There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

Xu Xi, when focused on something, basically doesn't hide her intentions.

It's just that her facial expressions are so numb and her calm, well-like gaze so vacant that she often gives the impression she's just blankly staring ahead in tranquility.

Then, before you've even realized it, she would've already shifted her gaze nonchalantly elsewhere.

Like now, Xu Xi nonchalantly shifted her attention to the side, then stood up with her book in hand to walk over to the person standing by—Li Ziwen.

"I'm having trouble understanding the meaning of this place."

Xu Xi asked with a sincere tone, though her face remained expressionless.

Li Ziwen, upon seeing this, also momentarily set aside his work to explain in detail, completely unaware that the girl, who seemed to be attentively listening, was actually daydreaming.

But the miraculous thing is, the daydreaming Xu Xi was completely able to keep up with Li Ziwen's lesson, occasionally even managing to respond a sentence or two.

Master of multitasking while studying✓!

If Xu Shuo hadn't known his sister so well, he wouldn't have realized she was slacking off!

Xu Shuo rubbed his brow. Given the current situation, he couldn't tell whether Xu Xi was extraordinarily gifted or unusual in some other way.

So he directly took out his phone and sent a text message.

Outside, Xu Xi, who was ostensibly seeking guidance but covertly observing that "ghost" through the nearby glass door, paused momentarily.

She took out her phone to check the message, then turned to Li Ziwen with an apology and, clutching her book a bit guiltily, headed for the office.

"Brother..." Xu Xi knocked and entered.

"Sit there."

Xu Shuo, who was reading documents, glanced up casually as she entered, gesturing toward the sofa in the reception area.

Xu Xi moved sluggishly over, then spread out her book to continue studying on her own.

However, from time to time, her gaze would drift upwards to glance at the youth who was concentrating on his work not far away, her eyes betraying unspoken words.

All in all, she looked exceedingly aggrieved.

After dealing with the matter at hand, Xu Shuo finally turned his office chair around and faced her with his chin propped on his hand.

Xu Xi: "..."

"What were you looking at just now?"

"There was a glowing figure in the corridor outside the studio; I... was curious what it was..." Xu Xi said in a low voice.

"And did you figure out what it was?"

"Not yet..."

Suddenly, Xu Shuo asked, "Have you ever watched the anime Saint Fighter?"

"Huh?" The abrupt change of topic left Xu Xi stunned for a moment, but she quickly caught up and replied, "I have."

"The heroine in it is always kidnapped by the villains for various reasons, and the Saint Fighters think of all kinds of ways to rescue her. The story spans several installments, and she's captured in each one. You don't find that fun, do you?" Xu Shuo asked with a dangerously narrowed gaze.

"..." Xu Xi.

After thinking for a while, Xu Xi quickly shook her head in small, rapid motions, her fingers tightening around her book.

After encountering the ghost again at the Normal University Affiliated High School, the siblings had an honest conversation, and Xu Shuo had specifically instructed her to keep away from those weird things.

And now, in so short a time, not only had she gone up close to observe, but she also dared to approach it in front of him?!

It was obvious she hadn't taken his initial words to heart!

Xu Shuo felt it was time for some timely guidance!

The effect was good, as Xu Xi now looked very distressed.

Seeing her like this, Xu Shuo let out a sigh, walked over to pat her on the head, and said, "In the future, if you encounter anything abnormal, even if you find it strange, you must first tell me about it, and you cannot venture into danger alone."

Xu Xi nodded like a pecking chicken, "I'm sorry!"

Xu Shuo ran his hands through her hair a few more times before pulling back, then unplugged the USB drive from the computer and said, "Let's go, we're heading to the meeting room for a meeting."

Hearing the subject change again, Xu Xi was momentarily stunned.

"Didn't I say you could also participate in learning about the new project that Ziwen is in charge of? If you don't listen to the meeting, how will you be able to participate later?" Xu Shuo asked.

Xu Xi's eyes immediately lit up, and she briefly forgot about the golden ghost as she got up with joy and followed behind Xu Shuo.

