, no way…”
“People online are also saying he did it. I brought my phone, I’ll search it for you to see.”
After speaking, he sneakily took out his phone, tapped the screen a few times, and handed it to the person next to him.
“Here, look at the comment section yourselves.”
“Excuse me.”
Xia Zhiyi suddenly appeared behind them.
“Can I take a look?”
“Just for a second. I’ll be very careful and won’t get caught,” she pleaded pitifully.
The other person thought for a moment before saying, “Alright.” Then he gestured for her to crouch down. “Look secretly, don’t let the teacher find out. I snuck it in.”
Xia Zhiyi reassured him, indicating she understood.
Jing Ruyu also came over to look with her.
The other players couldn’t look; the NPC wouldn’t allow it, as a large group would be too conspicuous.
The report on the phone screen was from two days ago, and they could glean some extra information from the comments.
Zhou Xiuxiu’s parents had been planning to report it to the police, but somehow the media had reported it first.
The case was still under investigation, and the three suspects had not yet been arrested.
In the comment section, someone had already directly posted the real names of the three suspects, with Sun Jun’s name prominently listed.
There were all sorts of comments in the section, even advertisements.
Xia Zhiyi and Jing Ruyu looked at each other, suddenly understanding why Sun Jun’s expression was so sour today.
They returned the phone, glanced at Sun Jun, and turned to go to the office, planning to ask the head teacher about Zhou Xiuxiu’s situation.
For some reason, after seeing the report, they had an ominous premonition and just wanted to confirm Zhou Xiuxiu’s safety as soon as possible.
They had just taken one step out of the classroom when they saw a boy running towards them with a note in his hand, shouting as he ran, “Sun Jun, there’s a note for you!”
They immediately stopped and looked back.
Sun Jun asked impatiently, “A note? Who’s it from?”
The boy replied, “From Zhou Xiuxiu.”
Sun Jun was instantly stunned.
The boy stuffed the note into his hand. “She said only you can read it. I’m leaving.”
No one rushed forward to snatch the note. Everyone stood silently in place, their gazes fixed on Sun Jun.
In an instant, the classroom was filled with a suffocating atmosphere.
Sun Jun’s movements to open the note were very slow, as if he didn’t want to face the note, or perhaps the person who sent it.
Xia Zhiyi and Jing Ruyu watched him quietly.
They couldn’t see the words on the note, only watch as he slowly got up, walked to the window, looked left and right, and waited for a moment, not knowing what he was doing.
Suddenly, a thought flashed through Jing Ruyu’s mind, and she blurted out in surprise, “Could it be…”
Before she could finish, a shadow suddenly fell past the window, followed by a dull thud as something hit the ground.
Sun Jun froze at the window, the note slipping from his hand as he completely broke down.
Wu Yong and the others hurried forward and leaned out to look.
They saw a person lying in the flowerbed below, wearing a blue and white school uniform, face down, blood pouring out. They were beyond saving.
Xia Zhiyi picked up the note from the floor. On it was written: Come to the window, wait patiently, I have a gift for you.
Flipping it over, in the bottom right corner was a line of inconspicuous small words: I will become your hell.
Xia Zhiyi was stunned.
The word “hell,” personally written by Zhou Xiuxiu, carried her immense unwillingness and resentment, as if it were laced with poison and burning with fire, making her unconsciously let go of the note as if she’d been scalded.
The note slipped, fluttering to the ground amidst Sun Jun’s terrified, broken cries.
The retribution, the curse, was fulfilled, and from then on, it would follow him like a shadow.
Chen Jianxiong stared blankly at the window. “So Xiuxiu… committed suicide by jumping?”
No one answered him.
Jing Ruyu picked up the note, looking down at the cursed, weeping boy on the floor, her eyes as cold as deep winter ice.
Suicide?
No.
Isn’t the murderer right here?
Three in the afternoon.
The time for the first answer had arrived.
