0p0 Chapter 97: A chilling plot
Chapter 97: A chilling plot
"What are you all talking about?"
A passerby who had just entered the live stream, ready to unleash a torrent of abuse, was stunned by the comments: "What's with all this 'game core' and 'story core' stuff?"
Did he miss some crucial plot point?
Wasn't "Reunion" being criticized and attacked before? Why are all the comments praising "Reunion" now? Have the First Legion's hired trolls finally started working?
Finally, Chronicle's fans, feeling triumphant, kindly answered his question: "Of course it's because although Chronicle hasn't finished the game yet, she has already pieced together the backstory based on the clues she has!"
"How was it recreated?" Latecomers were very curious.
Fans began to give examples one by one:
"When you first enter the game, those flyers advertising low-priced rentals are meant to lure people into living in tenement buildings."
"Everyone knows the food in 'Reunion' is inedible, right? But have you ever wondered why it was designed that way?"
"—So that you can't escape."
"Once you start eating the food delivered from the tenement building and become addicted to it, you won't want to leave."
"The evidence is this: if you refuse to eat, you'll find that all the NPCs want to give you food and keep inviting you to their homes, and the frequency will increase."
"All of this is so that you can stay and become their food."
Players who had played the game saw the comments and suddenly realized: "No wonder something felt off! Come to think of it, after we entered the game, Aunt Wang and all that never asked us for rent! They just took us to their house to stay! At first, I thought the way they rented houses in this background story was different from ours, but it turns out it's because they weren't asking for rent at all!"
"That's right, we tenants are just pigs and sheep waiting to be slaughtered! Compared to the value we tenants can generate, what are the rents worth...?"
"What does 'the value that tenants can generate' mean?" The tourists who originally intended to curse and argue were completely attracted by the discussion in the live stream and couldn't help but ask the question.
"This brings us to those doors in the tenement building that were always locked."
"You don't mean to mean...?"
"Yes, those locked doors are for disobedient tenants."
"Holy crap!" one viewer exclaimed. "Those who obeyed ate the food and had no more thoughts of escaping; those who disobeyed were locked in a room, waiting to be slaughtered."
"The ending always seems to be death, no, this game is unplayable!"
"Why not just find an opportunity to sneak away and escape?" someone asked naively.
"It's no use. Do you think those big dogs at the gate are just for show? If no one from the apartment building takes you out, you'll just get torn to pieces if you try to sneak out on your own!"
"Of course, you shouldn't think that you can avoid renting a room in a tenement building from the beginning."
"Because Xiao Qi will punish you—"
"As long as you don't reach the apartment building within the specified time, Xiaoqi will appear nearby and ask you to play with him."
"If you play with him, he will thank you by taking you home with him; if you don't play with him or don't want to go home with him, Xiao Qi will burst into tears, attracting all the NPCs in the tenement building, saying that you are bullying him, and you will still be taken away by the NPCs and locked in those locked rooms."
"Holy crap, is Xiao Qi really that bad?!"
"Haven't you all noticed how close Xiaoqi is to the big dog by the door? Doesn't that say something?!"
"No, this story sounds pretty ordinary, just a little bit bizarre. What are you guys even raving about?!"
"...The person who said Xiao Qi is bad didn't watch the whole thing, did they? Xiao Qi did all this for his sister!"
"Of course, I'm not trying to whitewash Xiao Qi. He's definitely a villain for luring people into the tenement building, no doubt about it. But the reason he keeps luring people back is mainly due to the sins of his father!"
"What do you mean? Explain it in detail!"
"Everyone knows that Xiaoqi has a younger sister named Xiaoyi, right?"
"Simply put, Xiaoqi's younger sister, Xiaoyi, is seriously ill and can only stay at home. Didn't some people wonder why we haven't seen Xiaoyi in the game? It's because she's sick and has been staying at home."
"—These are all written in Xiao Qi's diary, not Chronicle's deductions, so they should all be accurate clues that can be directly trusted."
"Because Xiao Yi's illness is very troublesome and can't be cured, it has cost a lot of money. Xiao Qi's wicked father doesn't want to treat her anymore and wants to sell Xiao Yi to get money."
"I won't go into how to change it, it's disgusting, I'm afraid Chronicle's live stream will be banned."
"In order to prevent his sister from being sold, Xiaoqi told his father that he would find a way."
"And then he went outside and tricked someone into coming in to replace his sister?" Some viewers guessed the ending of the story.
"Yes. After all, people are generally less wary of children. Think about it: if you were walking down the street and suddenly encountered a child who wasn't even as tall as your waist crying, or asking you for a small favor, would you help them?"
"!!! This is terrifying to think about! I've imagined it, and it seems like I might actually help."
"I would too. I'm mainly more cautious with adults, but with children, I feel like I can just leave."
"Xiaoqi uses this kind of psychology to deceive people. By the time you realize something is wrong and try to escape, Xiaoqi has already led you to a place where other adults are present, and by then you can't escape."
"At first, Xiao Qi only tricked one person into coming back. Judging from his diary, Xiao Qi really thought that he had brought back someone to replace his sister, and that would be the end of it, and his sister would not be sold."
"Little did they know, Xiao Qi's actions revealed a new way for greedy adults to make money..."
"I... I think I know what's going to happen next..."
"Me too... whenever an adult is mentioned as 'greedy,' I know what's going to happen..."
"That's right. Xiaoqi's father got a taste of success and started using Xiaoyi to threaten Xiaoqi, forcing him to continue luring people over."
"If Xiaoqi fails to deceive anyone, that beast will beat and kick Xiaoqi and his mother... Xiaoqi's mother was blinded by that beast!"
"Xiao Yi escaped death purely because that beast was worried that if he punched Xiao Yi, she would die and he would have no tool to threaten Xiao Qi into obeying him."
