S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 138

Screen Murderer 34 – Crazy Game

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After three experiments, everyone roughly determined the process of the crime.

Zhan Zhao shook his head. "Wang Meiyun didn't lose her memory, she was actually unconscious at the time of the crime, of course she wouldn't remember what happened!"

"Is it because of drugs?" Bai Yutang asked.

Zhan Zhao nodded. "She was probably under the influence of drugs. Similarly, the high-ranking officials in the meeting room were also unconscious. Afterwards, the high-ranking officials were eliminated one by one, which means..."

"The assailants and the attackers are in cahoots..." Bai Yutang muttered to himself.

Zhan Zhao and Gongsun both nodded.

"Huh?" Zhao Hu didn't quite understand, "So, you're saying there weren't two groups of people, but rather, it was all one group? They killed their own people?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both nodded.

"The attackers weren't four people, there were six attackers!" Zhan Zhao organised the sequence. "First, the attackers infiltrated the building and knocked out the people in the meeting room, then three of the attackers brought Wang Meiyun into the secret room and staged a scene. Two of the attackers killed the third. After completing their task in the secret room, those two left first. The remaining three attackers cut off the power and activated the security system, then they gunned down the unconscious executives. When the security heard the gunshots and called the police, those three attackers were still wandering inside the building for unknown reasons."

"That's the truth about the secret room." Bai Yutang also felt the logic was clear. "The gunshots happened after the crime, and the two assailants didn't disappear into thin air but left before the security system was activated."

After some effort, everyone roughly reconstructed the course of the crime, leaving one question in front of them – Why? Why would they do such a thing?

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao shook his head, feeling that this "why" might not be solvable through deduction alone.

Since Wang Meiyun had no idea, they could only directly ask the attacker.

When it came to the attackers, one was in the hospital undergoing surgery, one was handcuffed in the interrogation room, one was flattened into a pancake inside a body bag, and the other one was lying on the autopsy table in the forensic room.

"Right!" Gongsun suddenly said, "I was just about to tell you that there's something special about the deceased."

With that, Gongsun led Zhan Zhao and the others to the forensic room.

Approaching the autopsy table, Gongsun turned on the shadowless lamp and illuminated the left hand of the deceased.

The attackers were wearing relatively professional gear, black boots and gloves. When Gongsun removed the gloves from the deceased's hands, he found two sets of numbers tattooed on the deceased's wrists, eight numbers on each side.

"Eight on each..." Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang immediately connected it to the sixteen-digit sequence on the USB drive, matching the total of sixteen digits on both hands.

After staring at these seemingly random numbers for a moment, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang felt... there was a subtle resemblance to the numbers on the USB drive...

The two called Qin Ou, who was still in the hospital, and asked if the attacker had any numbers tattooed on him.

Qin Ou checked and came back to say that there was indeed a sixteen-digit tattoo on the attacker's left forearm.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang squinted – There it is!

Gongsun then opened the nearby body bag. Though the body was quite mangled from being flattened, they quickly found the sixteen-digit tattoo on the corpse's forearm.

"They're all on the forearm or wrist." Zhan Zhao muttered to himself, "Why tattoo them in these locations?"

Bai Yutang pondered for a moment and asked, "Could it be because these areas are usually covered, but it's convenient to see them when needed?"

Zhan Zhao nodded, feeling that it made sense. "So, are these a series of numbers they often need to access?"

After the two made certain preparations, they went back to the interrogation room.

Inside the interrogation room, the attacker who had been captured alive had already regained consciousness. Though he hadn't been injured, the punch Bai Yutang delivered to his face was enough to give him a hard time; his eye area was bruised and he was holding an ice pack against it, groaning in pain.

After observing for a while behind the glass, the two came to a conclusion – He seemed like an average guy.

According to the examination of the three weapons found at the scene, each gun had fired more than one bullet, resulting in the death of four executives in total. In other words, each of these attackers had taken a life.

In terms of personal history, these three seemed like ordinary thugs, with some petty criminal records. But suddenly escalating to such heinous crimes was unusual! Moreover, where did they get the guns and equipment?

Additionally, Zhan Zhao analysed the behaviour of this attacker. Typically, murderers exhibit two common behaviours after being apprehended. One type has a firm gaze, indicating readiness to face the consequences, even prepared for a potential standoff. The other type has a cunning look, indicating a desire to escape punishment, perhaps considering various ways to outsmart the authorities. Though these types differ significantly, they share one thing in common – they are aware they have committed murder.

This attacker, on the other hand, was quite different. He occasionally glanced at the clock on the wall, seeming very concerned about the time. Moreover, as the wait dragged on, he became increasingly agitated.

His expression was akin to that of someone stuck in traffic after work.

Zhan Zhao had once analysed the agitation felt when stuck in traffic. According to his observations, the frustration experienced when stuck on the way to work differs from that felt on the way home.

Being stuck on the way to work breeds more impatience, while being stuck on the way home fosters more anger.

This emotion can also be gleaned from the honking of horns on the road. During the morning rush hour, honks are mostly urgent and frequent, like "beep beep! beep!" Whereas during the evening rush hour, they are more prolonged, like "beep~~~ beep~~~".

This attacker’s expression at the moment, in Zhan Zhao's view, was a classic display of irritation and anger, similar to what one might expect during the typical evening rush hour traffic jam.

Bai Yutang was also analysing the man's expression. However, unlike Zhan Zhao, Bai Yutang was not focused on his agitation, but rather on his lack of fear.

It's quite strange. Bai Yutang has encountered many criminals, and aside from the exceptionally resilient psychopaths, none have remained unafraid and undismayed after being caught. What's with this kid?

"Cat," Bai Yutang couldn't help but ask, "does he not realise he's killed someone?"

