There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

Chapter 250 Brother, You Must Hold On Through Tonight! (4/5 for monthly tickets)

On the outskirts of Giant Fortress, Xu Shuo slowly made his way towards the central fortress, knocking off several fruits along the path, until he saw other players likewise picking fruits.

They should be players, as Hong Rao had mentioned that there were no locals left in this Punishment World anymore, all those who had come in were players who had failed their missions.

In some ways, they could be considered brothers in misfortune.

"Hey, you new here?" asked the player wearing a red combat suit, who approached Xu Shuo while munching on fruit.

Xu Shuo gave him a glance and nodded.

"Which script did you fail?" the other player continued.

"Assessment script," Xu Shuo replied calmly.

The player clicked his tongue and shook his head, half with a wistful tone and half mockingly, "Figures, the chances of failing an assessment script are already high. Those betting dogs fight over the mission progress like they've got rabies, snapping up any possibility that comes up."

Xu Shuo didn't respond, but he agreed wholeheartedly inside.

There were indeed a lot of gambling dogs in Script Space. Perhaps it's the exasperating plots that fostered them.

After picking most of the berries from the surrounding plants, Xu Shuo calculated the time it would take for the monsters to run over and walked towards Giant Fortress, with the player following behind, still eating fruit.

As they approached within a hundred meters of the fortress, they saw more players around, who only glanced over as the two passed by.

"Right, at night you might want to wear something more noticeable, otherwise you might get attacked by others mistaking you for a monster," the player suddenly said.

Xu Shuo looked at the red combat suit the player was wearing and asked, "Can't see at night?"

The player shrugged, "More or less. Although everyone has the ability to see things, when they're caught up in the fight they won't care if you're human or a monster. And those things are all dark and indistinct, so just hit whatever looks dark."

He was currently wearing a green shirt and black trousers. The cool colors would indeed blend into the night, making him less visible.

Contemplating this, Xu Shuo said, "Then I'll wear white tonight."

...

The fortress's main gate was a heavy stone door comparable to the walls of District 13, and up close the black stone wall shimmered with a faint white glow, giving it a glossy, glass-like appearance.

The stone gate was open, and there was no one guarding it, but as Xu Shuo passed by, his system panel automatically popped up.

The player beside him then asked, "Which spot were you assigned to?"

Xu Shuo looked at the instructions on the panel, "North City Gate, Squad 36, responsible for guarding the North Tower No.1."

The next moment, the player slapped his hands together excitedly, "Hey, you're actually in my squad! Our team is now down to three people, and we're in desperate need of members!"

Xu Shuo: "..."

He now suspected that this person, upon noticing that he was new, was convinced that Xu Shuo would be assigned to their understaffed team, which was why he had initiated conversation.

Perhaps sensing his own reaction was somewhat unconvincing, the player again slapped Xu Shuo's shoulder with a chuckle, "After tonight, I'll be done with my Punishment Task. You gotta pull your weight, brother!"

Tonight, huh...

Xu Shuo let out a slight smile but said nothing.

If the creatures wandering the desert were truly attracted to him, then if all went as he expected, they should already be rushing on their way here, and they wouldn't need to wait until nightfall to meet fierce combat.

Inside the fortress were many structures built for assisting in battle – none of them were houses, but rather defensive measures erected to withstand the monsters' charges.

And where would the players reside while guarding the fortress?

What business is that of Script Space!

All the buildings were arranged in a circular formation around the fortress, with a majestic Tall Tower at the very center, its tower body gleaming with a strong white light.

As the two headed towards the North City Gate, the player briefed Xu Shuo on the situation here.

Players who came to Giant Fortress would be divided into fifty squads, with each squad having an upper limit of ten members and no lower limit. In reality, many squads usually couldn't even muster ten players.

Forty squads were responsible for guarding the gates to the east, west, south, and north, while the remaining ten were stationed inside the tower.

That was the world's line of defense.

Once the Tall Tower was breached, the entire world would collapse in an instant, turning directly into nourishment for the Abyss.

"Is this your first time in the Punishment World?"

Xu Shuo nodded.

Seeing this, the player continued to speak, "It's said that this world was once a normal one, but it was invaded by the Abyss. The locals couldn't resist and that led to the world gradually becoming what it is now.

"Later, Script Space set up defenses here, tasking us players to stand guard.

"But you don't have to worry too much. This world is a solid third-tier defensive line; the Abyss Creatures that have infiltrated aren't too powerful, just strong enough for us to deal with.

"It's said that in some high-rank worlds, each Abyss Creature can almost destroy heaven and earth!

"Anyway, there won't be any of those here."

Xu Shuo listened, nodding as though he was being informed.

Hong Rao had told him as well.

The higher the rank of the Script Space, the thinner the barrier, making it easier to breach, which is why high-rank players are needed to garrison it.

Conversely, although the worlds in low-rank scripts are weak in themselves, the space barrier is quite solid and not easily invaded by the Abyss. The stronger the monster, the greater the rejection it faces.

It's like an inflated balloon, the more it expands, the easier it bursts!

As for Earth, that purely material world, it should be like a very regular balloon — or perhaps it used to be.

There were quite a few players resting on the city gates, as there was no place to live, so everyone sat on the ground at their assigned posts. Those with better conditions could even pull out a bed from their manuals.

North Tower No.1 was situated at the very left of the North City Gate, with a total of five watchtowers spaced about several tens of meters apart.

Giant Fortress was immense, but viewed from the sky and placed amidst the entire desert, the fortress seemed like a grain of sand in a vast ocean, trapped in a cage by the encroaching darkness.

In the distant lands, there was nothing but unfathomable darkness and the Abyss Creatures that twisted and struggled within it.

The entire world was left with only this fortress. Stay updated via empire

The Watchtower was spacious, with two people on duty upstairs, one of whom was observing the situation in the distance through binoculars.

"Hey, the newcomer to our team has arrived!"

The player who had brought Xu Shuo over called out.

The person sitting cross-legged in the corner of the Watchtower cleaning arrows looked up, then lowered his head again and asked indifferently, "Which side does your ability lean more toward?"

Xu Shuo, upon hearing this, looked at the bow in his hands for a moment.

He didn't see any arrows, just the bow, so it must be an ability similar to that of the young woman from "Green-skin Train", right?

Xu Shuo paused and then lifted his staff, saying, "Detection class?"

All three looked at him.

"Detection range or combat prediction? How far can you detect?" the man asked.

"Range, fifty meters," Xu Shuo said.

"..."

As the words fell, the expressions of the three visibly stiffened, and they scrutinized him for quite a while.

Then, the player who had led Xu Shuo here laughed and said, "Brother, you don't need to hide your abilities here since you'll definitely be forced to give it everything you've got in a fight! Telling us your focused ability now is also for the sake of better cooperation."

At that, Xu Shuo walked over to the shadow at his feet, tiptoed directly into the shadow, and then lifted his staff, now imbued with a golden glow.

He sincerely said, "I still have some ability in close combat."

This was already all he could offer.

As for the Fin Needle, better left unmentioned!