There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

"Bro." Xu Xi called out, her gaze still holding some confusion as she looked at him.

Since they weren't planning to go back for dinner tonight, the two had wandered around all day and, feeling somewhat bored, decided to play a Scripted Murder Game to pass the time, which was perfect for people with nothing better to do thanks to its lengthy gameplay.

To their surprise, they ran into Xu Shuo, who also didn't seem to plan on returning home for dinner.

So this is your "busy"?

"I just came here to handle some things with him, and then I saw you guys," Xu Shuo said as he walked over, not bothering to hide anything, then asked, "What are you playing?"

Xu Xi's best friend Yang Lili happily picked up a small brochure and handed it over, speaking up first, "We heard that this place has a new Scripted Murder Game, so Xi and I came over to play. Xu Shuo, are you guys going to join in?"

Before Xu Shuo could finish speaking, Pei Sheng very willingly chimed in, "Play! Definitely play!"

After playing, they could casually ask the cute girls for their WeChat and make plans to play together again next time!

Xu Shuo glanced at him, said nothing, and lowered his head to look at the brochure that had just been handed to him.

It was a list of scripted murder games.

At this point, the eager receptionist finally found an opportunity to interject, saying enthusiastically, "These two ladies came over wanting to play, but we were short of two people, now that the two handsome guys have joined, we have just enough players!"

Xu Shuo looked at the brochure and asked, "What are you playing?"

Xu Xi flipped through a few pages of the booklet in his hand, and a dazzling cover image appeared on the dark paper—a twisted title in the top left corner: "The Woman by the Window."

Then Xu Xi said, "They say that this script is quite popular among newcomers, so we decided to give it a try."

Yang Lili then leaned towards Xu Shuo, whispering with a hint of amusement, "Xu Shuo, let me tell you, we actually played this game yesterday, and based on recommendations, we played an 'Old Locust Tree' scenario, but—"

"Less than ten minutes into the game, the murderer was pinpointed by Xi; there was no challenge at all!"

The receptionist lurking nearby cringed with embarrassment.

Yesterday, it was said that the two ladies were playing a Scripted Murder Game for the first time and wanted something quirky and fun, extraordinarily so; hence, they recommended this Mutant Script.

But they didn't expect the game to end so quickly. Today, when the two ladies returned, eager to retain customers, they suggested "The Woman by the Window," a slightly more challenging script for newcomers.

However, the game required four males and two females. The store already had two male players waiting, and with Xu Xi and Yang Lili's arrival, they were still short of two players. They had considered leaving if the wait was too long.

But then they ran into Xu Shuo and his friend.

After a brief look at the script's introduction, Xu Shuo nodded, "Well, let's play then."

"Didn't you say you were very busy today? Is it okay to leave your work?" Xu Xi, however, suddenly asked in a hushed tone.

"Hmm?" Xu Shuo pondered for a moment, "There's a way—"

He hadn't finished speaking when Pei Sheng swiftly covered his mouth, then seriously told the receptionist, "We'll play, four people, how much in total?"

The receptionist quickly brought up the bill like a flash of lightning and held up the QR code scanner, looking at him expectantly; Pei Sheng promptly paid it.

After completing the transaction, he released Xu Shuo and pretended to look for a place, glancing around, "Where do we play?"

Xu Shuo wiped his mouth, annoyed, but said nothing more—he was just trying to tease Xu Xi a bit.

Having come all this way, how could he possibly not play?

Another staff member quickly led them inside. Previously, the shop had focused on escape rooms but also accommodated some board games. With the rise of Scripted Murder Games, they had partitioned off a small corner with screens, arranging a few sofas and tables for gamers to play.

Pei Sheng looked at the place and muttered to himself that it was creepily cold.

However, the offline Scripted Murder Game had just started to gain popularity, and it was already not bad for many cities to have shops open for play.

At this point, two guys were already sitting on the sofa, playing with dice to kill time. When they saw people coming in, they put everything away.

"Can we start the game now?"

"Yes, 'The Woman by the Window' Scripted Murder Game," the staff said, holding the script.

"Never played it before, sounds good," both men said with a smile.

Six people sat down around the table, each keeping a bit of distance from each other, with the staff member who brought them in hosting the game.

Before distributing the character scripts, they had to answer questions and take a personality test in order to choose a script, ensuring the players received scripts that better suited their personalities.

It was actually Xu Shuo's first time playing the offline Scripted Murder Game. Although he had watched similar programs before and understood the process, he had never tried it himself.

After everyone finished the test and while the host was organizing the scripts, the six people chatted casually for a bit.

The two guys were college students who came to play the Scripted Murder Game on a whim during their school break, figuring if they got into a game, great; if not, they'd just kill time.

"They say this Scripted Murder Game is actually adapted from a real event, involving a terrifying case that might include elements of mild horror and the bizarre," one guy said, casting glances at the two girls from time to time.

"No problem, we like it," Yang Lili said, raising a smile, while Xu Xi, sitting next to her, was still cold and expressionless.

"Do you guys come to play often?" the other person continued to chat.

So Pei Sheng, who was sitting nearby, couldn't sit still and joined the conversation, making the scene quite lively. They even looked like they were about to start exchanging contacts to meet up again next time.

Xu Shuo watched them without speaking and casually took his own script when the host came over to hand it out.

"The game now begins, you all have ten minutes to read Act One of the script," the host said, holding a bunch of props and addressing the six players from the main seat: "Also, please do not turn to the next page until you have completed the current stage of the script."

Suddenly, everyone got into the zone, needing to read the script within the limited time to understand their character's identity and, if there were any issues with their identity, to quickly come up with excuses to rid themselves of suspicion.

Xu Shuo glanced briefly at his own script, then scanned each person's expressions before once again focusing on analyzing his own script.

But as he looked more closely, he suddenly felt something was off.

This identity... The things this person does...

Why does it look so much like a murderer's?

No, this guy is actually the murderer, right?!

So is there some sort of curse, why can't he escape the role of a murderer even when playing an offline Scripted Murder Game? Can't they give him a more relaxed, simple identity?

Xu Shuo stared at his script, his face calm and without much expression, but internally he was at a loss for words.

Stupid game, not fun at all!

…

…

PS: 'The Woman by the Window' and 'Old Locust Tree' are both existing scripts in real life, not original creations in the text. Interested readers can check them out.