The male supporting character was actually myself.

"I only have clothes in my own size, so you can make do with these for now. They're better than dresses." Jiang Chen handed Zhimeng a black casual suit, men's style.

Zhimeng took the gift, her face slightly flushed, and mustered her courage to say, "Thank you! I will try my best to complete the task and give you back the time as soon as possible!"

Liang Rumeng handed her a pair of sneakers, "These were left by Xiaotong, you can have them."

"Thank you, Auntie! Thank you all!" Zhimeng's eyes were slightly red, and she secretly resolved to try her best to survive and escape from this apartment with everyone.

Before returning to her room, Jiang Chen instructed Duan Chengze, "You can bring some other items in your backpack just in case. I have plenty of food and water here."

The other person gave a reassuring gesture and went back to their room.

Ten minutes later, Jiang Chen, who was lying on the bed, suddenly felt everything go black.

When I opened my eyes again, I saw myself and the other tenants standing in an open space, with a vast forest in front of us and a dark stone house behind us.

Everyone else was in high spirits and good condition, but Lin Yuan was disheveled, sleepy-eyed, and even without shoes or pants, wearing only a black T-shirt and boxer shorts.

He wasn't embarrassed at all, rubbing his face and muttering, "I only slept for four hours, damn it!"

Welcome to the "Darkness Falls, Please Close Your Eyes" instance. Players must find and kill the murderer within the time limit and leave the instance.

A line of large characters appeared above the open space.

All six of them kept their eyes glued to the screen, making sure they didn't miss any information.

Rule 1: Close your eyes when it gets dark. After dark, players' vision will be completely black.

Rule 2: The killer will randomly enter one of the rooms to commit the crime.

Rule 3: Clues to the killer are found on the body.

Rule 4: Keep quiet!

Rule 5: After the killer kills the selected target, a safe period begins. Players will be permanently unable to move; the killer will not harm anyone else.

Rule Six: All surviving players must be present when the killer commits the crime.

"The countdown is 168 hours, which means a total of seven days." Liang Rumeng said in a serious and sharp voice, "Rule four is very important. As long as you don't make a sound, you should be able to avoid being hurt."

The killer will definitely try to trick us into making a sound, so everyone remember to bite your lips until they bleed and don't make a sound!

As soon as she finished speaking, a woman dressed as a commoner in the Middle Ages walked over, looking at them with no unusual expression. "You must be the inspectors sent by the church? Please come with me, we have prepared clothing for you gentlemen."

The group of six followed her up the three-story wooden staircase and into the stone house.

The interior is spacious, with a simple yet sturdy triangular roof. The overall color scheme is dark, giving it a medieval feel.

In the middle is a hall, and at the far end there is a fireplace with leaping flames.

Various herbs, iron spatulas, and other items were hanging on the wall; below were cabinets made of black walnut wood.

The exposed stone walls, combined with tapestries, dim firelight, huge wooden wine barrels, and small stone statues on the stone table, create an atmosphere that is both mysterious and warm.

The woman leading the way pointed to the wooden door on the left, "This is where the ladies rest; the men's rooms are on the right. Three meals a day and water for washing will be delivered to you gentlemen."

I'll leave now without any further instructions;

If you need anything, just go to the back and call someone.

After she finished speaking, she lowered her head and walked away expressionlessly, leaving the six people looking at each other in bewilderment.

"It's set in the Middle Ages?" Duan Chengze couldn't help but chuckle. "Could the murderer be a werewolf?"

Jiang Chen carefully examined the furnishings in the room and then said, "When we go to the village to look for clues later, we need to pay close attention to the characteristics of the villagers."

Chapter Twenty-Five: Close Your Eyes When It Gets Dark (Part 2)

The bedroom is still decorated in a medieval style, heavy and with strong colors.

There were five beds in the room. Except for the bed at the very back, each of the other beds had a set of gray clothes and brand-new leather shoes on it.

The four people, including Lin Yuan, changed their clothes and took their respective beds.

Jiang Chen took number one on the far side; Duan Chengze took number two; Song Gang took number three; and Lin Yuan took number four.

Just as I finished changing my clothes, someone pushed open the door and came in, reeking of alcohol, muttering, "Those idiots, they can't do anything right. I've almost worn out my whip!"

This was a burly man about 1.9 meters tall, with sparse red hair but a thick red beard. He was probably in his forties, wearing the same clothes as them, and had the same badge on his shoulder.

The burly man sat down on his bed, the wooden bed creaking under the weight.

"You guys are so lazy, huh! I can't even get a proper night's sleep..." He glared at the four men, muttering angrily.

Seeing that no one paid him any attention, the burly man, reeking of alcohol, sat for a while and then turned and left.

"There's a stranger in our room," Zhimeng whispered to Jiang Chen as soon as they met. "She said her name was Avia, but she left without saying anything else. Are there any strangers over there?"

Jiang Chen nodded. "They should be the killer's targets. According to the rules, we need to find traces on the bodies after the killer commits the murder to deduce the killer and kill him in order to successfully escape the instance."

"Huh?!" The timid Dreamweaver was startled.

The thought of that living person being killed by the murderer that night made her heart pound.

"As long as we don't make a sound, we won't be harmed by the killer," Song Gang urged. "Hurry up and look for clues. When talking to other people, it's best to find out who we are first."

Liang Rumeng glanced at Jiang Chen and Duan Chengze and said seriously, "Are you two okay together?"

