One o'clock in the morning, reality, in Bai Liu's rental house.

Du Sanying had fallen asleep. Bai Liu and Tang Erda were squatting on either side of the coffee table, on which were piled a lot of documents.

There was an ashtray at Tang Erda's feet, with many cigarette butts extinguished in it. Tang Erda still had a burning cigarette between his lips. He frowned and looked at the information on the coffee table, then reached out and flipped over a copy: "These are the information about the owners of the Sunshine Building last year that I asked Su Yang to print out and send over just now."

"If your analysis is true, then the characteristics of the victims of this Sunshine Building are very consistent with the profile of the Russell Cemetery Association."

Tang Erda paused and said, "But one thing is very strange. If these people are really gamers, their life trajectories are really too..."

Bai Liu lowered his eyes and looked at the information: "A normal person now, right?"

Going to work, getting off work, eating, living, and taking vacations, there is almost no trace that this group of people are participating in a weird game behind the scenes. They are just a group of tired, ordinary people who are surviving.

"Yes, game players are more or less extreme and will try to use game items outside the rules of reality to escape the pressure and sanctions of reality, such as the Furious Lambs we encountered before." Tang Erda frowned, "But although this group of people have been under great pressure, they have no such signs at all."

"That's why we didn't find anything unusual when we investigated last year. They didn't look like gamers at all."

Bai Liu pulled out some information and looked down at it, asking as he read: "Captain Tang, if you were the owner of this property and entered the game, what would you do?"

Tang Erda was only slightly startled, and then answered without hesitation: "Use the points to redeem props to track the escaped developer and bring him back."

Bai Liu took out a copy of the document and placed it in front of Tang Erda: "Is that so?"

A newspaper copy was attached to the information: [The developer of Sunshine Property is suspected to have surrendered to the police, claiming that the embezzled funds were not in their hands and had long been transferred to an overseas shell company].

The news in the newspaper was dated last October, just after the end of the preseason and a month after the owners committed suicide by jumping off the building.

"After the developer surrendered, all his assets were mortgaged to fill the gap in Sunshine Real Estate, but it was far from enough, and he was finally sentenced to life imprisonment." Bai Liu raised his eyes and looked at Tang Erda, "Now the developer has been arrested, but it doesn't make any difference. You still have to pay back the loan every month, and you still have to work hard to accumulate points in the game to survive. What will you do next?"

Tang Er thought about it for a while, and he didn't know what to do for a moment. He felt lost and lost. He spoke slowly: "...I might continue to investigate the developer..."

But he stopped halfway through.

"There's no point in going after the developer. Even if you kill him, it won't help. It will just waste points. Once the money goes overseas, it's like a drop of water in the ocean. After three years, it's probably been washed away several times. The possibility of getting it back is too small." Bai Liu analyzed in a calm tone, "The only thing that can solve their predicament is money."

"The points earned from the game can be exchanged for money, but they are life-saving. They have to play the game once a week, so they probably don't dare to spend the points easily. They can only rely on work to earn money to pay off their mortgages."

Bai Liu looked at Tang Erda and said, "You are right. They are just ordinary people who just want to live an ordinary life. The extreme emotions brought about by the accident pushed them into the game."

"Games have not solved their problems, but have brought them a huge burden. Despair and pressure are like a snowball that keeps growing. Working and playing games at the same time is not a life intensity that a normal person can endure."

"They enter the game to escape reality, and they have nowhere to escape in the game, so they enter Russell Cemetery."

Tang Erda picked up a newspaper with a serious expression: "These people all have stable jobs, families, normal social connections, relatives and friends, and people who are facing the same problems. According to my understanding, even if they encounter some difficulties, they should not collapse so quickly and reach this point in three years."

Bai Liu looked at the black and white photos published in the newspapers. These were all people who jumped off the building last year. He spoke softly:

“It may not take three years to make a person collapse.”

"It's thirty years."

Bai Liu's eyes fell on a black-and-white photo of a man named "Wang Shuping". The newspaper caption next to it read "Loan for Thirty Years":

"Whether in the game or outside of it, a problem that lasts for three years may not be a big deal, but if there is no hope for thirty years, it is a huge test for ordinary people. There is still hope of repayment for mortgage loans, but there is no hope for games. I think this is the main reason for their mental breakdown."

Bai Liu looked at Tang Erda and said, "Not everyone has the resilience of Captain Tang. He was able to persevere even when there was no hope in the game for hundreds of worlds."

Tang Er was silent. He put out the cigarette butt beside his mouth, leaned on the sofa, closed his eyes and exhaled a puff of smoke, and suddenly asked: "Bai Liu, if you were the president of Russell Cemetery and you wanted to save these people, what would you do?"

"Do everything you can to win a competition." Bai Liu pulled out the information of the owners one by one and quickly browsed through it. "As long as you win a game, the problems of money and games can be solved at once."

"Points can be used to repay loans, can be used to solve the problems of ordinary people in the guild, and that wish——"

Bai Liu looked at Tang Erda and said, "I think the president wants to make a wish to get everyone out of this game."

"This is not a game where normal people can survive. Ordinary people will either go crazy or die in this game. If he wants everyone to survive, he must make everyone leave this game. There is no other way except to win a league."

