Neighbourhood (8)

The Days I Clear Escape Games Pretending to be an NPCCh23 - Neighbourhood (8)

Ren Yifei's expression was calm and was completely different from what was going on inside his head.

As a blind person, he fittingly showed some doubts as he moved his white cane and bumped into something once again, his expression became even more puzzled, "Excuse me?" RFOI4c

A hand reached out and pulled him to the side.

A burnt and bitter aroma wafted over, bringing sweet warmth to the cold morning.

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Ren Yifei was taken away in a daze and took several seconds to react, "Mr Lin? Did I just..." kick something?

Saman released the hand that he was pulling and replied coldly, "Someone put garbage bags in front of your door, it's probably a prank." m1dbod

"Garbage bags? But it didn't feel like plastic just now," Ren Yifei shook his head.

Saman looked at this somewhat obstructive NPC while rubbing his thumb against his index finger, still reflecting on his extremely irrational, and even abnormal behaviour at that moment. Could it be that this NPC was too pitiful so he couldn't help but be more considerate?

"Someone will come and clean it later, you'll get in the way if you stand there."

As he spoke, he grabbed Ren Yifei's wrist and took him all the way to the stairs. He then pressed his hand on the handrail, "Let's go."

q5YidQ

"But my door is still open," Ren Yifei turned his head and looked in the direction of his apartment.

Floral Shirt was lying at the door like he was simply having a bad hangover; there was no heavy smell of blood in the air.

It was unknown where the first scene of the crime had occurred.

It wouldn't have occurred here. If there was a fight in front of his door, he would've woken up right away. TcGp3k

On the first night, the deceased was killed ten minutes after the 'ghost' left. If it moved quickly, going from the second floor to the toilet on the first floor would take at most three minutes, which would be enough time for the 'ghost' to murder someone.

On the second night, which was last night, the deceased was also killed ten minutes after the 'ghost' left. However, it seemed to be done exceptionally well this time, the deceased had hardly resisted and their clothes were tidy. Was death inevitable, or has the boss evolved?

He preferred the latter.

Another thing, whether it was this instance or the Happy Funeral instance, the boss only ever come out to kill after 11 pm. BIPjsK

Does this mean that there was a time limit on when the 'ghost' is able to kill players?

For example, it can only happen after 11 pm?

"I will close the door for you," Saman used his cold voice to draw a line between them.

But just as he finished speaking, the lady who went out to buy groceries at this time every day opened the door. As soon as she came out, she saw Floral Shirt on the floor with a knife. icQ7kC

"Ahhh—" the auntie's basket fell, "S-someone died!"

The scream started the morning of the third day, the NPCs came out of their resistance in their pyjamas and the players quickly gathered as if they just heard a rallying call.

The administrator's eyes were red, "This has never happened in our apartment building, we've always been harmonious here and never quarrelled."

He had said this once yesterday too, and seconds after he said it, he was slapped in the face by the deceased's husband.

The player who followed Saman was the first to come to Saman's side, he cried 'boss' while eyeing Ren Yifei strangely.

Players usually don't have close contact with NPCs, the first reason was that they can avoid being inexplicably exposed. The second reason was to prevent unnecessary involvement which would result in more trouble.

This was what Saman often told him, so what was this?

Saman neither gave him an explanation nor did he pay attention to Ren Yifei, the young blind NPC. He crouched down beside the corpse and examined it carefully. i9E2Aq

They turned over the corpse, revealing the bloodstains on the chest and ground, this was the only wound on the body.

"It looks like the rose was made from blood from the heart, was this for courtship?" The student player joked.

The blood was dark red, it was obvious that it was due to poison, but there was no specialised doctor within the group of players to tell them what kind of poison it was.

They then retrieved a prop from the man, it was a card with a picture of the gallows on it. nxE3dL

"Isn't this the Inquisition Lock?" Some players recognised the card, it was a kind of high-level prop with special effects.

"This Inquisition Lock is very useful, but there is a prerequisite to have in-depth knowledge of the target of the assassination. Why would he carry such a card?"

"Perhaps, he was a professional assassin?" Saman threw the card back to the deceased, "Whoever wants it can have it. But it's too restrictive and doesn't work very well most of the time."

For example, when encountering someone like him who has a prop that restrains long-range attacks. pOq1D8

"Professional assassin?" Several players looked at each other, this instance also came with a professional assassin... this situation has become more complicated.

Behind Saman, the young man's fingers twitched as his expression became slightly panicked and he lowered his head, not daring to look at the corpse.

As if he had perceived it, a smile flashed across Saman's face.

"There are no visible traces belonging to a second person, the 'ghost' is being more cautious. Or rather, the 'ghost' has become more powerful." tuyHqO

Floral Shirt was checked over but there was basically no traces left either in his nails or on his clothes. Perhaps after being laid here, the 'ghost' cleaned him up since both his hair and clothes were neat.

"What does the rose mean? I understand 'Ranger', it's referring to the rouges in ancient times. But what does it have to do with this blood rose? Is it really for courtship? Impossible, right?"

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Saman looked at the corpse, the hair and clothes of the corpse had been neatly arranged like the 'ghost' was wrapping a gift just to deliver this blood rose.

