Chapter 4: The Crime Scene

A person was missing from the dining table, seemingly the son of the manor owner.

The atmosphere suddenly turned somewhat displeasing. Mr. Guo, who had just been smiling warmly, now wore a dark cloud over his face. His full, square face became especially stern when set, and it even seemed a bit frightening.

A few discerning players chose to keep silent, each harboring their own thoughts.

Since there was mention of the "young master," it was evident that the manor owner, Mr. Guo, was not single. However, up to this point, only he had appeared before the guests, and it seemed that Mr. Guo's son had quarreled with him, not giving his father any face even in front of strangers.

And according to the trope seen in certain animes, characters who have a reason not to appear always pose a big problem!

Thus, in the minds of everyone present, the script had swiftly advanced from a "melodramatic family ethically drama" to the crucial point of "the deceased is the villa owner's son."

What followed was waiting for a maid or a young lady to scream at the discovery of the crime scene.

"Sorry, my son is a bit introverted. He's probably too shy because there are too many people," Mr. Guo said after wearing a stern face for a while, but then, realizing there were guests present, he quickly mustered a polite smile and apologetically added, "Don't worry about him, let's eat."

Polite smiles were exchanged among the few, and after the manor owner took the lead, they all began to pick up their flatware.

The atmosphere in this villa seemed somewhat solemn. Even though numerous servants had passed by before dinner, they had now all vanished without a trace, leaving only the faint sound of tableware on the dining table.

The manor owner too stopped speaking. Although a smile remained on his face, his overly meticulous posture rendered everyone unable to find the courage to speak up, especially with the stark contrast in his mood just moments before.

Zhan Qian had intended to seize the opportunity to make conversation, but now found herself without an opening.

This Mr. Guo was very strange.

If an incident truly were to occur in this game, he definitely carried a high level of suspicion.

The several people at the dining table had different thoughts, yet none spoke a word.

For a while, the whole dining room was suffused with an inexplicable repression.

"Butler, have the kitchen prepare another portion of the meal to take up to him," said Mr. Guo after eating a few bites, presumably still deeply caring for his son, and he turned to instruct the old butler in a soft voice.

"Yes."

The old butler waiting at the side nodded and headed towards the kitchen.

Seizing the moment, Zhan Qian felt that an opportunity had arisen.

Just as she was about to speak, a voice suddenly came from across the table, "Has Mr. Guo always lived in this manor? I often come to this mountain to paint, but rarely see anyone coming down. I never knew there was a manor up here."

She shot an annoyed glance over and saw that the question came from the girl who was presenting herself as a painter.

Damn it, her line was stolen!

Mr. Guo seemed a bit taken aback by the girl's abrupt question but soon responded with a warm smile, "Yes, this villa was built a long time ago by my wife and me. But she has passed away. Since she loved it here, I decided to stay."

The girl, hearing this, showed a faint smile on her serene face, "Then you must be a very affectionate person."

Mr. Guo smiled in return but did not speak further.

...

At this moment, Xu Shuo had just finished the meal in his bowl and saw the old butler approaching, so he put away the casual posture he had been leaning with against the doorframe.

The butler entered the kitchen, not paying much attention to the empty bowl in his hand, and simply spoke lowly, "Make another meal for the young master."

After finishing his instruction, he said no more, giving off the impression that such matters were routine.

Xu Shuo nodded imperceptibly, "Alright."

The butler left calmly.

Watching his retreating figure, Xu Shuo waited a moment, but when no helpful prompt from the system came, he directly packed up the remaining food in the pot, arranged it decorously on the serving cart, and wheeled it out.

There wouldn't be anyone checking if the young master was being served leftovers, right? Surely not?

As Xu Shuo left the kitchen, the players in the dining room all covertly shifted their gazes towards him, watching him take the elevator to the second floor.

This villa was extremely luxurious, with many rooms. Xu Shuo wheeled the serving cart directly down the left corridor. The mysticist Miss lived in the first room of the second corridor around the left corner, close to the master bedroom, while next to the master bedroom was a half-closed study.