But after asking, he shook his head – Not realising you've killed someone in a situation like this would mean there's something seriously wrong with your head...

The two exchanged opinions and decided to listen more and speak less, to hear what this man had to say.

Opening the door to the interrogation room, they walked in.

This attacker was called Zhang Yong, twenty-seven years old, with a long criminal record.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang entered the interrogation room and sat down without saying a word.

Sure enough, Zhang Yong spoke up first, looking rather anxious, "When are you going to let me go?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both looked at him as if he were an idiot – Never had they encountered such an arrogant murderer...

"If you keep this up, I'll fail to pass, and you'll have to compensate for the losses!" Zhang Yong even tried to intimidate them.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance – Pass?

Zhan Zhao took out his phone and sent a message, asking Jiang Ping and Bai Chi to come and have a look.

The two nerds, accompanied by other SCI members, went to the observation room to observe.

Bai Yutang reached out and tapped the table, asking Zhang Yong, "Do you know where you are?"

Considering Zhang Yong's multiple experiences of "entering the palace", he naturally knew about the different departments of the police station. When he used to dabble in petty theft, the police officers were the ones who "welcomed" him. But this time, it was SCI.

Zhang Yong sighed, clicked his tongue, and said, "We don't really know. The venue was rented. We just cleared the level. The Dong Group's people sent us there and said it was for publicity."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were perplexed, while all the SCI members at the door tilted their heads in confusion, resembling huskies. "What the hell?"

"What were you doing at Dong Group today?" Bai Yutang asked Zhang Yong to clarify.

Zhang Yong could only sigh and say, "We were playing a game, completing missions. Today, the Dong Group was the venue, and there were sixteen monsters to defeat. We were just raiding a dungeon, and then you guys beat us up. Isn't that going too far?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stared at the aggrieved Zhang Yong, both unsure how to react  – What does raiding a dungeon mean?

Bai Yutang glanced at Zhan Zhao – Is this kid really clueless about the situation, or is he just acting?

Zhan Zhao shook his head – If he were that good an actor, he wouldn't have been caught so many times for petty theft.

Bai Yutang sighed, opened a folder, and pulled out a few photos, the ones of the bodies of the Dong Group executives, and placed them in front of Zhang Yong. "Are these the monsters you killed?"

Zhang Yong stared at the photos with a blank expression. "Huh?"

He pointed at the photos with some disdain. "Captain Bai... are you kidding me? These are four dead people. We were killing monsters in a game..."

Bai Yutang then placed the photo of the body of the attacker who died in the secret room in front of Zhang Yong and asked, "Do you know him?"

Zhang Yong looked closely, his expression filled with surprise. "This is Lao Liu... What's going on?"

"How many of you were there?" Bai Yutang asked.

"There were four of us..." Zhang Yong finally realised the severity of the situation. Frowning, he shook his head. "What's happening? We were just going in to play a game. How did it end up like this?"

Bai Yutang asked him to explain how exactly they played this game, who instructed them to go, and who told them it was for the Dong Group's publicity.

Scratching his head, Zhang Yong explained, "While we were playing games at the internet café, there was a guy who claimed to be from the Dong Group's marketing team, and he asked the four of us if we wanted to make some quick money. They organised a gaming competition to test a newly developed VR game, and the venue was on the top floor of the Dong Group's building. Four participants formed a team, and the intermediary could get a deposit of five thousand yuan. After successfully clearing the level, each person could get fifteen thousand. We thought it was a good deal, so we agreed. Just now, we gathered in a camper van in the square, changed into our gear, then took the elevator from the Dong Group's underground garage to the top floor. Two staff members helped us adjust our equipment, then we started. They even turned off the lights, but our glasses had night vision, which was pretty cool..."

"How did you kill the monsters?" Bai Yutang asked.

"We... followed the route set for us in the VR. Usually, the monsters would suddenly appear, and we just had to shoot at them. And we had to find weapons and equipment, there were hints indicating where to find them..."

"Why was Lao Liu acting alone?" Bai Yutang continued questioning.

"Lao Liu went up first, and our roles were different. We all followed the game's arrangements..." Zhang Yong seemed to be gradually realising what was happening. "Were we deceived? We weren't playing a game... They tricked us into killing people?"

Even without a background in psychology, Bai Yutang could see that Zhang Yong's facial expression was starting to distort, and this trend...

Zhan Zhao waved outside.

Ma Han and Zhao Hu rushed in and restrained the hysterical Zhang Yong, who was starting to go berserk.

Outside, the onlookers who witnessed the whole process frowned.

Bai Chi and Xiatian whispered to each other.

"So tragic."

"Becoming murderers for no reason."

......

Gongsun frowned and asked Jiang Ping, "They could be deceived like this? Can't they tell real guns from fake ones?"

Jiang Ping sighed in resignation, "Modern VR immersive games aim for realism, and with them wearing full gear and gloves, coupled with sound effects and atmospheric settings, the gaming experience pursues authenticity, so it's hard to distinguish between real and fake."

"So someone wanted to eliminate the Dong Group's executives, and they used these four delinquents?" Ma Xin whispered, "But what about Wang Meiyun's scene earlier?"

In the interrogation room, Zhao Hu and Ma Han finally managed to control the frenzied Zhang Yong.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang couldn't ask any more questions for now, they had to wait for him to calm down.

The two left the interrogation room.

Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao, "What do you think?"

Zhan Zhao thought for a moment, then suddenly laughed...

‿︵‿︵ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ・❉・ ʚ˚̣̣̣͙ɞ‿︵‿︵

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Translator Notes

Please feel free to comment any mistakes I made so I can improve and do better as I go through the book.

Translated: May 3, 2024 by Angel

Edited: November 1, 2024 by Soojin