Chapter 369

Chapter 369

Raj was genuinely shocked.

"Why... you..." he stammered, "How could you possibly..."

Jian Jing said calmly, "I guessed."

Kumiko Terauchi asked curiously, "Could you explain your reasoning?"

"Mrs. Dan is a housewife. If her lover was an outsider, she would have to go out frequently, making it hard to hide from Dan's eyes. So it would be more convenient to choose someone closer as the thrill."

Jiang BaiYan looked up and said gloomily, "Thrill? You're not right."

Jian Jing pretended not to hear and continued, "There were not many eligible choices. The eldest son is neither young nor handsome, and he still hasn't had a child—Mrs. Dan probably wants a child to inherit more of the property. The third son is an unreliable playboy, not a top choice for health reasons. That leaves only the son-in-law and the doctor."

Raj asked, "Why me?"

"You have a motive. Getting close to Mrs. Dan, you could ask her to help investigate the truth about your father, which the son-in-law would not have. As an outsider, if he was caught by Dan, he would likely lose his marriage, with high risk and little gain—a man might not take that chance."

Min-cheol Park said, "Just based on such a guess?"

"No, it's not a guess, just gossip," Jian Jing said frankly. "The basis for my guess is the love letter Mrs. Dan received, which was from Tagore, and the doctor's room had his poetry collection, so I just took a random guess."

As a Chinese literature student, she rarely used her expertise in reasoning, so she finally got to show off her knowledge this time.

Kumiko Terauchi cleared her doubts and admitted admiringly, "Your guess is correct, that's exactly how it is."

Jian Jing asked curiously, "Did you know about Raj too?"

"He told me," Kumiko Terauchi smiled. "But I'm not the killer."

"Jian, I have a question," Wataru Kojima suddenly spoke up. "Is it possible that the real killer only discovered the secret room after the fact, rather than already knowing about it?"

Jian Jing nodded, "That possibility can't be ruled out, but if the killer had time to search through things after the murder, looking for something, that would be too bold. So if it were me, I would further suspect those who already knew about the secret room."

Wu Lie asked, "Who would know about the secret room?"

"Many people," Jian Jing pondered. "Let me remind everyone, don't just focus on those two possibilities, it can limit your thinking. It's possible someone saw the blueprints of the secret room and learned its location that way. To find the killer, we still need to start from the case itself."

Wataru Kojima said, "Jian is right."

But Ishikawa spoke up, "We should also analyze the killer's intent—why did he lure Raj into committing the murder?"

Connor Lee also agreed with this line of thinking, analyzing from a game perspective, "The first goal was to kill Linnaer. She might have had unfavorable information about him."

Kumiko Terauchi said, "Looking at the consequences, Raj is out of the picture, and Ishikawa is under suspicion."

However, Valeriya raised a new angle, "Is it possible the real killer wanted to mislead us, reducing his own suspicion?"

"Yes, that's also very possible," Liu Sau-chi asked. "Who, other than the family members, would know about Raj's revenge and the secret room?"

Andrei said, "Outsiders probably wouldn't know."

"Then it's the uncle, nephew, brother-in-law, niece, and fiancée," Connor Lee looked at them.

Jiang BaiYan commented sarcastically, "Looking at it directly, that group is suspicious. Looking at it inversely, that group is suspicious. In summary, everyone is suspicious."

Jian Jing almost burst out laughing.

But she also understood their choice. The spotlight for reasoning had mostly been taken by her and Wataru Kojima, so the others had to participate in the reality show in their own way.

Since they couldn't compete in reasoning, they might as well play the game.

Like playing poker, like Werewolf, using the mindset of games to play the game is also a valid approach.

"If we go by the inverse suspicion, then I can't explain it anymore," she said amiably, providing an opportunity to change the direction, then glanced at her watch. "If there's nothing else, I'll go rest."

Zhang Xue'er wasn't particularly close with her, but as the two Chinese women, they could still chat. "So early?"

Jian Jing took out a small mirror and examined her face. "No choice, my makeup is coming off."

