Chapter 1: The Inquiry
(Page 1/3)
“Name?”
“Lin Yi.”
“Did you report the case?”
“Yes.”
“Please describe exactly what happened.”
Inside the interrogation room, Lin Yi, sitting opposite two police officers taking notes, still hadn’t fully recovered from the shock of just moments ago.
Half an hour ago, he and a few friends from their gold-farming team were dining at a hotpot restaurant.
Midway through the meal, one of their elder brothers, Liu Hong, suddenly writhed in agony before their eyes, and within mere minutes, he dissolved into a puddle of foul-smelling, putrid liquid.
Everyone in the private room was terrified; once they regained some composure, Lin Yi quickly called the police.
Frowning, Lin Yi said, “I don’t know the specifics. This dinner was arranged days ago; no one expected something like this to happen halfway through the meal…”
“Before the dinner, did Liu Hong show any unusual behavior?”
“Unusual? Well, when Liu Hong arrived, his face was somewhat pale. I even asked if he wanted to go to the hospital, but he laughed it off. I never imagined that halfway through the hotpot, he would suddenly seem choked, then his face turned bluish-purple, and within minutes he turned into thick, foul liquid. We were too scared to touch him…”
Another officer frowned. “Within a few minutes? How long exactly?”
Lin Yi thought for a moment. “Uh… two or three minutes, maybe three or four. We were all too nervous to keep track. But you can check the surveillance footage at the hotpot restaurant…”
“Alright, we will investigate further. According to our inquiries, you and Liu Hong had the closest relationship among those at the dinner?”
Lin Yi nodded. “Yes. As you know, I’m a gold farmer in the game. Liu Hong was like a mentor to me. I owe entering this line of work to him. Our Haohan Gold Farming Studio is mainly funded by him—he’s the major shareholder. I invested a hundred thousand yuan or so, making me a minor shareholder. We communicate frequently and have a good relationship.”
The police quickly took notes and then asked, “Has he shown any unusual behavior recently? Did he say anything strange?”
“Unusual behavior...” Lin Yi pondered, then said, “Yes. To be honest, he’s been neglecting the studio lately. He only settles the studio’s earnings with me at night and disappears during the day. Calls don’t go through. That’s totally unlike him.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Liu Hong is from out of town. He only came to Linhe City a few years ago to start over. As far as I know, he has a mortgage and car loan. He has a son about to enter university, and his wife divorced him long ago. His family expenses are huge. When we started the studio, he was the most active.”
The officer asked, “Has Liu Hong told you what he’s been busy with lately?”
Lin Yi shook his head. “No. I asked him several times, but he only said he had big matters to attend to and couldn’t focus on the studio. But…”
“But what?”
Lin Yi thought it over. “I remember once he got drunk and happily told me he was going to make a fortune and that I’d take over the studio in the future. But I thought he was just drunk, so I didn’t take it seriously.”
“Has Liu Hong given you anything recently? This is very important—please answer truthfully.”
“He used to give me a few books and some foot massage coupons. Do those count?”
“...Alright, we’ve gathered all the necessary information. You can leave now. We’ll contact you if needed. Also, it’s best if you don’t leave the city for a while so we can reach you easily.”
Walking out of the police station, Lin Yi’s expression was heavy.
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What happened today challenged his worldview.
Liu Hong, a towering man nearly six feet tall, had literally turned into a pool of green, putrid pus within two or three minutes.
This was reality, not a novel.
There was no martial arts lore about any “corpse-dissolving liquid” that could instantly turn a person into toxic sludge with just a few drops.
In Lin Yi’s understanding, even strong sulfuric acid couldn’t dissolve a human body into liquid so quickly.
Also, during the questioning, the police kept subtly asking if Liu Hong had left anything behind for him.
Obviously, these officers knew something about Liu Hong’s sudden death and were aware of certain details.
Standing by the roadside, Lin Yi let the cold wind clear his mind before preparing to call a ride home.
Just as he turned his phone’s sound back on, messages began flooding the studio’s gold-farming group chat.
“What exactly happened? How did Brother Hong suddenly leave us?”
“Not sure, ask those who were at the dinner.”
“Maybe he was poisoned or ate something bad…”
“Poisoned? Ridiculous. Do you think food poisoning could turn someone into a puddle of foul-smelling pus? I nearly vomited just hearing about it.”
“I think it’s some curse or black magic. Maybe Brother Hong offended someone and was hexed. That kind of thing happens a lot in novels…”
“Stop joking. What did the police say?”
“Even if the police know, they won’t tell us. Brothers, with Brother Hong gone like this, I’m worried about Haohan Studio’s future. I haven’t even got this month’s meal money…”
“Not sure, ask Brother Yi. But he’s still in the interrogation room, probably hasn’t come out yet.”
