Chapter 234 Tricking Players

Words : 1380 Updated : Oct 5th, 2025

Chapter 234: Chapter 234 Tricking Players"Maybe eating people was believed to be more helpful for evolution, or maybe it’s just a psycho thing," Xu Huo added from the side. "Wasn’t all of Pan Siming’s blood drained?" "Doesn’t that make everyone a suspect?" Li Weiran looked around. "Don’t stray so far off topic," the gloomy man said. "I trust my judgment; the killer is among the three people in the left corridor." "Then you’re saying it’s me!" Fan Shiji exclaimed. "There was clearly the sound of a door, and I didn’t lock mine. Why should it be me?" "Sounds can be easily faked," Xie Man said hesitantly. "If sounds can be faked, why can’t it be someone else?" Fan Shiji argued discontentedly. "Just because of that, you want to kill me?" The gloomy man was about to step forward, but Li Weiran blocked him with a step, "Without concrete evidence, it’s better not to act rashly. More people can check and balance each other. If someone among us has hidden their strength, the fewer people there are, the greater the risk." "Moreover, the sound might not have been created by Fan Shiji." As she spoke, she looked towards Gao Jun. "Last night, he left his room, and it was just before and after the first notification." All eyes turned to Gao Jun, but he calmly said, "I never left." "You did leave." Li Weiran said, "I am a hairdresser, so I can simply control hair." As she said that, she pulled out two strands of hair and by twisting the ends lightly, the strands joined together. "Before returning to my room last night, I tied a strand of hair on your door. I knew every time you opened and closed it." Li Weiran let go of her long hair, looking at Gao Jun, "Either you killed Pan Siming and are trying to mislead us, or you are the first player to clear a level, the Hidden One. Choose one." Gao Jun tugged at the corner of his mouth, "So you did not see me leave the room. What’s strange about opening a door? I just wanted to check out the commotion. Pan Siming is dead, but Big Bear’s whereabouts are unknown. Why couldn’t he be the first to clear the level?" Players who hadn’t completed the first task could get away with this excuse, but the equally successful Xu Huo knew in his heart that Gao Jun was the player "Hidden One". Big Bear had entered the painting and was taken by him, and if Pan Siming was the first to obtain the painting, he could have exited the game when attacked. Moreover, the faked sounds of the door opening and closing revealed a flaw, indirectly proving that Pan Siming did not reach the gallery, therefore Gao Jun was the one who cleared the level, and the timing matched as well. "Big Bear and Deng Yu are both missing, probably killed by monsters. With no bodies to prove, of course, you can say that. But you left your room; you’re the most suspicious," Li Weiran said. "Well, say your suspicions are reasonable, but Xu San also left his room last night. Why don’t you suspect him?" Gao Jun pointed at Xu Huo. "I never left my room," Xu Huo said. "I can vouch for him," Ni Tian immediately said. "You’ve already teamed up. Can mutual testimony be trusted?" Gao Jun changed his tune, "Anyway, you’re staying in the same room. It’s either Xu San or you!" "You!" Ni Tian was fuming. "You can’t produce evidence I went out, but Li Weiran made a case for your exit," Xu Huo glared at him, "dragging others into this is pointless." "Is what she said definitely true?" Gao Jun countered. "A few strands of hair, she lives alone in the corner. Can she prove she never left? Only she knows what’s true or false!" "No," Xie Man said, "Why couldn’t Pan Siming have cleared the level? He could have been killed after clearing it." The gloomy man glanced at her, "As long as he wasn’t instantly killed, Pan Siming could have chosen to leave the game. At the time, the monster was chasing them. Big Bear, who was also fleeing, had no time to kill, and there was a very short interval between the sounds of the door and the monster knocking. If the purpose of the fake sound was to frame someone, that person had to be in the left corridor or the gallery." "But I’m inclined to believe that Pan Siming never left the left corridor." "After all that, you’re still suspecting me." Fan Shiji said, "Since the sound was fake, why couldn’t it be you?" He pointed at the gloomy man, "You’re staying in the first room on the right. You’re the closest to the gallery; it’s entirely possible for you to create the illusion and then kill Pan Siming. I think you’re the first one to clear the level!" "And you!" Fan Shiji turned and pointed at Xie Man, "You’re not too far away either, stop playing dumb and acting innocent." The crowd argued back and forth, pointing fingers at each other. It seemed like anyone could be the killer of Pan Siming, and anyone could also be the first to clear the level. "Enough!" the gloomy man suddenly raised his voice, "Continuing this argument won’t lead to anything, but one thing is certain." "Even if Big Bear cleared the level and left the instance, there’s still at least one player who cleared the level in the gallery." "Mutual verification can’t convince anyone. Let’s put the murder of Pan Siming aside for the time being. Let’s not target one another but look for the painting instead. No objections to that, I hope?" They looked at each other, seemingly in agreement with this proposal. "Then let’s each look for the painting," Li Weiran said, glancing at Gao Jun. The players dispersed, with Li Weiran and Fan Shiji pairing up. The gloomy man went alone, Lu Gang and Gao Jun together, leaving Xie Man without a partner. She approached Xu Huo and Ni Tian. "Have you figured out the connection between the two missing paintings?" she asked quietly. Xu Huo glanced at her, "Not yet. Do you have a clue?" Sёarᴄh the Novelƒire(.)ne*t website on Google to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality. After thinking for a moment, Xie Man said, "I only know both paintings had been damaged, but the combined photograph is gone, so it’s uncertain if it was torn. If it was, it’s very possible that during the day, damaged paintings turn into fakes by night." "As you both know, we couldn’t find the fake painting during the day." "Other than that, I really have no idea," she added. "According to you, if we tear up a painting during the day, we’ll have a fake one by night?" Ni Tian said with a sardonic smile, "You really are smart. What if tearing the painting doesn’t work and instead attracts the monster?" Xie Man also smiled, "Whether or not tearing the paintings is the right move, we’ll know tonight." She pointed to Li Weiran and Fan Shiji in the distance, "They’ve already damaged one. If we can’t find any other way to clear the level, this is the only method we can try." Xu Huo looked in that direction, where Li Weiran and Fan Shiji were examining "The Time of Stillness". "The Time of Stillness" and a sketch were the paintings they had damaged. Apparently, Xie Man wasn’t the only one who had come to think of "damage" as a commonality, but the two most anxious to verify this were Li Weiran and Fan Shiji. "That Gao Jun, he’s been staring at you," Ni Tian noted. Xu Huo looked back, only to see Gao Jun had already shifted his gaze to the other two in front. Although he didn’t know how Gao Jun had guessed he was the second player to clear a level, they couldn’t expose each other for now, and stood on the same starting line. The priority was to create a fake painting. Like him, Gao Jun also had his eye on the two players targeted by the monster.

Chapter 234 Tricking Players

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