Body Found

The three of them walked into the main room together.

"You're here." Yin Meng said from across the room. The three of them looked over to see him sitting on one of the sofas. Li Yusheng, Duan Li, Shen Lin, and Yang Lan were all there as well. Xiang Tingfeng looked around the group and noticed the one person unaccounted for. "Xue Peng..."

Yin Meng clenched his fist and looked to the other side of the room where a white blanket was covering over a lump. "Yeah... they got to him."

Ye Delun couldn't see it clearly, but from the shape of the cloth, it was undeniably Xue Peng.

"You covered the body..." Xiang Tingfeng uttered. His face paled as he thought about what was underneath the fabric.

"Yeah, It wasn't a nice sight to see. Thought it would have been the best." Yin Meng stood up from his seat and moved closer to the lump. "But now that we're all here, it's best to not waste time and search for clues."

"You want to search his body?" Duan Li said. "Disgusting! Keep it covered!"

Yin Meng didn't mind Duan Li's opinion and said to her, "To find more clues on who's culprit, it's only natural to search the body."

Duan Li only mocked his logic. "What do you think this is? Some detective show? A fun escape room? The guy's dead, that's all you need to know."

Shen Lin stepped in to defend him, "Ms. Duan, If you are not comfortable with looking at the body, then you can step out for a bit."

"For a bit? Why do I have to come back in? This dead body is creating a gross mess. You're lucky I've stayed in here up till this point!" She stood up from her seat and head towards the door. "The pig has died and his body is going to start to smell. And no way am I going to stay here to witness it." She swung the door open, only for her way to be blocked by a tall man.

"You're correct. A pity, isn't it?"

Host stood tall in the doorway. He was wearing the same outfit as yesterday and wearing the same black masquerade mask. His arms blocked the exit and he gave a welcoming grin to everyone in the room. Behind him, Gao Shunyuan was seen holding a meat and cheese tray. Host used his long legs to step past Duan Li and stood over the covered corpse. "It's a shame no one cleaned up the mess. I'm afraid it must have soiled your appetites. And after we went through the time to prepare a snack too." He moved the toe of his pristine shoe to hook under the fabric. "A shame indeed." With a kick of his leg, the covering over the corpse was removed.

The sight of Xue Peng's deceased body came to view.

Xiang Tingfeng covered his mouth in shock and unknowingly blocked the view from Ye Delun with his large figure. Ye Delun heard everyone take in a breath of shock and he could feel the disgust radiation off of them. Yang Lan, the person playing as the story's female protagonist, covered his lips tried her best to hide her gag. "Cover that thing back up!" Daun Li yelled.

Ye Delun didn't try to move. Although he searches for a thrill in life, there was no thrill in death. A dead body was in no way scary or exciting for him. It just made him feel icky.

Host only smiled at Duan Li warmly, "Didn't you say it's going to smell? I got to clean it up before that happens. They say that it starts to smell like cheese after a while, I wouldn't want that to ruin the carpet." He seemed like he was concerned about the well-being of everyone in the room, but no one took him seriously. The insincere smile of his told them more than they needed to know.

Hearing that, Yin Meng stepped forward to stop him. "Wait a second, let me have a look at it."

"Is there something wrong with your head? He says he'll clean it up. Why would you want to look at it now?" Li Yusheng spoke from his seat. His pale face was turned away from the scene.

"You want to look at it?" Host chuckled at Yin Meng's courage. "You must have quite the stomach. Or are you perhaps used to seeing sights like this?"

Yin Meng gave him a cold look and cut him off, "That's none of your business."

Host didn't seem bothered by Yin Meng's attitude. "All right, all right. I didn't mean to ruffle your feathers. It's a touchy subject, I understand." He put his hands out as a means of surrender. "If you all want to, then you can use your valuable time searching a dead body. I don't mind. After all, it's your time." He backed off and moved back towards Gao Shunyuan. "Although I doubt most of you would want to join him. Therefore, feel free to join me in another room to discuss amongst yourselves."

He signaled Gao Shunyuan to follow after him. To which he turned to follow Host and carried the meat and cheese tray out with him.

Everyone stalled for a moment as they thought about what Host had said. Duan Li didn't stall and followed Host out of the room. It wasn't much longer that Li Yusheng slowly followed after her.

And just like that, everyone started to follow after Host to the other room. It was a natural reaction, as searching a body wasn't exactly something anyone would want to do. Yang Lan hesitated and looked backend forth between the door and Yin Meng before telling Yin Meng, "I'm sorry, I would want to help. It's just that-"

"It's alright." Yin Meng interrupted her. "I understand."

Yang Lan exhaled a sigh and walked out the door.

Ye Delun, a person who would have rathered walked out of the room and left the work for Yin Meng, got a message from the system.

[The body of the character 'Xue Peng' has been found! The characters 'Yin Meng' and 'Shen Lin' are in need of help to search for clues!]

[Help and search the body]

[Don't search the body; 10 gems]

"..."

Ye Delun gave the message a blank look. 'What kind of cheat is this?'

Currently, he had the 5 gems that the system had given him because of an error. And he's only been able to work for a single day and gained 2 gold coins. He hasn't even learned how to get gems, so how was he supposed to afford this?

Ye Delun was not a person who got angry easily, but the thought of the scamming system ticked him off.

Xiang Tingfeng gave Yin Meng an apologetic look and walked out with Kang Maixiu. Upon realizing that Ye Delun was not following, he turned back and gave him a surprised look. "Are you staying, Ye Delun?" He asked.

Ye Delun stayed silent for a moment. There was no way that he could say no and his answer was already set in stone. "... I'm staying." He forced the words out of his mouth.

'This dumb game.'