Chapter 11: Lewd Cruise (10)
People woken by the screams and drawn to the third floor to investigate crowded outside the room, every face ashen.
The room Young Master Hui shared with his girlfriend was a glass-walled observation room. Standing outside, you could see everything inside with perfect clarity.
Young Master Hui, perfectly fine just yesterday, was now stiff, his skin drained of a living man's color.
The murder scene showed no signs of a struggle. If you ignored the bloodstains and the knife wounds on his body, he looked as if he were simply sleeping in the bed.
The players, mixed among the NPC crowd, paid far closer attention to this sudden event. Because this was not merely a homicide—it was the key to clearing the instance.
A few minutes earlier, the long-dormant system panel had lit up. The previously grayed-out "Clearance Condition" field unlocked, now displaying:
【Clearance Condition: Correctly identify the murderer who killed Xu Huihuang】
【Time limit: 24 hours. Correct answer within 8 hours rewards 100 points / within 16 hours rewards 50 points / within 24 hours rewards 20 points. Countdown: 23:46:30】
【Correct answer clears the instance. Wrong answer results in Elimination.】
The input box below had also unlocked, accompanied by a complete roster of all NPCs with facial portraits.
From this moment on, the ten surviving players bore a crushing weight. The relentless countdown pressed on them like a death knell, stretching every nerve taut.
At that point, the bodyguards began clearing the area. Everyone was ordered back to the first floor to wait.
The cruise ship's owner, Xu Huihuang, had died on his own birthday. The atmosphere aboard sank into sudden gloom. People gathered in small clusters of two or three, their expressions grave as they discussed the murder in hushed voices.
Ji Ning sat beside Xing Ye on the steps of the open bow. Before long, the other players drifted over and gathered around them as well.
At this moment, Ji Ning was gazing out at the boundless sea, murmuring, "A Blizzard Villa scenario…"
"Everyone knows it's a Blizzard Villa scenario. Just stating that doesn't help much," Jiang Shiyu cut in. "The key is deducing the killer's motive from the clues and identifying the real culprit."
Xing Ye didn't even lift his head. Looking at Ji Ning, he said gently, "Go on."
Ji Ning pulled her gaze back from Jiang Shiyu, dredged up her memories, and explained to Xing Ye: "'Blizzard Villa' refers to a murder that occurs in a sealed environment. Following the tropes of many suspense films, the killer generally falls into a few possible categories. It could be the first person to discover the body, it could be the person who seems least likely to be the killer, or it could be the person who moved the body. That's all I can think of for now."
The possibilities Ji Ning pointed out, though they were twists designed to make films more dramatic, could still provide useful lines of thought.
Everyone nodded and sank into contemplation. Jiang Shiyu, meanwhile, looked somewhat embarrassed.
Although Xing Ye didn't possess Ji Ning's specific knowledge, he had reached the same conclusions through deduction and guesswork alone.
Young Master Hui's girlfriend, as the first person to discover the body, could not escape suspicion.
And the NPCs they already knew about—those with motives to kill and those who seemed suspicious—could not be overlooked either. They had to investigate what every person had been doing the previous night and whether they had alibis.
Guessing alone wouldn't solve anything. Inspired, the other players dispersed one after another to search for clues.
Once everyone was gone, Ji Ning finally had the chance to ask Xing Ye about the doubt that had been nagging her regarding the updated clearance rules: "If someone confirms the answer and tells all the players, and everyone answers correctly, can we all clear the instance together?"
"No." Xing Ye's expression darkened. "If that happens, everyone will die."
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