Cleared

The small episode ended with Mr. Simpson almost being left behind.

Luckily for him, his nerves were quite tough and he didn't pass out. They were also almost in the car so he was able to catch up with a burst of adrenaline before the car left.

Mr. Simpson used his free time to recover, cursing weakly at everyone who left him behind before inquiring information from Andrew and gaining nothing.

In the end, he could only look for clues in the others' belongings before going to Chris to whisper something.

Everyone continued their act as if nothing happened while noting this their relationship.

Charlie asked Meghan as she got into the car. "Are you feeling better?"

Meghan showed an expression of embarrassment and bowed her head. "A little. Thank you for letting Stephan accompany me."

Charlie glanced at her expression and spoke with concern. "You should rest early after we get to the hotel. It would be bad if you're still sick when we climb the mountains."

Meghan nodded, not talking.

The hotel had already prepared their dinner when they came. Unlike at lunch where they felt somewhat intimidated by the mayor's presence, this time during the meal, everyone spoke freely and got to know each other further.

"You actually own the Love Paradise!" Chris showed surprise, looking at Mr. Simpson with awe.

"Love Paradise? Isn't that the city's most famous brothel?" Jester reacted.

Mr. Simpson had smugness on his face that cannot be covered as he continued to eat and didn't speak.

Mrs. Simpson answered for her husband. "That's right. You all seem to be well-informed."

Chris had a knowing look, glancing at the men at the dining table. "Of course. I believe most of us had been there if not heard of it."

Gio nodded with a smile, looking proud. Mr. Hughes only bowed his head to eat, not responding but not denying either.

It was Mrs. Hughes instead who suddenly sneered. She looked up and down at Mr. Simpson, speaking with a loud voice filled with hate. "Heh. So you were the owner of that abominable place! Truly fitting!"

The laughing smiles of the people at the table suddenly froze on their faces. Mr. Hughes hurriedly tried to stop his wife but was unable to.

Mrs. Hughes turned to Mrs. Simpson, eying her youthful body. "You speak so proudly. Do you never even wonder if your husband is cheating on you with his prostitutes? Or are you fine with it 'cause you're a prostitute too?"

Mr. Hughes finally shouted in alarm. "Carlisle! What nonsense are you saying?!"

Mrs. Hughes abruptly turned to stare at her husband, her voice shrilly as she screamed in hysteria.

"Nonsense? You tell me, isn't it true that place is abominable? Isn't it true that you were led astray by that place?! Look, you even name your daughter after that woman! It was that place that ruined our family! It was them!"

Mr. Hughes hurriedly tried to cover his wife's mouth but the words were already spoken.

Extremely embarrassed, he gave a quick apology to everyone and took his wife and daughter upstairs as if running for his life.

At this time, Mr. Simpson was finally able to recover from his daze caused by the sudden accusation thrown at his head.

"How can she call my brothel abominable? In the first place, it was a place of entertainment. Everyone who visit there was there to have a good night. Her husband went there despite having her, doesn't that mean she's not giving him enough? It's her who was the problem!"

Kai couldn't quite understand this logic. Why is he blaming the wife? In his opinion, it is a couple's responsibility to be faithful to their partners. Cheating should never be justified.

Mrs. Simpson heard her husband speak and also spoke with righteous indignation. "That's right. As wives, we have the duty of satisfying our husbands. Unlike her, I always faithfully serve my duty. My husband would never cheat on me."

She added, "Besides, prostitutes are human too. She can't just judge them because she never experienced the way they live."

Saying that she got up, tugging her husband and also going up to rest.

The remaining people looked at each other in silence and awkwardness. Finally, someone suggested, "Why don't we go rest early too? We have to climb the mountain early tomorrow."

Everyone scrambled to agree.

Charlie approached Stephan to ask about their 'appointment' tonight but before she could open her mouth, she heard Stephan say, "I want to rest early tonight."

"Oh." Charlie had a disappointed look. Nonetheless, she didn't insist and replied quietly. "Alright."

