S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 213

The Intelligent Killer 18 – Strange User

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Zhan Zhao and the others devised a plan to catch the woman in red and decided to use both wit and courage at the concert.

Big Brother Bai realised that his younger brothers didn't really feel sorry for him, but he was used to it. With the new theatre opening and the concert happening, gathering a bunch of jinxed stars was bound to cause trouble.

There was still some time before the plan was implemented, and they needed to arrange a new show, which involved a lot of work. Zhao Zhen, Xu Lie, Qi Le and the others were quite busy, so Bai Yutang gave Bai Chi a holiday, having him assist Zhao Zhen to boost Zhao Zhen's work enthusiasm.

During this period, the SCI members managed to have a brief respite.

Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue reviewed the previous materials related to Che Dongming.

The previously sensational Lin Tian incident and the woman in red incident had calmed down as public attention waned.

Coupled with the warming weather, S City began to have a hint of spring, and the well-rested SCI members were in high spirits.

One morning, Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang arrived at the SCI office, only to find a man and a woman waiting in the office. They were Shi Zhu, who had caused trouble not long ago, and Liang Xiaoyu from the search team.

Shi Zhu had signed up for Magic Company's robotics competition and had passed the preliminary selection, officially qualifying for the competition.

The two received an invitation this morning to visit Magic Company, meet the company's owner, and participate in the competition launch ceremony at the science and technology exhibition.

They came to SCI first because Jiang Ping needed to install some portable equipment on them.

After all, the other party was a technology company with a poor track record and serious criminal suspicions, so Jiang Ping needed to equip them with monitoring devices to collect evidence and ensure their safety.

Shi Zhu wore a set of equipment recently developed by Jiang Ping, including specially designed contact lenses, while Liang Xiaoyu wore a set of special nail covers.

Bai Yutang instructed them not to take any risks on the first day, they should just follow the company's scheduled activities and not act alone.

While they were preparing, Liang Xiaojin also arrived.

The search team investigated Magic Company and found some issues.

Liang Xiaojin found some investigation materials and handed them to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang.

"This company mainly focuses on artificial intelligence and gaming projects," Liang Xiaojin explained. "Their main product is VR glasses. When you put on these glasses, a witch will assist you in the game."

Zhan Zhao was quite curious, "You see the witch when you put on the glasses?"

"Mhmm! It's similar to an intelligent assistant. When you put on the glasses, you'll see a virtual witch who will act like your friend, playing the game with you and providing suggestions and parameters, essentially an AI companion. The company also produces a small speaker that can serve as a household manager. Even if you're not wearing VR glasses, the witch can communicate with you through the speaker and help you control all internet-connected devices at home. They also have corresponding mobile apps and wearable devices, such as watches and earphones, to provide the witch's services at any time."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang thought that such a smart home manager wasn't particularly new since many companies were working on it, and it was indeed a future trend.

"It's quite creative to have someone accompany you while gaming," Jiang Ping, a tech nerd, commented. "It's like creating a teammate in the game space through VR, and this teammate is exclusively for the player... But doesn't this require high hardware specifications? Can an average household achieve this level?"

"It's still in the experimental stage. Some players can rent the equipment for trial use, but..." Liang Xiaojin's tone changed, "three players have already lost their lives."

"What?" Bai Yutang was a bit surprised. "Is it related to playing this game?"

"Mhmm, these three players all committed suicide." Liang Xiaojin handed their information to Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao.

"These three players had some common traits. They had no relatives, few friends, and very limited social interactions. Simply put, even if they died, no one would investigate the cause of their death. Moreover, all three had a history of depression, with some having received treatment and others still undergoing treatment. In other words..."

"The police would consider them people likely to commit suicide due to their illness?" Zhan Zhao frowned. "This is a deliberately selected sample!"

"In addition to the suicides, there were several others arrested for violent crimes." Liang Xiaojin produced another folder with several profiles inside.

Bai Yutang flipped through them, frowning. "All juvenile offenders?"

Liang Xiaojin nodded. "And all had prior criminal records, in other words..."

"Even if they committed violent crimes, people would think they were just delinquents to begin with..." Zhan Zhao noticed another folder in Liang Xiaojin's hand and asked, "Anything else?"

"Mhmm!" Liang Xiaojin nodded. "Surprisingly, the test users weren't just vulnerable groups but also some very powerful individuals."

Everyone frowned.

"That Lin Tian that you arrested earlier was also one of the test users. There were also some affluent and even prominent individuals." Liang Xiaojin showed them one of the profiles. "These people were also more or less strange, like this person."

Liang Xiaojin took out one of the files.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang both looked at it. It was the profile of a test user.

This was a young designer named Yu Yang. He was highly educated, had a high income, was thirty years old, and was single.

The file included a police report about a dispute.