"Such naive ideas show that he has never heard of Captain Tang's story. He must be a very young man." Bai Liu finally slowed down his search for the owner's information. He took out a sheet from the pile of owner's information, placed it on the coffee table, turned it 360 degrees, and pushed it in front of Tang Erda. "Captain Tang, can you find detailed information about this person?"

Tang Erda's eyes fell on the information Bai Liu handed him -

[2701 owners: Yuan Guang – leader of the Yangguang owner victims group].

The last day of the preseason and mid-season games, in the Wandering Circus meeting room.

Tang Er, who had been checking information all night last night, rubbed his temples and closed his eyes to rest. Bai Liu, who had been checking information until about four o'clock last night, supported his chin with his eyes half closed. Mu Sicheng, Liu Jiayi and Mu Ke had been waiting in the conference room for a long time. The three of them looked in good spirits.

Wang Shun pushed the door open and walked in. He looked around and took a deep breath: "Today's team is Russell Cemetery."

"Before we set out to view the pond, I have some good news for you all."

Wang Shun opened the system panel and said, "I've told you all before that after the last competition, President Bai's popularity ranking rose to 73, making him the first person on our team to have a death-free gold medal."

"And today, we have a second popular player with a get-out-of-jail-free status."

Wang Shun's eyes slowly shifted to Mu Sicheng: "Due to the lag effect of the last competition, plus Mu Shen's recent outstanding performance, the popularity has risen to 98. Congratulations, you have won a gold medal of immunity from death."

Mu Sicheng was stunned, as if he had not yet reacted. Then he suddenly clenched his fist and jumped up, shouting "yes!"

"I have stressed the importance of the Death Free Gold Medal to you many times. You should not only focus on the game at hand, but also think more about future games. If we win this game, we will compete with the eight guilds selected from the mid-season tournament in the challenge match."

"Today is also the last day of the mid-season tournament. Apart from today's game, based on the current points, the top eight guilds in terms of total points are -"

Wang Shun clicked on the system panel:

"Ranked first, killer sequence

Ranked second, King's Guild

Ranked third, Deer Hunter

Ranked fourth, Golden Dawn

Ranked fifth, Gambler's Alliance

Ranked sixth, Kabbalah

Ranked 7th, Heavenly Freemasonry

Ranked eighth, invisible cloak."

Wang Shun looked at everyone and said, "All of these eight teams are top-notch teams, and most of them are fully staffed. So even though we have already qualified for the playoffs, we can't let down our guard in today's game. We must not only win, but win beautifully to gain the support of the audience and strive to get all of our players to win the gold medal in this game."

"And in order to do this." Bai Liu slowly opened his eyes, "We must first interrupt the player with the mist skill."

“If the opponent successfully uses skills to cover the map and the audience’s vision, it will not only increase the difficulty of our game, but also prevent the audience from seeing the game situation, let alone gaining the audience’s support.”

Bai Liu stood up and looked around calmly: "Now that we are ready, let's go."

Everyone responded in unison: "Yes!"

Bai Liu turned and walked forward. Tang Er stood up and strode to Bai Liu's side. He turned his head and asked in a low voice: "You have been looking at the data all night. Have you figured out anything?"

"I didn't see anything." Bai Liu replied lazily, "Except that Yuan Guang and I are in the same business."

Tang Erda's expression froze, and he asked subconsciously, "In the same industry? Is he also a smuggler?"

"No." Bai Liu glanced at Tang Erda with a smile, "He is an artist."

the other end.

Yuan Guang sat on the bench nervously, shaking his legs. He clenched his hands into fists and took deep breaths continuously, but his face still turned purple.

Shi Qian, who was standing by, was both annoyed and amused. "As the leader of a group, can you act like a general when you go on stage? Is it reasonable for you to be so nervous?"

"From elementary school to college, and then to work, I have had to give speeches and introduce myself countless times..." Yuan Guang turned his head and looked at Shi Qian dimly, "Now when I go on stage and introduce my ideas as a lead artist, I get so nervous that I almost have difficulty breathing."

Seeing how pitiful Yuan Guang was, Shi Qian couldn't help but bring up the old topic again: "Two teams advanced in the preseason. Can they advance to the playoffs without playing against me? Why don't we just give up..."

"No!" Yuan Guang's voice suddenly calmed down. He looked at Shi Qian, "We must fight this battle."

"If we give up this game and go directly to the challenge match against the big guild, many team members will definitely die, and we may not win. The Wandering Circus is the guild with the most base funds we have encountered recently. The team members who have died and those who will die next need pensions, otherwise their families can't pay their mortgages. There are also many people who can't pay their mortgages this month. If we don't win this betting pool..."

Yuan Guang gritted his teeth and took a breath: "Anyway, I will definitely win this game!"

Shi Qian pretended to be unhappy and refuted Yuan Guang's words: "What do you mean by yours? The two of us will definitely win this game, okay!"

Yuan Guang was silent for a moment: "Thank you, we were just colleagues originally, and I dragged you into this."

Looking at the wandering circus troupe approaching from a distance, Shi Qian clenched her sweaty fists and exhaled: "Reality is about reality, and the game is about the game's relationship."

"We are standing here now." Shi Qian turned and smiled at Yuan Guang, "Then we are no longer colleagues, but comrades-in-arms!"

Shi Qian said confidently: "We will definitely win!"