Zhu Yan looked back at his phone and carefully typed two lines.
"Conceal [Zhu Yan]'s name."
"Conceal [Zhu Yan]'s appearance."
Without his identity information or appearance, the police would have no way to identify him directly.
According to the description of [Concealed but Unreleased], the memories of those involved would be altered as well, and objective information databases would have no record of him.
In other words, even if the police traced the matter back to his aunt, they still wouldn't be able to do anything to him.
Moreover, [Concealed but Unreleased] only concealed information related to the incident, which meant his other activities wouldn't be affected.
He could enroll in school openly or enter instances and gather more information, without having to hide everywhere.
He could manage three months.
Zhu Yan thought it through, and after making sure he hadn't missed anything, he gently tapped the confirm button.
In an instant, that secret pleasure welled up again. Faint electric currents tingled through every nerve in his brain, and Zhu Yan felt a happiness he had never known before.
It was as if he were connecting with some kind of power and immersing himself in it—
The thought flashed through Zhu Yan's mind, startling him back to his senses.
Zhu Yan pinched the web between his thumb and forefinger, reminding himself to focus on reality and not get distracted.
Under the bright white light, the hair on Guan En's forehead was slightly damp with cold sweat.
No passengers were visible outside train G3075 anymore, only a hastily erected police cordon and some newly arrived officers.
The corpse had been taken away. Officers had searched the entire train, but they hadn't found its head.
Inside the relatively spacious car six, an officer put down his phone and looked at Guan En gravely.
"I just received an important notification." He pressed his lips together, a flicker of sympathy in his eyes.
"Guan En, based on the current research findings, you should know about this. Your superior's body has been found."
Guan En nodded.
"I know," he said, fairly calmly. "I found out this morning. That voice wouldn't let me say it."
"If I'd acted strangely then, I would have died within ten minutes."
The officer nodded. "That matches the information we have so far. This is a serious matter, so you'll have to stay in Anwu City for a while and cooperate with the investigation."
He looked at the officers working outside the window and shook his head.
"There's always one or two who won't listen. I remember you came here to arrest someone, didn't you?"
"What was that person's name again?"
"It was..." Guan En frowned.
He wanted to say a name. He remembered it was very unusual.
Extremely unusual and memorable.
But... what was it again?
No matter how hard Guan En tried, he couldn't remember, so he shook his head.
"Sir, I can't remember right now," he said. "There's a record of it in the system. I'll check when I get back."
"Mm." The officer gave a brief grunt.
"I've already told the others to find him as soon as possible. I don't think this person is ordinary."
"Take some time to recover. When you get back, give us as detailed a statement as you can."
In the center of Zhu Yan's phone screen, the struggling bird in the cage appeared again.
Zhu Yan watched its flapping wings nervously until text appeared in the center of the screen again.
"All right, player."
"The item [Concealed but Unreleased] has taken effect. If you handle things properly, it will remain in effect for two years."
Two years, the maximum duration!
Zhu Yan let out a huge sigh of relief. That meant it had worked.
"However, your choice will cause greater panic."
"Please prepare yourself mentally."
"Remember, act proactively and persevere to the end."
The black patch shattered from the center, and the app icon burst into fragments like fireworks, vanishing into the screen's brilliant colors.
Zhu Yan let out a long sigh of relief.
Guan En's superior had become an impostor, which meant the real superior had died during the night.
Regardless of what means of transportation Guan En had taken to Anwu City, it showed that [Carnival Paradise] had silently invaded another place during the night, at a time that closely coincided with Zhu Yan's departure from the city.
Once the real superior's body was found, Zhu Yan would be conclusively blamed for "leaving the city without authorization and causing the horror instance to leave as well."
There was no turning back now.
He couldn't let the police catch him, no matter what!
As for the greater panic the instance had mentioned, he would just have to deal with whatever came.
The taxi took its time getting off the expressway, then wound through a series of turns before stopping beside an old bus stop.