"So, for the sake of his mother and sister, Xiaoqi had no choice but to keep luring people into the tenement building and then selling them."
"Wait a minute, did I say something wrong? Why is it 'sell' instead of 'eat'?"
"That's right, it was indeed sold at first. Chronicle found a ledger under Xiaoqi's TV, which was full of the numbers of the people who were sold, the codes of the buyers, and the prices."
"So how did it turn into being eaten?"
"Because Xiaoqi's sister still died..."
"!!!"
"Wait, wait a minute... what's the connection between these two...?"
"You guys remember the promotional video, right?"
"I remember, what's wrong with the promotional video?" It was just showing the story background and the food in the game, right?
"Didn't the promotional video say that Xiaoqi is going home to celebrate his sister's birthday?"
"But in the promotional video, there is only the father opening the door, the mother setting out dishes with her back to the camera, and a table full of freshly cooked dishes."
"So, where is Xiao Yi, the birthday girl?"
"???"
"!!!"
"???!!!"
"Don't scare me! Is what you're trying to say... what I think it means?!"
"I regret to inform you—"
"Yes, that's exactly what you mean. It's that utterly depraved and perverted!"
"!!!"
"I can't take it anymore! I'm feeling some discomfort in my heart, I urgently need a medical pod!"
"But why?! Didn't they say that Xiaoqi's father was going to use Xiaoyi to threaten Xiaoqi?"
"It wasn't written in this diary, but according to Chronicle's speculation, Xiao Yi probably died because of her health. After all, it makes sense, since Xiao Qi's beastly father wanted to 'make use of' Xiao Yi, he certainly wouldn't spend money to treat her illness."
"Xiao Qi is just a child. The people he swindles probably won't even get a penny. And his mother has to stay at home because of her eyesight. His beastly father is the one who calls the shots in the whole house."
"By the way, there's another rather chilling speculation, I don't know if I should say it... Chronicle hesitated for a long time when it made its own conjecture."
"Ah, I know which one you're talking about... When Chronicle made his deduction, I'm not exaggerating, my hair stood on end. I wouldn't recommend it to people with weak stomachs... It's really disgusting and terrifying."
"What?! What?!"
"Now that you mention it, I'm even more curious!"
"Okay, I told you, don't blame me if you suffer later—"
"Based on the promotional video, we can basically conclude that Yi has become food on the table, right? So the question is, who turned Yi into food?"
"Wait, you're not talking about... Xiaoqi's mother, are you? No way?! Isn't she a complete victim?!"
"She's a complete victim, no doubt about it, but the problem is—"
"Xiaoqi's mother's eyes weren't damaged by domestic violence, were they? She was almost blind, wasn't she?"
"Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! Holy crap! Stop talking! I'm getting goosebumps!"
"You don't mean that Xiaoqi's mother, completely unaware, mistook her daughter for dinner tonight, and then Xiaoqi came back excitedly wanting to celebrate her sister's birthday?"
"Yes, after all, if Xiaoqi's beastly father gives Xiaoqi's mother a piece of meat and simply says it's for tonight's meal, can you expect a blind person to tell... what kind of meat it is?"
"Moreover, judging from the promotional video, those neighbors probably also received a lot of meat, so the meat given to Xiaoqi's mother must have been only a portion, making it even harder to tell..."
"Waaaaah, I can't take it anymore! Just listening to my mental energy level drop is terrifying! I can't even imagine how scary it would be if this were a game!"
"It's not over yet... Didn't Chronicler once tell Aunt Wang that he wanted to leave the tenement building and go outside? Aunt Wang said there were crazy people outside who would attack people with kitchen knives."
"Chronicler deduced from the clues that the person was most likely Xiaoqi's mother."
"She probably went crazy after discovering her daughter was missing, and then searched for her in the neighborhood. She knew this apartment building was full of bad people, so she started slashing anyone she saw with a knife."
"And then what?! Holy crap, this plot is so exciting! I'm going to download a game and try it out!"
"The rest of the plot is based on Xiaoqi's diary. When Xiaoqi came back and found his sister missing, he immediately questioned his father and was then beaten severely by him. In the middle of the night, when his father was drunk and asleep, Xiaoqi killed him. This is the original text from the diary. I was so shocked when I read it that I remembered it. I'll roughly retell it to you—"
"I divided my dad into portions and sent them to the neighbor uncle, Aunt Wang downstairs, and the big dog at the door. Everyone ate happily and asked me where the meat came from."
I told them that my dad had sent it, and the uncles and aunts praised my dad for being generous.
Since the uncles and aunts like it so much, let them keep eating it like this...
"Brothers, the word 'shock' doesn't even begin to describe how I feel..."
"Holy crap, so this is the ultimate reason why these NPCs love eating 'meat' so much? I thought they were just psychopaths!"
"It's not wrong to call the other NPCs in the tenement building perverts. After all, even if Xiao Qi's father was just working alone at first, he obviously turned it into an industry chain later. He definitely couldn't handle it all by himself. It's obvious where his accomplices came from."
"This story background is so rich! This is the first time I've seen a game with such a complex plot, and it's not the usual formula of monster invasion, virus spread, and everyone seeking revenge and struggling to survive!"
"That's right, especially since none of these plot points were told to you by NPCs; you have to piece together the clues and deduce them bit by bit!"
"So this is a story about a little boy who helps his sister avenge her death, and it also serves as a warning to be wary of strange children and not to easily trust them just because they are young... Isn't the core of this story quite rich? It even has educational value!"
"So why did some people criticize the game 'Red Dress' for lacking any core elements, only being disgusting and terrifying?"
"Could it be that they're just not good enough to play that deeply?"