In Virtual Reality

"What?" Lone Wolf rubbed his ears and looked at the young man on the tree with a hint of scepticism. "Could you speak up a bit?"

The young man paused, took a deep breath, and flashed a polite but embarrassed smile. "I said; my name is Silence. Can you help me down?"

In his intimidating animal form, Lone Wolf stood up, towering over two meters tall. After a moment's thought, he opened his arms generously. "Jump down, and I'll catch you."

Asmodeus's fans flooded the chat with their disbelief and rational fears: 【He hasn't revealed his identity. What if he's a werewolf? It's nighttime during the werewolf game. What if he jumps down and stabs the streamer with a knife?】

【What? This little guy is going to stab my big bro? You're kidding.】

【I think he's pretty tall. Won't the streamer lose an arm or leg trying to catch him?】

【Our big bro is so kind-hearted!】

Despite Asmodeus's fans' anger when they mistakenly entered Lone Wolf's live-streaming room, Lone Wolf still waited with open arms.

The young man hesitated for a moment, then flashed a smile. "Okay," he replied crisply.

'Silence' held onto the tree trunk and jumped down from the branch. Lone Wolf was already prepared and caught him easily in his arms.

The young man stood on the ground, feeling dizzy after being brought down from the tree by Lone Wolf's assistance. He instinctively grasped onto the fluffy arm of Lone Wolf and expressed his gratitude, "Thank you. I think I may be a little afraid of heights," covering his forehead and forcing a bitter smile. "I didn't feel it when I was in the tree, but my legs are a bit weak now." Reluctantly lifting his head and gazing sincerely at Lone Wolf, he added, "Thank you for your help."

【Ah... this guy seems to be quite the catch.】

【His temperament is what really sets him apart. That smile of his is just so gentle and charming.】

【What's the name of this live-streaming room? I have to follow him after this broadcast!!】

【Hey, big bro, are you still there? Add me, too, hehe!】

【Is he using the default skin? Even so, that young man has a great personality and a nice voice. I don't think it's the default voice, though.】

The comments section overflowed with praises for the young man. Lone Wolf's initial targeting led the audience to develop a favourable impression of the young man, who was polite and kind. Even Asmodeus's fan were somewhat sceptical of their own easy surprise.

"Silence..." Asmodeus's fan rubbed his head, feeling that this name was somewhat familiar, so he began to search for it on the internet. "Oh my gosh!" he exclaimed, jumping into the comment section and typing furiously:

【This Silence is probably Excelsior!】

【Ex... what?】

【Is he very famous?】

Asmodeus's fan: 【 Is a big shot from the game website!】 He expressed his shock and amazement through his words.

【Is it because Silence knows the winning method of this game?】

【Wait, why doesn't this guy report his own ID? Why report as Silence?】

Asmodeus's fan hesitated; 【 Maybe it's hard to pronounce? But in the new videos these few times, Excelsior's videos all used the nickname Silence.】

Lone Wolf glanced at the comment section but didn't pay much attention.

"Call me Lone Wolf," he said, declining to reveal his ID. He had no desire to endure further ridicule. Lowering his head, he studied the young man standing before him. "Your name's Silence, right? Why is your spawn point so strange? On a tree?"

The young man shrugged, looking helpless. "I don't know either. Maybe I'm just unlucky. By the way, I saw what was happening on your side from the tree," he said, feeling embarrassed. "Although I wanted to join your conversation, as you can see, I couldn't." He shrugged again before becoming serious. "Actually, I don't think Fox Snap is the Judge."

Lone Wolf's ears perked up, and his eyes brightened with excitement. "You think so too?"

"Mm-hmm," the young man nodded, then rubbed his chin thoughtfully. "I just have a feeling that something is off."

【Is this young man also an intuitive like our big brother?】

【Intuitives unite! Let's stick together with our reliable big brother.】

Lone Wolf wagged his tail and declared, "I'm playing the 'good guy' card. My intuition tells me that Fox Snap is a werewolf."

【Our big brother's skin comes with reconnaissance ability.】

【Does this mean that Silence is also a reliable guy like our big brother?】

【It could only be described as a murderous intent to seek out enemies, right? Fox Snap's eyes on the square were filled with killing intent, but I couldn't understand how those two players didn't notice it. Could it be that the wolf partners didn't recognize each other?】 The comments section was filled with guesses and speculation while Asmodeus's fans watched on.

The young man was taken aback for a moment, but then he smiled with a hint of helplessness, "I have the good guy card, but I'm not the judge."

"Oh, you're a civilian," Lone Wolf didn't expect to run into a judge immediately. He shrugged, "I'm just like you, but I've been voted off. Wait a minute, I remember five people were abstaining in the voting area, and one... "

【And one voted for number 7!】

【Yes, that's right. By the way, looking at it this way, is Big Brother number 7? The game didn't show any numbers; what's the use of this?】

【It should be possible to vote remotely by number.】

【Haven't you noticed that you don't need numbers for face-to-face voting? If you have already determined which number the werewolf is, but you can't see the werewolf itself on the field, you can vote by identifying the werewolf's number.】

【Is that so? It's so complicated.】

【It's different from surviving at the end of the world game. Which player at the end of the world game who can survive to the later stages isn't huddled together?】

"Right, there was another person who voted for number 7." Lone Wolf used his smart brain, "So Fox Snap is number 7, and I'm number 3." He turned his head to look at the young man, "Psst... what number are you?"

The young man: "..."

He raised his hand and spoke sincerely, "I didn't pay much attention."

