Everyday Life

The crowd was still packed tightly around them. All of Yu Xing's belongings were safely on him, and none of the conditions from the deduction had carried over into reality.

Other than the gemstone and black little gift box that had appeared in his pocket, it was as though he had been here all along and had never gone anywhere.

But Zhu Yan had noticed, and she was used to it.

Yu Xing's gaze shifted as he gave Zhu Yan an especially friendly smile. "Just now? I was here the whole time."

Liar!

The moment Zhu Yan saw that familiar smile, she knew Yu Xing had done something he could not tell her about again.

Ever since they were children, whenever she asked about certain things, Yu Xing would wear that exact expression. By now, she had developed a habit—this meant she should suppress her curiosity and stop asking.

"Tch." Zhu Yan rolled her eyes at him. "Now that there's been a case, I wonder if today's school anniversary celebration can still go on as planned."

While she muttered to herself, Yu Xing received the deduction system's settlement in his mind.

Since the whole trip there and back had been too rushed, even the deduction settlement was sent directly through the Persona Mask's messages.

[Deduction Notice: Mapping Deduction Game "Alice's Park" has ended]

[Case truth restored: 80%]

[Personality Assimilation Degree increase: 0]

[Rating: A]

[Deduction points obtained: 500 (No Plot) (Rating Bonus) (Deduction Contribution)]

[You have obtained special items: Time Imprint, Alice's Ruby (Special items cannot be traded in the shop or reality, do not count as offerings, cannot be carried by the Persona Mask, and may be unavailable to bring into certain deduction games)]

[Time Imprint: A writing brush in appearance, a gift from the woman who called herself the Witch. It carries the aura of time. Its use is unknown.]

[Alice's Ruby: A gemstone dropped by Alice herself. However, she did not realize her mistake and mistook you for a thief. With this gemstone, you will enter Alice's Park 2.0—Alice's Hell—again at a certain special moment. You have become an object of Alice's hatred. Remember to avoid her when you enter again (?ω?)]

[Main Quests completed: 2/4]

Having completed his second Main Quest, Yu Xing's accumulated points had reached 1,434. He had officially crossed the beginner threshold and become an Intermediate Deducer.

[Identity: Intermediate Deducer (1434/3000)]

As for what was different, there was not much change from beginner to intermediate. The shop simply opened up more exchangeable items to him, and the deduction videos he could watch were of a higher tier.

To advance to the high tier, he needed another 2,000 points on top of being intermediate.

In fact, he could upload both of his recent deductions to the [Deducer Case Video Viewing] section of the shop. But after doing the math, an S-rated deduction could only be sold for thirty points per viewer. As a total newbie with no reputation among Deducers, hardly anyone would search for his videos. Uploading them would bring little profit.

He also thought that if he stirred up trouble in the future and someone took notice of him, they could spend just thirty points to see his early deduction style. That would be a terrible deal.

So his attitude toward that section was to wait until he reached the Differentiation Tier before uploading anything. Maybe he could really make some points then.

"You're spacing out again." Seeing Yu Xing go silent after only saying a few words, Zhu Yan directly hooked one arm around his while holding the unfinished milk tea from the tea shop in her other hand. She leaned in very close. "Do you have any thoughts about this scene?"

The area in front of the sports equipment room was packed with onlookers. Even after the teachers shut the door, only some people lost interest. The rest were waiting for the police to arrive.

Some had already taken photos and posted them on Moments, stirring up another wave of curiosity among gossip-hungry netizens.

"Let's go." Yu Xing shook his head, peeled Zhu Yan off him since she was already an adult and such excessive intimacy was unsuitable, and merely held her wrist as he protected her while squeezing out from the front of the crowd.

At the same time, he protected his own milk tea.

They kept walking until they were far from the crowd, then sat down on a bench by the roadside.

Yu Xing asked, "Did you notify the Criminal Investigation Detachment?"

"Mm, I told them." Zhu Yan nodded. "Are you going to handle this case? After all, murders that happen right in front of us aren't exactly common—"

"Find a way to guide the police. The murderer in Ruibo's case is a young girl named Chen Jiu. Also, the serial murder case you mentioned last time—the suspect, Xie Ze, is the real culprit." Yu Xing did not beat around the bush. He directly dropped two bombshells, leaving Zhu Yan utterly stunned.

She blankly took a sip of milk tea. Only after the cloying sweetness spread through her mouth did she turn to him. "How do you know that? Forget it, how am I supposed to say this? Hey, I'm just an informant!"

"Not just that, are you?" Yu Xing glanced at her leisurely, breathing in the hot, dry wind. His tone carried a teasing lilt. "Aren't you the detective known as 'Impermanence' by the detachment? You contact the captain directly, no one else has seen what you look like, and you've become something of a legend in the unit. You often provide crucial clues as an informant and help solve cases—I remember a criminal was the first one to give you that nickname, and it was widely accepted afterward..."

There was a mysterious figure in the Mijin City police force called Impermanence, a reaper of souls.

Of course, she did not really reap souls, much less take lives. But if criminals scattered everywhere were compared to ghosts, then she was the soul-reaper who made those ghosts tremble in fear.

What was especially unpredictable was whose soul she would go after. Sometimes she got involved in a newly occurred case; sometimes she would suddenly dig up a case from years ago and provide fresh evidence, leaving long-hidden murderers who thought themselves safe staring in shock when they were arrested.

