Death Game: Starting as a Trickster, Pretending to Be a God

Chapter 796: Secret Organization

On the highway leaving Jiangcheng, a Zhoutong passenger bus was speeding along.

Lin Yu sat in the front row, feeling drowsy, while Shen Bingmiao, beside him, poked him.

"Don't fall asleep—if you do, you might never wake up before we get off."

Lin Yu sighed helplessly. "Stop being so dramatic."

This bus was, of course, carrying the entire Jiangcheng Media University drama club on their "tour performance" trip.

Although the original departure time was Friday, since Lin Yu had to go to the Land of Certain Death for a duel, Shen Bingmiao naturally pushed the date back a bit.

The rest of the drama club had no objections anyway: President Shen was footing the bill for this semi-vacation tour herself—calling it a performance, but it was essentially the same as a retreat. If the person paying had no issues, why would they complain?

Besides, the reason for the delay was that "Lin Yu, the club's ace, had some personal matters to handle."

In the drama club, no one disliked Lin Yu—not only did he, as the ace, bring the club immense popularity, but he also never got cocky.

He was serious during every rehearsal, strict with himself without pressuring other members who were just participating in club activities for fun. If you wanted to hone your acting skills, he was happy to offer advice, but if you were busy with academics or other matters, he never forced you to devote yourself entirely to the drama club.

On top of that, Lin Yu often helped the props team set up, even designed posters for the publicity team, and occasionally treated everyone to bubble tea or brought cookies his sister had made from home.

The bus rolled along steadily. Shen Bingmiao had chosen Henan Province as the first stop of the tour.

Lin Yu had already seen the itinerary.

Six stops, heading north: starting from Jiangcheng, passing through Henan Province, all the way to the capital.

Compared to a performance tour, the schedule looked more like a food-and-fun trip.

As for the performance venues, they were mostly at civic centers or theaters at other media colleges, with the shows being free public performances for middle school students and such.

The rehearsed scripts were two classic plays that could already be called masterpieces.

Lin Yu had some minor complaints.

"I thought there'd be new scripts, President."

"It's fine to perform for elementary and middle school students with some educational classics," Shen Bingmiao said with a pout. "Getting to perform enough to satisfy you is already good enough—don't be picky. Do you think applying for venues and negotiating with those schools is easy?"

"The focus is on cultivating kids' interest in drama and performance."

Lin Yu was convinced by Shen Bingmiao's reasoning.

Indeed, if some teenagers watched their performance and developed an interest in drama, that would be a great thing.

He recalled his own first experience watching a play—it was a ticket given by a regular customer at Lin Zhao's shop.

Those foodies often overlapped heavily with die-hard fans of opera and drama. Lin Zhao, thinking "since it's free, why not," took Lin Yu, who was always interested in movies and performances, to watch his first live play.

That pure acting, that raw performance—scenes relying almost entirely on the actors' control and improvisation—deeply moved Lin Yu.

But Lin Yu also knew...

Even if his acting was excellent, whether it could move kids was more a matter of luck.

"It mainly depends on whether their teachers make them write a review afterward. I hope not."

Lin Yu thought to himself, sighing quietly.

He felt it was a small probability event.

If Lin Zhao had made him write an eight-hundred-word review back then, that passion might not have faded, and he still would have ended up on the path of loving performance.

But in that moment of grinding out eight hundred words, he'd probably have been biting his pen in frustration.

Lin Yu always believed that a person's talent and hobbies had elements etched into their bones, hidden in their genes from birth, but were also influenced by their environment.

Especially for teenagers... what people call "destiny" might just be one or two tiny moments.

A slight shift could lead someone down a completely different path.

Lin Yu's thoughts wandered until Shen Bingmiao snapped her fingers.

"Snap!"

The crisp sound rang out, and Lin Yu turned to look at Shen Bingmiao.

"What?"

"Stop daydreaming."

Shen Bingmiao said sternly.

"Can't sleep, can't daydream... the journey's still long, you know."

Lin Yu spoke helplessly.

"Since it's a classic play, I don't really need to go over the script anymore."

Hearing Lin Yu's words, Shen Bingmiao stroked her chin and said, "Although the 'drama club' matters are pretty much settled, the 'Game' isn't over yet."

When Lin Yu heard her say that, he sat up straight and discreetly glanced at the classmates around them.

Everyone was busy with their own things—playing on their phones, chatting, eating snacks—like elementary school kids on a spring trip, all preoccupied with their own activities.

"It's fine. If we talk vaguely, they won't understand," Shen Bingmiao said, resting her cheek on one hand. "I've already watched the recording from the Land of Certain Death. Nice work, my dear 'Ace.' No wonder 'Order' and the 'Free Alliance' value you so much now."

"What did Li Hua tell you?"

As Shen Bingmiao spoke, Lin Yu didn't hide anything from his senior.

"Catch the moles. He suspects there are people—even high-ups—who aren't clean inside 'Order.' So, with the 'Player Mutual Aid Association' chairman election in two weeks, he wants me to go to South China and sort things out."

"I see."

Shen Bingmiao nodded.

And Lin Yu naturally wasn't letting Shen Bingmiao listen for free.

"So... respected 'Forum' administrator, 'Hacker' Your Excellency, you've cooperated with 'Order' for so long—do you have any leads?"

"I know 'Order's' upper echelons aren't clean. An organization this big—'General' isn't an omniscient god—glitches are normal," Shen Bingmiao said, resting her cheek. "I have a pretty good idea of what Li Hua's doing... He's not just investigating a single 'Order.'"

"For a long time, the General has believed that among the entire player population, there exists a deeply hidden 'deep-layer organization' that even I haven't discovered... They understand the essence of the 'Death Game' better than ordinary players, so they pose no less harm—or potential harm—than the 'Psychological Society,' 'Marauders,' and 'Free Alliance.'"

"They lurk within various player organizations, contacting each other through secret methods, and even I can't detect their existence."

As Shen Bingmiao spoke, Lin Yu frowned slightly.

He now roughly understood that Shen Bingmiao's information-gathering ability was even more terrifying than he had imagined.

In a modern society highly covered by networks, it wasn't easy to hide from Shen Bingmiao's eyes.

"So... do you think this is his overthinking, or...?"

"I think it's real."

Shen Bingmiao sighed helplessly and said.