[Twenty minutes ago]
As the werewolf began its action and left that huge house, Su Ming’an’s true form quickly descended from the back mountain and entered the building.
He rembered that when he approached this door the night before, it displayed: "[This building is currently not available, please co back during a different ti slot]."
So, he made a point of returning during a different ti, ready to try again to see if it would work.
Just before touching the door, he noticed the system notification.
"[The building is now available for entry.]"
"[Please note that the availability is during the werewolf’s action ti, lasting thirty minutes, after which the door will automatically close and remain locked. Please use your ti wisely."]
...It must indeed contain so important clues.
He pushed the door open; it wasn’t locked. Upon entering the large room, he saw an altar densely packed with tablets, and a slim, red candle burning steadily on the tabletop without any wax dripping below—like it was burning eternally.
He searched the surroundings thoroughly but found no other clues or props—after all, this was a gathering place for werewolves, anything valuable must have already been taken.
He circled the altar and looked towards the back, noticing an enshrined deity statue recessed into the wall. Its features were corroded by rust, the face covered in dense scratch marks.
[*You have discovered a special clue: the Corroded Deity Statue]
[(Corroded Deity Statue): The townspeople seem to have great faith in their deity, but why is the statue they worship so badly damaged?]
[Gained 10 Exploration Points]
His hand felt over the surface of the deity statue; there was no reaction. As he passed by the altar, he tripped over sothing. Looking down, he noticed a coffin hidden in the shadows beneath the altar—concealed and subtle.
"..."
Stumbling upon a coffin in the dead of night would have likely knocked a regular person unconscious with fear.
The live stream perspective was on this side, and at that mont, the chat was bustling:
["Running around late at night again! Be safe, Ming An’an!"]
["Holy cow, where did this coffin co from? It’s too creepy..."]
["I want to see the Cloning perspective! I want to see Miss Guide Anlienna! I want to see the actions of the Prophet!!"]
["Su Ming’an never lets us see his identity actions, there must be sothing fishy..."]
["The official betting board on the forum is so frustrating. The odds of believing he’s a Prophet or Werewolf are fifty-fifty... How am I supposed to guess..."]
["There can’t still be people who think the Number One Player isn’t the Prophet, right? He wouldn’t need to deceive Lv Shu..."]
["It’s hard to say... Su Ming’an has always been ruthless with his own people..."]
["Honey, hurry up and leave! This place is scaring ..."]
["..."]
Su Ming’an felt over the coffin; it was made of mahogany and seed very heavy. He placed his hands on it and pushed to open it, the wood making creaking noises as it moved.
He braced for the sight of a hideous, rotting corpse or a skeleton, but instead, he found an empty coffin.
...There was absolutely nothing inside.
He was puzzled, but suddenly he heard footsteps approaching from the outside—slow and cluttered, accompanied by the clear sound of glass clinking as if a group of people was about to enter the room.
He quickly looked up and saw the dim, yellow light gathering outside the door, shining through the windows and casting a heavy, unsettling gloom.
Then, the door that he had locked emitted slight noises as if soone was trying to open it—
He knew the people outside couldn’t be players; the werewolf action ti wasn’t over yet, and the only one who could move freely was him, without any specific role. So those outside must be NPCs that could provide clues—but he couldn’t afford to reveal his presence in the room.
He heard a murmuring sound, like chanting or believers reciting; he faintly saw pairs of blood-red eyes in the door crack, the sense of crisis getting closer and closer.
"Bang, bang, bang..."
The wooden door emitted soft creaks, as if it was about to be opened. He imdiately surveyed his surroundings—
But the area was completely square, without a single spot where he could hide.
Struggle flashed in his eyes as he considered whether to teleport out of this place, but he didn’t want to miss a clue, so... huh?
He suddenly felt a force on his arm, as if sothing had grabbed hold of him.
His body tilted sharply, and just before he was pulled into the coffin, he saw a girl with blood-red eyes and lips as if sared with lipstick, staring at him from what had previously seed an empty coffin.
"Bang!"
The coffin was closed with a bang, and then, the wooden door was finally opened. The townspeople with lamps in their hands slowly walked in.
They were murmuring softly, seemingly chanting sothing. One person knelt first, as if prostrating before a statue suddenly coated in a layer of shining gold, with utmost piety.
