There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

[The performance of "The Beautiful Legend of Prague" has concluded; the script settlement interface will now be entered.]

When Xu Shuo regained consciousness and opened his eyes, he was lying on the genuine leather sofa in his personal space. He paused for a moment, then subconsciously lifted his left wrist to take a look.

The red rose and the blue veins beneath his skin set each other off, now seeming even more conspicuous. From the other end of the mark, a faint response could be felt emanating from the opposite side.

Xu Shuo: "..." There really is a mark, huh.

It was one thing to have a mark, but it was quite another that this contract still actually existed after leaving the script.

Could it be because this time Cerys was a player, the contract simply brought both of them out of the script together?

That last system notification about game over, which didn't make any sense, was probably hinting that there would be an issue with that script, right?

With this thought in mind, Xu Shuo opened his "Performed Scripts" list to check.

Then he noticed that this script hadn't even put up a fight; it was already emblazoned with "Removed" as soon as he had left.

Well, that's unfortunate.

Xu Shuo didn't rush to check the script settlement. First, he blocked the soul mark's response, then he logged into the forum and searched for posts about "The Beautiful Legend of Prague."

In the script, there were five players: Traveling Poet, Archaeologist, Female Student, Climber, Hunter.

Okay, the poor Hunter really was a player.

He really was invaded by the Abyss taking advantage of the situation, only to be later intercepted by former player Steward Armand Ray. That must have caught the Abyss off guard.

The tasks designated for the five players did indeed qualify as cooperative tasks, with no oppositional elements.

The storyline was basically "unearthing Prague's story, opposing the steward, exterminating the Witch, fleeing the castle, destroying the Illusory Realm"—a full set of boss raid clearing procedures complete with plot and gameplay, truly a top-notch script!

Xu Shuo took out his notebook and jotted down the content.

After that, he searched for background stories on this script.

But since the "Director" wasn't active on the forums, or perhaps due to the forum's screening mechanism, Xu Shuo had to flip through many pages before finding the information he wanted.

"The Beautiful Legend of Prague" is a special script, one without a single living soul.

That doesn't seem quite right to say because besides the players, there are inherently no living people in the Subspace. It's better to say—there was no spirituality whatsoever.

Even Cerys was just an empty shell NPC inside.

According to an unnamed source, when the Director originally extracted this script, there hadn't been a battle or subjugation with the Evil Spirit inside.

The Director got lost and ended up by a lake in the forest, then stumbled upon a level three Mutant Script for free.

If Cerys's spiritual consciousness was really lingering there, the Director would have had to complete the story as with the "Green-skin Train," then fight off the mutant element inside to finish the script production. Enjoy exclusive chapters from My Virtual Library Empire

But this Mutant Script lacked such an operation.

Logically, that level three Mutant Script, which would send shivers down the spine of semi-new players upon hearing of it, shouldn't be that simple.

Xu Shuo frowned slightly.

He thought of a problem: Cerys could contract the souls of players.

But if Cerys herself lacked spirituality, then how could she possibly engage in a soul contract with the players? After all, a Soul Contract is bilateral.

And for a Mutant Script brimming with evil power such as this, the script was filled with nothing but empty shell characters, which is to say, it would be very easy for the Abyss to invade it!

Great, there's a person below the post that raised the same question as him.

Poster's response: [That's why I said it's a special script. You guys can't imagine what kind of being the Night Witch truly is.]

So, a fight broke out in the responses below the post.

Those who entered this script and stumbled would have their souls left behind, for all to see.

As for how the players' souls were retained, and whether the spirituality of the Night Witch was truly in the script, everyone had their own steadfast opinions, though most were criticizing the original poster for talking nonsense and click-baiting.

As for what the truth was, those players whose souls had been left behind couldn't come out to answer.

Having read for a while, Xu Shuo found that there wasn't much useful information afterward; the discussion had gradually turned into a flame war.

Xu Shuo wasn't too sure about the other matters.

But when he formed a contract with the Traveling Poet, he indeed used the Soul Contract method from Cerys's memories, which allowed the two of them to successfully sign a master-servant pact.

As for Steward Armand Ray…

Xu Shuo rubbed the mark that appeared on his wrist, lost in thought.

…

Forget it, better to ask someone later.

After browsing the forum for half a day without realizing it, Xu Shuo finally remembered to open the script settlement interface to check.

Instantly, a string of information listed out before him.

He lay on the sofa, shifted his position, and began to view it.

The performance points he received from this script were actually in the tens of thousands, which clearly showed that it was not a Second Level Script.

The upper limit for a Second Level Script starts with a three-digit number.

However, performance points were no longer a necessity that Xu Shuo strived for, since they could only be used to buy common, wholesale items in the store and were far less useful than credits.

Xu Shuo flipped through his settlement column to see what he had gained this time.

[Cerys Character Card: As the ultimate destination for an Evil Spirit, a Witch controlling blood and night, you should possess a powerful power of beguilement. When transforming into Cerys, you can use the "Fantasy Dream" ability to drag the target's consciousness into a void of dreamscape, what they encounter will be up to you.]

[Special Skill "Rose Sonata": Anyone who hears this song will be captivated by it. When using the Cerys Character Card, you can activate this skill to put targets who hear the melody into a hypnotic state.]

[Special Skill "Contract": Ignite your own flesh and blood along with your spirit, and sign a soul-deep contract with the target.]

[Special Artifact "The Silent Guardian": The soul of the Knight is dead, but he has left his armor to continue standing by your side.]

[Special Artifact "Witch's Heart": The only way to kill a Witch is to completely destroy her heart, but a Witch's heart will not be kept within herself, you must hide it in a place others would never think of.]

A row of information scrolled down, and the rewards were extremely generous, immediately invigorating Xu Shuo and causing him to sit upright!

Putting aside the doubts he had earlier, now his mind was filled with rewards.

Higher-level scripts indeed yield more gains!

Moreover, there was another linked skill; Xu Shuo found that most special skills seemed to be associated with Character Cards.

Although they seemed of little use at first glance, having many skills never burdened one!

However, while the previous rewards were somewhat understandable, the last one, "Witch's Heart," being an artifact, really made Xu Shuo pause for a while.

He directly took out the artifact to see if it was actually just a lump of heart.

What he took out instead was a small violin.

Xu Shuo raised an eyebrow, feeling not too surprised by this, after all, in the script, this was indeed Cerys's heart.

Who would have thought, she held her own heart in her hands every day to play the violin.

Xu Shuo placed the small violin on his thigh, then tentatively plucked the strings, immediately producing a scratching and raspy sound that squealed discordantly.

All right, he indeed had no musical talent.

Even if he still remembered how Cerys played the violin, without the muscle memory, he couldn't replicate it at all.

After Xu Shuo sent his spiritual power into it, he immediately knew how to use the artifact.

In simple terms, it was a one-time-use item.

You separate the essence of your life from your body and seal it inside the small violin; as long as the violin remains intact, your life will not end.

It was somewhat akin to a Lich's Horcrux.

However, Witches aren't as bug-like as Liches.

A Witch, before dying, at least has a body of flesh and blood, and only after withering does she transform into an Evil Spirit to continue clinging to life, but without a supplement of magic power, she would gradually weaken and eventually completely disappear.

If there is enough magic power, life can still be maintained by the "Horcrux"; death only comes by destroying her heart.

Even so, this artifact could already be considered a Divine Artifact.

Xu Shuo stared at the small violin, deep in thought.

…