S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 217

The Intelligent Killer 22 – Vine and Melon

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Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang returned from Bao Sir's office. Just as they arrived at the entrance of the SCI office, they saw the elevator door across the corridor open, and a person walked out.

Zhan Zhao was a bit surprised to see the newcomer. "Dad."

The person who stepped out of the elevator was none other than Zhan Qitian, holding a folder.

Zhan Qitian pointed to the two of them with the folder, seemingly here to deliver something.

Zhan Zhao, puzzled, reached out and took the folder, opening it to have a look.

Zhan Qitian asked Bai Yutang, "Are you guys after a stalker?"

Bai Yutang immediately nodded.

"Sure enough, there are more than just two victims." Zhan Zhao flipped through the information Zhan Qitian gave him, which contained two documents indicting Yu Yang.

"That kid is a repeat offender, but he's very cunning. Two female victims have previously reported him, but neither case was successfully prosecuted due to insufficient evidence." Zhan Qitian explained, pressing the elevator button, and before stepping in, he pointed at the two younger men, "Don't let that scumbag get away."

At this moment, Zhao Jue walked out of the office, munching on an apple.

Zhan Qitian greeted him before heading downstairs.

It was Zhao Jue who had called Zhan Qitian earlier. Bai Yutang took the information and went to contact the two other female victims.

Zhao Jue continued eating his apple and poked Zhan Zhao with his finger.

Zhan Zhao looked at him.

Zhao Jue winked at him. "That kid is very sneaky, normal investigative methods won't uncover anything."

Zhan Zhao glanced at him, then looked at Bai Yutang, who was making a phone call in the corridor.

"What unconventional methods do you want to use?" Zhan Zhao muttered, "Bao Sir doesn't allow hypnosis..."

"Tsk." Zhao Jue shot him a look, "You guys are the police, I'm not. Besides, that brat uses unconventional methods himself. This is called fighting fire with fire, using magic to defeat magic."

"Hmm..." Zhan Zhao thought there was some truth to Zhao Jue's words. Using "normal" evidence-gathering methods made it difficult to catch Yu Yang's flaws. As a result, his boldness increased, leading to more victims.

Just as Zhan Zhao was hesitating, he looked up and saw Bai Yutang looking his way while on the phone.

When their eyes met, Bai Yutang winked at him.

Zhan Zhao froze, unable to comprehend for a moment... Could it be...

Zhan Zhao rubbed his chin and asked Zhao Jue, "Have you thought of a plan?"

Zhao Jue beckoned him closer.

Zhan Zhao leaned in, and Zhao Jue whispered his plan to him.

After listening, Zhan Zhao thought it feasible and said, "Then... we'll handle the normal part, and you take care of the unconventional part."

Zhao Jue smirked, "It's settled."

Saying this, he ran off to find Bai Ye.

After Zhan Zhao and Zhao Jue finished discussing, Bai Yutang returned.

Putting away his phone, Bai Yutang said the two victims were on their way and added, "Those two had also applied for jobs at Magic Company but were rejected."

"Sure enough..." Zhan Zhao, seeing Bai Yutang's relaxed expression, asked, "Aren't you worried Zhao Jue will cause trouble?"

Bai Yutang smiled, "Zhao Jue alone might cause trouble, but we also have Uncle Ye. Everything has a weakness."

Zhan Zhao thought about it and agreed, "Uncle Ye is reliable!"

Both nodded reassuringly. Just as they stepped into the office, they heard Bai Ye complaining to Zhao Jue, "Is it really so troublesome to catch a pervert? Why not just chop him up and feed him to the dogs..."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang paused and touched their chests – inexplicably feeling a bit anxious...

The plan devised by Zhao Jue was simple: fight fire with fire. Catching Yu Yang alone wasn't enough, to eradicate the problem, they needed to eliminate the root cause. It was likely that Yu Yang wasn't the only "pervert" related to the magic experiment. In other words, besides stalking women, there might be others involved in other crimes. So, Yu Yang wasn't the main target, he was just a clue leading to the bigger picture.

How should they proceed?

Although Yu Yang's crimes weren't as severe as a serial killer's, his methods and mindset were similar to those of a serial killer... He placed himself at the top of the food chain.

In other words, he saw himself as the predator, while people like Chen and Wang were his prey.

Once a person develops such a mindset, they become very sensitive about their identity. This means Yu Yang could easily imagine a day when he turned from predator to prey and was targeted by a higher-level predator.

Yu Yang chose his "prey" from people who were "eliminated" by Magic Company, indicating that the company's selection and elimination process was like a jungle. The chosen "strong" ones could hunt the "weak" ones... Similarly, these "strong" ones didn't know when they might become "weak."

Therefore, by putting a "hunter" above him and using his methods against him, he would start questioning – had he been demoted?

To confirm whether it was an accident or a change in the "jungle" rules, he would try to find out.

And who would he ask? Magic Company that told him he was a hunter, and the other "hunters" who were game players like him.

Whatever decision he made, they could trace it back to the source... As long as they found the connection between Yu Yang's cases and Magic Company, and uncovered the crimes of other players, the police would have evidence to investigate the company directly! They could search the company's data, the information of all recruiters and players, and examine the confidential game content.

Of course, the key to all this was using Yu Yang effectively.