...But all this was temporarily unrelated to Su Ming’an, who had just been pulled into the coffin.
The coffin was big, so there was space; he wasn’t cramped. But he was face down, right next to the girl who had pulled him in.
Their bodies were pressed together, and he could even feel her suppleness pressing against him, as well as the jelly-like texture of her skin under his fingertips.
...Wait, that wasn’t right.
Why was the skin of the person lying in the coffin so smooth?
He wanted to change his position to observe the townspeople’s actions through the crevice of the scarcely closed coffin, but after struggling a bit, other than the girl’s breathing becoming heavier and the position becoming more awkward, there seed to be no other change.
"Don’t... move..."
He heard the girl’s soft voice. As he changed position, he felt the smooth sensation slide violently under his fingertips, like skimming over a pool of cold water.
In the faint candlelight filtering through the crack, he saw the girl’s face, as if adorned with a gorgeous layer of makeup, the rouge on her lips bright as blood.
The barrage was about to explode:
[Here it cos! The free giveaway that’s a must in every instance!]
[So jealous, so jealous, this guy’s charm points must be off the charts. I don’t believe this ga has so many free giveaways!]
[Jealous my hamr, this girl obviously ain’t normal. Have you ever seen any girl lying in a coffin?]
[Even though it’s the Underworld, it’s a free giveaway.]
[She seems to be wearing makeup... why do I feel like I’ve seen this girl before?]
[...Isn’t this the mayor’s daughter Moli? The one who always seems so shy.]
[...]
Su Ming’an also recognized her from that brief mont of eye contact—this was indeed Moli, and she was the target NPC of his identity mission.
The mission prompt had said he needed to expose her sins, so he didn’t believe she was as innocent as she appeared on the surface.
Remaining alert, he didn’t move for the ti being. The eerie townspeople were right beside him, so it was better not to make any noise.
He listened carefully, but the townspeople were only repeating unintelligible phrases over and over. This went on for quite a while, and after about twenty minutes, their footsteps could be heard again.
Then, the dim light poured out, and the mahogany door closed with a squeal, producing a dull sound.
He was anxious all along. He could only stay in this room for about thirty minutes, and that ti was almost up.
Although he didn’t know what the consequences of overti would be, judging from the previous collapse of the hall, it likely wouldn’t end simply.
With a "thud," once the townspeople left, he quickly lifted the coffin lid.
"...Wait, where are you going?" The girl grabbed him. Through the weak light of the red candle, he saw the brilliant red silk on her, like the fin of a red koi fish, and the golden trinkets on her neck and wrists jingling, forming a halo of golden light.
From the mission prompt, he knew that the person in front of him couldn’t be good. He thought to push her away, but a sudden, intense pain surged in his chest, and he spat out a mouthful of blood.
...His clone had acted.
The blood he spat out exploded on the girl’s golden pendant, making the bright hue even more vibrant.
After detonating the explosive, his clone couldn’t survive either. The agony of death was transmitted to him, darkening his vision. Gasping violently, he could not steady his form and fell backward, his head about to strike the corner of the coffin.
A fair hand gently cushioned his head. The girl looked at him with a tender expression, her bright makeup especially captivating under the candlelight.
"Be careful," she whispered softly, cradling his body with extre tenderness, helping him to sit upright in the coffin.
"..." Su Ming’an lowered his head. His senses were a bit muddled, and his body felt as though it was torn apart, both numb and painful... The death of his clone brought him severe anguish.
"Do you feel unwell?"
In a daze, he heard the girl’s gentle voice in front of him. Her hand was soft as a cloud, patting his forehead, bringing a cool ripple.
"Hiss..." He pushed her hand away and looked towards the wooden door that was suddenly locked: "...It’s too late."
Thirty minutes had passed, and the lock had automatically engaged.
He couldn’t get out.
...But for the mont, it didn’t seem like there was any imdiate danger, nor did any scripted deaths occur.
He quickly shifted his strategic focus to Moli, who was in front of him.
"Are you Moli?" he asked.
"Um... I rember my na seems to be that," the girl said softly.
Seems?
Su Ming’an’s vigilance instantly reached its peak. He forced himself to recover slightly from the throbbing pain in his chest, using the edge of the coffin to slowly stand up:
"Why are you here? You’re not the mayor’s daughter; why would you sleep in a coffin late at night?"