【Wow, an unexpected remark.】

【But it's true, we didn't pay attention to who voted for whom at the beginning either.】

Lone Wolf nodded, "Okay." He turned around twice, his nose twitching. "Now that we're both civilian, what's the game plan?" he muttered.

The younger man, who was shorter than him by a considerable margin, spoke up, "I know what we can do. We can take on tasks from other NPCs in the park. Maybe they have some information that could help us." He paused, considering his words carefully, before adding, "We should also watch for the other players. We haven't seen them all yet."

Lone Wolf nodded in agreement, "Sounds like a plan."

With that, he hoisted the bewildered man onto his shoulders by the back of his clothes. "Although grim reaper NPC moves at a snail's pace, we can't let our guard down," Lone Wolf warned. "You're too slow, so I'll carry you."

The young man steadied himself on Lone Wolf's arm, pondering momentarily before offering a grateful smile, "Thank you."

**

Xu Jin Yi perched atop the mountain, her eye pressed to the telescope as she surveyed the magnificent vista before her. Her smile was etched into her features, seemingly permanent.

A throaty cough escaped her lips as she forced down the urge to cackle aloud even if nobody was around to hear it; she knew all too well the culprit behind the charade.

"This is a disaster," Xu Jin Yi muttered as she stepped away from the telescope and settled onto a worn wooden bench inside a small pavilion. She luxuriated in a languid stretch before propping her head up against the railing.

"But now someone else has worn this skin," she said, gazing up at the dilapidated roof of the pavilion, pondering the impersonator's intentions. "However, is this identity the same in Wang Jin Long's eyes?"

The imposter probably cackled so hard in his mind he might as well become a western Bodhisattva and save all sentient beings with his laughter.

Xu Jin Yi wrinkled her nose in distaste. "He chuckles like a buffoon."

Upon entering the game, as Xu Jin Yi had anticipated, Wang Jin Long noted similarities between 'The Hydrangea Park' and 'Murphy's Amusement Park' and resumed his façade as a do-gooder. Through her telescope, Xu Jin Yi smirked at the entire process.

Wang Jin Long entered the game via a side gate at the northwest corner of the park, unlike his previous entrance at the wutong tree. En route, a gardener chased him up a tree, providing him with an advantageous vantage point to observe the voting situation on the other side. After casting his vote, the gardener departed, leaving Wang Jin Long to prepare to descend the tree. As he did so, he saw Lone Wolf racing towards the wutong forest.

Naturally, Xu Jin Yi was well aware of his intentions.

"Pretend to be good and fool them," she mused.

Luck appeared to be on Wang Jin Long's side when he encountered an external network streamer, 【Lone Wolf of the Apocalypse】, rather than other game streamers. Xu Jin Yi couldn't help but ponder what would have happened if he had encountered someone else.

"Let's wait and see," she chuckled.

**

Deep in the park lay the Hydrangea Flower Sea. Celestial Master ran down the path, guided only by the barrage and screen-brushing to avoid losing his way. He dared not look back, only focused on running. When he finally saw the iron gate with "Hydrangea Flower Sea" written on it, he kicked it open. He stumbled inside, panting for air and fell into flowers.

【...】

The barrage was left dumbfounded.

【This guy is determined to survive...】

Celestial Master had just dived into the sea of pink hydrangea flowers and dared not move. The lush flowers enveloped his entire body. After five or six minutes, Celestial Master was almost breathless, and the sounds behind him gradually disappeared. When it was completely silent, he quickly turned over and stood up, sneezing uncontrollably.

In between sneezes, he attempted to speak: "Ah-choo! I, ah-choo! Told you, ah-choo! I'm fast, ah-choo!"

After a series of sneezes, even Celestial Master's brain was confused.

He rubbed his nose and carefully observed the flower sea that had saved his life.

The sky was covered with tiny pink flower buds that invaded his vision. Celestial Master squinted for a long time.

"Where do I start?" He felt a little worried.

But unexpectedly, as soon as Celestial Master stepped forward, a person popped out of the flower sea in front of him.

Green-headed Fish waited with dead fish eyes that were as calm as a still pond, looking at Celestial Master from afar.

Celestial Master hesitated before saying, "Hey, are you a human?"

"What do you think?" Green-headed Fish sneered, standing up and revealing his red cotton-padded jacket. "My ID is 【Opponent's Attorney, Please Interrogate】. I'm a good guy."

【Holy shit, holy shit, holy shit! It's Old Attorney?!】

【Ah ah ah ah ah, Brother Attorney! Take me with you, Brother Attorney!】

Excelsior was not very active on the forum, but Old Attorney was there almost daily. The barrage was more familiar to him.

【A Classic Red and Green Combo! It's you, Fish Head Man!】

【I adore Fish Head Man; what kind of luck does this streamer have, encountering two big shots simultaneously? This is going to be awesome!】

Celestial Master recognized the person and promptly revealed his identity, "I'm ID 【Master in Tribulation Crossing】, the good person card."

"Well, everyone flashes their good person card upon first meet," Old Attorney muttered, then inquired, "Have you seen Excelsior?"

"...What happened?" Celestial Master paused, sensing a hint of wariness.

"It seems you've met him before. Why didn't you go together? Your identities are now in question," Old Attorney remarked.

Although he said that, Old Attorney's expression... well, Fish Head Man doesn't have any expression, but it looked doubtful.

"Aren't you a staff member?" Celestial Master had seen the production table.

"It doesn't mean I know everything. The identities in this game are all random," Old Attorney retorted.

Fish Head Man impatiently rubbed his forehead and asked, "Do you know where Excelsior is? What's that guy thinking? Why did they put a bounty on themself in the new game promotion? Isn't they provoking other players?"