Zhang Xue'er said, "Didn't you use a setting spray?"

"It always makes my face feel too tight," Jian Jing carefully wiped her eyelids with her fingertips. "The double eyelid stickers are also uncomfortable after wearing them for a long time."

She originally thought the hardest part of participating in a reality show would be socializing, but she had no problem diving into the game like it was a case to solve. Instead, wearing makeup for over ten hours a day had become quite a burden.

Yesterday, she even wore false eyelashes, but today she gave up completely.

Zhang Xue'er encouraged her, "You'll get used to it."

"Tomorrow is the last day," Jian Jing finally couldn't bear it and tore off the double eyelid stickers, immediately feeling much better. "I'm going back to wash my face and shower. See you tomorrow."

"See you tomorrow."

--

On the live streaming platform, in the comments:

[Hahaha, Jian the teacher has such a big difference before and after!]

Ran-er Kim's room.

She stretched her body, bending forward as far as possible into a difficult yoga pose.

After 30 seconds, she released and moved to the next set.

--

Min-cheol Park's room.

The desk lamp was on, and he flipped through the half-written notebook, tracing lines of clues on the blank pages. His brow was furrowed, occasionally biting the pen as if stuck on a puzzle.

--

Wataru Kojima's room.

He was drawing. Any anime fans watching would surely be delighted - the mangaka who had missed a few episodes was finally illustrating the new installment of the series.

--

Kumiko Terauchi's room.

She was asleep, her even breathing indicating a decent slumber.

--

Hiroto Ishikawa's room.

He had also chosen a cassette tape, but not Teresa Teng's - it was Sayuri Ishikawa's "Evil Woman."

Ah, what a nostalgic era, he thought.

--

Valeriya's room.

She pointed her toes, slowly lowering her legs. After a while, she switched legs.

Though the simplest of movements, she carried an unparalleled elegance and beauty.

--

Andrei's room.

He had vodka for company.

--

Connor Lee's room.

He lounged in an expensive silk pajama set, flipping through a notebook. The soft rustle of pages had a soothing effect - soon, the lights were out.

--

A private room on the live streaming platform.

Host: "Hello everyone, I'm Daniel. Yes, I died, but I'm alive again. Fortunately, I'm not the only one who's had this experience. Linnaer, why don't you say hello?"

Linnaer: "Good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I'm Linnaer, an unfortunate soul who was killed for no apparent reason."

Host: "I imagine the audience has many questions for you."

Linnaer: "If you want to know who the real killer is, I'm sorry, I truly have no idea."

Host: "What was it like to be killed?"

Linnaer: "It caught me completely by surprise. Around 1am, I was suddenly woken up. The staff told me I'd been killed. Oh my, what a nightmare."

Host: "Did you ever suspect Raj might try to harm you?"

Linnaer: "There were suspicions, given my character's unsavory past in the story. For that, I'm very sorry. No matter the reason, one cannot disregard the value of life."

Host: "Do you think the real killer thought you knew something, which is why they had Raj kill you?"

Linnaer: "To be honest, I don't know what I knew."

Host: "Or perhaps you had some secret you didn't share with anyone?"

Linnaer: "Oh, yes, the day before yesterday around 11pm, I went to see Dan. He was still alive then."

Host: "It seems I wasn't dead yet at that point. Oh, allow me to explain to the viewers - as the first person to die, I also don't know who killed me. I recorded a few audio clips that would automatically delete if my avatar was tampered with. Once played, they'll be deleted too, so there's no way to determine the time of death from them.

"As for Linnaer, her death process was initially written by the killer and submitted for review by the consultant. Raj made a mistake here - the drug dosage he specified wasn't enough to subdue an adult, so 'Linnaer' woke up midway and tried to escape. In the 10-second response window, Raj ultimately chose to kill her outright."

He played the consultant's response video, explaining the case setup process.

Linnaer: "So the show still doesn't know who the killer is?"

Host: "That's right, we don't know either. It's absolutely fair for everyone."