The classroom had been cleared, just like when Zhou Xiuxiu first appeared before them as the Ghost King, empty and gloomy.
The countdown board had reached zero, and the clean blackboard below was like a blank answer sheet waiting for them to fill it out.
The viscous sound came again, and web-like long hair instantly covered every corner of the classroom, leaving only the podium area clear.
They looked back and saw Zhou Xiuxiu sitting in her seat, quietly watching them, like a proctor, or like a merciless judge.
“I’m looking forward to your answers,” she said.
Everyone was silent.
Having just witnessed her fall to her death in the morning, seeing her as a Ghost King sitting in her original seat in the afternoon made everyone’s feelings complicated.
If not for these accidents, she should have been sitting in that seat, continuing to study, working hard for her dream university…
Unfortunately, the “what ifs” of this world never come true.
【Bzz…】
The broadcast spoke.
【Time for the players’ first answer.】
【Please note, if the first answer does not receive a perfect score, the player responsible for answering will be punished by the Ghost King as an incentive to try harder next time.】
Everyone: “…”
Punishment is punishment, don’t make it sound so nice by calling it an incentive!
【Next, the Ghost King will designate a player to answer.】
The five of them: “???”
It wasn’t even voluntary!
Xia Zhiyi turned to Jing Ruyu and said, “This rule is just like the banquet seating in the novice instance. I’m afraid it will involve some personal ghost grudges.”
Jing Ruyu nodded in agreement, her brow furrowing slightly. “I hope it’s not you.”
Xia Zhiyi asked, “I’m not that brave, am I?”
Jing Ruyu gave her a deep look. “Sometimes you’re unimaginably brave.”
Xia Zhiyi paused, then said embarrassedly, “It’s alright, I’ve always had the merit of facing difficulties head-on…”
Behind them, Zhou Xiuxiu: “…”
So you also know you have the “merit” of facing difficulties head-on?
Then, Wu Yong felt something suddenly push his back forward. The touch was icy cold.
He looked back in fright and saw a tentacle-like strand of black hair slowly retracting.
Zhou Xiuxiu said, “You go.”
Wu Yong: “…”
What kind of luck was this…
He mustered his courage. “Damn it, I’ll go!”
The answer being Sun Jun was so obvious, he didn’t believe he could get it wrong!
Picking up the chalk, he coolly wrote two large characters on the blackboard: Sun Jun.
After writing, he admired his work, very satisfied, ready to put down the chalk and turn in his answer for a perfect hundred points!
“Wait,” Jing Ruyu suddenly spoke, stopping him from putting down the chalk. “Keep writing.”
Wu Yong turned back. “What are you doing…”
Jing Ruyu’s gaze sharpened, her aura commanding. “Write.”
Wu Yong quickly raised the chalk.
Jing Ruyu recited two names: “Jiang Wei, Bao Mingyu.”
She had seen their names in the report that morning and happened to remember them.
Sun Jun was the mastermind; these two were accomplices.
Accomplices were also murderers. Not one could be left out.
Wu Yong was a little afraid of her and didn’t dare to ask much. He just asked which characters to use and obediently added the names.
After writing, he looked at Jing Ruyu. “Is it okay this time?”
Jing Ruyu nodded. “There are three murderers, not one less.”
The others also agreed with what she said.
Only then did Wu Yong dare to put down the chalk.
【Putting down the chalk is considered completion of the answer.】
【Scoring will now begin.】
At this moment, their hearts were in their throats.
Even though they knew the answer, they were still nervous about the result.
The scoring began.
The three names were written on the blackboard. A red checkmark passed over their names one by one, as if a real teacher was grading this simple paper.
Finally, the score appeared next to the answer.
A striking red color appeared before their eyes, a viscous red liquid slowly trickling down the path of the numbers.
A score of 50 points.
Everyone was stunned as the broadcast’s voice sounded in their ears: 【The player did not receive one hundred points. First attempt, failed.】
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