Chapter 40 Sea Without Light 40
A quick glance at the forum homepage showed that posts related to Remover 233 only occupied a small portion; players were attracted by the newly emerged Remover 777.
Posts had to be viewed one by one, and issues checked one at a time. Kui Xin first clicked on her own thread.
There were many trivial and meaningless posts on the forum. Some were made just to express shock and lacked substantial content, rendering them worthless to read. The posts with high reply counts often featured heated debates or analyses; these were the ones Kui Xin needed to see.
The hottest post had over five hundred replies.
Title: “Beware of Remover 233!!! The first time they killed, it might be explained away as an accident or coincidence, but what about the second time? I have reason to believe they are deliberately hunting players!”
That title was quite provocative… It’s likely that many ordinary players shared this sentiment.
Once might be coincidence, but what about the second time? Too many coincidences leave no room for justification. Moreover, Kui Xin’s identity was exceptionally sensitive; she was the first to expose her number among the Removers, the first to kill a fellow player. When she killed, most players hadn’t even drawn blood, let alone taken down another player.
Kui Xin clicked into the post to read the replies.
First Floor: Everything that needs to be said is in the title; no saintly rebuttals, I hope?
1L: You’re right, that’s what I think too.
2L: My mom always taught me to think the best of others; I need to change that habit. To be honest, when discussing Remover 233, I speculated whether this player had some sort of grievance—normal people shouldn’t kill… Now I feel like I’ve been slapped.
3L: I’ve always speculated about a person with the maximum malice. People around me sometimes say I’m selfish and dark, but only I know why I have to do this—there are all kinds of demons in the world. I believe in the evil of human nature, and I’m worried that the misfortunes others experience will one day fall upon me; that’s why I tend to suspect others from a negative perspective.
4L replies to 3L: In some ways, this also reflects a strong sense of vigilance and self-protection; people like this lead a more exhausting life, but they may live longer than others.
5L: If I had to choose between living an exhausting life and a long one, I’d choose to live long.
6L: Who would dislike living longer, right?
7L: Why did Remover 233 kill?
8L replies to 7L: Isn’t it obvious? For extraordinary abilities. This Proxy must have exposed themselves and was caught by the Deprived One and killed.
9L: Remover 233 managed to lock onto a player in just three days? How did they do that?!
10L: I’m wondering how Remover 233 found another player in the vast sea of people. Was it pure happenstance, or do they have special tracking abilities? It’s terrifying. It’s only been three days since we returned to the real world.
11L: I’ve already decided to leave the big city and live in the countryside. I’ll hand in my resignation tomorrow; I feel like the chances of encountering a Remover in a big city are greater; in the countryside, the population is sparse, and everyone knows each other; it should be okay. Going home to farm won’t make me starve.
12L replies to 11L: A bold choice, but I don’t think it’s necessary; there are so many people worldwide.
13L replies to 12L: Maybe it’s my tendency to escape that’s at play here. Going back home can both fulfill filial piety to my parents and avoid dangerous environments; I find that more advantageous.
14L replies to 13L: Don’t go back! The countryside has more vegetation and larger areas; if someone kills you, they could bury you in a remote mountain. Do you believe no one would find your body for years?
15L: Has everyone started thinking about their escape routes? No need for that. The sky is high, and the emperor is far away; we don’t even know which country the Remover is from.
16L: What if there’s more than one Remover in the world? What’s the ratio of Removers to Proxies? So far, only one Remover has been reported on the forum, but that doesn’t mean there’s only one among ten thousand players; there might be more Removers who haven’t had the chance to kill yet, so they haven’t been reported. We can’t indulge in wishful thinking; the considerations of the brother above have some merit.
17L: It’s like a real-world Werewolf game; the wolves hide their identities among us and can strike unexpectedly.
It was clear that when this post began, Remover 777 hadn’t killed anyone yet, and the only visible Remover was Kui Xin. The forum’s discussion center was solely on her, and the speculation that there was more than one Remover couldn’t be confirmed by anyone.
The idea shared by the 11L player to return home for refuge resonated with quite a few players, but most were not discussing how to return home for safety; they were discussing how to hide themselves in modern society so as not to be discovered by the Removers.
The discussion on how to conceal oneself continued vigorously for dozens of floors until valid discussion information appeared again at 89L.
89L: Just asking, are there no players from Jingchu region who’ve taken regional tasks paying attention to the forum? I’m from Jingchu, I took the task, and just received a task failure notification. I was out and couldn’t check the forum; I don’t know when the killing report for Remover 233 was posted. Can someone tell me? The pinned post doesn’t even show when the post was made… All official posts lack the publication time.
90L: ??? Are you suggesting that the regional task was completed by 233?
91L: No way, someone actually took the task! Aren’t you afraid of death?
92L replies to 91L: You’ve misunderstood; taking on the task isn’t actually dangerous. The danger lies in completing the task. Once you take it and leave it unfinished, it’s fine since there’s no punishment for not completing it. The system hasn’t mentioned anything about punishments.
93L: Taking a task and not doing it? Wow, that’s an unforeseen route!
94L: Back to the main topic! Waiting for answers from those in the know. Did the killing report for Remover 233 come out at the same time as the regional task failure notification for the Jingchu region? If so, then the task executor is Remover 233, and the killed Proxy 1286 is the murderer Fang Zhi, who is wanted by the police for a bounty of one hundred thousand.
95L: Damn, if that’s the case, did Remover 233 kill for the public good?