After reading the messages, Lin Yi sent a reply: “Brother Liu had an accident. Let’s pause studio work for two days. Wages will be paid as usual. Everyone, take a break.”
“Thanks, Brother Yi!”
“Thanks, Brother Yi!”
A dozen messages flooded in. Lin Yi sighed softly. With Brother Liu gone, he wasn’t sure if the gaming studio could continue.
…
The next day, inside a confidential meeting room at Linhe City Police Station, officers were discussing Liu Hong’s death.
If Lin Yi were there, he would recognize the two officers who had interrogated him yesterday.
A square-faced, stern-looking middle-aged man asked, “Have we determined the cause of Liu Hong’s death?”
A younger officer replied, “Preliminary judgment points to the hidden poison of a level-six monster, the snake bird. When a player is infected, their body shows no symptoms and their character panel gives no warning. But if they consume certain special foods, the poison activates rapidly, killing within minutes.”
“Our investigation found that the hotpot restaurant served a dish containing pig’s brain, which is one of the triggers for the poison’s outbreak.”
The square-faced officer glanced over the reports and nodded. “Can we identify Liu Hong’s character in the game?”
The young officer shook his head. “Not yet. Our intelligence is limited, and the game map of ‘Apocalypse’ is vast. We can’t access or investigate most newbie villages or their locations. The level-six snake bird monsters are widespread, appearing wherever there are forests. Based solely on the presence of snake birds, we can’t determine Liu Hong’s character identity.”
“However, the fact that Liu Hong was infected by a snake bird’s poison and survived the game suggests he had the ability to confront them head-on. His level must have been at least six…”
The square-faced officer then asked, “Old Wang, Old Zhang, any leads?”
Old Wang and Old Zhang were the officers who had interrogated Lin Yi.
Old Zhang spoke up, “Captain, we investigated Liu Hong’s relationships. He divorced years ago and has only one immediate family member—his son Liu Bo, who attends high school in neighboring Qingshan City and only returns during holidays. Besides that, we searched Liu Hong’s residence and found nothing significant.”
The captain frowned. “What do you mean by ‘nothing significant’? Did you find something?”
“We found Liu Hong might be a member of the Black Card Alliance. He had several anonymous bank cards with about three million yuan, 90% of which came from Zhao Yilong, who is also in that alliance.”
Hearing the name Zhao Yilong, the young officer raised an eyebrow. “That Zhao Yilong again. Several recent ‘Apocalypse’ player deaths have ties to him. The Black Card group is a real cancer.”
The captain asked, “Have we found the invitation code? Normally, after Liu Hong’s death, his code should surface.”
Old Wang replied, “No. We thoroughly searched his belongings but found nothing. Captain, should Old Zhang and I visit Qingshan City today? Perhaps Liu Hong’s invitation code is with his son.”
Considering the importance of the invitation code, the captain nodded. “Good. After this meeting, go immediately. Also, send someone to check Liu Hong’s studio.”
After the meeting, the captain stared silently at the documents in his hand.
His name was Zhang Baichuan, a squad leader dispatched from the capital, responsible for all ‘Apocalypse’-related cases in Linhe City.
About six months ago, a mysterious game called ‘Apocalypse’ appeared worldwide. No one knew its origins.
It was said that obtaining an invitation code allowed entry into the game world as a player.
Most critically, powers gained within the game could be transferred to reality.
Previously, Zhang Baichuan, a former military special forces operative, would have scoffed at such nonsense.
But a month ago, he received an invitation code and successfully entered the ‘Apocalypse’ game world.
Since then, his worldview had shattered.
Inside the confidential meeting room, Zhang Baichuan lit a cigarette, his gaze heavy.
That game world... how to put it?
In three words: extremely dangerous.
Players who first enter ‘Apocalypse’ spawn randomly in a newbie village, surrounded by numerous ferocious monsters and strange spirits.
Even the weakest monsters outside these villages rival tigers, leopards, wolves, and jackals in the real world, while players must rely only on their bare hands and physical traits mapped from reality to survive.
Even someone like him, trained by the state special forces, could suddenly die in the game; ordinary people had no chance.
Anyone treating ‘Apocalypse’ as an ordinary game would surely meet a tragic end.
Finishing his cigarette, Zhang Baichuan sighed softly, then rolled up his sleeve to reveal a string of golden code patterns.
These codes were not any earthly language but a mysterious origin—the invitation code to the ‘Apocalypse’ game world.
Lightly tracing the golden codes with his finger, Zhang Baichuan’s body shimmered and vanished from the real world.
…