"Don't get distracted this time."

"... Mhm mhm."

...

Even though the world might be mutating, people still need to eat, and everyday work must carry on as usual, with money still needing to be made.

After Xu Shuo finished his meeting, he finally opened the latest message from Themis.

"I've looked into it, he's not some strange person, just a player with a relatively high level."

"And the aura emanating from him is very bright, he should be a good person. If you encounter any trouble on your end, you might try asking him for help."

"I still need to investigate the Abyss at those two previous locations, so I'm heading off now. If you have any news, please let me know as soon as possible."

Themis sure had a way of being direct.

But seem like a good person?

Through a one-way frosted glass window, Xu Shuo glanced at the upright young man outside conversing with Pei Sheng; indeed, after reaching the extremes of plainness, there emitted a sense of honesty.

In short, he looked like someone easy to bully.

Of course, even if he weren't a good person originally, now he had to be treated as one.

After all, it was clear from Themis's words—Xu Shuo probably couldn't beat this guy.

Well, if he couldn't be beaten, they'd just have to exploit him in other ways.

But this sudden turn of events made his once contented heart, content from acquiring the violin, tighten once more—and even more so than before!

It was rather irritating that his emotions could be so easily influenced and that his world now housed such advanced players.

...

...

Under the red overpass at Yuhua Dam.
Enjoy exclusive chapters from My Virtual Library Empire

"Hmm, the first place where the anomaly appeared..."

Shi, diligently investigating, peeked out from behind the trees in the forest, observing the scene not far off.

Unlike the desolate sight he had seen on his first visit, the area near the overpass now hosted ordinary world military encampments, and the position where the Abyss Rift had previously appeared was heavily guarded.

Furthermore, the hole he once filled was now excavated.

A gigantic pit covering hundreds of square meters had its vegetation completely uprooted, revealing a scorched, earthy hollow beneath.

When initially sealing that ten-centimeter-wide Abyss Rift, the commotion had blown up the entire expanse of the forest. To prevent the world's Order from being disrupted, he conjured an Illusory Realm right there.

Shi was confident that his Illusory Realm would not be easily seen through!

Even if someone suspected the place to be fake, they definitely couldn't break the Illusory Realm because everything from the soil to the plants would feel genuinely existent!

As the area's natural Order would eventually restore itself, the Illusory Realm would naturally dissipate in time.

But now...

Those people had gone straight ahead and dug up the Illusory Realm.

Scratching his head, Shi found the people of this world to be quite persistent. They had actually dug a hole tens of meters deep, despite the fact that the geological strata he created were quite simplistic.

Basically, beneath the soil was just more soil.

However, it was fortunate that there was indeed no Abyss presence in that place anymore; otherwise, those people might have dug themselves into oblivion.

After watching from behind the trees for a while, Shi turned and left, heading toward a nearby village to inspect it.

There were still remnants of the Abyss's influence in the village. After Shi purified the blackened areas, he headed to the Gangwan North subway station to take a look.

The Abyss residue in this place was gone, cleaned up thoroughly by the players who had fought there before.

Then, Shi unfolded a screen, connecting the three locations he had visited. The trajectory formed a "ヘ" shaped line, but he had not yet found any commonalities.

"Hmm, indeed, it seems more fitting to set up the defense line at the first anomalistic location, but there are quite a few people there now."

Muttering to the void, Shi focused his gaze.

After an Abyss invasion, the first step was to investigate the source, and if the Abyss erosion occurred frequently, then it was necessary to establish a defense line in that world.

Spatial defense lines were somewhat effective in suppressing Abyss erosion, but the downside was that it made the world more susceptible to being targeted by the Abyss.

After all, subspace extracted from the original world was like bait thrown to the Abyss; hence, to make the Abyss take the bait, the world itself definitely had to be concealed.

And once a spatial defense line was established, the Abyss would be like a cat smelling the scent of blood: Look! There's a world glowing!

There must be a trick to it, let's devour it!

...