Volume One, Chapter Six: The Con Artist’s Professional Skills

“Begin counting off!”
The voice of the ‘Eagle of Justice’ came slowly, just before the last sliver of light was swallowed by the tunnel.
“One.”
“Two.”
“Three.”
“…”
When it reached four, no sound followed, and Qin Shang’s expression darkened.

The fourth was the beautiful woman; in front of her was the doctor ‘Confidante Sister,’ and behind her was the petty thug ‘So Handsome He Got Slashed.’

Though they were cloaked in darkness and could not see each other’s faces clearly, everyone’s expressions grew heavier, their hearts weighed down.

The petty thug ‘So Handsome He Got Slashed’ was frozen in terror, silent for a long moment.

“Brother, you count! Brother, count!”
“Got slashed? Count…”

No response came, and Qin Shang’s heart sank again.

Earlier, he could still hear ‘So Handsome He Got Slashed’’s faint breathing, but now there was absolutely no sound.

The noblewoman ‘Everyone Who Touches Me Gets Betrayed’ stood between ‘Confidante Sister’ ahead and ‘So Handsome He Got Slashed’ behind.

When the noblewoman fell silent, Qin Shang’s greatest suspicion fell on these two.

But now, with ‘So Handsome He Got Slashed’ also silent, Qin Shang’s face betrayed a burst of frustration he could hardly suppress.

“The murderer is ‘Confidante Sister.’ The people she holds hands with are the priest elder and ‘Everyone Who Touches Me Gets Betrayed.’ The priest elder has shown no reaction, which means this guy is the killer.”

“She first attacked ‘Everyone Who Touches Me Gets Betrayed’ and then killed ‘So Handsome He Got Slashed.’”

A realization flashed in Qin Shang’s mind.

The culprit seemed to be ‘Confidante Sister.’

[Miss Clever Mary led the team into the tunnel, confident her plan was flawless, but Mary did not realize the killer could strike more than one victim at a time.]

[Moreover, if the killer has accomplices, the hand-holding strategy, effective against a lone killer, becomes useless. Just then, Mary heard a scream from a teammate in the adjacent car…]

As Qin Shang prepared to exit the tunnel and share his analysis, a sudden, cold electronic beep dashed cold water over his thoughts.

A thought surfaced: the dungeon’s background panel is neither a mission prompt nor a clue but only a reference; it should not be relied upon.

Boom—

At that moment, Qin Shang’s face changed drastically.

They had all been deceived by the background panel.

By habit, everyone instinctively thought the background panel’s method might be useful, but they overlooked the fact that the story background itself was incomplete and key conditions required discovery.

The panel never mentioned Mary surviving the tunnel section with the hand-holding tactic or saving the other passengers!

Qin Shang’s expression grew serious; the background panel still offered some suggestions, such as…

“Godslayer has accomplices!”

No wonder the Godslayer remained calm even as everyone quickly devised countermeasures.

“The theory of innocence at the edges is overturned. The front of the line is the priest elder, followed by the sheriff, then the doctor, the noblewoman, the petty thug, and the little girl.”

“And me…”

Qin Shang—little girl—petty thug—noblewoman—doctor—sheriff—priest

If the sheriff is the Godslayer, with accomplices, he only needs to release the priest’s hand, and the priest can strike accurately.

Conversely, if the priest is the Godslayer and the sheriff the accomplice, the same applies.

Those at the very edges are not the safest but the most suspicious!

At this moment, Qin Shang felt a chilling shock in his heart.

“The little girl can’t be trusted either. If she and the doctor are Godslayer and accomplice, they could silently eliminate the petty thug and noblewoman right under my nose.”

“In other words, no one here is trustworthy…”

The broadcast of the ‘accomplice theory’ instantly heightened Qin Shang’s alertness.

Clang—clang—

At that moment, the echoes in the tunnel ceased.

Simultaneously, a faint light filtered through the train window into the carriage.

Everyone knew—they were out of the tunnel!

But all were burdened with heavy thoughts.

Because everyone understood: two had died this round.

The Godslayer had struck again…

As the tunnel’s echo faded with a faint buzzing sound, the train slowly emerged. The walls, plastered with newspapers, allowed patches of light to seep in again.

According to the story setup, it was probably daytime outside. Only half an hour had passed since the train started, yet two teammates had already been stabbed…

Fear involuntarily crept onto Qin Shang’s face.

So difficult—is this the divine road game?

If his wife had ever played such a terrifying game, Qin Shang doubted the kind and sweet Jiang Qiqi could remain unscathed amid the scheming of teammates and NPCs…

“They’re dead, both of them…”

“‘So Handsome He Got Slashed’ and ‘Everyone Who Touches Me Gets Betrayed’ are dead.”

After leaving the tunnel, the group was still close enough to see each other’s faces clearly.

Qin Shang glanced around; every face was marked by fear and helplessness.

Especially the little girl beside him, trembling wildly. The two bodies still oozed blood, severed heads lying apart.

If not for professional killers, such swift, lethal blows would be impossible…

Unless… the Godslayer and accomplices in this game have skills akin to the werewolves in the ‘Werewolf’ game, who can quietly choose victims in the dark.

Otherwise, how else to explain the murder weapon?

Qin Shang still wasn’t sure if the electronic prompt he just heard was only for him or for all players.

So he refrained from speaking rashly.

Instead, he maintained a stern face and subtly distanced himself from the others.

“This game requires cooperation, but everyone clearly harbors hidden agendas. At times like this, surviving to the end is almost impossible. This stems from the system assigning each person different side missions and unique prompts.”

“No one wants to share intelligence. Now, there are two traitors: one Godslayer and one accomplice. I thought everyone’s prompt was ‘passenger,’ but I was wrong—terribly wrong…”

“If only we could piece together all side missions and prompts!”

As this thought crossed his mind, Qin Shang’s gaze swept over the corpses of the noblewoman ‘Everyone Who Touches Me Gets Betrayed’ and petty thug ‘So Handsome He Got Slashed,’ and a sharp pain stabbed his mind.

[Game ID: Everyone Who Touches Me Gets Betrayed]
[Occupation: Teacher]
[Your identity: Assistant]

Assistant?!

Not a passenger?

[Ding! Side mission obtained: Identify the sole leader among the six players and follow them. As an assistant, you must help the leader complete this round and protect the passengers as much as possible. Failure to protect the leader equals mission failure.]

[Hint: Perhaps the clue lies right beneath our noses.]

What… what is this?

Game ID, occupation, side mission, and personal hints?

Qin Shang’s expression froze, then his pupils dilated.

This was the copy content of the deceased noblewoman ‘Everyone Who Touches Me Gets Betrayed.’

Why did her prompt appear on my screen?

Skill?!

Do I have a skill too?

Does the Trickster have a basic skill?

Only usable in special circumstances?

The Trickster’s skill is to see the deceased players’ personal hints and side missions.

In a dungeon fraught with suspicion and where players die when the Godslayer strikes, having such a divine skill makes the Trickster practically invincible!

Suppressing his shock, Qin Shang swallowed hard.

[Hidden side mission obtained: Identify the sole leader among the six players and follow them. As an assistant, you must aid the leader to clear this round, protecting passengers as best as possible. Failure to protect the leader equals mission failure. (This mission comes from the teacher, granting you the player’s occupational skill this round.)]

At the next moment, a new mission and prompt appeared on Qin Shang’s screen.

In the pale blue panel, beneath his main mission, a new side mission had been added.