S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 148

Screen Murderer 44 – Type of Game

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The clues provided by Viper shocked the entire SCI team... So, he was also a participant in that game? Is that New World actually a monster-hunting game, is it just the real game's beginner's stage, or is the game between monitors and guardians also called New World?

Bai Yutang asked Viper to describe that game.

Viper, already speaking weakly and laboriously, had no choice but to say, "New World is about selecting a person, generally a woman. From her birth, a virtual world is constructed around her. Then players form groups, appearing as guardians and challengers. Whichever side eliminates the other wins by any means necessary. Then other players bet online. If they win, the winning side earns a lot of money."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned – Making someone's life chaotic and yet describing it so casually...

Suppressing his anger, Bai Yutang continued to inquire, "Are there any rules to this game?"

"It's just about not being discovered. Once the police get involved or the target notices, it's either eliminating the target directly or framing the target... then moving on to the next round." Viper said as he picked up the water from the table and took a sip, impatiently adding, "If you have a way to save me, do it quickly. I don't want to be silenced."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both frowned, "Wouldn't terminating the game save you?"

Viper paused, then suddenly laughed, as if he had just realised something, "You guys... I see. You think New World is a game, don't you?"

The entire SCI team wondered if his brain had been damaged by drugs, considering what he had just said.

"New World isn't just one game, it's a type of game! Do you understand?" Viper said somewhat incredulously, "This game has been around for centuries, long before the internet appeared. Humans playing humans, isn't that just how it goes?"

The crowd looked at him with disgust, thinking, who the hell wants to save you anyway?!

"It's just that setting up a gaming platform might be a bit troublesome, and popularity needs to be cultivated, right? It also takes some accumulation to scale up. The scale of this new world game is considered the largest so far, it's been in operation for about half a century."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang glanced at each other, finding it interesting. There's no shortage of villains in this world. A game like this, which is almost as old as the organisation itself, and even though the organisation is finished, these people still seem to be thriving... Scholars can't compete with money-makers, where's the logic in that?

Setting aside the sarcasm, the information revealed by Viper was quite important.

What he said, in fact, was very easy to understand. It's like how fraud is a type of crime; different methods but the same nature. Knocking out one gang doesn't mean another won't rise, but not being able to eradicate a type of crime doesn't mean you can't eliminate a criminal gang. If all gangs are eliminated, then that type of crime no longer exists!

"Then let's start with this." Zhan Zhao urged Viper, "If you want us to save you, make a deal."

Viper said somewhat frustratedly, "Aren't you guys the police? Why are you acting like a cult, asking for deals?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both gave him a disdainful look, "Cut the crap, are you even worth saving?"

Viper clicked his tongue, seeming to hesitate for a moment before finally saying, "I heard that one of the management team defected before, and he had a complete list of the management team for this game."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both raised their eyebrows slightly – Really?

"Where’s the list?"

Viper replied, "I'll tell you only if you come to rescue me."

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned, "Aren't you safe where you are? Where should we bring you to? Prison?"

Viper looked to the sky and rolled his eyes, "Safe? This room has windows on all sides."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang nonchalantly responded – Being seen wouldn't kill him.

"Who is trying to kill you?" Zhan Zhao asked curiously, "Is it the organisation? Or someone who hired you?"

"What do you think?" Viper sounded desperate, "Have you ever seen a lone lion on the African savannah?"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang shook their heads disapprovingly, thinking, what does a lone lion have to do with a little ragged snake like you?

But to take down this entire organisation, Viper was quite crucial. Should they rescue him?

Zhan Zhao looked at Bai Yutang.

Bai Yutang checked the satellite location given to them by Zhao Jue for Viper's whereabouts. Viper had harmed so many people, if they caught him, he would be thrown in prison, but if they left him alone and he miraculously escaped without being killed by the assassins, more people would certainly be harmed.

Bai Yutang nodded to Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao then told Viper, "Wait there."

Viper breathed a sigh of relief, "Hurry up!"

After the video call ended, Bai Yutang prepared to set out with Ma Han and the others.

However, Zhan Zhao was a bit concerned, "Is it really a good idea to go like this?"

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao.

"Viper is ruthless. If we rescue him, after he gives us the list, he'll end up in prison, maybe even face a firing squad. If he's going to die anyway, why wouldn't he choose to die at the hands of those hunting him rather than face legal punishment?"

