The old man said this but the other players didn’t listen to him and checked the bodies themselves. In Tang Mo’s group, Fu Wenduo was quite familiar with this type of thing. He went in front and checked the details before reporting to Tang Mo. “It took her about an hour to die.”
There was no doubt that this woman was really dead. Like the song sang by the black tower, she was drowned by the ‘flood.’
Everything developed according to the lyrics of the song. In the quiet and empty castle, only a clicking sound was heard. Everyone looked down the stairs and saw that in the middle of the long table, a small puppet walked to the edge of the table. It went to the edge before its eyes rolled, the wooden eyeballs staring at the 16 players on the stairs.
The next second, the puppet fell from the edge of the table to the ground, breaking apart.
Bai Ruoyao smiled. “Wow, is this what it means to die?”
A young, white-skinned man said, “It isn’t a problem to take care of the body. I observed it when we entered the castle yesterday. The castle has two floors but there is also an attic. Put her there.”
Tang Mo remembered this man. He was one of the two players from Europe, Don Savic. He was the first player in the European region to clear the black tower’s fourth floor.
No one refused this suggestion.
A strong man picked up the black woman’s body and placed her in the attic.
The 16 people went down the stairs together.
The black woman had a seat to herself so once she died, her chair was empty and there were only 11 chairs elft. Everyone sat in their seats and the old man opened his mouth. “Her name has been crossed out.”
The group immediately looked at the chair of the black woman. On the back of the wooden chair, the name of the black woman was roughly scratched with a sharp weapon. Her name had been engraved with a knife and after being scratched, the original handwriting couldn’t be seen at all.
Mu Huixue raised an eyebrow. “It isn’t necessarily by a person. Perhaps the black tower did it. It is like that little puppet.” The little puppet that fell had been picked up by a player and there was nothing unusual after checking. “The puppet fell down in front of everyone. The puppet was broken on behalf of the players so it was naturally for the name to be the same.
Andrei stood behind Mu Huixue and spoke in a dull but powerful voice. “Lena Jokel was killed.”
Lena Jokel was the black woman who died. She was the first player in the US to pass the black tower’s third floor.
After Andrei’s words, Bai Ruoyao made an ‘oh’ sound and everyone looked at him. The baby-faced youth was serious as he said, “There is only one truth. Last night, she must’ve been one of the three players who could leave their rooms. So… who killed her?”
The table was silent.
Bai Ruoyao was bored. “Hey, why aren’t you speaking? Three people can leave every night. Apart from Lena, there are two other people.”
The blonde woman called Li Xia coldly said, “They aren’t going to reveal themselves.”
Bai Ruoyao glanced at her.
Li Xia said, “It is simple. The person who killed that woman must be one of the two players. There is a 90% chance they are even the monster. If the players who went outside last night were young and me…”
“I didn’t go out. Don’t pull me into this.” Bai Ruoyao pretended to hold his chest in an exaggerated manner, protecting his innocence.
Li Xia looked at Fu Wenduo standing behind Fu Bai Ruoyao. “Let’s assume that the three people who came out last night were Lena Jokel, me and the most powerful player in China, Fu Wenduo. Fu Wenduo and I absolutely won’t say we are the ones. First, if we say it then you will know that one of us killed her. Second, I know that I didn’t kill anyone so Fu Wenduo must be the killer. However, I have no proof of this. You will just treat me unjustly and I have no way of arguing.”
Li Xia raised her blue eyes and looked at the 16 players around the table. “That’s why I also want to make a request today. Starting today, not only should we spend the two hours during the day at this table but we must also avoid players privately contacting each other. Second, each of us has to speak the same number of times.
The Chinese player Lian Yuzheng mused for a moment before saying, “You don’t want to attract attention.”
Li Xia replied, “Do you want to?”
No one spoke but everyone knew that they didn’t want to attract attention.
No one had said it yet but everyone knew that during the first vote yesterday, it was impossible for them to write their own names.
The white ticket refreshed every day and the person with the most votes wouldn’t die but would be restricted by the black tower.