Moli lowered her head, not speaking.
[Moli Favorability -10, Current Favorability: 10 (Friendly)]
The sudden system notification made Su Ming’an’s entire body jolt.
...Sothing wasn’t right.
He rembered that during the day, Moli’s favorability should have been 30.
...When did it decrease?
He stepped out of the coffin to open the mahogany door, but as expected, he received the system notification, [This building is currently not in service, please visit during a different ti slot.]
...Does this an he can’t get out? Unless he waits until the next night’s werewolf action?
Su Ming’an felt that sothing was amiss—if his clone died and he was trapped here for a whole day, missing the second day’s vote, he didn’t know what the outco would be.
The conflict of factions was significant. At least the overall ga’s wins and losses were determined by factions. Right after the rules were confird at the start, everyone heard the system’s announcent.
...This instance didn’t affect the Perfect Completion Progress; decoding had beco a secondary objective.
For other players, achieving victory for their factions was most important, but for him, with the Ruler’s Quest, he still needed to unravel the enigmas of this small town.
If he rolled back now, he would miss the clues here.
...This "Moli" seed too suspicious.
For him, what was more crucial was the matter concerning Moli, which related to whether he could complete his task.
The key to breaking the stalemate seed to be...
He turned his head to look, and the girl in the red gauze was also looking at him, her eyes carrying a slight sense of being overlooked and hurt.
At the sa ti, the system notification resonated again in his mind.
[Moli Favorability -5, Current Favorability: 5 (Friendly)]
Su Ming’an felt a wave of weary irritation creep over him.
...He always felt relieved that this ga wasn’t a galga with no favorability settings, but now... it seed he had no choice but to go down the path of trying hard to raise her favorability.
Was Moli’s silence before due to not reaching the favorability threshold?
With a forced smile and using an extrely friendly gaze, he looked at her and said:
"Moli... I’m sorry for neglecting you earlier."
The girl’s gaze fixated on him, those two vivid red spots in her eyes like two haunting ghostly flas.
"You’re wearing so little, aren’t you cold? I have so clothes here..." He began rummaging through his backpack.
Then, he heard a systemic voice he had never felt before, which gave him a sense of real defeat:
[Moli Favorability -5, Current Favorability: 0 (Neutral)]
His expression stiffened slightly, then when he t Moli’s gaze, he found it was much colder than before.
...Tricky.
The audience couldn’t see his system notifications, but that didn’t an they couldn’t understand:
[Why did Ming’an’s attitude change so drastically!?]
[Damn, I feel like he’s entering strategy mode.]
[Seems like the only way out is through what this girl knows...]
[Galga? Take off!]
[Sothing feels off... Moli’s expression is getting colder!]
[Favorability -5-5-5-5-5]
[Ming’an bro! The famous Lighthouse Theory! Charge!]
[Just start brainwashing, conquer her!]
[Wait... The girl seems like the always available for free type, I’ve never seen Ming’an actively pursue a girl before...]
[! I want to be the target of Ming An’an’s strategies too! Moli move aside! Let ! I’ll show you my favorability maxing out!]
[No, this doesn’t seem right, the strategy progress doesn’t seem to be going well... Does Su Ming’an even know how...]
[...]
Su Ming’an had a headache.
Strategizing required clues and direction to prescribe the right redy. He was adept at using his experiences to guide others’ emotions, but he knew almost nothing about Moli, not even where to start persuading... or rather, where to start fooling her—currently, he could only treat her with the attitude he would towards any ordinary girl...
But he was unmistakably a hundred percent pure bachelor.
Having been hyped up by his female fans on forums for so long, he was montarily uncomfortable initiating such a level of pursuit.
Moli looked at him indifferently, the warmth in her eyes fading away.
Su Ming’an hastily searched his backpack to see if there was anything that could please a girl,
...Duoduo’s doll, which looked sinister, and its button eyes even had blood on them.
...Nuoliya’s red rose, this seed not bad, but he wasn’t sure if Moli liked roses, considering her house also had a small garden, likely not lacking these...
Wait... Wang Han’s human skin mask?
Su Ming’an took out the mask.
Then, facing Moli, he put the bloodstained mask on his face.
He felt this move was a sure bet.
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