S.C.I Mystery Series Volume 5 Chapter 219

The Intelligent Killer 24 – Reverse Operation

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Yu Yang unsurprisingly fell into the trap Zhao Jue had set for him. When he realised that he might have unwittingly transformed from hunter to prey, he panicked.

He immediately lost his composure and made two phone calls. One involved a former accomplice, and the other revealed the lead that SCI most wanted to catch, the connection to Magic Company.

On Jiang Ping's computer screen, the phone number Yu Yang dialled appeared.

This number wasn't a secret, it was indeed the official customer service number provided by Magic. However, customer service numbers have extension numbers... and what SCI was looking for was the internal number hidden behind the official facade.

Sure enough, when the call was connected, a mechanical voice responded, "Press 1 for top-up, press 2 for error reports..."

Yu Yang spoke one word, "Witch."

As soon as he said this word, the voice stopped, followed by a piece of music.

After about five seconds of music, the voice prompted again, "Please enter your game ID."

Yu Yang entered a string of numbers.

"Checking your account."

After the voice prompt, there was another piece of music. After a short wait, a prompt tone sounded: "Your account is in good standing. Do you wish to connect to a representative?"

Yu Yang pressed the "#" key.

Soon, a man's voice came from the other end of the line... The man yawned first, then lazily asked, "This is the security service station, what do you need?"

Yu Yang asked, "I want to check if there have been any changes to my account level."

"Hmm... no changes."

"Am I still in hunter status?"

"Mhmm, level four hunter."

"Have there been any rule adjustments in the game recently?"

"No."

"It's still the rule that hunters cannot hunt each other?"

"Huh? What's wrong with your account?"

The person on the other end seemed a bit confused.

"My... my prey is dead!" Yu Yang said in a low voice.

"Oh? Then you can level up, from level four to level two... Was it suicide or did you kill them? If you killed them, you can go straight to level one."

"She was killed by someone else!" Yu Yang's voice became hoarse with excitement.

......

After a moment of silence, the voice asked, "Did you follow the game rules?"

"Of course!"

"Have you disclosed any game content to non-players?"

"No!"

"Have the police investigated you?"

"Uh..." Yu Yang hesitated for a moment, "No."

"Okay, we will send an investigator to investigate. Your account will be temporarily frozen, but your points will be retained."

"Wait..."

But before Yu Yang could finish, the previously friendly voice suddenly turned sinister, "Make sure to follow rule nine of the trial rules, or you will face physical elimination."

With that, the call was abruptly ended.

Yu Yang clicked his tongue while holding the phone and scratched his head, seemingly regretting making the call.

Then, he put away the phone and started packing his luggage.

This brief call revealed a lot of information.

Yu Yang, a habitual offender, was only a level four user in this game. Someone died in the game and he was congratulated on levelling up...

Everyone couldn't help but wonder, what kind of sinister game was this?!

Through this call, Jiang Ping collected a lot of evidence, but it still wasn't enough...

Moreover, from Yu Yang's current state, once the game's "investigator" found out he was being watched by the police, he might be "physically eliminated". The Chinese language is profound, why not just say "eliminate", why add "physically"? In other words, it wasn't just the removal of a virtual account, but the elimination of a real-life game participant. No wonder Yu Yang was so panicked... Now, he was the prime suspect in a murder case, and the evidence left behind was so obvious, he was probably more afraid of being assassinated by Magic Company than the police.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang thought it was a good opportunity to capture Yu Yang before the game company found him. If they could get him to reveal Magic's secrets to save his life, it would be very beneficial for solving the case.

At this moment, Jiang Ping suddenly said, "Yu Yang's phone has been hacked. Someone is trying to access his phone's camera and has installed eavesdropping software..."

Both Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang frowned.

However, Jiang Ping seemed to have a solution and started typing rapidly on his computer.

Just then, the phone screen showed the shutdown option.

Jiang Ping clicked the shutdown button.

Zhan Zhao asked, "Won't that arouse suspicion from the other side?"

Jiang Ping shook his head, "They'll think Yu Yang turned off the phone, but even if it's off, it can still be located, though they won't be able to spy or eavesdrop."

At this moment, Yu Yang also noticed that his phone had automatically turned off.

He pondered for a moment, then placed the phone on the table and picked up his suitcase to leave.

Bai Yutang thought this was a good sign, but Zhao Jue suggested, "Follow him first, don't arrest him yet."

Bai Yutang looked at Zhao Jue.

Zhao Jue gave him a meaningful look, "You two go scare him a bit, let him go for now, and then have the Border Collie and the Husky follow him."

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang were momentarily confused – Border Collie and Husky? Did he mean Ma Han and Zhao Hu?

......

Yu Yang dragged his suitcase downstairs and had just placed it in the trunk of his car when he looked up and saw Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao entering the gate with the security guard.

Yu Yang quickly got into his car, started it, and drove out through the back gate...

Ma Han and Zhao Hu, who were guarding the back gate, quietly followed.

Jiang Ping also started monitoring Yu Yang's movements through the traffic surveillance network.

Yu Yang first drove into the underground parking lot of a large shopping mall, then walked out of the mall and boarded a bus.

Ma Han and Zhao Hu continued to follow...

After two stops, Yu Yang got off the bus.

This was still a downtown area, and Yu Yang dragged his suitcase off the bus and entered a residential area.

This area was a semi-open, old residential complex with many tenants and a dense flow of people.

Zhao Hu got off the bus and pretended to be a passerby to follow Yu Yang.

He saw Yu Yang enter a large shared apartment building but instead of taking the elevator, he went up to the second floor.

However, he didn't enter any room on the second floor. The apartment building had an outdoor escape ladder on the second floor, and he used it to go down and walk towards another building.

