There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

Hong Rao swiped out a series of tasks from the Punishment World, and she used the public mode for her system panel.

Therefore, Xu Shuo standing beside her could see it clearly. Several strange games such as "Hide and Seek," "Statue," and "Monopoly with a Twist" were scrolling past on the screen.

Realizing Xu Shuo was peeping, Hong Rao said while speaking, "Those games in the front are for hitting the newbies. Since you said you're interested in Punishment Tasks, I thought about letting you take a stroll in the Punishment Worlds that high-rank players frequent."

Her tone was strange while speaking this, implying something profound. The look she gave him contained a mix of one part helplessness, two parts indulgence, and three parts benevolent amusement.

Xu Shuo: "..." He really couldn't understand what she was imagining.

After Hong Rao swiped for a while, she finally clicked on a script with a desert on its cover, bearing the name "Giant Fortress."

"Do you want to go in now, or next time?" Hong Rao asked.

"Now is fine."

"Okay then, I happen to have time now, so I'll go in with you."

Upon hearing this, Xu Shuo was startled: "Isn't this my Punishment Task?"

And aren't our levels different?

After failing a task, players will automatically be assigned a Punishment Task for their next script. They must undergo the Punishment Task before they can open up a script again.

More importantly, Punishment Tasks have no rewards.

Hong Rao explained, "The level restrictions for Punishment Worlds are not high. Besides, this world is configured for third-rate players, and you going in now would be like challenging beyond your level, which allows you to request a tutor's supervision. You'll still be doing the task yourself, I'll just be watching."

Xu Shuo nodded: "So, one could also request not to have tutor supervision?"

Hong Rao: "..."

Xu Shuo smiled: "Just kidding."

Script Worlds have a plot process, as well as various restrictions. Players can't even distinguish who is an NPC, and all of their actions are essentially to drive the story forward and complete tasks.

But Punishment Worlds don't have those.

They simply throw you in for punishment.

As Xu Shuo flipped through the Player's Handbook, the moment he clicked on 'Enter Game' on the last page, the system immediately popped up a prompt for [Tutor Application for Supervision], so he clicked to agree.

Soon, the familiar list from when he teamed up with Luo Kai appeared: Team leader Xu Shuo, team member Hong Rao.

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He discovered the team leader didn't have much authority; he couldn't even kick anyone out.

Thinking of this, Xu Shuo straightforwardly asked, "Can't kick anyone out?"

Hong Rao looked at him warily: "You can kick people out before the game starts, but once the game begins, team members can't be changed until the game ends."

"Oh," Xu Shuo nodded. "Then what's the point of the team leader's authority?"

"It serves as a leadership role."

"..."

So it's just a title.

Players who enter the game as a team won't become adversarial, and this kind of unexpellable relationship means that the entire team shares both glory and loss. This likely reduces the chances of team members rebelling.

Now that he thought about it, Hong Rao had mentioned before that after he leveled up, she would arrange for him to join a team task…

With these thoughts, Xu Shuo entered the world of "Giant Fortress."

...

He could hear the howling wind by his ear, and the moment he opened his eyes, a faceful of blowing sand greeted him.

The Player's Handbook opened, listing his task for this time.

[Slay high-rank Abyss Creatures 0/10.]

[Hold Giant Fortress for 3 days.]

Xu Shuo was somewhat surprised: "I just need to kill ten creatures?"

"It doesn't seem particularly numerous or difficult."

Standing beside him, Hong Rao propped up a white carved lace oil-paper umbrella, beneath which a sheer curtain hung to block the desert wind. Her graceful figure was faintly visible behind the billowing white gauze. Hearing his words, she spoke leisurely, "Yes, just use..."

Noting the teasing in her tone, Xu Shuo remained silent, turning his head to survey their surroundings.

The two appeared in a barren desert where not a blade of grass grew. The sky blazed with a scorching sun, and looking around, all he could see was the parched earth and the roaring yellow sand. Indeed, there was nothing else!

Xu Shuo glanced left and right. "Am I to find Giant Fortress by myself?"

Hong Rao cleared her throat and said, "Just walk in any direction, in the end, you will reach Giant Fortress anyway."

Upon hearing this, Xu Shuo didn't dwell on it any longer. He randomly chose a direction and moved forward, simultaneously flipping through the Player's Handbook.

All of the player's skills and items were not blocked, and even the shopping district was open, just disconnected from the outside world.

So open-ended, it meant that players would very likely need to use everything at their disposal.

Xu Shuo took out the "Staff of the Baseless."

The metal end on the ground could only produce a dull sound, yet the situation beneath the earth was mapped out by the sound waves.

There was nothing fifty meters underground.

However, Xu Shuo did not notice that Hong Rao was not picked up by the sound waves...

Hong Rao was clearly standing by his side, but when the sound waves spread out, they scanned nothing at all, just a blank space, as if she did not exist there.

Xu Shuo turned his head to look and saw Hong Rao looking with interest at the staff in his hand.

Without asking much, noticing Xu Shuo's inquisitive gaze, she explained with a smile, "I can block some sensors. The power of you and this item are still at a Low Rank, so you can't detect this sort of anomaly for now."

Xu Shuo calmly put away his staff.

To be honest, he didn't possess much combat ability; his combat power was mostly in the Character Card.

But relying on the power of the Character Card all the time wasn't right, so he wanted to try fighting the monsters on his own.

And the only item he could present that was worth using was this staff. The system recommended he use the staff for close combat, and as for the "Fin Needle of the Deep Sea"— whether monsters had acupoints was a question in itself.

He'll give it a try and see how it goes, if he can't beat them, then that's another matter.

...

The wind and sand seemed to come from nowhere, and the sun in the sky was dazzling, but he could not feel any heat at all.

It was as if it was just a texture pasted onto the sky.

The two of them walked through the desert for a while, not encountering a single monster. Xu Shuo occasionally probed the ground with his staff, thinking perhaps the monsters were crouching beneath?

But in reality, there was nothing under the ground, just rocks and soil lumps, not even a blade of grass.

Suddenly, Hong Rao stopped in her tracks.

Xu Shuo, walking ahead, sensed something off and turned his head in confusion toward her.

Hong Rao narrowed her eyes slightly, tilting her head as if listening to something. The howling wind lifted the white gauze slightly, revealing her enchanting face which, expressionless, appeared somewhat cold.

After a moment, Hong Rao stretched out her finger and pointed to the ground. "Stand here and don't move," she said.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

As she finished speaking, Hong Rao's figure vanished on the spot.

Xu Shuo paused, looked around, and then raised his head to the clear sky. Only there did he vaguely spot a small black dot.

But in a moment, Hong Rao reappeared before him, staring at him with widened eyes in shock.

That strange look in her eyes could very well be the same as seeing an Abyss Creature dancing!

Xu Shuo was thoroughly baffled. "What's the matter?"

Hong Rao looked at him with an expression that screamed 'hard to explain', then after a while, she pointed around and said, "Front, back, left, right, about five kilometers out, tens of thousands of Abyss Creatures are charging towards us. We've been surrounded for a while now."

Xu Shuo: "..."

So, what does this have to do with him?