After thoroughly questioning Chen and Wang, the other two victims arrived. They had been stalked earlier than Chen and Wang, but Yu Yang hadn't harassed them persistently. On the contrary, he had hit a wall.

And it all boiled down to the "conditions" of these two victims, which differed slightly from those of Chen and Wang.

The two victims were Li and Sun.

Li had a very protective older brother, a tall athlete. When he heard that his sister was being stalked, he and some friends from the basketball team kept watch near her home around the clock, caught Yu Yang, and dragged him to the police station. Li's brother not only reported it to the police but also went to Yu Yang's neighbourhood, company, and even wanted to confront his parents about how they raised such a scumbag son. Wherever Yu Yang went, her brother followed, pointing him out in crowded places, calling him a pervert and a stalker, until Yu Yang had to move away.

Zhan Zhao and the others analysed it according to the timeline. Li was probably Yu Yang's first victim, and his methods were not as "sophisticated" then.

Sun's case was even more unique. She had a hobby of boxing and was very skilled, with impressive combat abilities. However, she feared scaring those around her, so she kept this hobby low-key, especially during job applications. She tried to present herself as a lady in her daily attire and demeanour and on her resume.

After discovering Yu Yang was stalking her, she and some friends from her boxing gym set a trap and caught him red-handed. Yu Yang was nearly beaten to death by a group of women.

After hearing the experiences of these two victims, everyone realised that Yu Yang's path wasn't "smooth sailing" and was fraught with risks. Predators sometimes couldn't tell who the prey was. It seemed he had been "tempered" on his path of wrongdoing.

Yu Yang is a man who has refused to change despite repeated admonitions. Even after being "dealt with" like this, he continued stalking... He was simply hopeless!

Sun and Li sympathised with Wang and Chen, and Sun even suggested they join her boxing gym.

On a side note, Sun had followed her passion and became a boxing coach. Recently, she had just opened a boxing gym and handed out a bunch of flyers to the SCI team. It was quite convenient as the gym wasn't far away, and many of them were interested.

Apart from their experiences of being stalked, the SCI team was also curious about their common interview experience.

All four women had applied for administrative positions, although not in the same batch, as Sun and Li had graduated two years earlier.

Zhan Zhao asked them in detail about the interview process.

The four women recalled that it was indeed different from other companies.

They had all submitted their resumes at a job fair, and that very evening, the company called them for an interview.

However, upon arriving at the interview location, they found that there were many candidates.

They found it strange at that time because Magic Company wasn't large, didn't need many administrative staff, and the salary was ordinary, not exceptionally good. Yet, so many people showed up, making it seem like an open casting call.

Furthermore, although there were many people, the interviews were conducted individually.

Typically, large numbers of candidates would be screened in preliminary and secondary rounds, with the preliminary interview involving group interviews where some candidates would be eliminated based on first impressions, and the secondary interview conducted one-on-one. Because this process was highly inefficient, they waited for a long time, and many gave up halfway through.

"What about the interviewers?" Zhan Zhao asked them to describe.

"There were no interviewers, just a machine asking questions."

Everyone was surprised, "A machine the whole time?"

"Yes! There were only one or two staff members maintaining order and calling names."

"The interview room looked like a screening room."

"There was a big screen displaying words and images."

"Then a robotic voice would ask questions, and we would answer."

"There were about ten questions."

"They covered all sorts of topics, even preferences like favourite flowers or TV shows."

"Right! It felt unrelated to the job, more like a psychological test."

......

The four women described their experiences one after another, and everyone felt that Wang and Chen's interviews were more detailed than those of Li and Sun.

Zhan Zhao asked Li and Sun, "Were there any questions about your family?"

They both shook their heads.

He then looked at Wang and Chen.

They nodded and said they were asked about siblings, their parents' occupations, and their personal sports hobbies.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang exchanged a glance – Could it be that Yu Yang provided feedback to the company? So in the following job fairs, they "improved" the content of the interview?

With sufficient information gathered, they let the four women rest in the lounge while the others gathered to discuss the case.

Zhao Hu had a question, "Is Yu Yang committing these crimes out of personal 'interest'... or is he on some kind of mission? Why did he give feedback to the company?"

"Could it be related to the games they test?" Jiang Ping asked. "Is this what the game is about?"

Everyone looked at each other – What kind of cursed game was this?

"It's possible," Zhan Zhao said. "Usually, crimes involving harassment and stalking women have a sexual motive. It starts with stalking, then might escalate to peeping, stealing personal items, or trying to get close. But Yu Yang's only escalation is in his criminal methods, as if..."

"Levelling up in a game?" Jiang Ping perked up, "Improving with practice, gathering experience to report back to the game company, which then enhances user experience, maybe even creating a strategy guide?"

Everyone frowned – It sounded even more perverted.

"Not only upgrading his criminal methods but also refining the selection criteria for victims," Zhao Jue felt his plan was much more feasible.

Zhao Hu was curious, "So, Master Zhao, what's your plan? Are you going to have someone stalk Yu Yang?"

Zhao Jue rubbed his chin and smiled slightly, "Hmm... it's not going to be that simple."

‿︵‿︵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 29, 2024 by Angel

Edited: December 30, 2024 by Soojin