No Peace Possible!

"No."

Mu You glanced at the photograph and shook his head blankly again.

His tone and expression were perfectly natural, betraying nothing unusual.

In reality, though, his heart had nearly skipped a beat the instant he saw the photograph.

Because the figure in that photograph was none other than the Night Watchman he had transformed into last night!

The photograph appeared to be a surveillance screenshot, capturing his profile from a distance just as he entered the park last night.

Mu You had thought he had been discreet enough last night, yet he had still been caught on camera. Clearly, he still didn't know enough about the placement of the nearby surveillance cameras...

Fortunately, his enhanced mental power from yesterday had helped him keep his heartbeat and breathing steady, preventing him from giving himself away.

The officer seemed to have asked only in passing. After Mu You shook his head, he didn't press the matter.

"Try not to go out at night for the time being. There may be a criminal operating in your neighborhood."

Leaving him with that warning, the officer turned and left.

"Take care, officer."

After closing the door, Mu You didn't head back inside. Instead, he immediately pressed his ear against the wall beside the door and eavesdropped.

His enhanced hearing let him clearly make out the voices coming from the street outside.

A female officer approached the square-faced policeman and reported, "Captain Zhang, the forensic examiner has confirmed that the bite marks on the dog were indeed from a wolf... but there's something strange."

"What?"

"According to the forensic examiner, someone apparently broke the dog's neck first, and only afterward did the wolf rip its belly open!"

"So, just like the two previous murders, this is another case of someone using a wolf to attack?"

"Yes. Judging by the evidence we have so far, it's very likely the same perpetrator... but why would the killer go out of their way to kill a dog?"

"What about the surveillance footage?"

"All the nearby cameras were interfered with. They didn't capture anything..."

The two voices outside gradually receded, leaving only some inconsequential conversation.

"That Werewolf committed other crimes before this?" Mu You was a little surprised.

The two officers clearly didn't know about the Werewolf's existence, so they could only conclude that someone had used a wolf to carry out the attacks.

What he hadn't expected was that the Werewolf seemed to have done similar things before-and those had been murders!

Mu You hurriedly pulled out his phone and searched for recent crimes in the area.

There really were some!

Three months ago, two murders had occurred in succession in a nearby residential complex. The victims were two unrelated young people who lived alone. Because the methods were similar, the police strongly suspected that the same person was responsible, and ultimately classified them as a serial murder case...

"Could those two young people who died have been players too?"

After reading the police report, Mu You could already piece together a rough explanation.

The Werewolf had clearly been a "player" for a long time.

Those two young people had most likely been new players who registered three months ago. After encroaching on the Werewolf's interests in the game, they had been hunted by the Werewolf player, who eventually discovered their real-world identities and brutally killed them in their own homes...

"Then what about today?"

Mu You thought of the dog's corpse from today again.

The Werewolf had gone out in the middle of the night to kill a dog, then deliberately left its corpse in such a conspicuous public place. Why... could it have been a warning aimed at him?

The more Mu You thought about it, the more likely it seemed.

There was no room for two tigers on one mountain. Besides, werewolves and villagers belonged to opposing factions in the game to begin with.

Werewolves survived by hunting villagers in the game, and other players joining the village would inevitably make that hunting more difficult. They might even kill the Werewolf instead. In that light, it was understandable that the Werewolf wouldn't tolerate other players nearby.

"So that makes me the Werewolf's third target..." Mu You frowned.

The only good news was that, for now, the other player still didn't know his identity or location.

But that was only temporary. As a player, unless he stopped playing entirely, he would inevitably display at least some differences from ordinary people.

Of course, the same was true of the Werewolf. With such conspicuous behavior, there was no way the Werewolf could leave no openings at all.

If Mu You could find the Werewolf's real identity, then even if he couldn't win in a head-on fight, he could launch a sneak attack. Failing that, he could enlist the police to arrest the other player outright.

But if the Werewolf found him first... he was finished. The fate of those two players three months ago would become his own.

In short, it now came down to which of them found the other first.

Whoever identified the other first would seize the initiative!

At that thought, a sudden sense of urgency rose within Mu You.

"I can't keep drifting along in the game, either. I need to get stronger as quickly as possible!"

Leveling up in the game awarded a large number of attribute points. The Werewolf was already level seven, and the attributes gained from leveling alone were several times higher than his.

He therefore had to raise his level as quickly as possible. At the very least, he couldn't afford to lag too far behind in attributes when he next encountered the Werewolf.

"Boss!"

A familiar voice rang out. Mu You turned and saw Xiao Ya entering the pet shop with a cup of milk tea in her hands.

"Boss, did something happen in the neighborhood? I saw loads of police outside!" Xiao Ya rented a place in the residential complex next door, only a ten-minute walk from the pet shop.

"It's nothing... oh, right, you'd better not go out at night lately. There may be a criminal operating nearby." Mu You passed along the officer's warning.

"Oh..." Xiao Ya nodded, looking a little confused.

"Also, I've got something to take care of today, so I probably won't have time to help out. Keep an eye on the shop for me," Mu You said.

"Oh, all right..."

Xiao Ya gave Mu You's serious expression a puzzled look. She had the feeling something was weighing on him, but she didn't ask any questions and simply nodded in agreement.

Meanwhile, Mu You went straight upstairs and shut himself in his room.

He took out his phone and launched "Fool"!

After entering the game, his first task was to use up the little bit of action points left over from yesterday.

Mu You guided his character to Ironforge, south of the village entrance.

[You arrive at Ironforge. Heat billows from the chimney atop the smithy, and the clang of hammering rings out from within.]

[It appears the dwarf blacksmith has opened for business today. Would you like to enter now?]

Two options: yes or no.

Mu You selected "yes."

[You enter Ironforge. The dwarf blacksmith welcomes you warmly and asks what you would like forged.]

[You show the dwarf blacksmith the "mithril."]

["A piece of mithril." The dwarf blacksmith gives you a surprised look, apparently not expecting you to have obtained such a high-grade material. "Mithril is an excellent material for magical forging, suitable for crafting most types of equipment. You can choose to make a piece of armor to protect that frail little body of yours, or you could make a weapon. How can an adventurer go around unarmed? Or perhaps you'd like to use it to craft an accessory with a special function?"]

Three options: [Craft armor], [Craft a weapon], and [Craft an accessory].

There was no need to agonize over this choice. Mu You urgently needed to kill monsters and gain experience to level up, so what he needed most was undoubtedly a weapon-preferably a ranged weapon such as a bow, firearm, or hand crossbow.

Attacking from a distance would both reduce his risk of injury and let him take advantage of the "Sure Shot" spell.

Mu You tapped "Craft a weapon."