In Virtual Reality 94 ☆ The Hydrangea Park (18/33)

Madam Stargazer squinted and repeated, "Jiang Wen En?" before looking up. "I don't recall inviting anyone with that name to play." Her voice carried a sharp edge, indicating that something was amiss.

Wang Jin Long confirmed that Silence didn't know his real name. He shrugged helplessly, "That's my real name, believe it or not."

Madam Stargazer was having none of it. "If you're friends with Excelsior, they wouldn't keep you off the list," She glided closer, her purplish-red robe fluttering with a faint electric charge. "Lies!" she spat.

Wang Jin Long raised his hand, his body tensing as he realized he had miscalculated. He hadn't expected someone other than Silence to be the first to arrive, let alone for this person to single him out because of his name. Who was Silence, and what was their motive for contacting him?

But now was not the time to overthink. In the eyes of these people, Wang Jin Long had nowhere to retreat. He took a deep breath and attempted to explain, "Listen to me, why do you have to corner me now...!"

But before he could finish his sentence, a black shadow flashed before everyone's eyes, followed by a gust of wind. The young man vanished, leaving only the creaking sound of the radio station's door.

Madam Stargazer gritted her teeth. "That stupid wolf...!"

Although she arrived a little slower and did not see Lone Wolf, in this game, she knew there were few players with such impressive physical abilities who could have abducted Jiang Wen En in front of three people in the blink of an eye.

As she turned to scan the area for clues, she noticed the giant paw prints on the ground. But that wasn't all. A green fish head was staring at her, and it took her a moment to register what she saw. "Who are you?"

The fishhead person remained silent for a moment before responding, "It's me, Opponent's Attorney, Please Interrogate."

Madam Stargazer breathed a sigh of relief, then asked him, "Why did you change to this kind of skin? It scared me."

"Isn't it pretty? It was chosen by my fans," he replied, his noble green fish head swaying as he spoke. "What happened just now? A gust of wind?"

The three people present explained what had just happened to him, and then Madam Stargazer asked for his advice on what to do next.

[TN: If you are not reading this novel on puukkiss.wixsite.com/inkydragon, please support the original translator by visiting my website. Thank you!]

"What shall we do?" Old Attorney stroked his chin, pondering the situation. "I'll be frank, I'm a civilian, believe it or not. As for whether to disclose our identities, it's up to you. The game is unbalanced with four wolves, five civilians, and one judge. Most of the players invited this time are seasoned veterans who've played 《Murphy's Amusement Park》 before. They came here to unite against a common enemy." He shrugged, his tone laced with uncertainty. "I can confirm that no invited player has the ID name 'Jiang Wen En'. It's most likely a fake. And as for whether he's Excelsior..." Old Attorney glanced around and shook his head. "He isn't. He's Wang Jin Long, the NPC who survived the ending of 'Murphy's Amusement Park'."

The three people present were stunned into silence by this revelation.

"What?" Fox Snap stammered, no longer hiding her genuine emotions as she twisted her face into a grotesque expression. "He's an NPC?!"

BGM kept his mouth open while Fox Snap muttered to herself, "How can an NPC be this intelligent? Is he really not an administrator in disguise? Could this all be a prank?"

"Wang Jin Long..." Madam Stargazer's face twisted with complexity. "Are you serious? How could game data possess such intelligence? He was able to blend in with us and deceive us based on our reactions, but we're not a pre-set program."

"That's a question for Excelsior," Old Attorney said, throwing the responsibility onto Xu Jin Yi in the distance. "Maybe she has some sort of private relationship with the official from 'Murphy's Amusement Park', or they made a deal."

The explanation would not be an easy one.

Madam Stargazer's CPU overheated, her thoughts a jumbled mess. "At this point, what are we preparing to do?" she asked, her tone laced with frustration. She shook her head, attempting to sort out her thoughts. "Wait, where's Excelsior?"

"She's on a mission," Old Attorney replied nonchalantly. Excelsior was one of the production staff and wouldn't be easily caught. "It's unlikely we'll see her anytime soon."

BGM blasted chaotic BGM, sounding like a dozen suona horns blowing at once. The players were astounded by the game's intelligence and questioned whether the planners had any brain cells left. Madam Stargazer took a break from the barrage of complicated comments and spoke up, "Okay, I'm not pretending anymore. I'm now preparing to single out Wang Jin Long. When I saw the press release, I thought 'Wang Jin Long' was just a gimmick. Excelsior was the real deal. But I didn't expect Wang Jin Long to be such a realistic character. If I don't kill him, I'll regret it!"

Fox Snap turned her head in shock, "Big brother, no! You just revealed your identity like that?!"

Before she could recover, another player spoke up. Madam Stargazer raised her hand, "Add me. It's okay to lose the game, but Wang Jin Long must die."

Fox Snap looked around, puzzled. "What are you guys..."

