Life Game In Other World
Chapter 407: Framed? (Long - Please Subscribe, Bookmark, and Vote for Monthly Tickets)

Chapter 407: Chapter 407: Framed? (Long Chapter Please Subscribe, Bookmark, and Vote for Monthly Tickets)

The second hand of the clock slowly returned to its original starting point.

Click—

He Ao twisted the doorknob and opened the door.

Warm and comfortable light illuminated the peaceful corridor, and beyond the huge scenic train window lay the dazzling, glittering coastline.

This train seemed to be approaching some large seaside city.

He Ao turned his head to the left, the first thing he saw was Lin Chichi peeking out from compartment number 4, who was always quick to open her door, followed by Luo Luo from compartment number 6.

The passenger in compartment number 5 was already dead.

He Ao turned his head to the right, where Jin Ya slowly emerged from her compartment, staring blankly at him, then blinked; behind Jin Ya, Ruoti from compartment number 1 also came out.

Five people were alive, with no deaths.

This result caused He Ao to be slightly taken aback.

The ’Murderer’ didn’t kill anyone during this tunnel passage?

The Murderer had not come to find He Ao yesterday, nor had he sought out other passengers.

This was the first time He Ao had encountered such an opponent—a Murderer who seemed to disregard logic, killing on a whim.

The longer the delay, the less advantageous it was for the Murderer, as it gave others more time to think. Therefore, the best solution for the Murderer was to kill every night without fail, reducing the number of people who could pose a threat to him.

Moreover, from a game design perspective, since this train wanted passengers to kill each other, there had to be killing quotas for the Murderer; it couldn’t be a matter of killing only when they felt like it.

Could it be that it wasn’t a passenger who died?

He Ao looked up towards the area behind compartment number 1; if he remembered correctly, that’s where the crew members usually came from.

He quickened his pace and walked over.

The people around were a bit confused.

"What do you want to do?"

Ruoti watched as He Ao walked towards him and subconsciously took a half step back.

He Ao ignored him and walked past his side.

His steps quickly took him past compartment number 1.

And just as he passed the end of the compartment wall, a man in a neat uniform, wearing a gentle smile, blocked his path.

"Hello, esteemed guest, may I help you with anything?"

"Nothing much, I just wanted to take a walk around."

The man standing in front of He Ao was a uniformed crew member, and He Ao’s gaze passed over his shoulder, looking behind him.

At the end of the corridor, obstructed by compartment number 1, there was a small booth-like compartment even narrower than the others, with its door tightly shut, seemingly the residence of the crew members.

Beside this small compartment was a short flight of stairs, leading down to a small door, which was the forward door of this train car.

Before boarding, He Ao had seen the structure of the Vinora; apart from the last dining car, each train car had two doors, front and back.

He Ao and Lin Chichi had boarded from the rear door.

Past the forward door of the car and looking further inside, there was the connection to the next car.

At this junction were two closed double doors, with windows above them, but the windows were covered in a layer of obscure mist, obscuring the view inside.

"Other cars are currently undergoing maintenance, so this connecting passage is closed for now."

The crew member seemed to notice He Ao looking behind him; he subtly moved aside to clear a path, "If you have any questions, you can ask me."

"Thank you."

He Ao, without any courtesy, walked straight to the connecting door and grasped the doorknob.

These two doors were sliding doors, and He Ao pulled on them with a bit of force. The doors shook momentarily but did not open.

The structural strength of these two doors was the same as that of the exterior of the carriage.

He Ao released his grip, his gaze sweeping over the small stairway next to the front door. He suddenly spotted a small storage rack embedded in the partition wall beside the stairway, identical to the one he had seen in his own compartment.

He retracted his gaze and walked past the stewardess, returning to the corridor.

"Brother Hao Yi, what happened?"

Lin Chichi looked at him, puzzled.

"Nothing," He Ao shook his head and glanced at the people in the corridor - Ruoti, Jin Ya, Lin Chichi, Luo Luo - all four were there, "Wait here for me, I’ll check the dining car."

With that, he headed straight for the dining car.

"This guy is definitely hiding something from us."

As He Ao walked away, Ruoti muttered in Central Earth language, then quickly followed He Ao.

He Ao ignored him, just casting a sidelong glance in his direction.

The two made their way through the connecting section and into the dining car.

He Ao glanced at the kitchen’s small door, which remained firmly closed.

He quickly circled to the serving side of the counter, with Ruoti close behind him.

