Investigation

The taxi pulled smoothly to a stop beside an old street.

It was the middle of the night, and dawn had yet to break.

Everything was pitch-black except for the streetlights.

Following the route he remembered, Zhu Yan took a winding path to avoid the cameras and climbed the old stairs of the apartment building.

He was finally back.

Zhu Yan entered the little rental, turned on the lights, and felt relaxed and exhausted for the first time in a long while.

[Plague Ghost]'s room and clothes had been filthy—he desperately needed a hot shower and a deep sleep.

With that thought, Zhu Yan slowly washed up, curled up under the covers in the air-conditioned room, and fell into a deep sleep.

Perhaps because he was so tired, Zhu Yan had no dreams.

At seven in the morning, he was jolted awake by a knock at the door. Someone outside was calling out something indistinct.

Zhu Yan crawled out of bed, bleary-eyed. As he passed through the living room, he stuffed the clothes and documents he had left on the coffee table the night before into a cabinet.

He took a few more steps, and the person outside called out again.

This time, Zhu Yan heard him clearly.

"Hello, we're from the community office!"

"We're here to raise awareness about scams. Is anyone home?"

Zhu Yan immediately realized what was going on and nearly laughed out loud.

Instances had already begun appearing sporadically in Anwu City. It was time for the police to panic.

An anti-scam campaign at a time like this?

They're probably here to investigate.

After all, it wasn't difficult to narrow down the area where he was.

With a thought, Zhu Yan changed his appearance, making sure to hide the player mark on his palm.

"Someone's home," he called, pulling the door open.

Two men stood outside, wearing red vests printed with the community's name.

Zhu Yan quickly looked them both over, then grumbled inwardly.

Fuck, they got here fast.

"Hello."

The taller of the two, a middle-aged man, greeted him politely and showed Zhu Yan his work ID.

It was Captain Huang.

Facing Zhu Yan, he made sure the miniature camera on him could capture his entire face.

"We're here to raise awareness about scams. It'll only take five minutes."

If he hadn't kept staring at Zhu Yan's face, Zhu Yan would have believed him more readily.

He nodded perfunctorily and asked, "How?"

The middle-aged man had come prepared. He pulled out a stack of questionnaires and a pen.

"Just fill out a questionnaire for us. Then we'll need to record your ID card..."

Seeing that Zhu Yan had clearly just woken up, he added another sentence.

"Just think of it as helping us finish a task. If it's inconvenient, forget it."

"Huh?" Zhu Yan was momentarily confused.

Forget it if it's inconvenient?

If it was inconvenient, he'd be put on the suspect list.

He scratched his head and smoothly recovered.

"Uh... sure, I can do that, but I'll have to look for my ID card."

"That's fine." Captain Huang smiled warmly. "Thank you, young man."

The young man before him matched the profile of the person they were looking for, both in his condition and his age.

If he lived alone, he would match even more closely.

Seeing that Zhu Yan had already lowered his head and begun answering the questions seriously, Captain Huang peered slightly past the doorway.

"Do you live alone? Where are your parents?"

"Oh." Zhu Yan looked up. "My parents are gone."

"Gone?" the younger man asked sharply. "What do you mean, gone?"

"You don't look that old. Your parents..."

If they really were dead, then almost all the mandatory criteria matched.

"Oh—" Zhu Yan looked up at him and explained sincerely, "My parents passed away. Sorry."

He handed the completed questionnaire to the middle-aged man and turned toward the bedroom.

"Wait a moment. I'll get my ID card."

Captain Huang and the young man exchanged a glance, both a little nervous.

His parents were both dead. That matched too!

If there was a problem with his ID as well, then he was most likely the one.

Zhu Yan returned quickly.

Looking as unconcerned as ever, he pressed an ID card into Captain Huang's hand.

"Here."

Huh?

Captain Huang was surprised and couldn't help pausing.

He just handed it over?

Is he really not the one, or is he so confident in his abilities that he's betting we won't make a move?

"Oh... right, right."

Captain Huang remained polite and showed nothing out of the ordinary.

He looked down at the ID card. It was well made and had all the security features; there was no way it was a fake.

The photo on the ID card matched the man himself.

The name "Zhu Yan" didn't quite fit Guan En's description of a "strange name," either.

Captain Huang took out his device and entered the ID number.

The device showed no error or alert, and the name that appeared was "Zhu Yan."

Captain Huang was a little disappointed.

He photographed the ID, returned it, and thanked Zhu Yan.

"Thank you, young man. That's all. Go back to sleep."

Zhu Yan mumbled a few responses.

He was too sleepy.

After closing the door, he plunged back under the covers and slept like the dead again.

"Are you sure the camera captured his face clearly?"

In the car, Captain Huang held his phone and checked with his colleague again.

The miniature camera on him transmitted in real time, sending footage to the computers at the police station for all his colleagues to see.

"Completely clear? No dark patches or blurring?"

"Crystal clear, Captain Huang," his colleague said. "And I can still remember his face even now. He definitely isn't that player."

Captain Huang glanced irritably at the dark patch on his arm.

He didn't know when it had appeared. When he got up that morning, the large, faint shadow had given him a fright.

It seemed to be turning into a mole.

Captain Huang sighed.

"All right. I've noted down Zhu Yan's ID number. I'll look into his family later."

"I remember Little Guan got a hint before the [Devouring Villa] instance started, saying that player would get more things?"

"Right. I remember that too," his colleague said. "Do you suspect he used an item?"

Captain Huang let out a breath.

"It's fine. I had him fill out a questionnaire and gave him a pen. We still have biological data we can use to verify."

"Got it. Oh, right, Captain Huang, I'd like to take this afternoon off."

What his colleague said was perfectly normal, but the content sounded a little strange to Captain Huang.

"I've got a big patch on my skin, and it seems to be getting darker. I'm worried it might be a skin disease, so I want to get it checked."

When Zhu Yan woke again, it was already two in the afternoon.

Brilliant sunlight streamed in through the glass, and Zhu Yan heard the pleasant sound of birdsong.

The only drawback was that his phone kept buzzing every so often, insistently drawing him back to full consciousness.

Zhu Yan stretched and lit up his phone screen.

Some messages came from group chats he had joined online; others were app news alerts and notification texts from unfamiliar numbers.

Zhu Yan unlocked his phone and went straight to a group chat that had exploded with messages.

The only reason he had received notifications from this group was that its idiot owner had @mentioned everyone.

"Wake up, guys! @everyone"

"Guys, is anyone here from Anwu City or Bailu City?"

Bailu City was where Zhu Yan had lived before, and his aunt was still there.

He slowly scrolled through the messages and found that the group owner was excited as if he had gone mad.

"Holy shit, holy shit, I'm so excited! I think the world's going to end!"

"Let me explain first. I'm in Anwu City, and I have a cousin I'm close to in Bailu City."

"Something utterly unbelievable happened to him!"

A string of question marks from other group members followed that message.

"You all know things haven't been peaceful in Anwu City lately, right? First there was a case of people eating people here last night, and then there were traffic restrictions."

"Seriously, I think those were all warning signs!"

"My cousin got a strange envelope with a badge and an ability card inside!"

"Whoa, he also said he heard a broadcast! He even entered a place called the Player Forum!"

"He told me horror is about to descend!"