Chapter 42 Is This a Necessary Step in the Plot?

The loud "clang" made Meruit jump!

It turned out Wang Wenfei had been carrying a basin of water when it slipped from her hands and crashed to the ground, startling everyone.

"Oh my! You scared me half to death!"

Lu Xiaoyao patted her chest, looking at the dazed Meruit, and said, "See? You even scared her."

"Sorry, my hands were a little wet just now, and it slipped."

Wang Wenfei had been acting completely out of it all day. Even the usually oblivious Lu Xiaoyao could sense something was wrong.

"What's up with you today? Did you—is there something wrong with the character you got?"

Lu Xiaoyao's words made everyone look at Wang Wenfei differently.

Come to think of it, Wang Wenfei had indeed been acting strange all day.

"No...I'm just, just..." Wang Wenfei saw the increasingly distrustful gazes and became more nervous, stammering, which only heightened everyone's suspicions.

"Anyway—I'm not a bad person, I'm just, just troubled by something about the character itself!"

"What's troubling you? Tell us, and maybe we can help you find a solution."

Meruit was the first to take Wang Wenfei's hand, comforting her, "This isn't a solo game, we have so many people, we can definitely figure something out."

"I...my father left home, and my mother has been in a bad mood all day. As soon as I got home, she got even more agitated, insisting that I go find my father."

"Ah? That...did you look for him?"

Wang Wenfei nodded, then shook her head, conflicted.

"I asked the villagers, and they all said my father ran away with my mother's money...where am I supposed to find him?" Wang Wenfei looked haggard. "As soon as I got home today, my mother started nagging me about it."

"Do you want us to help you?"

Julian spoke up at the right time. "Since this NPC is actively giving you a quest, and so urgently, it seems like you have to complete it."

"Yes, but I've asked everyone in the village, and I haven't found any clues."

"Are you talking about Wang Laosan?"

Just as everyone was confused, Ming媚 spoke up. She looked at Wang Wenfei and asked, "Your father is Wang Laosan, right?"

"Yes."

Wang Wenfei nodded, and Lu Xiaoyao and Meruit exchanged a look.

They were familiar with the name Wang Laosan! They had just heard it this afternoon.

Then, everyone turned their attention to Ming媚. Ming媚 said, "Early this morning, before dawn, I vaguely saw someone holding a torch going up the mountain. The figure looked a lot like Wang Laosan."

"Boss, if you saw it, why didn't you tell my mother?" Wang Wenfei had only heard from the villagers when she was asking about her father that her mother had been sitting on the ground crying all morning.

"Ah, I forgot."

Ming媚 really forgot.

She had just entered the game at the time and encountered that scene. She hadn't even processed the information yet. Seeing that no one else was doing anything, she just went along with the crowd, figuring less trouble was better.

Everyone: "..."

The live audience in front of the screen:

[Wow...that's a good excuse!]

[It should be for the plot, right? The mountain should be a place where players have to go.]

[Yeah, why bother telling the NPC about this information? Maybe the players will have to find his mother too.]

...

"Is it dangerous on this mountain?"

Julian finished washing the fish and handed it to Mu Chen. Then, he remembered the news they had inquired about in the village in the afternoon. "I heard that many people have gotten lost and disappeared on this mountain."

"Really?"

Ming媚 pretended to know nothing and asked, "Nothing has happened to anyone in the village all these years. No one has disappeared...ah, but maybe now there has."

As she spoke, Ming媚 looked at Wang Wenfei, as if Wang Laosan's matter was the biggest thing that had happened in recent years.

Then, Ming媚 asked, "Who did you hear that from?"

"It was a madman in the village...well, maybe not a madman, more like an idiot. He lives in the chicken farm, with the chickens. We met him by accident."

"You believe a madman's words?" Ming媚 chuckled. "No one else normal has said anything, it's just a madman's ravings."

"Indeed...no one in the village has mentioned anyone disappearing in recent years."

Even Wang Wenfei nodded in agreement with the truth in Ming媚's words, saying, "At least, there haven't been any disappearances or anything like that here before I went to college. When I came back this time and asked about my father, I didn't see anyone's family missing."

"Ah...so I was just overthinking it?"

As he said this, Julian secretly glanced at Mu Chen, who was seriously cooking behind him.

During the day, Mu Chen had specifically taken him to listen to the madman's mumbling, saying that the words of this NPC were worth paying attention to.

So, they were just being nosy?

...

"Okay, dinner's ready."

As soon as Mu Chen finished speaking, everyone immediately turned their attention to Mu Chen. Seeing him lift the lid of the pot on the earthen stove, a pot of iron pot fish and baked flatbread instantly captivated everyone's eyes.

A bowl of fish and flatbread for each person, the fish soup was thick and rich, with soft and tender potatoes and green beans soaked in the soup. This dinner was simply amazing!

"Tonight, you sleep in the same room with us. We'll put the beds together, so you don't have to open another room."

While Julian and Wang Wenfei were talking earlier, Meruit clearly realized that the information she and Lu Xiaoyao had was not enough. At least, Julian and the others knew more than they did.

It was late at night, and it wasn't appropriate for them girls to directly ask the boys, so the fastest way was for the girls to chat at night. Wang Wenfei had the identity of a villager, so they could get more information.

"Okay."

Wang Wenfei nodded, she also intended to do so.

Ming媚 watched the secret exchange of glances between the two, then secretly communicated with Gui Gui, [Later, I'll go to sleep first, can you help me record the segment from Lu Xiaoyao's live broadcast tonight~]

[Host, I think you should face your identity, your persona doesn't need to sleep.]

[Doesn't need to?]

[Needs to?]

[I think I need to.] Ming媚 "seriously" thought for a moment and replied, [After all, I'm a real person, even if I'm playing a non-human character, I still can't escape humanity~]

Ming媚 picked up her teacup, turned around, closed the shop door, nodded to everyone, and walked to the door hidden in the shadows under the stairs on the second floor.

The moment she turned the doorknob, Gui Gui finally issued the sarcasm it should have as a yin-yang master—[Is that so, Host, are you sure you still have humanity? In this game, since you came in, your neural excitation level has been above the warning line. Don't you want me to test your psychological state?]

[It's okay, Mountain God-sama...how could I be a bad guy?]

Ming媚 chuckled, entered the room, and closed the door without turning on the light, blending into the darkness.

Gui Gui: [...]

You said you hated being the villain Boss?

The first time, the second time...and you're already hooked?