He Ao placed his hand on the counter and said to the serving hatch, "A serving of Xiao long bao, please."

"Just a moment."

A hoarse voice came from behind the serving hatch.

Shortly after, a hand wearing white gloves slapped down a steamer of Xiao long bao onto the counter.

The Chef seems fine too...

He Ao frowned slightly, casually picking up the steaming Xiao long bao and walking back.

Ruoti eyed the Xiao long bao in He Ao’s hands, swallowing his saliva. He had spent time in Central Earth and was very fond of their cuisine.

When He Ao moved away, Ruoti looked around briefly, then approached the serving counter, "One steamer, no, two steamers of Xiao long bao, please."

"Just a moment."

The hoarse voice sounded slowly again.

Soon, two new steamers of Xiao long bao were slapped onto the counter.

Famished, Ruoti couldn’t help but start eating the Xiao long bao right away.

Meanwhile, He Ao, deep in thought, walked back to the compartment.

"Brother Hao Yi, are you hungry?"

Chichi looked at the Xiao long bao in He Ao’s hand and sniffed lightly, asking softly.

"Mmm."

He Ao looked up at the others, "Let’s go to the dining car first."

By the time the group of four returned to the dining car, Ruoti had already devoured two steamers of buns. He saw the others coming and quickly tucked the steamers behind him, hiding them from view.

Luo Luo glanced up at him and said offhandedly, "You didn’t wipe your mouth clean."

"If you all ate and I didn’t, that would make me stand out and seem unsociable,"

Seeing he couldn’t hide it, Ruoti simply wiped his mouth and admitted outright.

He Ao watched Ruoti wiping his mouth while blocking the steamers and felt that something was off, but he couldn’t quite put his finger on it.

The group formed a circle once again.

Although Ruoti always tried to seize authority from He Ao, he still chose to follow He Ao’s commands when they came together to think.

In a game where one could vote to kill, being isolated meant that it was very likely to be ostracized and killed by the group.

"No one died this time. Did anyone gain anything when we just passed through the tunnel? I didn’t hear anything."

He Ao said this in two languages.

After speaking, he gestured to start with Lin Chichi.

Lin Chichi glanced around, "I didn’t hear anything either; I didn’t sense any movement."

Next was Luo Luo, who shook her head, "I didn’t hear any noise either, but I think it’s illogical for the Murderer not to kill this time, so we must have missed some information."

Then came Jin Ya, to whom He Ao translated the previous two statements.

Jin Ya paused as if processing the information, then slowly said, "About an hour before the countdown, I heard some faint footsteps in front of the door,"

She looked at He Ao, pondered for a moment, "I heard footsteps, they didn’t, the last time footsteps were heard it ended with that sister,"

She pointed at Lin Chichi, "Then the person in the next compartment to that sister died, the Murderer might have wanted to kill you, but for some reason, gave up."

He Ao translated Jin Ya’s analysis for the others.

"So, what exactly happened during the last train ride through the tunnel that made the Murderer change their mind?"

Luo Luo, who was sitting between Jin Ya and Lin Chichi, propped her little head with her hand and thought seriously.

"Perhaps there’s another possibility, around an hour before the countdown, I also heard footsteps,"

Ruoti smiled and sat up straight to look at He Ao, who was right beside him,

"The person in front of us is the Murderer. He left his own compartment, passed by Jin Ya’s, and came to the front of my door intending to kill me, but eventually gave up. That’s why Jin Ya and I heard footsteps. He is the Murderer himself, and naturally he can’t hear his own footsteps."

"But He Ao did hear footsteps outside his door last time."

Luo Luo countered with a grave voice.

"Who can’t tell a lie?"

Ruoti leaned back in his chair, "Last time, we all knew there was a dispute between the deceased and him. So he had to concoct a reliable lie—he is the Murderer and naturally knows which compartments he passed by and where footsteps would be heard. And think about it,"

He looked at the crowd with a smile,

"Last time he walked all the way to my door before turning back to kill the passenger in compartment five, passing by his own compartment once, so he has a clear memory.

"This time, he went straight from his compartment to the front of my door, skipping over his starting point. Isn’t that a very normal thing?"

His wording was convincing and filled with confidence as if He Ao was truly the Murderer.

He Ao rubbed his temples. If you ignore some of the far-fetched explanations, Ruoti’s words did have some logic.

The main issue was that he spoke so confidently that He Ao almost started to believe that he was the Murderer.

