Zuo Lin'an wasn't surprised to hear him say that.
After all, with Xu Youyou's current brainpower, there was no way he could have come up with such a complex plot on his own.
Sure enough, the professional Instructor An, An Wen, had been advising him behind the scenes.
“So, what did the instructor say?”
Xu Youyou cleared his throat with a smug, self-satisfied air.
“He said we can change the setting to two pairs of twins.”
As he spoke, he pointed at Zuo Lin'an, then at himself.
“For example, you and I are the older brothers, and each of us has a twin younger brother.”
“Our younger brothers were both severely ill. They met while hospitalized and, sharing similar plights, quickly bonded and became best friends who shared everything.”
“And because of the friendship between our younger brothers, we, the older brothers, naturally became close friends as well.”
“Then, because your brother was terminally ill and close to death, he chose to return to his old family home to wait for the end. My brother accompanied him, and in the end, both of them went missing.”
“Upon hearing the news, I rushed over as the older brother to search the mountains with you.”
“The point when players enter the dungeon is right at this moment. What do you think?”
Hearing this, Zuo Lin'an already had a rough idea of what Instructor An was getting at.
It was indeed a good setup.
“And then?”
Xu Youyou continued.
“On the surface, it seems the two younger brothers didn't want to burden their older brothers, so they both found a hidden corner in this remote area to commit suicide.”
“In their hearts, they wanted their older brothers to be free of their burden so we could return to normal lives.”
“But in reality, it's because...”
At this point, he gave an embarrassed smile and pointed at Zuo Lin'an.
“In reality, while you look like a perfect, caring older brother on the surface, Brother An, you're actually a psychopathic serial killer in secret...”
Zuo Lin'an paused. A psychopathic serial killer?
Him?
Seeing no change in his expression, Xu Youyou continued.
“You took advantage of a time when the two younger brothers were out, disguised yourself as a kidnapper, abducted them, locked them in a highly concealed basement in the old residence, and tortured them to death.”
“And the method of torture can match our specter bodies' execution methods.”
Zuo Lin'an didn't find the psychopathic serial killer setup odd.
This was his own dungeon.
It was only right to make some sacrifices for it.
“It's indeed quite good.”
Hearing this, Xu Youyou grew even more enthusiastic as he spoke.
“As for your specter item, the gold hairpin, it'll be just as we previously set up. It's an ancestral heirloom that has always been hidden in the underground secret room.”
“While your brother was locked up there, he accidentally found this item.”
“And because he didn't know the person torturing him and his friend to death was his own biological brother, even after he died and his resentment toward the kidnapper turned him into a specter, he still missed his older brother dearly.”
“Upon acquiring the specter item, he still subconsciously triggered its special effect, binding it to you, his older brother.”
“And you, in your sleep, agreed to the binding in a daze.”
At this point, Xu Youyou clapped his hands.
“How about it?”
“This is the plot I discussed with Instructor An. Isn't it perfect?”
“And since the psychopathic serial killer's method is torture, it leaves a lot of room for us to play around with.”
Zuo Lin'an had no objections to these plot modifications.
Instead, he asked another question.
“These are all fine, but how do we explain the origin of your rule generation?”
“My rule can be explained by the previously established plot. For instance, on the hour, I, as the older brother, would check on my younger brother to make sure he wasn't dead yet.”
“So after my brother died and became a specter, he automatically developed a rule based on that.”
“But what about you? 'Those who respond in any manner, die.'”
“How are you going to set that up?”
Xu Youyou didn't look troubled at all; he had likely discussed this with Instructor An beforehand.
“Oh, that. The instructor told me we can start with my younger brother's illness.”
“For example, my younger brother suffered from a very rare, incurable skin disease. This disease made him look very ugly and terrifying, which meant no one was ever willing to treat him with sincerity since childhood.”
“Every time he gathered his courage to speak and interact with others, wanting to make friends, all he got in return was hurt. That's why he generated this rule after dying and turning into a specter.”
“What do you think of this explanation?”
Zuo Lin'an nodded.
“A rule evolved from life experiences related to his illness? Although it's a bit of a stretch, it's still reasonable.”
He carefully thought over the entire plot, as well as the pairing of the specter rules, specter items, and execution methods.
While these changes weren't completely perfect, they were more than good enough.
“No major issues. Let's change it this way.”
Zuo Lin'an pulled out his work phone and applied to open the dungeon for next Monday.
Of course, he also needed to make major modifications to the original dungeon plot.
He would do it exactly as Xu Youyou had just described.
As he made the edits, he reminded Xu Youyou.
“By the way, you should buy some corpses too. We'll need to drop two bodies into that underground secret room later.”
“One body's cause of death will be my execution method, and the other will be yours. You can carve it up yourself later.”
Xu Youyou replied, “Sure.”
Zuo Lin'an added, “Also, what are you and your brother going to be named? My character's name is based on the origin of the permanent specter item, the gold hairpin. As for yours...”
The gold hairpin was a token of love that the Wuxia World player Yao Qianhe had given to his wife, symbolizing their love. Zuo Lin'an's identity in the dungeon was a descendant of this Yao Qianhe.
The two brothers were named Yao Wenli and Yao Wenle.
Although the players would never actually come into contact with this specter item, the basic plot setting still had to follow the rules.
However, Xu Youyou's situation was different.
His name could probably be chosen at random.
Xu Youyou's eyes darted around.
“Hey!”
“Why don't I just take the surname Yao too?”
“Our brothers could actually be members of the Yao Family Village as well. It's just that they moved away during my grandfather's generation, and even their house was demolished without leaving a trace.”
“So the two of us didn't know each other before.”
Zuo Lin'an's hand, which was busy editing the plot, paused. After a brief moment of thought, he found it quite reasonable.
“That could work, but it's not suitable right now.”
“Once we have more money in the future, we can build a few houses on or at the foot of the mountain and arrange some villager NPCs. We can change your identity to a Yao Family Village resident then.”
Xu Youyou's identity in the dungeon had nothing to do with the specter item, so it could be changed at will, as long as the twin brothers setup was maintained.
Hearing this, he hesitated for a moment before nodding.
“I guess that works too.”
Zuo Lin'an stroked his chin. Seeing him struggle to think of a name, he offered a suggestion.
“Why don't you just use your real name for now?”
Rate on N.U.