After glancing over these doors, Xu Shuo arrived at the room at the end of the corridor.

"Knock, knock, knock..."

He knocked on the door and waited for a while, but there was no response.

Xu Shuo knocked again, this time with more force.

After a long moment, a low, hoarse male voice came from inside: "I'm not eating, take it away."

Upon hearing this, Xu Shuo subconsciously wanted to get into character and say something to comfort the young master, but at that moment, a scream like one from a crime scene suddenly came from downstairs.

"Ah—!"

The alarmed and somewhat fearful shout unmistakably signalled to everyone that something had happened.

Immediately after, there was a commotion of chairs being shuffled, accompanied by the old butler's hoarse shouts of "Sir," and it seemed to have suddenly become very chaotic below.

Xu Shuo paused, intending to go out and see what was happening when the door in front of him was suddenly "click" opened.

A young man, skinny and slightly pale, with hair half-tied into a small braid at the back, emanating a decadent scholar vibe, walked out. He frowned, his lips pressed in a tight line, looking extremely discontent.

"What happened?" the young man asked, his voice somewhat low and husky.

"I don't know," Xu Shuo shook his head and said, looking towards the hallway outside, "It seems something has happened to the manor owner."

As soon as he finished speaking, the young man was startled and then quickly turned and ran out, and naturally, Xu Shuo followed closely behind.

He knew better than anyone what had happened.

...

The crime scene, the dining table.

The victim, Mr. Guo.

The screamer, Miss Painter.

Mr. Guo, who had just been speaking to her with a smile, abruptly spewed a mouthful of hot blood, splashing it all over the dining table, which instantly provoked Miss Painter to scream.

The old butler rushed over, seemingly trying to administer emergency aid to his master, but before long, Mr. Guo's head tilted, and he passed away right there on the spot.

All of a sudden, the gentleman who had just been graceful and genteel was now thoroughly chilled.

The five people at the dining table were wooden-faced.

Tan Xiaohe, with her naïve look, whispered to the photographer beside her, "Has it... started?"

The photographer, still in a daze, nodded his head: "I guess."

Now that the victim had appeared, the plot must have started, right?

The old butler, overcome with grief, threw himself on Mr. Guo's body, and at that moment, a lean young man quickly ran down the stairs.

He glanced at the bloodstains on the dining table and then at the lifeless man on the floor, his face full of disbelief, then suddenly knelt down, his eyes vacant, looking utterly soulless.

Zhan Qian quickly surveyed the people present, then stepped forward and said, "Butler, is there a doctor in the manor, have him come over and take a look immediately, please!"

As she finished speaking, the grieving butler seemed to come back to his senses and, with a bitter smile, said to the guests Mr. Guo had invited, "Although the manor owner has a hired private doctor, he does not reside in the manor."

Unless under special circumstances, the doctor would only come for a weekly check-up, and now with the darkness and heavy rain outside, it was unlikely for him to make it over.

"This…" Zhan Qian was momentarily at a loss, then said, "Well, see if there's anyone here who knows some medical knowledge, have them come over and take a look at your master, we need to figure out what happened."

"Sure," the old butler wiped away his tears, quickly got up, and went to rally the servants.

With the butler temporarily away, there was only the young man left at the scene, kneeling beside Mr. Guo, looking lost and helpless.

This was the perfect opportunity for interaction!

Zhan Qian glanced at the unresponsive young man, then quietly waved, beckoning the players over to her.

Xu Shuo, standing in the back, arched an eyebrow, advanced a few quick steps, intending to listen in on how this group was planning to deduce the script and see if they might unravel him as the culprit right away.

However, Zhan Qian's first words to the Scripted Murder Game newbies were, "In a tutorial game for newcomers, it's rare for a player to be the murderer, as this is not conducive to newbies' immersion. We can start our investigation with the people around the victim, which could make deducing the script faster."

Hearing this, the others, impressed yet confused, therefore, nodded in agreement.

Seeing this, Xu Shuo thought, "..."

Thanks a lot, sis.