Bai Yutang frowned slightly, this concern was indeed very reasonable.

"And we just asked about the organisation's management, and he immediately had a list of them, could this be bait?" Zhan Zhao asked. "It was Zhao Jue who captured him, which is equivalent to someone on our side poisoning him. From my analysis of Viper, he is an extremely arrogant person who cannot tolerate defeat. Having been tricked by Zhao Jue, he will definitely want revenge. I don't think he's that afraid of death. To a madman, what does life matter? If he really valued his life, he wouldn't be in this line of work."

"Then..." Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao, "what should we do?"

Zhan Zhao thought for a moment, then smiled slightly and nodded to Bai Yutang, indicating – There’s a trick!

"What trick?" The entire SCI team looked at Zhan Zhao curiously.

Zhan Zhao said, "He’s certain that we are desperate for the list and that no one is actually coming to kill him."

"Then let him realise his situation. We're not desperate for the list, but someone does want to kill him."

After saying that, Zhan Zhao gave a mischievous smile, beckoning to the team and laying out his plan.

After he had finished explaining, Zhao Hu and Ma Han prepared the equipment and kept Viper under surveillance first.

Taking advantage of this moment, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang went to the interrogation room to question Chen Gui and Chen Fu.

The best way to deal with prisoners is to leave them alone. Sure enough, after being left alone all day by Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang, the resolutely silent Chen Gui and Chen Fu were becoming restless.

The two kept glancing at each other and didn’t dare to speak, but their expressions were becoming visibly anxious.

Zhan Zhao walked to the observation room and pulled Bai Yutang back from entering the interrogation room.

Bai Yutang looked at Zhan Zhao.

Zhan Zhao signalled – Wait a bit longer, it seems they are reaching their breaking point.

Sure enough, the previously silent Chen Fu couldn't hold out any longer and asked Chen Gui, "What’s taking so long?"

Chen Gui signalled to him with his eyes, indicating the surveillance cameras.

Chen Fu didn't care about that, "Did Wang Meiyun deceive us?"

Chen Gui helplessly lowered his head and held his forehead, knowing it was too late...

In the observation room, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a smile – Oh, the secret is revealed.

Bai Yutang was a bit curious, "Wasn't Chen Gui's girlfriend, Xiao Liu, killed by Secretary Zhang, who Wang Meiyun sent? Why is he still working for Wang Meiyun?"

Zhan Zhao smiled slightly, "Let's ask Chen Fu first."

After saying this, Zhan Zhao waved to Luo Tian and Qin Ou, who were passing by the door.

After a few instructions, Luo Tian and Qin Ou nodded and entered the interrogation room.

Seeing that someone finally came in, Chen Gui and Chen Fu both looked up, but the ones who came were not Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang.

Luo Tian went over and unlocked Chen Gui's handcuffs.

Chen Gui was a bit puzzled.

However, Chen Fu's handcuffs were not removed.

Luo Tian said to Chen Gui, "You can go now."

Chen Gui frowned, "I can go?"

"Yes, the two syringes didn't both contain poison. Yours was just saline." After saying that, he gestured for him to leave quickly.

Chen Gui looked confused, but Chen Fu was anxious, "What do you mean? What about me?"

Luo Tian didn't let Chen Gui speak, dragging him out of the room and shutting the door amidst Chen Fu's shouts.

At the door, however, Chen Gui wasn't released; instead, he was handcuffed again.

Chen Gui realised things were bad. Chen Fu had already been hesitant, and now he would surely think that Chen Gui and Wang Meiyun had teamed up to betray him, so he'd definitely spill everything...

But at this point, it was useless for him to be anxious.

Luo Tian and Qin Ou took him away.

Zhan Zhao signalled to Bai Yutang that they could go in now.

At this moment, Zhan Zhao's phone rang again.

Zhan Zhao glanced at it and saw it was a video call from Viper. He ignored it, turned off the phone, and entered the interrogation room with Bai Yutang.

In the interrogation room, Chen Fu became agitated upon seeing Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang enter and kept saying, "I didn't really want to kill Wang Meiyun, it was all orchestrated by Wang Meiyun! I was framed by both of them! Originally, this had nothing to do with me..."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang sat down opposite him and gestured for him to calm down and explain everything slowly.

Chen Fu slumped into his chair, resigned, and began to confess everything honestly.