I'll familiarize myself with the rules of DedeCMS;

"Lin Yuan, what about you? Are you going with Song Gang?"

"I'm going to act alone." Lin Yuan glanced at Song Gang with a slightly upturned smile and took the lead in walking towards the street behind the stone house.

Liang Rumeng frowned slightly and warned her teammates, "This person looks sinister, you all need to be careful."

"Let's split up. I'll go for a walk in the woods." Song Gang looked around for a moment and then walked along the winding path into the dense forest.

In front of the stone hut is a pebble path that gradually turns into a narrow dirt path on the left and extends into the woods; on the right, it crosses a meadow and leads nowhere.

To the right and behind the cabin is a small village.

The slightly muddy road lay flat on the richly colored earth, with faint tire tracks and footprints visible.

“No footprints will be left on a gravel road,” Jiang Chen said softly. “That way, we won’t be able to determine which direction the murderer came from.”

Duan Chengze looked around the village. As far as the eye could see, there were stone houses and wooden houses. Every household had a small garden in front of their door planted with lush plants and flowers. The bright and vibrant colors diluted the oppressive feeling.

"Do you think it might be a werewolf?" he asked in a low voice.

Jiang Chen shook his head. "Talk to the villagers first to look for clues, but don't let personal biases get in the way."

Lin Yuan, who set off first, followed the village path toward the tallest, most pointed-roof church in the distance;

Liang Rumeng, accompanied by Zhimeng, struck up a conversation with a nearby peasant woman;

Jiang Chen and Duan Chengze parted ways in the village, one going east and the other west.

"Host, is there anything I can do to help?" the little white cat asked eagerly, rubbing its paws together.

"Go and check the locked rooms, see if there's a basement or a secret passage or anything like that."

The little white cat accepted the task and hopped into a small wooden house.

"What is this bucket used for?" Jiang Chen noticed a wooden bucket taller than a person in a farmer's yard and asked the farmer who was feeding sheep in the yard.

"Good morning, sir!" The farmer bowed to him upon hearing the question, and then respectfully replied, "Since the lumberjacks discovered the mine, a large amount of black oil has needed to be transported."

The Inspector General ordered that local materials be used to build barrels for transporting the black oil.

I know a little about making wooden barrels; I just finished this one last night.

After chatting for a few more minutes, Jiang Chen didn't get any more useful information.

"Everyone says the black oil is poisonous, but the adults ordered it to be collected. What can the villagers do? They can only risk their lives to do it. They get whipped every day and don't earn much money. Who would be willing to do that?" An elderly woman sat in front of the dilapidated hut, complaining in a hoarse voice.

“There are definitely wolves in the woods, but they’re quite far from the village.” A burly hunter was sharpening his knife and laughed heartily. “I’m a renowned hunter; those wolves don’t dare come near the village.”

That's why I avoided being conscripted to collect black oil.

That's no job for a human being, it's too hard!

"Sir, please walk around and look around. I'm going hunting in the woods."

……

Around noon, the group of six gathered in the main hall of the stone house.

After a morning of exploration, Song Gang discovered that the only places players could reach were villages, forests, and mines. Other places seemed to be isolated by invisible barriers; they could only see them but couldn't get out.

Duan Chengze found a piece of charcoal and a piece of parchment, and simply drew a map of the explorable area.

“Last month, farmers in the village discovered a mine shaft while cutting down trees. Inside, there was a thick, flammable black oil,” Liang Rumeng summarized. “I didn’t go to see it, but I guess it was oil.”

The village priest reported the matter to the church.

We are public officials sent by the church to supervise the collection of black oil.

During the day, most of the villagers were conscripted to work in the mines; it was more like coercion than conscription. After all, the villagers considered oil a bad thing and didn't want to touch it.

Duan Chengze nodded and said, "No wonder the strong man in our room said the whip was almost worn out. It seems things aren't going well in the mine."

“Our identities are those of monitors, but we don’t actually participate in the work.” Zhimeng guessed timidly, “The other two are the actual executors. Could it be that they were targeted and killed by the murderer because of that?”

“That’s a very interesting idea,” Jiang Chen encouraged her. “When you interact with the villagers again this afternoon, you can explore that idea further.”

When DedeCMS received the praise, her face flushed slightly, and she nervously rubbed her hands together.

Song Gang scratched his head, slightly embarrassed, and laughed, "I went to the woods and saw the mine, but the problem is I've never seen what oil looks like. Black oil looks quite viscous and smells a bit pungent, so it's no wonder the villagers resist it."

Whether it was because there were two inspectors with whips present or for some other reason, the atmosphere in the mine was very tense; almost no one spoke, everyone was focused on their work.

The clues gathered in the morning were not many. After the group finished speaking, they all looked at Lin Yuan, who had been silent all along.

"You've all said your piece, I have nothing more to say." He shrugged, fiddling with a dagger he'd found somewhere, brandishing it in his hand.

Liang Rumeng clearly disapproved of his behavior and coldly told Zhimeng, "Let's go to the room to rest and have something to eat. We still need to continue collecting clues this afternoon."

Chapter Twenty-Six: Close Your Eyes When It Gets Dark 3

Dreamweaver obediently followed the old lady into the room;

Jiang Chen handed some food to Duan Chengze; Song Gang also silently took out compressed biscuits to prepare for dinner.

"I'm sorry, gentlemen, lunch is a little late." The peasant woman who had led them in that morning brought in a pottery dish, steaming hot and emitting a strong aroma, like some kind of soup.