Yu Yang rented an apartment in a low-rise residential complex in S City. These buildings typically had only three or four floors with relatively few residents per building.

Yu Yang lived on the third floor, and on the second floor lived a single woman named Chen, a white-collar worker in a nearby office building.

One night, Chen contacted the property management, saying her power was out.

After an inspection, the property management found that the second-floor electricity meter box in the corridor had been pried open, and someone had manually pulled down the second-floor circuit breaker, causing the power outage.

Chen found it suspicious and asked the property management to check the surveillance cameras.

The corridor surveillance showed that it was Yu Yang from the third floor who had entered the corridor alone late that night, pried open the meter box, and pulled down the circuit breaker.

Chen had returned home late that night after working overtime at her company until the early hours. Upon finding no power at home, she went to the security guard at the door to contact the property management.

According to the surveillance, after pulling the circuit breaker, Yu Yang went to Chen's door, entered a series of passwords, and entered Chen's home, staying there without coming out.

After Chen returned home and found the lights not working, she went straight downstairs.

After Chen left, Yu Yang snuck out of her home and went upstairs back to his own home.

Yu Yang's explanation was that he was drunk that night, mistakenly entered the wrong home, and when Chen returned, she woke him up, and he went back to his own home.

Liang Xiaojin had also managed to obtain the surveillance video from that night.

The SCI members watched the video together, and Ma Xin, who had come over from the forensic lab next door, felt her hair stand on end after watching it. "Shit! Drunk, my foot! How did he know the girl's door password?"

Everyone else also felt that Yu Yang's entire process of pulling the circuit breaker and sneaking into Chen's home did not seem like the actions of a drunk person at all.

Everyone couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if Chen hadn't worked late and was at home asleep when Yu Yang snuck in.

In the follow-up to the incident, Chen firmly refused to believe it was just a coincidence and wanted to sue Yu Yang.

Yu Yang explained that he had drunk a lot that night, and his own home had a power outage. He went downstairs to turn the power back on but mistakenly pried open Chen's meter box. Coincidentally, the password for Chen's electronic lock was the same as his, so he opened her door without much thought and went in to sleep.

Upon investigation, it was found that Yu Yang's home did indeed have a power outage, and the passwords for the electronic locks of both homes were indeed the same.

Due to insufficient evidence, Yu Yang was acquitted.

Yu Yang maintained a good attitude, acting polite and apologetic to Chen. His colleagues testified to his good character, stating that he would never do such a thing.

The matter ended without resolution, with Chen moving out due to the fright, and Yu Yang also moving later.

"I originally thought the matter had ended there," Liang Xiaojin said, "but I investigated further and found there was more to the story... Chen later developed severe anxiety and was admitted to a mental hospital. She reportedly called the police multiple times, claiming she was being stalked, that someone had entered her home, and that her belongings had been moved... However, police investigations found nothing on the surveillance around her home as it was either malfunctioning or had no footage, so they never found concrete evidence."

Everyone frowned, wondering if she was paranoid after a traumatic experience or if someone was indeed stalking her.

"I was also suspicious, so I dug deeper," Liang Xiaojin continued. "Chen moved several times, and coincidentally, every time she moved, Yu Yang also moved shortly after and always lived near her."

"This is too suspicious, that guy definitely has issues," Zhao Hu felt sorry for Chen. "That poor girl must have been driven mad."

Everyone nodded in agreement.

"There are several other users like Yu Yang. While not all are stalkers, I checked and many have issues but are clever enough to avoid punishment," Liang Xiaojin said. "I even filled out an application to participate in the game trial... but my application was rejected within a day, saying I didn't meet the requirements. When I called customer service, it was all automated responses, saying the trial was full. However, when I copied Yu Yang's resume with slight modifications and submitted it, I was told I met the application criteria."

Zhan Zhao compared the two applications and found it a bit interesting.

"Today, there's an exhibition at the Science and Technology Centre. Magic Company's competition is a significant event at the science and technology exhibition."

"Does that mean Magic Company has a booth at the science and technology exhibition?" Zhan Zhao asked with interest.

Liang Xiaojin nodded. "It's at the exhibition hall in the Science and Technology Centre, and Magic Company is nearby, their boss will be there as well."

As he spoke, Liang Xiaojin handed a few tickets to Zhan Zhao and the others. "I managed to get a few tickets. If you're interested, you can go check it out."

Liang Xiaojin left the information with SCI and instructed Liang Xiaoyu and Shi Zhu to be careful and prioritise their safety during their infiltration before leaving.

Zhan Zhao waved the tickets and asked Bai Yutang, "Shall we go to the science and technology exhibition?"

Bai Yutang was quite interested in the company, and Zhao Jue and Bai Ye also wanted to go. So, the group decided to visit the Science and Technology Centre and see the exhibition together.

‿︵‿︵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: July 23, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 30, 2024 by Soojin