After entering this game, a player was restricted from using props and some of their abilities were blocked. A completely restriction on their abilities would greatly reduce a player’s actual force (Garbage like Bai Ruoyao could be excluded). The black woman didn’t die from the black tower. It was likely she was killed when all of her abilities were blocked.
Then why was her ability blocked?
It was because she was too striking yesterday.
In the first vote, everyone had to vote but they didn’t know each other. Thus, once writing a name, many people would subconsciously write the names of people they were more concerned with. For example, Bai Ruoyao wrote the name of the old man. However, it was the black woman who spoke the most yesterday.
If everyone spoke the same number of times, it would mean there were no more eye-catching people.
Tang Mo was silent for a long time before opening his mouth first. “I agree.”
Bai Ruoyao raised his hands. “I also agree.”
All 16 people agreed and Li Xia let out a relieved sigh before she stopped talking. The blond man sitting next to her opened his mouth. “I don’t have much to say. I think that with the memories of most of us here, we will remember everyone’s names. I’m from the US district 7, Bell Fauske. I don’t know the black woman and I don’t know the two people who went outside with her last night. I don’t know and I don’t care. In any case, they won’t admit it.”
The white woman sitting next to him spoke. She was a cold woman with short hair. She had her hands on her chest and once it was her turn to talk, she looked up coldly at Mu Huixue. “Mu Huixue.”
Mu Huixue glanced at her.
The short-haired woman’s tone was cold. “Lena Jophos, Europe district 1. I have the same name as the dead woman.”
Lena didn’t speak again after saying Mu Huixue’s name but her strong hostility and disdain couldn’t be ignored. If this wasn’t a black tower game then she would try to kill Mu Huixue right now.
Mu Huixue smiled. “Do we know each other?”
Lena didn’t open her mouth and the young man standing behind her smiled. “Of course we don’t know each other. Leave her alone. She is like this and hates anyone better than her. Fu Wenduo of China, Tang Mo and the world’s first person to clear the third floor, “ he pointed to Andrei standing behind Mu Huixue. “They are men. You are a woman and stronger than her. Lena wants to kill you every day.”
The man was smiling and his expression didn’t change at all when talking about killing people.
There were too many people who wanted to kill Mu Huixue but in the end, they were all killed by her. She looked at the short-haired woman with interest and smiled. “I welcome you to try and kill me.”
Lena scoffed and looked away.
Next, everyone spoke about what happened last night.
No one admitted that they were one of the three players who came outside last night. They all stayed quietly in their room and didn’t hear any movement outside the door. The next morning, they left their rooms and saw the body of the black woman.
Tang Mo opened his mouth. “I want to ask. If I’m not wrong, there are a total of six regions here?”
Bai Ruoyao touched his chin. “There are so many of us Chinese players. Oh, there are seven people.”
A player from the US was dissatisfied. “What are you trying to say? You are from the same region so you should know each other? It is obvious that these two Europeans know each other since they are sitting in the same chair. Your group also knows each other. However, I don’t know anyone from the US. Apart from this woman,” he pointed to Li Xia. “Do you know all the six Chinese players apart from her? During the flood, it was Mu Huixue who pulled the three of you up.”
Tang Mo replied, “I didn’t mean this.”
This brown-haired American player was called David and it was the same as the returnee killed by Tang Mo. This David was tall and strong, unlike the returnee David who played the game with his brains.
Still, none of the players here were stupid.
During the day, everyone was unhappy.
Everyone refused to admit they were one of the three players who went outside last night and no one admitted to knowing the dead black woman.
There were five minutes left until the end of the day and Bai Ruoyao was playing with the white ticket in a bored manner. He turned back and spoke in a casual voice, “Then who should I write? Tang Tang, Major Fu, what do you think? Who do you want me to write? Why don’t I write the name Tang Tang? You see how annoying you were. That man would surely write your name.”
Tang Mo ignored hi and turned to Fu Wenduo. “Who do you think we should write?”
Fu Wenduo replied, “The black woman is an American player.”
Bai Ruoyao wondered, “So what?”
Fu Wenduo told him, “Write an American player.”