Whether it was the police force or the criminals who were caught, probably no one besides the captain could have imagined that "Impermanence" was actually a female university student.

"Stop, stop, stop! Pah, wasn't all of that your doing? At most, I hack into records and investigate cases. You're the one who can lock onto the murderer so quickly every time, so I can investigate with a target in mind!" Listening to a big shot brag about her little tricks right in front of her, Zhu Yan's face was about to turn red—from anger. "You're mocking me!"

"I'm not~" Yu Xing loved watching the little girl want to hit him but not dare to make a move. His smile deepened. "I just want to tell you that you're so capable. Don't rely on me—you can stand on your own too. I believe you'll definitely find a way to guide them to the murderer."

"..." Zhu Yan blinked at Yu Xing's sudden encouragement.

She did not believe Yu Xing was being this kind for no reason. His next sentence was definitely going to start with "but"!

Yet Yu Xing seemed to have truly finished speaking. He quietly leaned back, the thin fabric of his shirt separating his back from the hard wooden backrest.

He seemed a little tired.

Zhu Yan immediately quieted down as well.

She knew many of Yu Xing's secrets that no one else knew, including that he did not age or die, and that he would sometimes suddenly feel so terrible he was half-dead. She had even seen him bleed from all seven orifices.

Just now, she had only felt that familiar presence abruptly vanish. Though it returned less than two seconds later, she knew that during those two seconds, Yu Xing had left.

Like a dead person. An empty shell.

The feeling was intense, and she was not surprised. Ever since Yu Xing had saved her and kept her by his side when she was very young, she had always been able to see strange things and sense strange presences.

That was right. She could see ghosts.

So she also knew that Yu Xing had been searching for something all these years. On the day at the abandoned factory, it seemed he had found it, and something had quietly begun to change.

As long as Yu Xing did not abandon her, she was willing to spend her entire life shrouded in fog, forever casting aside the things she could occasionally sense until Yu Xing allowed her to step into that world.

As Zhu Yan thought, she pressed her lips together and decided to help Yu Xing pay attention while she used the app she had developed on her phone to look up Chen Jiu's information.

At that moment, Zhao Yijiu happened to send a WeChat message.

Wine: Where are you?

After resting for a while, Yu Xing felt his phone vibrate. He took it out, glanced at it, and typed a reply: Still at Ruibo.

Wine: The deduction system said my Main Quest in the Role-Playing Deduction Game is mandatory solo. Do you know why?

Oh, he had come seeking wisdom.

Yu Xing thought for a moment.

San: Maybe your constitution is special, or your experiences are special. The system wants to put you into a highly targeted game.

Wine: Oh.

Yu Xing had assumed the conversation was over. After all, if Zhao Yijiu had anything to say, he could have said it directly during Alice's Park, which they had just experienced together.

Yet less than ten seconds later, the phone vibrated again.

Wine: Besides role-playing, what Main Quests haven't you cleared?

Yu Xing replied: Only Combat Type remains.

Wine: I'll clear role-playing first. We'll do a combat deduction together when the time comes.

Raising a brow, Yu Xing readily agreed.

Zhao Yijiu had been in excellent condition during deductions, and Yu Xing had promised Zhao Mou not to let Zhao Yijiu die. Entering a game together was naturally the safest option.

Then his next game could only be a Role-Playing Deduction Game.

Ruibo's school anniversary celebration was ultimately affected. When the police arrived, they sealed off the crime scene and nearby areas such as the billiards hall. The school believed it was inappropriate to celebrate after something like this had happened, so all of that day's anniversary performances and decorations were postponed until after National Day.

Zhu Yan's vacation started early, so after seeing that Yu Xing had rested enough, she clung to him and dragged him around the mall. By the time Yu Xing got home, it was already evening.

The ghost aura he had left inside Ling Heng showed that Ling Heng had indeed been out on the streets that morning. But once the game ended, he immediately moved quickly in one direction. Based on Yu Xing's familiarity with the Mijin City map, the place where Ling Heng stopped should have been Julong Residential Area, an extremely upscale neighborhood. Unlike Zhao Yijiu's Bishui Garden, which emphasized scenery and was a district for the wealthy, Julong Residential Area housed business magnates, political leaders, and the like. Ling Heng, as a biologist, met the requirements for living there.

The only trouble was... entering Julong Residential Area required strict screening. Without an invitation, he would absolutely be stopped by its formidable security.

Yu Xing did not want to alert anyone, nor did he intend to let Ling Heng realize anything, so he could not get in for the time being.

He gave up the idea of going there directly to interrogate him and switched to surveillance.

Over the next three days, he observed the movements of the ghost aura every day. Whenever Ling Heng went out, he followed. He noticed that the man seemed to be collecting some uncommon vessels, as though preparing to conduct some sort of experiment.

Other than that, he had not contacted anyone particularly notable.

On the fourth day, Yu Xing pulled up the deduction panel and planned to complete another Main Quest. It would be best if he could acquire another offering and increase his strength a little.

It could not be helped. Dragging around this body, he only wanted to fulfill the conditions on his wish list as soon as possible and recover some of his condition.

Otherwise, in his current state, even if he found the key figures behind the Single Prism and found Lingren, there would be nothing he could do.

[You have selected a Role-Playing Deduction Game]

[Would you like to begin the Main Quest?]

"Yes."