There's definitely something wrong with this murder mystery game

Qiming Orphanage was a huge estate, a three-story building constructed in an ancient European style, with vast courtyards and lawns both in front and behind it.

Outside the orphanage was a spacious tree-lined path. With the autumn wind soughing and the sky covered by endless dark clouds, the desolate atmosphere highlighted the manor shrouded in darkness, making it extremely eye-catching.

Six people stood at the rusty iron gate.

From their attire, their professions likely included a journalist, a photographer, two social workers, and a couple.

Even though the building in front of them hardly looked like it was inhabited by normal people, they did not turn to leave.

Perhaps they had some compelling reasons to enter.

[Side Quest One: Enter Qiming Orphanage.]

The female journalist had an indescribable expression as she glanced at the cold, quiet, desolate, and dilapidated orphanage devoid of any liveliness. Then she put on gloves, stepped forward, and took out a small booklet from the open mailbox at the entrance of the orphanage.

"Qiming Charity Hall Visit Manual".

1. Please do not visit Qiming Orphanage unless necessary.

2. If you must visit, do not attempt to enter the orphanage through other means. Please ring the doorbell at the main entrance and wait for the main gate to open before entering.

3. Do not knock, do not shout, do not press the doorbell.

4. If you must press the doorbell, please close your eyes immediately after ringing it and wait for ten seconds. After ten seconds, you may open your eyes and enter Qiming Orphanage.

...

This booklet, the size of a standard notebook, contained at least seven or eight pages.

Seven or eight pages filled with rules that were incomprehensible and sometimes even contradictory.

The female journalist briefly scanned these rules, then turned back to the others who were also looking at the manual, and tried to force out a smile, "How about, before we go in, we split up into groups, two in each team?"

A lot of side quests meant this might be a mechanics-driven book, and in some cases, it might require cooperation to get through.

Upon hearing this, the couple reacted, and the woman stroked her hair before speaking, "What's there to divide? You acquaintances in one team, we acquaintances in another, simple as that."

The others looked at each other, and none of them objected.

Not only were the professions distributed evenly, but the six people's genders were also well-matched.

Three men and three women: the female journalist and the male photographer, the two social workers, and the couple. This lineup indeed saved the effort of regrouping and also prevented any disputes.

"So now…"

The female journalist glanced at the others and use her eyes to motion towards the orphanage's main entrance, "Who wants to go ring the doorbell?"

As her words fell, silence ensued.

Because of the third rule in the booklet, none of them wanted to be the one to test the waters.

"Hey—!"

Just then, a shout suddenly came from the end of the tree-lined path, startling the six people into quickly looking over to see a middle-aged man in a sky-blue police auxiliary uniform running towards them.

Seeing him, everyone was taken aback.

Another person?!

"Hey, you all got here pretty quick, huh? I just got the message and rushed over here right away, whew, I'm exhausted!" The police auxiliary stopped near them, then bent over, hands on his knees, panting heavily.

"Excuse me... who are you?" the female journalist asked tentatively.

"Huh? I'm from the local authority office, aren't you the ones who made the appointment saying you wanted to visit the Qiming Charity Hall? Of course, I had to follow!" he said, looking at them quizzically.

"Oh! Yes, yes!"

The female journalist quickly agreed and glanced at the others. Then she smiled at the police auxiliary, "So, are you going to open the door for us?"

But the police auxiliary pointed towards the open mailbox beside the gate, "Open the door? Just grab one of those booklets in the mailbox for each of you, check it out, and make sure to follow the rules during your visit. And don't you dare violate them, or you'll bear the consequences!"

As he uttered that last sentence, the middle-aged police auxiliary's eyes turned sharp, shooting a piercing look at the six people with varying expressions.

Seeing this, the female journalist quickly held up the booklet she had, "We've seen it, we've all seen it!"

The auxiliary policeman glanced at the booklet in their hands before walking up to the rusted and decaying manor gates, raising his hand to the red circular doorbell beneath the door plaque.

The group stared intently at his movements, and just as he was about to press the bell, he abruptly closed his eyes!

"Ding-ling—"

An ethereal and refreshingly distant sound began to ring out, carrying far, but gradually, the bell's tone mysteriously shifted lower and became thicker, then slowly sharp.

It was still the same melody, but the tone was completely different, as if something were hysterically tearing at vocal cords, extremely piercing and uncomfortable to the ear!

Ten seconds felt incredibly long yet seemed very brief as three different timbres revolved around in everyone's minds.

With their eyes tightly shut, they did not see that at that moment, the manor gates suddenly twisted and turned, transforming into a giant eye!

The sclera of that eye was pitch black, and within the darkness seemed to be interweaving something vile and chaotic; its pupil was like flowing filth, emanating unspeakable malice, staring straight at the people before the gate.

After a while, the eye abruptly distorted and vanished, reverting back to the open iron gate.

"Come in now,"

the voice of the auxiliary policeman rang out in their ears.

The female reporter's palms were entirely covered in cold sweat, her body trembling slightly.

Upon hearing the voice that seemed like a gift from heaven, she almost couldn't wait to open her eyes, though she did it with a tentative, extremely cautious manner.

After seeing the gate before her, the female reporter's chest, heaving violently, gradually calmed down.

Just a moment ago, she had felt an incredibly terrifying gaze!

That feeling had even penetrated her mind, opening a pair of blurred eyes in her consciousness, staring at her "eyes" as if piercing straight through her heart!

She tried desperately to avert her gaze from it, but the line of sight that had seeped into her consciousness was inescapable!

It was staring at her from all directions, from every aspect of her awareness, from all imaginable thoughts!

At that moment, she even felt she was about to go mad from this relentless and horrifying stare!

Thankfully, ten seconds passed quickly. Continue reading at My Virtual Library Empire

The female reporter glanced at the others nearby and then at her own position; she quietly moved her feet, deciding to never stand in the middle again!

By this time, the auxiliary policeman had already entered the manor and stood opposite them, watching them.

This time, the male photographer walked in front, being the first to step into the manor, followed closely by the others, with the couple entering last.

"Clang!"

As soon as everyone was inside, a violent crash came from the door, and they instinctively looked back to see the gates had already closed again.

What was more terrifying was that the shaded path and the outside scenery had disappeared, replaced by a foggy darkness.

[Side Task One: Enter Qiming Orphanage (Completed).]

[Side Task Two: The swing in the yard.]

The second side task appeared.

Indeed, this was a system with multiple side tasks.

Such side tasks were generally meant to assist the main task.

In theory, as long as they followed the side tasks, they could gather all necessary information and ultimately succeed in the main task—[Find out the truth behind the disappearance of Qiming Orphanage].

So the second side task now presented by the system was akin to the second clue.

But the problem was, the rules in the Qiming Charity Hall Visit Manual, which they received before entering, stated—do not approach the swing in the yard, do not touch it, and certainly do not sit on it.

Great, the manual tells us not to do something, but the system demands it all, doesn't it!

Combining the player tasks with the orphanage rules, everyone had only one thought: What exactly do you want from me?!

...