Crossing the Line and a Warning

After putting on the straw hat, Fu Luo's work efficiency did indeed increase several times over.

He kept gathering information and recalling Lin Yu's characteristics, then tirelessly conducted a thorough search for information.

The investigation started with the top high school graduates from the past three years in Jiang City, focusing on those from key high schools and Key Class, and those with "high scores." After all, Lin Yu seemed very intelligent, and judging from his speech and demeanor, he shouldn't have come from a rural high school.

Meanwhile, he was also investigating posts from three years ago on various high school confession wall accounts that were asking for help to "rescue" people—after all, although he had only seen half of Lin Yu's face with a mask on most of the time, Fu Luo still remembered him very well; that guy was handsome.

This kind of needle-in-a-haystack "screening" has always been the most effective.

In Fu Luo's view, the most important thing for Detective is "knowledge reserves," followed by... "patience"!

Reality is not a detective novel; there aren't that many convoluted and bizarre cases with flawless logic. Cases that can actually be called "puzzles" are actually very few and far between.

In most cases, the most important thing to uncover the Truth is patience.

Fu Luo enjoys solving mysteries and also likes "investigating".

Not to mention...

Sometimes, during the "investigation" process, we encounter puzzles.

Take now, for example.

"Jiangcheng Experimental Middle School, a graduation photo from two years ago... One person has been erased from this Class 7 photo."

"On their promotional announcements and honor roll, one person's trace was also photoshopped out."

Fu Luo keenly noticed some details that ordinary people would miss.

"Huh... Is someone trying to hide a high school student's past?"

Fu Luo vaguely felt that she had grasped the key to the problem.

Although the person who was erased may not be the "May" he was looking for, but...

With a person whose "traces have been erased" right in front of Fu Luo, it's hard for Fu Luo not to investigate them.

Moreover, Fu Luo's Detective instincts also told her...

The person who was hidden away may have some connection to that "May"!

It might even be the same person.

Fu Luo noted down the class name and then began searching online for more information about him.

Fu Luo quickly found the homeroom teacher's phone number.

After getting the phone number of his former homeroom teacher, Fu Luo considered whether or not to call him.

However, considering that it was already late at night, Fu Luo finally gave up on that idea and instead went to the education website to check the list of everyone in the class.

As expected...

The number matches the photo; both show sixty-four people.

This means... there's still one person missing.

At that moment, Fu Luo suddenly noticed a name from Class 7 that he was seeing for the first time in a notice recognizing an "Three Good Student".

"Lin... Lin what? Why is this character so blurry?"

The notice from Jiang City Experimental School was a direct photograph of the bulletin board. The image resolution was so low that Fu Luo could only make out the surname Lin; the second character was completely blurred.

Fortunately, there are attachments at the end of the website.

He was just about to download the attachment when...

Suddenly, Fu Luo heard a rapid, laborious sound coming from the computer fans in the internet cafe.

"Buzz--"

The entire illegal internet cafe currently has only a handful of people besides Fu Luo, and most of the machines are in sleep mode.

In that instant, all the computers suddenly started up automatically, and the screens lit up with red lights!

Fu Luo's computer screen turned completely red.

Wailing cries echoed throughout the internet cafe.

"Ugh, why is my computer screen red?!"

"There's even a red screen?!"

"Network management--"

The voices of several internet-addicted teenagers who had stayed up all night rose and fell, but soon...

These complaints and wails came to an abrupt end.

Fu Luo finally realized something was wrong. He quickly got up from his chair and pulled a magnifying glass from his pocket.

"This is unbelievable! I've been hooked!"

That commendation notice wasn't completely deleted by the other party...

They stayed to fish!

Who exactly is this "May"? How come it seems like an ordinary student, but there are so many traps hidden beneath the surface?

Could it be Player?

He climbed onto a table in the internet cafe and looked around, only to see an eerie red light filling the dark space.

All the internet-addicted teenagers and the internet cafe manager were slumped over and fast asleep.

On a bright red screen, a blinking cursor moved about, and then the same line of text appeared on all the screens.

"Player 'Sherlock,' you've Crossing the Line!"

From the moment he started playing the game, Fu Luo suspected that it might be the work of other "Player" in the "Death game".

His forum ID was now displayed above, which was practically an exaggeration.

Upon realizing that other Player had orchestrated all of this, Fu Luo suddenly thought of a possibility, and his face turned pale.

"You are... you are a 'Hacker'?!"

He spoke in a trembling whisper, addressing the computer screen.

Fu Luo knew that the other party could hear her.

Sure enough, new text appeared on the bright red screen.

"That's right."

Then, a simple, ancient emoticon appeared.

:)

Fu Luo didn't find it cute at all; instead, her legs felt weak.

"I... I didn't know he was one of your men!"

"I just met him in the Game and was a little curious—I meant no harm!"

"You should know that I'm just very curious... I haven't even joined any organization."

Fu Luo spoke rapidly, her voice trembling with a hint of tears.

Since birth, aside from finding her adoption record while rummaging through her parents' drawers out of curiosity, this is the time Fu Luo has ever hated her own curiosity the most!

Just as he was speaking, the red screen suddenly went black.

The eerie silence vanished—all the machines that were supposed to be shut down were turned off, and the cacophony of voices returned.

"Damn it, network administrator! Fix it now! The computer's frozen!"

"They're here! They're here!"

As the conversation returned to normal, Fu Luo, still shaken, clutched her chest.

"Did I pass the test?"

He slumped back into his chair, staring at the empty desktop of his computer screen, feeling a cold sweat break out on his back.

But just as he reached into his pocket to take out a cigarette candy to calm his nerves, he felt it being taken from his pocket.

Beside him, a petite girl in a hoodie ate a snack and tossed the box onto the table.

Seeing Fu Luo's astonished expression, she grinned.

"No, you didn't pass," said Mr. Sherlock.

"In short... first of all, stop investigating."

"Secondly—I will observe your performance in the next 'certain matter'."

"Poor performance can lead to being removed from the forum... You should know that, right? When I say 'removed from the forum,' I don't mean the forum itself."

As she spoke, without waiting for Fu Luo's reply, she took a step forward—

The girl disappeared into the computer screen.

Fu Luo sat there, feeling as if the weight that had been hanging over her heart had finally died completely.

"Holy crap, what is all this nonsense?!"

After he finished cursing, a hand suddenly reached out from the screen.

"Smack!"

A crisp slap landed on Fu Luo's face.

"No swearing!"

A reprimanding voice came from the screen.