"I'm just a commoner card. My vote has been restricted, and Lone Wolf hasn't been eliminated yet," Madam Stargazer shrugged. "I don't know if Wang Jin Long is a wolf card or a commoner card. He can't be the judge, right?" She turned to the fish head, whose eyes shone strangely in the dark, raising her eyebrows. "Why don't you give us some information?"

The fishhead man responded, "The identities are random."

Madam Stargazer curled her lips.

"If Wang Jin Long is a werewolf, we can only hope to eliminate him with a knife or through voting," Fox Snap counted on her fingers. "And if he is a civilian, the quickest resolution is to let the werewolf kill him." She hesitated to reveal her identity.

"It's alright, I'm a werewolf," BGM rejoiced in his costume. He ignored Fox Snap's widened eyes and patted his chest confidently. "I'll go and take care of him!"

'Later, I'll be the judge and execute him!' he added enthusiastically.

【Oh my god! Old BHM is actually on the good guys' side!】

【Has he been hacked? This doesn't sound like the host's style.】

【Justice werewolf! Bold and intrepid!】

【Wake up, people! BGM is the good guy card in this game...】

Fox Snap's mouth twitched, and she smiled politely but was embarrassed for Madam Stargazer. The latter was briefly taken aback before smiling suggestively. "Oh, I see~."

Fox Snap: "..."

Her teammates were undoubtedly courageous, but their zeal had caught her off guard. In the following round, they decided to target Wang Jin Long.

Fox Snap quietly asked Fishhead Man by her side, "Are you going to join them?"

"I'm not that immature," Old Attorney replied, shaking his head reservedly. "I just have a score to settle with Wang Jin Long."

In the beginning, Old Attorney arrived late to join Murphy's amusement park and missed the chance to be part of the closed beta team. Nevertheless, he watched the official game video, which included plot clues and, as expected, ended poorly. At first, he only wanted to learn about Excelsior, but he fell into a deep pit within the amusement park lore and couldn't climb out. He cried and snivelled, and Officer Ye, the death NPC, became not only the end of the amusement park but also the end of Old Attorney's psychological defences.

On that rainy night, he cried loudly, and the following day, his roommate laughed and took a sad frog meme of him. From that moment, Wang Jin Long became the target of his grudge.

Fox Snap voiced her confusion, saying, "I don't really understand you guys."

Although an Excelsior fan, she was drawn to their smooth and splendid playthroughs. She had some experience with Murphy's amusement park plot but didn't realize that it was her own fault when she couldn't complete it. After playing through the bad ending once, she didn't play it again.

[TN: If you are not reading this novel on puukkiss.wixsite.com/inkydragon, please support the original translator by visiting my website. Thank you!]

Therefore, she couldn't fathom the pain and tears of players who repeatedly played the game within the time limit to achieve a good ending.

Until the closed beta ended, no one on the internet could achieve a good ending, not even the popular gamer, Excelsior. Players passionate about playing the game repeatedly experienced complete failure for the first time.

Some players analyzed the official plot video and concluded that "this damn game has no good ending." This caused another wave of players to drown the forum in tears.

The three remaining players continued their journey towards the north of the park, filled with thoughts of revenge against Wang Jin Long. Yet, as they made their way, they again encountered the hunched white bone harvester, and the other party reached out to them.

【The night has passed. It is now daylight voting time,】 announced a voice. 【You have five minutes to make a choice. Each person can only cast one vote. Reminder, there were 8 surviving players last night.】

The game took an unexpected turn. Within minutes the number of players decreased from ten to eight. The sudden acceleration of the play set Madam Stargazer on edge, her face grimacing as she gazed at the voting column in the upper left corner.

"Number 3 and Number 10 have been eliminated," she said coldly. "Number 3 was a lone wolf, and I'm not sure who Number 10 was."

Fox Snap knew the deduction was based on face-to-face voting before. Fortunately, she didn't reveal Fox Snap's number, remembering that there were other players.

"Lone Wolf has been eliminated," Fox Snap thought to herself. "Could it be Wang Jin Long who did it? Lone Wolf led him to escape just now."

"Then is Number 10 Wang Jin Long?"

The fish-headed man shook his head. "It's unlikely. If Lone Wolf was a civilian, he wouldn't have been able to stab Wang Jin Long with the knife by himself. If he was a werewolf, it's possible. But how could the wolf teammates who had recognized each other hurt each other? Lone Wolf and Wang Jin Long's relationship had reached a certain level if Lone Wolf was able to escape with him."

BGM was impatient. "Why bother thinking so much? Let's hurry up and go see for ourselves."

"But before we go, we have to cast our votes first. Speaking of which, is it still useful to have a public vote now?"

All eyes turned to the white bone harvester, suspicion rife.

Harvester:?

'At least I'm an NPC who follows orders!' protested Grim Reaper. 'Give me some face!'

——— Translator's Notes ———

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