"Chen Gui and I have known each other since we were kids. We used to team up to do a bit of petty theft to make some money." Chen Fu said. "Later, we both came to S City to make a living. I've always been interested in computers, so I found a job in a computer market. Chen Gui, on the other hand, worked for a moving company."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang had previously investigated their backgrounds, and the description roughly matched what they had found.

"Chen Gui and Xiao Liu were in a relationship, but later, Xiao Liu's family fell into debt. Chen Gui had nothing to offer, so Xiao Liu broke up with him and married an older man who grew flowers. Despite being a florist, this man was very wealthy and generously paid off Xiao Liu's family's debts. Chen Gui came to S City because he still had feelings for Xiao Liu, and the two of them hooked up and became inseparable. The florist treated Xiao Liu well, Xiao Liu felt guilty and wanted to cut ties with Chen Gui completely. During that time, Chen Gui often came to me to drink and was quite depressed. He was thinking of quick ways to make money to pay back the florist and then elope with Xiao Liu."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both shook their heads.

"At the time, I was also short of money, and I overheard some guys in the computer market talking privately about getting rich through games on the dark web."

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao frowned at him – So you decided to take the path of crime?

Chen Fu sighed, "It was a moment of foolishness. I drank a bit too much and ended up telling Chen Gui about it. Chen Gui was so desperate for money that he started asking around everywhere. He's quite reckless, and the way he went about it was so loud that I was afraid he'd either attract the police or be treated as a psychopath locked up in a mental hospital. One day, I suddenly received an email that contained a URL. Clicking on the URL, is said that if I passed a test, I would be invited to join a game. Being a computer enthusiast, I clicked on the URL and completed what seemed like a questionnaire or an intelligence test, even writing a few lines of code. Eventually, I passed... There was an address directing me to pick up a USB drive from a locker at a shopping mall. So, I went and got it. The USB drive contained a string of code. I remembered the questionnaire site had an entry that required an invitation code, so I tried it, and it actually got me into the game."

At this point, Chen Fu was filled with regret. "I was curious and impulsive. Once inside, a pop-up asked if I was ready to join the game. I clicked 'yes', and then a page with a user agreement appeared. It was like a joke, stating that I couldn't disclose any information, couldn't quit the game once I started, and that quitting midway would be a violation. It listed a bunch of penalties, saying things like 'whistleblowers will die' and 'mid-game quitters will die'... and so on. I just clicked 'agree'... and when I entered the game..."

Chen Fu shook his head, "It turned out to be a killing game..."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang looked at him speechlessly – This was a classic case of digging one's own grave.

"But the more I thought about it that night, the more uneasy I felt. So, I turned my computer back on and logged into the game again. I managed to extract some of the game's raw data, but before I could finish, they seemed to notice, and I was kicked out of the game."

"At that moment, I copied the data onto my own USB drive, which happened to be identical to the one I had received."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang immediately understood the mystery of the two identical USB drives found at Zhao Jue's villa and Xu Lie's house.

"I didn't feel safe staying at home with the two USB drives, so I went to find Chen Gui."

"Chen Gui was worried about visiting Xiao Liu the next day but had to work overtime. Seeing me, he asked me to cover his shift. We used to do this all the time, so I took the opportunity to hide out and agreed."

"As a result, we went to deliver furniture to a house, and I encountered someone there."

Chen Fu looked at Bai Yutang, "I had seen you online before because you looked really cool fighting, so I remembered you."

Bai Yutang raised an eyebrow slightly while Zhan Zhao narrowed his eyes – He's quite knowledgeable.

"Then I saw the owner of the villa. At first, I thought it was you, but then I noticed he was a bit older. I heard him talking to another cool-looking guy about how Yutang and Zhao had been working pretty hard lately or something..."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance – It’s true that Uncle Ye never used nicknames behind their backs! He even cared about how hard they were working! Uncle Ye is truly a beacon of righteousness!

Chen Fu continued to explain, "I figured he might be a relative of yours, so I hid the USB drive at their place, in a spot where the cameras could catch it. That way, if anything happened to me, you guys could find the USB drive and use it to trace the game, solve the case, and avenge me!"

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang stared at him – You were quite clever initially, so how did you mess up so badly later?

Chen Fu sighed deeply, "It's all Chen Gui's fault!"

‿︵‿︵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 17, 2024 by Angel

Edited: November 18, 2024 by Soojin