96L: Think bigger; Remover 233 is in the Jingchu region! I just searched online; Fang Zhi fled to Tonglin City, narrowing down the location even further! Remover 233 is likely in Tonglin City!
97L: Is 233 from Tonglin City, or did they go to Tonglin City specifically to hunt Fang Zhi?
98L: What a twist! I can already envision a two-hour crime action film! Isn’t this more thrilling than a Hollywood movie?
99L: We can’t definitively say Remover 233 is from Tonglin City; at the very least, we can confirm they’re from Jingchu region, right? That narrows it down significantly!
126L: Everyone above, calm down; the other knowledgeable people haven’t spoken up yet. Whether the player’s task failure alert coincides with the forum death report will depend on the testimony of those in the know.
127L: Is the original poster still here? What does the task failure notification look like? Does everyone get a task failure alert if the regional task is completed by someone else?
128L replies to 127L: Yes. The game system alerts, “Detected that the investigation target has died; a player in the same area as you completed the task before you.”
129L: It might be a bit hard to find those in the know. Many players probably refuse when they receive this task; those without quick thinking wouldn’t think of not completing the task after taking it, right? If you don’t take the task, there wouldn’t be a failure alert, right?
130L: Waiting for those in the know.
131L: Waiting.
250L: I’m someone in the know; I took the task and have been following the forum in real-time. I can guarantee that the task failure notification and the death report were posted at the same time. The moment I received the task prompt, I refreshed the forum page, and then the death report list updated to the top… Excluding a one-in-ten-thousand chance of coincidence, I believe Remover 233 is the player who completed the regional task and killed Fang Zhi.
251L: Damn.
252L: Wow.
What followed was a spree of surprising expressions in the next floors, and Kui Xin frowned slightly as she read.
320L: For what purpose did Remover 233 kill Fang Zhi?! For the task, for extraordinary abilities? Or perhaps… for justice?
321L: A twist! Remover 233, a just avenger for the people?
322L: No way, are we starting to whitewash this? Just because they killed a murderer? Maybe that murderer just happened to cross paths with them; killing is killing. Just because they dealt with a murderer, it doesn’t mean they’re just; don’t forget they’ve killed two players in a row!
323L: If they really are just, why not call the police? Why take matters into their own hands?
324L replies to 323L: To be honest… I don’t think our police are capable of handling a criminal that might have extraordinary abilities. Fang Zhi killed so many and hid for so many days; he’s not weak, and he might have very powerful extraordinary abilities. Does an ordinary person stand a chance against him? Remover 233 killing him is just right; it saves our police from sacrificing themselves against extraordinary beings.
325L: Didn’t expect it, didn’t expect it… Remover 233’s killing could be considered a good deed to some extent.
326L: This world changes too quickly; I can hardly adapt.
327L: I’m in the Jingchu region. My hometown isn’t here, but I work here, and I also received the regional task prompt. I refused the task, but I never thought that Remover 233 might be from the Jingchu region. No more commentary; I’m resigning, packing my bags, and moving back to my hometown in the neighboring province for development. A word of advice to everyone: stay away from places of trouble; don’t indulge in wishful thinking.
328L: Good luck to you upstairs.
359L: Since we’ve confirmed that Remover 233 is in Jingchu region, can’t we find them and take them out?
360L replies to 359L: Are you crazy?!
361L replies to 359L: Want to get yourself killed?
362L replies to 359L: Go ahead, whoever can kill Remover 233 will be a hero to everyone. If someone actually pulls it off, I can guarantee that the forum will be filled with your glorious deeds for a week straight.
363L replies to 359L: Talk is cheap; Remover 233 has killed two players already. They might possess more than one extraordinary ability; going there is just asking for death.
426L: I’ve written a lengthy analysis about what kind of person Remover 233 is. I’m not a psychology professional, but based on their actions since entering the game, I believe there are a lot of analyzable points.
Firstly, they have a robust mental fortitude. Normal individuals experience significant psychological discomfort after killing, even soldiers or police require long periods of psychological guidance and treatment after acting, or they risk severe consequences from lasting psychological trauma. However, Remover 233 killed someone in the game world for the first time, then another in the real world shortly after; this short interval provides a glimpse into their terrifying psychological state. Average people would likely have already suffered a mental breakdown. This could be seen as strong mental fortitude… or as being cold-blooded.
Secondly, decisiveness and high execution ability. This point goes without saying; the mental shift requires a process. How many days passed from the system issuing the regional task to Fang Zhi being killed? Remover 233 managed to find and kill Fang Zhi in such a short time, showcasing their high execution ability and resolute will. I suspect Fang Zhi might have fled to Tonglin City to escape the pursuit of Remover 233.
Thirdly, confidence. Remover 233 is an assertive person. How many players in the Jingchu region would dare to take tasks? How many would boldly go carry out the task after accepting it? Everyone is just an ordinary person, and even fighting an ordinary person could be a challenge, let alone facing a criminal who might have extraordinary abilities! Yet Remover 233 not only took on the task but completed it! What does this signify? It signifies that they are extremely confident in their strength; Fang Zhi posed no threat to them. They have powerful backing and confidence, which is the reason for their audacity!
The most important point is, Remover 233 knew that killing would be reported on the forum but chose to kill anyway. What gives them the courage to do so?! Because they have absolute strength, they are unrestrained and unafraid of being seen as enemies by players, nor are they afraid of being hunted down after exposure; other players going to them is like serving them up on a platter!
I even suspect that this death report was intentionally exposed by Remover 233 to showcase their strength; I also suspect it was a provocation… or a warning to all players.
They are warning us—don’t provoke them.