They entered the elevator with Meghan and soon reached the fourth floor. As the elevator door opened, Charlie watched Stephan get off accompanying Meghan.

Kai always felt something was wrong with the interaction between the three but he could never figure out what it was.

No none can blame him. For seventeen years, he grew up almost not being exposed to any depravity, learning only of the goodness a person should possess.

Everyone around him in the mortal world was mostly good, even his dog friends who always likes to use profanities and lead him astray by always replacing his bible with pornographic books.

Although he is not ignorant about the darkness in people's hearts, this was actually the first time he was exposed to one.

It's not like he can rely on looking at the auras of the characters' bodies either. The emotions of the characters he sees through the energy surrounding them are of the candidates and the candidates don't usually feel the same emotion as the character they play.

Kai reached the fifth floor and went straight to the bathroom inside his room. As he entered, a white prompt appeared on his screen, making him look down.

[ Do you wish to temporarily turn off your senses? ]

Below was a list containing vision, hearing, taste, smell, and feeling.

He was reminded. In one of the long descriptions in actor mode, there was a sentence that said, 'Candidates may turn off their senses when their character is dying or doing actions they did not wish to see or be involved in e.g. taking a bath and being intimate with others.'

Kai chose the vision from the list and then confirmed.

In fact, he could turn off all his senses since Charlie can do the act according to her setting and would be fine even without him. Even if she happen to encounter danger, the screen would sound him an alarm.

However, Kai didn't want to miss anything by doing this so, he only turn off one of his senses.

The moment the confirmation was chosen, Kai's surrounding turned black, making him confused.

Normally, even with his vision blocked, he was still able to see the energies in the air. He was expecting the same this time but seeing the darkness around him, he realized he was thinking too beautifully.

Kai pondered, 'Was it because this body wasn't my own and nothing is attaching me to it?'

He thought for a while, unable to figure out the answer. Finally, he tossed the topic at the back of his head temporarily, proceeding to use the time to organize the clues he gathered.

During the dinner today, he learned that the other four winners of the raffle were Mr. Simpson, Mr. Hughes, Gio, and Chris.

So far, the connection among them was Mr. Simpson's brothel where the other three had been to.

The brothel doesn't seem to have anything to do with Stephan, however, though he was sure it was an important clue given how the completion rate of his first sub-task was now 17%.

Kai then focused on his additional task.

The information he gathered from his observation today showed the other eight character's noticeable traits and other details.

After matching them with the other candidates, he realized he had pretty much already guessed everyone's identity except for Mr. Hughes and Meghan.

Mr. Hughes is always gentle, his acting very in accordance with his character. Among all the others, he had the most flawless act.

This made it difficult for Kai since there was almost nothing that can point to his actor. He wasn't sure whether he was Louise or Jacques.

Jacques is an old man and Mr. Hughes gave off an elderly feeling but Louise also seemed gentle in his opinion.

Meghan is always cheery and seems to be curious about a lot of things. When Charlie was talking to her, she would always get distracted. This matches with the elderly from the churches' behavior but it should also apply to someone who had been sick and had to stay in bed most of the time.

Unable to decide, Kai chose to gamble. More plots should be revealed tomorrow and he no longer wanted to divide his attention in this additional task.

In any case, a wrong guess wouldn't affect his original clearance of the task so there's nothing for him to worry about.

Opening the additional tasks, he put all the other candidates' names beside the eight unidentified characters.

[ Do you wish to put Timothy, Lim, Jacques, Canutt, Xian, Hayden, Miller, and Louise beside the characters Mr. Simpson, Mrs. Simpson, Mr. Hughes, Mrs. Hughes, Micah, Chris, Gio, and Meghan's names? ]

Kai confirmed.

A long loading sign appeared on the screen, so long he thought it was broken.

Finally, a few minutes later, a sound of a ding entered Kai's ears.

At the same time, that night across everyone's screen, a colorful prompt appeared.

[ Congratulations, candidate no. 44110 for clearing the additional task, find the identity of the actors playing the characters. ]