"According to your logic, you’re clearly more likely to be the Murderer,"

Luo Luo furrowed her cute little eyebrows, "Look, the first time through the tunnel, the footsteps started with you and stopped at Chichi. The second time they went from you to where they stopped at Jin Ya.

"During the first trip, He Ao himself had a conflict with the passenger in compartment five, there was no need to make a round to Jin Ya’s and your doors to kill number five. But if the Murderer were you, starting from your compartment, it’s inevitable to pass by Jin Ya’s compartment, doesn’t that make more sense?

"This way, according to this logic, you’re more likely to be the Murderer than He Ao is."

Luo Luo raised her little eyebrows, her eyes provocatively cute as she looked at Ruoti.

He Ao watched Luo Luo’s cute little face, squinting his eyes slightly. This ’sister’ with a loli look must have some basic investigative experience and couldn’t easily believe someone.

But her current actions were all about protecting He Ao.

"It might be that he intentionally wants to frame me..."

Halfway through, Ruoti abruptly stopped.

It was quite obvious he had realized this was a vicious cycle—his accusations were just baseless speculations, and they couldn’t explain everything.

For example, when Luo Luo heard what seemed like the sound of the victim falling during the first trip through the tunnel, it was actually an hour earlier than when everybody heard the footsteps.

"Hmm, coming to your senses?"

Luo Luo looked at Ruoti, blinking, "Your mind is actually better than I imagined."

Bit of a sharp tongue.

He Ao couldn’t help but give a wry smile.

Lin Chichi was completely confused throughout, unable to join in the conversation, while Jin Ya listened without understanding a thing, sitting at the side and blinking.

Ruoti took a deep breath; he also realized that Luo Luo was firmly on He Ao’s side. He chuckled lightly, slowly stood up,

"No matter how you defend him, the fact cannot be changed. You all have props, right? You believe in the power of the props, don’t you?"

He looked up at He Ao, "I’ve already found out who killed the passenger in compartment number five. Facts speak louder than words. The more confident you are now, the more desperate you’ll be when you die."

Having said that, he directly rose and left the dining car, heading toward the compartment carriages.

At that moment, he happened to encounter a steward standing next to compartment number seven, seemingly waiting for the passengers to make a decision.

He glanced at compartment number seven which had already been locked by the steward, sneered, and returned to his own compartment number one.

The group left in the dining car were all somewhat stunned; even Luo Luo was somewhat rattled by the powerful aura Ruoti had just emitted.

Although his words lacked any logic, he was indeed very confident.

Confidence is contagious.

Of course, it wasn’t without any basis at all; everyone had a prop, and it seemed the effects of the props were not the same, so it was possible that Ruoti had some kind of prop that could see the ’true culprit’.

Because the effects of the props and the identities couldn’t be revealed, the group had no way to judge whether Ruoti was telling the truth or lying.

Lin Chichi looked at He Ao, then at Luo Luo, feeling at a loss.

"I still choose to trust He Ao,"

Luo Luo glanced at He Ao and slowly stood up, then went back to her compartment as well.

"Big Brother Hao Yi, I believe in you, we will definitely find the truth."

Lin Chichi sat next to He Ao and waved her hand.

He Ao looked at her bewildered face and smiled, "A bit scared?"

"Yeah."

Lin Chichi hesitated, then glanced at He Ao and nodded gently, "You’re a very reassuring person, brother. How nice it would have been to meet you under different circumstances."

She was at best a stranger to He Ao. She had simply chosen to side with and support him, but if He Ao truly was the murderer, then she would have essentially led herself to a dead-end.

Fear, being scared, it’s all completely normal.

"It’s okay, everything will get better."

He Ao smiled, then said softly, "You can go back to your compartment to rest for a bit."

"Alright."

Lin Chichi looked out at the brilliant coastline through the window and nodded lightly. Halfway to her compartment, she suddenly turned around, took out a small wooden dolphin statue, handed it to He Ao, and smiled,

"I don’t seem to have much to leave behind. This is a souvenir I bought for my family. If I die, I hope you, brother, can take it back to Nandu for me."

"You won’t tell me the address?"

He Ao smiled as he took the statue.

"I believe you can find it, brother."

Lin Chichi smiled. Her steps seemed lighter, and she trotted back to her compartment.

He Ao turned his gaze to Jin Ya. The recent discussion had been in the Central Earth language, so Jin Ya hadn’t understood a thing, looking completely baffled.

He Ao thought for a moment, then translated the just-occurred events briefly for Jin Ya.