In Virtual Reality

two girls while the rain continued to pelt down.
Another familiar face emerged from the faceless crowd: a male student clutching a pink umbrella, pushing his glasses up his nose, and scanning the surroundings with an anxious gaze as if searching for someone.
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Suddenly, a pink figure darted past the black-robed figure and dashed under the umbrella held high by the male student.
She wore a pleated skirt and beamed at him as she spoke.

Tian Si De and Fang Wen Wen…

The girl inside the umbrella giggled and gazed at the camera with deer-like eyes, slightly widened.
She pointed excitedly in the dark figure's direction and patted the boy beside her.
The black-robed figure strode on, ignoring the girl's elated expression and continuing ahead.
The girl's face shifted from elation to confusion to annoyance as she attempted to turn around and pursue the person.
Someone behind her intervened, preventing the girl from lunging at the black-robed figure.

The scene was so entertaining that Xu Jin Yi couldn't help but burst out laughing.

The scene was awash with familiar faces – Shen Jia, Xu Qin, Peng Jia Lang, Ah Ma, Long Xiao Hui, and more.
They were the new cast of characters in «Death Notice.»

As Xu Jin Yi followed the path of the black-robed figure, he thought it would carry on without incident.
But then, it stopped abruptly, and the shadow crossed its path.
That's when he saw her, a girl with a green tea leaf pinned to her chest.
She stood silently, waiting for the figure to pass by.

Suddenly, the girl raised her right hand, bent her thumb twice, and pointed directly at the figure.
Her eyes closed, and a smile lit up her face as her body gradually became transparent, fading away until she disappeared from view.
The camera panned back to the black-robed figure and continued forward.

Xu Jin Yi pressed the screen and realized that only one and a half minutes had passed.
She scanned the surroundings, and to the side and in front of the figure were Huang Yang, a deliveryman on his electric bike, and Zeng Zhi, who walked quickly with a camera in hand.
Both men glanced briefly at the figure before returning to their own affairs.

Then a couple, hidden beneath a large black umbrella, approached the figure.
Although their faces remained obscured, Xu Jin Yi could sense their gentle and inquisitive tone as they spoke to the figure.
She assumed the figure would stop, but instead, it lifted its head, gazed briefly at the couple, shook its head, and sidestepped them, moving forward in the pouring rain, undeterred by anyone.

Until someone finally grabbed them.

Xu Jin Yi jumped at the sudden appearance of a hand as if the production team had allowed a player to break the dimensional barrier, make it seem first POV and reach out to grab the Shenanigans figure.
But as the camera pulled back, revealing the figure's face, Xu Jin Yi's surprise turned into shock.

“Bloody hell!!” she exclaimed, unable to contain her astonishment.

The sight before her was too much to bear.

“Players default avater?!” she gasped.

The person holding onto the hem of the black robe smiled with a sense of impending victory.
But their once-handsome face twisted with a grotesque expressions.

【I suspect my enemies,】 came the voice of the black-robed figure from the video, still not turning around.
The person holding the robe suddenly looked panicked and disappeared like a shattering mirror.

【I feel tired,】 the black-robed figure's voice continued without any hint of emotion.

【As I suspect everything, the world is suspecting me.】

**

The three-minute video ended, leaving Xu Jin Yi staring blankly at the pitch-black screen.
Would the game website really make the black-robed figure the protagonist? It appeared that they aimed to unify all games with novel characters and forge a new, amalgamated worldview.
She closed the video and focused on the developer who had posted the thread.

The ID was distinct, with the game website's official gold mark as its suffix.

But once she clicked it, she found that the moderator had only published this single thread.
The official introduction was: “The production team for the game «Homecoming»?” This person was not only a game website moderator but also a part-time game developer? However, after a quick search on the official website, she discovered that «Homecoming» was still in production and had yet to be launched.

Xu Jin Yi followed “Yu Zheng Yi,” the moderator's name, and pocketed her phone.

“…”

“…”

Had she pressed the elevator button?

It had been at least three minutes.
Could the elevator still not have arrived?

Xu Jin Yi lifted her head and gazed at the electronic screen.

【888】

“What on earth?”

Her mind still hazy, she glimpsed a scarlet flash behind her in the elevator's glistening surface.

Was it…
a balloon?

Abruptly, she spun around, only to hear an ear-splitting blast.
Red balloon debris scattered soundlessly onto the floor.

The elevator door behind her emitted a distorted ding.
Xu Jin Yi spun around once more.
On the 888th floor, a grotesque, painted clown face appeared outside the elevator doors, flickering with an eerie glow.

“Surprise–“

“Eeeeeek!!!”

Xu Jin Yi shrieked, jutting out her tongue and throwing a punch.
Her forceful fist collided with the painted face through the narrow crevice, causing a resounding thud reverberating in the confined space.