Zhao Hu watched from a window upstairs and alerted Ma Han.

Ma Han circled around the building and continued to follow.

Yu Yang entered another apartment building and took the elevator.

Ma Han counted the elevator floors from below and saw that it stopped at the seventh floor.

Meanwhile, Zhao Hu, with binoculars, heard Ma Han reporting the seventh floor through his earpiece and started counting the floors...

Sure enough, in the seventh-floor corridor, Yu Yang passed by a window and entered an apartment.

Ma Han went up to the seventh floor, and Zhao Hu informed him it was the third door.

Ma Han took a quick glance from a distance, then turned and entered the stairwell, notifying Zhao Hu, "Apartment 707."

As the saying goes, a sly rabbit has three holes. This was probably a hiding place Yu Yang had prepared for himself.

He didn't take his phone with him, and the room probably had other devices. This old apartment had no nearby surveillance, making it a good hiding spot.

SCI's surveillance van and Bai Yutang's car arrived near the residential area.

"This guy is quite good at hiding." Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang boarded the surveillance van and asked Zhao Jue about the next step.

Zhao Jue said to wait until dark... and asked Jiang Ping if he could operate Yu Yang's phone.

Jiang Ping asked what he intended to do.

Zhao Jue told him to make the phone display the final location as this apartment.

Zhan Zhao glanced at Zhao Jue. "Are you planning to push Yu Yang to the brink?"

"And maybe see if we can catch a few investigators, or rather... let the investigators experience what it's like when the game goes wrong," Zhao Jue winked at Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang.

Zhan Zhao quietly said to Bai Yutang, "See? This is true deviousness, I'm considered kind-hearted in comparison."

Bai Yutang shook his head helplessly.

Jiang Ping operated the phone as Zhao Jue instructed, first making the phone move around the city.

At the same time, Bai Yutang called to have officers seal off Yu Yang's house, making it look like he was a suspect.

Elsewhere, Luo Tian and Qin Ou found the "Huang Dong" Yu Yang mentioned had been expelled from the game.

Bai Yutang told them to keep a low profile while bringing Huang Dong to the police station.

Luo Tian and Qin Ou managed it without much trouble. Huang Dong, a loafer, spent his time either at internet cafés playing games or buying cigarettes at the nearby convenience store...

As soon as he stepped out, he was cornered in an alley by Luo Tian and Qin Ou.

Huang Dong, a burly guy, tried to bulldoze his way out... but the problem was that Luo Tian and Qin Ou were positioned in front and behind him. He chose to charge at Luo Tian... which felt like hitting a wall.

Luo Tian grabbed him by the collar, pressed him against the wall, cuffed him, and took him to the station.

Bai Yutang had Luo Tian and Qin Ou interrogate Huang Dong, predicting he would be easily intimidated.

Sure enough, Luo Tian and Qin Ou told him that Yu Yang had ratted him out, causing Huang Dong to frantically protest his innocence. He quickly spilt the beans about Yu Yang and Magic Company's game testing project.

Bai Yutang and Zhan Zhao watched the interrogation live remotely.

Unexpectedly, they got additional information from Huang Dong... Huang Dong and Yu Yang had known each other since their youth, not as childhood friends but as juvenile delinquents who often ended up in detention centres and bonded over their shared love for voyeurism, stalking, and other despicable things.

Although Huang Dong had a worse record and a criminal history, he claimed Yu Yang was far more sinister.

Both of them loved playing games, and it was Yu Yang who introduced Huang Dong to Magic Company's testing project.

However, after playing for a few days, Huang Dong felt something was off.

While Yu Yang was a rational criminal, Huang Dong was a complete slacker who acted on whims. Magic's game required extensive data feedback and adherence to numerous rules, which annoyed Huang Dong a lot.

Moreover, Huang Dong felt there was something wrong with the game – The game provided "victims" and action plans to players, leading them by the nose. The game also often had people tailing the players... Huang Dong had noticed cloaked figures spying on him several times, looking like witches. After playing for a while, it was easy to blur the lines between virtual and reality. Sometimes the witch would incite him to commit crimes, it reached a point where he didn't know if he was playing or dreaming, waking up confused about the day or what he had done.

Bai Yutang asked Zhan Zhao if Huang Dong's visions of the witch were hallucinations, and if Yu Yang experienced the same.

Zhan Zhao was uncertain and looked at Zhao Jue – It seemed the situation was becoming more complex.

Zhao Jue, having watched the entire interrogation, asked Zhan Zhao, "Mind control?"

Zhan Zhao thought it was possible and wondered, "So what exactly is the company's goal?"

Zhao Jue pondered for a moment before a mischievous smile appeared on his face.

Zhan Zhao looked at him warily – What do you want to do?

Zhao Jue beckoned Bai Ye over.

Bai Ye didn't move and just stared at him.

Zhao Jue gestured more insistently – Come here!

Bai Ye had no choice but to walk over to Zhao Jue and leaned in to listen.

Zhao Jue covered his ear and whispered.

Zhan Zhao and Bai Yutang grew anxious – Why is it a secret?

After listening, Bai Ye rubbed his ear and looked at Zhao Jue in disbelief – Are you sure?

Zhao Jue nodded.

"Hmm..." Bai Ye thought momentarily and then signalled Bai Yutang to follow him.

Bai Yutang got out of the van with Bai Ye.

Zhan Zhao quickly asked Zhao Jue, "Why are you so secretive?"

Zhao Jue smiled, "Let's reverse the plan... there might be a surprise!"

"Reverse the plan?" Zhan Zhao seemed puzzled, then pondered for a moment and suddenly realised, "Oh, is this the real objective of Magic Company?"

‿︵‿︵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