Chapter 1 The Mysterious Merchant (Fake)

"Hello?"

Mingmei stood before an NPC that looked exactly like her, utterly bewildered.

She raised her hand in greeting, and from her perspective, the note above the NPC’s head was particularly amusing: [Mysterious Merchant (Fake)].

"Hello."

Even though they shared the same face, Mingmei saw a gentleness and demureness on the other’s face that she had never seen on her own.

The NPC even returned her greeting with a tender smile, like a warm spring breeze, exuding approachability.

This was getting tricky.

"You sell boxed lunches too?" Mingmei asked uncertainly. The fake mysterious merchant NPC nodded repeatedly, saying, "Yes, selling boxed lunches is wonderful. I’ve prepared quite a few today, and I hope you, *jie jie* (older sister), can guide me in the future so I can have boxed lunches that sell as well as yours!"

For some inexplicable reason, Mingmei seemed to detect a hint of guile.

Her gaze shifted to the small stall behind the NPC—Sun and Moon Boxed Lunches.

Then, Mingmei instinctively glanced back at her own stall—Mingming Boxed Lunches.

Mingmei: Good heavens! The imitation!

Cat with expanding pupils .jpg

Was this game mode poisonous?!

Mingmei hadn’t even seen the players yet, but just seeing this NPC, she already wanted to light a candle for today's players.

If they bought the wrong lunch, the players failing to clear the game was a small matter, but her credits were a big deal!

Oh, and today she had specifically reminded Lu Xiaoyao to log on and play the game, to relieve her mood and give her fans a bit of reassurance.

But—this was it?

Could Lu Xiaoyao really relieve her mood with this game?

Wouldn't she become withdrawn?

Mingmei couldn't bear to imagine the scene of Lu Xiaoyao being scammed out of points and intelligence.

As Mingmei spaced out, the other NPC had already left with her stall. Mingmei snapped back to reality and finally remembered to look at the game's description.

Then, she saw that her game backend read: [Game: *Secret Substitute*, Plot: Omitted.]

Mingmei:?

"Is my uncle treating me like an outsider? I’m an NPC, why is he doing this to me?"

Mingmei was instantly amused and angered. Was she, an NPC, not worthy of knowing some inside information about the game?!

[Host, this game is quite complicated. It's best if you don't know the details. Sometimes ignorance is bliss.]

Gui Gui (Ghost Ghost) kindly advised, only to be met with Mingmei’s response, "Help me open Lu Xiaoyao's livestream. If I don't know, someone should."

Gui Gui: [...]

Gui Gui sighed inwardly. It felt Mingmei wouldn't shed a tear until she saw her own coffin, wouldn't give up on peeking at Lu Xiaoyao.

So, upon entering Lu Xiaoyao's livestream, Mingmei happened to see Lu Xiaoyao checking her character background to understand the role she was playing.

And so, Mingmei, from Lu Xiaoyao’s perspective, browsed Lu Xiaoyao's unremarkable character setting and story background.

Finally, at the very bottom of Lu Xiaoyao's character card, a sentence was added: [You are just an ordinary passerby with no special settings.]

Mingmei:??

"What?!"

Not only was Mingmei speechless, but Lu Xiaoyao was also speechless. She looked at the JC officer not far away, who was holding shiny handcuffs and seemed ready to arrest her, and for a moment, she didn't know what to say.

Was this the treatment of an innocent passerby?

After fully absorbing her character information, Lu Xiaoyao tentatively said, "I'm just an innocent passerby?"

"Lu Ren Jia (Passerby A), please be serious and correct your attitude! Today, at the time of Mr. Shuchuan’s death, you were right above his head. Your suspicion..."

"I'm just a high-altitude cleaner, okay? I only received a temporary notice today saying that the external glass on the twenty-fourth floor of the building needed cleaning, so that’s why I went there, okay? Can I be blamed for this temporary job? How could I have any premeditation?

"Besides, he was killed by a flowerpot, not by my water bucket. You just open your mouth and say I'm a suspect. Can you even do your job? If you can’t, find a detective, you know?

"Isn’t our 'Little Moon Country JC Savior' Detective Lou Yitian also here today?"

Lu Xiaoyao repeatedly protested her innocence and called for a detective to solve the case. The two JC officers who brought her in for questioning exchanged glances, hesitant.

Seeing this familiar setting, Mingmei silently asked Gui Gui, "Is my uncle so busy that he still has time to watch anime?"

This familiar setting, this setting where solving cases relies on detectives instead of the JC... Mingmei also wanted to ask how her uncle managed to do it all day long.

Working himself to the bone as a wage slave while still finding time to watch anime.

[Don’t know.]

Gui Gui was also amazed by this.

[Host, I think you should also drive your stall to the scene of the incident, otherwise, not only will you not be able to sell your boxed lunches today, but that fake boxed lunch NPC might ruin your reputation.]

"Huh?"

Mingmei, not yet realizing the seriousness of the situation, let out a puzzled "huh." Gui Gui then asked, "If someone buys her boxed lunch and it doesn't work, that's a small matter, but what if it has the opposite effect of your boxed lunch? What do you think the players will think?"

"I'm going!"

Mingmei quickly drove her cart to the scene of the incident, a newly opened skyscraper in the city center.

Lu Xiaoyao was currently caught up in a murder case, and the deceased was the owner of this skyscraper—Shuchuan.

On the other side, with Lu Xiaoyao's insistence and her testimony quickly being verified, Lou Jia, who was playing the detective "Lou Yitian," had also made his appearance.

Looking at the crime scene not far away, as well as the other three players present, and Lu Xiaoyao, who was directly brought back by two JC officers as the biggest suspect, he had not yet expressed any further opinions.

Mingmei discovered through Lu Xiaoyao's lens that this was a five-player game.

The five people present were Mu Chen, Lu Xiaoyao, Lou Jia, Charlie, and Li Yuan.

Mingmei raised her eyebrows. It was amazing that three of the five people were from the same class.

"Now that all the suspects are here, let’s continue."

"Hey! I just came out of the JC station, and my testimony has already been verified. I didn't kill anyone, okay?" Lou Jia's opening statement about all the suspects being present was met with Lu Xiaoyao's loud rebuttal.

Lu Xiaoyao frowned and said, "I'm not a suspect, okay?"

"You say you're not, but are you really not? Everyone else here has an alibi. In terms of not being a suspect, you’re the most suspicious."

Before Lou Jia could speak, Charlie, who was standing to the side, spoke up.

Charlie and the others were standing in a row, all wearing suits and looking wealthy and imposing, clearly guests invited by the deceased.

Only Lu Xiaoyao was wearing drab work clothes, and her identity was that of a tiring and hard-working laborer.

"Maybe you just hate the rich and did it."

"You're talking nonsense! Who said I'm the most suspicious? Maybe you saw that our Boss Shu was young and promising, and more capable than you, so you became jealous and killed him in a fit of anger!"

"Don't make things up out of thin air!"

"Who started making things up! It was you!"

The story had only just begun, but because of the quarrel between Charlie and Lu Xiaoyao, the scene was already starting to spiral out of control.

The others looked around at the JC officers watching the commotion, but everyone tacitly looked up at the sky at a 45° angle.

The NPCs: Well, the weather is perfect for you players to perform today.