Zhu Yan got out and headed for a homestay tucked inside a corridor apartment building, keeping to out-of-the-way places as much as possible.
The homestay had no front desk. Guests only needed to book online, go upstairs, and enter a password to check in.
That would reduce his contact with people.
More importantly, there were several surveillance blind spots nearby, making it easy for Zhu Yan to change his appearance back.
Twenty minutes later.
Zhu Yan slumped on the sofa in the homestay, feeling exhaustion gradually creep into his mind.
Perhaps because the major problem had been resolved, Zhu Yan could finally clear his mind and get some rest.
He struggled through a hot shower, then collapsed onto the soft bed, still warm from the hair dryer. His eyelids grew heavier by the moment.
His facial muscles finally relaxed completely, and Zhu Yan sank into a deep sleep.
Meanwhile.
Inside the police station.
A young officer moved his mouse, searching again and again.
"How is this possible? Something's not right, sir!"
He could find the records and work documents for Guan En's business trip.
But the suspect's name and ID photo were bizarrely missing from the documents, replaced by a string of blanks and a plain white image.
"What's wrong?" An officer behind him leaned over. "Try refreshing it a few times. There's no way the documents were submitted like this. They wouldn't have passed review."
The young officer refreshed several times, but the two blank spaces remained as firmly in place as if they had been welded there.
"...That's strange. Sir, the system shouldn't have a bug like this."
The officer said, "I remember seeing this document. His name and appearance were both very distinctive, impossible to forget after one look. I remember his name was... was..."
Yet no matter how hard the officer tried, he couldn't recall the name or appearance that had originally left such a deep impression on him.
It was like a piece of gold locked in a box: he knew it was gold, but all he could see was the locked box.
And the key was lost.
The officer didn't take it seriously. "Call and ask. If that doesn't work, isn't there a relative of the suspect listed here?"
He pointed to the aunt's name and ID card number, as well as a string of ID numbers after the suspect's name.
"Check the household registration record, then use this ID number to confirm it."
The young officer didn't waste any time and immediately dialed a number.
Ten minutes later, he put down the phone, his brow tightly furrowed.
"Officer, they couldn't find him. He isn't on the household registration record either, and then... and then..."
The officer had a vague feeling that things weren't so simple.
"And then what?"
"Then the ID card number must be wrong," the young officer said. "They said they entered the ID number from the document five times, and every time, the search found no such person."
The officer frowned.
"Neither the household register nor the ID matches?"
The young officer nodded. "I'll call the person who reported it to confirm. This is really strange. They should have checked the ID number when they uploaded it, shouldn't they?"
Perhaps realizing that something was wrong, the officer stayed where he was.
The call went through, and the young officer politely explained why he was calling.
The woman on the other end immediately became agitated, her shrill, tearful voice piercing the ears of everyone present.
"Oh! Thank heavens, you've finally found that little bastard!"
"He couldn't escape even if he fled to the ends of the earth. He deserves to die! Officer, you have to make... make him pay for my son's life!"
"I won't let him go even if I become a ghost!"
The young officer patiently repeated, "Ma'am, do you remember his name? Do you remember his ID number?"
His aunt opened her mouth to blurt it out.
"His name is—oh, what was it again?"
No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't recall the name that had once been so familiar.
His aunt racked her brains, but her head was as empty as her wallet.
"Sorry, officer, I... I can't remember... Wait, I'll go look at the household register!"
The two officers exchanged a silent glance.
"That's strange," the officer said with a laugh. "Guan En said he forgot too."
Still, it was good that she had the household register.
Five minutes later.
His aunt's cries filled the room, making everyone's head spin.
"Officer, this is terrible! I can't find that little bastard's name or photo on my household registration certificate!"
"I don't know what happened. Oh, they couldn't possibly be missing. Both of them must have been kept!"
"Officer, did you make a mistake back then? His ID number is still here, though. You should be able to use that, right?"