Bai Ruoyao teased, “Major Fu, I didn’t expect you to be so patriotic, writing an American name at this time.”
Fu Wenduo casually explained, “The woman’s body showed no traces of a struggle. Even if she lost her ability and couldn’t use props, her body’s physical state wouldn’t be too bad not to fight back when attacked. There is a 50% chance that she was killed by a person she knew. Or at least, the ‘skin’ of someone she knew.”
There was only a 50% chance but this probability was worth taking the risk.
Bai Ruoyao had a thought. “Once a player is voted, all their abilities will be blocked. Once a monster is voted… hehe, what would happen?”
Bai Ruoyao glanced at the remaining four American players before turning to Tang Mo. “Tang Tang, taht David just bullied you. I will write his name.” His tone was childish, as if he was a child talking about a villain.
Tang Mo asked, “Did you go out last night?”
Bai Ruoyao was stunned.
Tang Mo spoke bluntly. “I didn’t and Fu Wenduo also didn’t go out. So… Bai Ruoyao, did you go out last night?”
Bai Ruoyao smiled. “No.”
Tang Mo looked at him.
Bai Ruoyao’s eyes narrowed and he repeated it again. “I said, I didn’t.”
“Ding dong! On the second day of voting, please write the name of a player they wanted to vote for on the white ticket.”
Tang Mo lowered his head and saw Bai Ruoyao writing on the white ticket.
[David Anders.]
He actually wrote that man’s name.
Every player voted and their white tickets placed on the table. It was the second day and there still wasn’t anyone who wrote on the red ticket. During the discussion and voting, Tang Mo had been carefully observing everyone. 11 players sat in the chairs and none of them looked at the red ticket or showed strange behaviours. This was except for Bai Ruoyao, who was afraid when the world wasn’t chaotic, like a child with ADHD.
However, even Bai Ruoyao didn’t touch the red ticket.
Anyone who touched the red ticket would have the suspicion of ‘going out last night.’
There was no doubt that Lena Jokel was killed by a player who went outside last night. Lena was dead and two players were left. There was a big chance that one of them was a monster while the other was a real player. No one knew who the monster was but they were certain about their own identity.
If that player took out the red ticket and wrote a person’s name on it, the suspicion that they went outside would be confirmed.
The other players wouldn’t believe that he didn’t killed Lena and he wasn’t a monster.
Thus, he chose to hide himself and not write his name.
Moreover, if the person wasn’t a monster then he would lose the chance to grab the sixth. He wouldn’t get a clue to the seventh floor even if he cleared the game.
The clock on the castle’s wall buzzed and the sky suddenly turned black.
The group walked back to their room together. Halfway there, Tang Mo suddenly said, “The player who is selected doesn’t have to go outside.”
Seven or eight players stopped and looked back at Tang Mo. Other players moved forward like they hadn’t heard his remark.
The Tang Mo trio walked walked towards their room. In front of the door, he glanced at Mu Huixue, Andrei and Lian Yuzheng. They each entered their rooms.
As soon as the door closed, the baby-faced youth smiled and walked to his bed. He hadn’t taken a few steps when Fu Wenduo grabbed his hand to stop him.
Bai Ruoyao wondered, “Major Fu?”
Fu Wenduo looked him in the eye. “Did you go outside last night?”
Bai Ruoyao raised his eyebrows. “I said I didn’t.”
Tang Mo’s voice came from behind Bai Ruoyao. “The person who killed the black woman, there is another possibility apart from being a person she knows. The person who killed her has the strength to crush her. In this game, the abilities of all players are suppressed and the black woman is likely to be unable to use it completely. As for you…” Tang Mo was calm. “Even if your ability is restricted or gone, it will have no influence on your strength. You are strong enough to kill her before she resists.”
Listening to these words, the smile on Bai Ruoyao’s face slowly froze.
After a long time, he smiled softly. “The black tower limited by ability. My ability can only be used three times in this game and I can only look at one person. Tang Tang, do you know who I looked at?”
Tang Mo was startled.
Bai Ruoyao placed an index finger against his lips. “Shhh, I am looking at you. The dead air around you is too deep.”
