There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

The bright sunlight streamed in through the open window, making the train carriage exceptionally lively. Snake-skin bags filled with luggage were carelessly piled on the floor, and a variety of complex odors intertwined, particularly stinging to the senses.

The two stood at the junction between two carriages where the smell of smoke was even thicker. The small window on the door still offered views of the outside scenery.

When Xu Shuo had arrived, he wore a plain grey-blue shirt and black trousers, which didn't look out of place in the era of the carriage.

Luo Kai was still in his dark, nondescript hoodie. He was disheveled and blended in perfectly.

He looked around, then happily pulled out a cigarette from his pocket, lit it up, and began to puff away with a satisfied expression, blending in with the people around him.

Puffing on his cigarette, Luo Kai also started to chat with a middle-aged man beside him, "It's really stuffy in here. I have to stay until the final stop. Big bro, where are you getting off?"

"..."

Xu Shuo waved his hand to fan away some of the smoke, then walked into the carriage.

Since it was not a Scripted Murder Game, the two of them entered this world without any roles or identities, using their real selves. This was also Xu Shuo's first time playing a game as himself.

And according to what Hong Rao had said before, to create the script, they first needed to find the "core" of it.

The story might not be the reason for the train derailment, nor the appearance of the Spirit Car Illusory Realm, but no matter what the story was in the end, it would always have a core point running through the entire script.

And that was what they were looking for.

There were many people talking loudly in the carriage, and a few kids were playing around, running about mischievously.

As soon as Xu Shuo walked in, he was bumped into by two kids pushing each other. The items they were holding also fell to the ground.

It was a packet of spicy strips.

"Ah, they fell!"

The child cried out and quickly picked up the bag, but several strips had already scattered out; now there were only two lonely ones left at the bottom that hadn't fallen out.

"It's all your fault for not holding it properly!" the boy next to her yelled angrily, snatching the remaining spicy strips from her hand.

"But..." the little girl pursed her lips, then looked up at Xu Shuo with eyes filled with grievance and accusation, yet also fear and timidity about laying blame.

Even so, clutching at her clothes, she said woefully, "Sorry, big brother, I bumped into you."

The boy beside her, eating the remaining spicy strips, gave Xu Shuo a glare, "It's all his fault. He suddenly came out of nowhere. He should compensate!"

The little girl blinked, "Brother, that's not nice..."

"Then you better eat up all those on the floor, don't waste them!" the boy said immediately after.

"..."

Tears began to well up in the eyes of the little girl, who started to sob. This made the boy impatient, and he pushed her before turning and running away.

Xu Shuo crouched down and looked carefully at the little girl's face.

The young man's bright black eyes watched her quietly, his pupils reflecting only her figure, clean and clear. The little girl was so intently looked upon that she couldn't help but blush, and suddenly stopped crying.

She fidgeted with the hem of her clothes, bashfully lowering her head, and then noticing the spicy strips on the floor of the carriage, she quickly crouched down to pick them up.

The red oil stained her clean, fair hands, but the little girl didn't actually eat them; she just shyly walked past Xu Shuo and trotted over to the trashcan to throw them away. However, when she wanted to wash her hands next, she found that the washbasin was too high for her.

At that moment, Xu Shuo walked over and lifted her up, "Can you reach it now?"

The little girl was stunned for a moment, looking at the washbasin so close to her. Once she came to her senses, she quickly turned on the tap and washed off the oil stains from her hands.

After she was done, Xu Shuo set her back down.

"Thank you, big brother." The little girl blinked up at him, drying her hands on her clothes.

"Go back, don't run around in the carriage," Xu Shuo said with a smile.

The girl nodded as if pecking seeds, nervously turned around, and ran back into the carriage to her seat. Halfway there, she turned back to look at Xu Shuo again.

Her shoulder-length hair traced an arc in the air. Her cheeks, with a few sunspots, were flushed red. The girl's eyes were filled with curiosity about the stranger.

Xu Shuo curved his lips in a smile, which made the little girl shyly lower her head again, quickly disappearing into the seats.

...

"Bro, who are you trying to seduce?" Suddenly, Luo Kai, with a cigarette dangling from his lips, came over, speaking while his gaze drifted into the carriage.

"Do you have any clue yet?" Xu Shuo calmly turned his head to look at him, acting as if the previous comment fell on deaf ears.

"I found out—this is indeed the train from Yangcheng to Xiangcheng, the very one associated with the incident, the G123 train. Today is April 1st, and most people here are probably heading back for the Qingming Festival to tend to graves," Luo Kai said slowly, exhaling a puff of smoke.

"Hmm," Xu Shuo responded.

"The derailment of the train likely isn't the main plot point; if it were, we would have started near the train's head. This is the thirteenth carriage, way too far back."

"Hmm."

"Therefore, the core element of this script must be inside this carriage."

"..."

After a while, having smoked his cigarette, Luo Kai turned to look at him, puzzled, asking, "Why aren't you responding?"

Don't you need to respond so he can continue with the rest of what he's saying!

Xu Shuo, standing next to the bathroom, crossed his arms and leaned lazily against the wall of the carriage, looking at him with a half-smile, "Before we even entered the Illusory Realm, you were already clear about your target, and I'm just bait you tossed in, right?"

Luo Kai's hand, holding a lighter, paused.

Click~

He produced a flame and then took out another cigarette from his pocket, chuckling, "Bro, you really are extraordinary, not even pretending a bit."

"Does it yield any interpretive value?"

"No."

"Then why bother acting?"

"..."

The two exchanged a meaningful look.

Afterward, Xu Shuo shifted his gaze, surveying the noisy, bustling carriage, and continued, "I'm quite curious about how such an illusory realm is formed in reality."

Luo Kai lit another cigarette, puffing on it as he spoke with a muffled voice, "They say it's due to intense emotional contagion creating a strange magnetic field, which then materializes in another four-dimensional space. But because the spatial phase differs, the real world and the illusory realm don't intersect. Only those of us with unique identities can enter the cracks; ordinary people hardly have a chance."

Halfway through, he paused and laughingly added, "Of course, those with Yin-Yang Eyes might get a glimpse."

Xu Shuo nodded thoughtfully. This meant that these supernatural illusory realms wouldn't affect ordinary people in the real world.

Just like earlier on the train, where Pei Sheng was completely unaware of the Spirit Car Illusory Realm, and they could even pass objects to each other.

"All right, got any more questions?" Luo Kai smiled at him.

"After you turn it into a script, will this illusory realm disappear?" Xu Shuo wondered aloud, turning his head to meet his gaze with calm, clear black eyes.

"A mutant script will," Luo Kai confirmed with a nod.

"So basically, you're transferring the entire anomalous space into the Script Space, creating a different world?"

"Smart!"

"And at the same time, the illusory realm will no longer appear in the real world?"

"It won't."

"Because canonical scripts lack supernatural events, even if extracted they won't cause any changes?"

"That's correct."

"The incident at the school should be relatively simple to extract, right?"

"That it should."

"..."

...

"Damn."