Courtship? He looked up at the half-open door to the blind youth's apartment. IONlDG

After that, he looked back at the crowd; the blind youth was standing at the entrance of the stairs. He seemed to have just realised what had happened and fear appeared on his face as his hand on the handrail trembled.

But in a little while, as an NPC, he will forget about this along with the anxiety and fear of this moment.

That makes him superfluous, Saman thought to himself.

No, he was superfluous. j9m6Ob

"Can we start with the makeup?" The student player carefully observed the frightening makeup, "It has cosmetics and is pretty good at it too, could it be a woman?"

"Not necessarily, young men are also starting to torment themselves. If their job is similar to an internet celebrity, they would usually prepare cosmetics," the veteran player shook their head and pointed at that corpse's face, "This shade is darker and is used more often by men. Of course, this does not exclude the possibility of it being a woman since they would mostly use it for contouring."

"In any case, it's a lead to consider," Saman concluded, unaware that he had the most say within the players.

Except for these, they couldn't find any more clues as the body began to disappear. ynZwGu

"It's time to wake the children."

"It's time to go to work."

All the NPCs were like robots that had just received their command and started running fixed programs.

Ren Yifei also began to sluggishly walk down the stairs, step by step. There was barely any change in the distance in which he lifted his leg and put it down which seemed very strange to outsiders. q2xjzr

Saman glanced over as he stood up and gently closed the half-open door along with his unusual concern.

These were exactly what NPCs are, just a bunch of fragmented people.

Ren Yifei walked all the way to the breakfast shop.

He had come too early today. The elder sister and her husband were still wrapping steamed buns as the first batch was still steaming on the stove. WP0IG9

The TV hanging on the wall was rebroadcasting yesterday's local news.

The previous serial murder wanted notice was put up again, they hope that the general public could provide more clues.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

It turned out that the murderer who was caught was only a copycat. The officials believe that the real culprit from the previous cases is yet to be found because the method the copycat had used to implant fake eyeballs into the victims was different.

"I told you, it's not peaceful at this moment," the elder sister heard this and immediately expressed her opinion, having forgotten that two days prior, she has also said that this suspect looked cunning and resembled a serial murderer. 3X0WeH

Ren Yifei agreed casually.

"Speaking of which, did you really fall down the stairs the day before yesterday because of those two little brats from the Wei family?" The elder sister suddenly mentioned this matter.

"Ah?" Ren Yifei played dumb.

The elder sister kneaded the dough, "You don't have to hide it from me. The whole building regarded those two brats as the most irritating, I heard that they pushed another child into the water the other day. The head of the family was ordered to teach those two but they still let those two brats go out of the house, tsk tsk tsk." gUNxR

Ren Yifei still pretended to be ignorant, most bear children have a bear parent behind them.

...Dragon's Back Mountain? Dragon's back wall?

The tale of Dragon's Back Mountain is one about parents who would step out and take the blame in order to conceal their child's mistake. Then, was the young woman who was killed earlier treated that way because she chose to defend her child mindlessly?

"Sister, did an old lady quarrel with a young man in our building yesterday?" He asked. blBiQP

"That right, that punk, he's not a good person and deliberately poured oil in front of the door, causing an elder to fall, later no..." the elder sister's face froze strangely for a moment before snapping back into a smile, "Xiao Song is still eating white buns today?"

Gone, their sense of existence was gone.

Was it because Floral Shirt's body had disappeared, all traces of his existence were also swept away?

So it really was Floral Shirt who was quarrelling with an old lady yesterday. Pouring oil by the door? Would players be courting death like this? Qbf5WF

Thinking back to the person's dark face yesterday, he was probably framed, right?

Ren Yifei pursed his lower lip, the players were also having internal conflict between themselves, this could be troublesome.

On the first night, the cheap sons of the first deceased had a conflict with someone else, but she did not participate in this matter due to her impatience and thus was regarded as 'defending' her sons. The keywords were 'Dragon's Back Mountain'.

On the second night, the second deceased was framed by someone for pouring oil in front of the door which provoked the old lady, the two clashed and thus he was regarded as 'bullying and intended to cause harm'. The keyword was 'Ranger'. KokXdI

This alone does not mean anything, but what if you add this instance's first keyword, 'Neighbourhood'?

The conditions for being exposed is already obvious, the trigger is to destroy the friendly relations within the neighbourhood.

Story translated by Chrysanthemum Garden.

But what is even more frightening is that someone had seen through this condition the day before and turned around to frame another player.

He couldn't help but think of the 'eldest grandson' player, was it a routine for veteran players to test the waters by using human lives? rnNaWv

The players whose identity is exposed are the first to die, then, what would happen to the 'ghost' if no players were exposed? Would it kill randomly?

If the 'ghost' would randomly select a victim, then by framing other players, they could protect themselves and obtain more important information, which is indeed effective.

If it were him, would he choose this method of drinking poison to quench his thirst?

Ren Yifei was lost in thought, with so many benefits from killing someone, would he really not be tempted? i3FqkM

The office workers and students in the apartment building across the street began to set off.

This is an old city, far from the developed city so everyone had to depart as soon as possible.

He saw the deliveryman riding a scooter, he saw the real estate agent calling rental and saw students rushing to catch the bus...despite being in the middle of the crowd, they were nevertheless out of place.

Ren Yifei, who was also an outsider, took a mouthful of soy milk; he already had the answer in his heart: he wouldn't. Gk8bl