Chapter 41: Sea Without Light 41
In a situation where many players know nothing about Remover 233, they could only analyze up to this point.
In the first death report, players only knew that Remover 233 had killed someone.
Who did Remover 233 kill? In which city did the murder occur? Why was the murder committed? What is their true identity? These extremely crucial questions remained unknown to the players.
Only in the second death report did players gain a better understanding of Remover 233 through a series of events.
Who was the victim of Remover 233? Fang Zhi.
In which city did the murder occur? Tonglin City.
Why did the murder happen? For a mission.
What is the true identity? A person from the Jingchu region.
From knowing nothing to being able to narrow down the scope, only one report and one mission separated these revelations.
464L: If Remover 233 does not stop their actions, their trace will become harder to hide until their identity is completely exposed. I want to know something very important—how strong is Remover 233? Can they compete with all players? Can they withstand powerful firearms? If they aren’t strong enough, as long as they’re not insane, they will undoubtedly hide in the future, making it very difficult for us to find them.
465L: I think Remover 233 will not stop killing; they need to level up. If there is one, there will be two, and then three, and so forth.
Up to 465L, the discussion about the Removers came to an abrupt halt.
This was due to a new report from the forum, which announced two death notifications, causing an uproar among the players.
This highly heated thread not only continued discussing Remover 233 but also included analysis of Remover 777.
Remover 777… a very methodical numbering scheme. Kui Xin’s own 233 designation also has its patterns, leading her to suspect whether all Remover IDs hide some sort of system. However, there are currently too few known Removers to support her speculation.
As the second Remover after Kui Xin to have a name on the forum, 777’s existence is highly significant.
Their appearance indicates that more Removers are hidden among the population.
“Three people: Proxy 388 killed Proxy 1339, and then Remover 777 killed Proxy 388. These three players must have interactions in the real world.”
First Floor: If a Remover had acted alone and killed a Proxy, I would be 99% sure that the Remover’s goal was to obtain extraordinary abilities. However, these two reports indicate something unusual. Following the simplest logical inference, could it be that Remover 777 and Proxy 1339 were friends, and that 388 killed 1339, so the Remover killed 388 for revenge? Or maybe all three were friends and turned against each other due to something, leading to their fighting, resulting in the deaths of the other two, with Remover 777 being the last victor?
8L: The actions of Remover 233 gave me two hours’ worth of crime movie fantasies, and the actions of Remover 777 made me imagine a melodrama filled with love and hate.
9L replies to 8L: Don’t joke about the suffering of others; it isn’t funny at all. If you must compare it to a movie, it’s a thriller horror film, a horror film set in the real world.
10L: Judging by the number of posts in Chinese versus foreign languages on the forum, players from Huaguo do not have a particular advantage in numbers. The game “Crimson Soil” does not favor any specific nationality. Remover 777 might not even be Huaguo; they could be a foreigner. It wouldn’t be so unfortunate for two murderers to come from our place consecutively.
11L: I’m particularly confused. This is modern society; aren’t they afraid of being discovered after killing someone?
12L: If they were afraid, they wouldn’t kill; their confidence in killing probably comes from their extraordinary abilities.
13L: Don’t forget that in some foreign countries, guns are not banned. It’s much easier to kill someone abroad than at home; our country is relatively safe.
27L: Now it’s worse; not only do Removers kill Proxies, but Proxies also kill Proxies. Removers kill for profit, but what about Proxies? Is there anyone left in the world to trust?
28L: I believe the problem lies not with an identity or a group, but with individual people. The identity of a Remover and the driving forces behind their actions cannot justify murder. Good people don’t become bad just because they’ve become Removers; a bad person being a Proxy doesn’t mean they’ll be seen as a good citizen… Badness has always stemmed from human hearts, not external things.
In a world of seven billion ordinary people, there are fewer than ten thousand surviving players.
Players rarely intersect in the real world; if they do meet, it can be said they are chosen ones. Thus finding someone knowledgeable in such a forum is exceedingly difficult unless a regional mission like Kui Xin’s occurs.
If it weren’t for the report on completing the regional task, Kui Xin’s identity could be even more securely concealed.
However, this thread of discussion has inspired Kui Xin; Remover 777 might indeed not be a Huaguo national, and she should expand her search for posts.
Thus far, Kui Xin has only learned test-oriented English. Her spoken skills aren’t great, and she only recognizes words she has learned from textbooks, making it really tough to read English posts, not to mention the additional languages.
As a forum mixed with players from many countries, the posted text, floor indicators, web buttons, and official threads show Chinese to Huaguo players, while foreigners see text from their respective languages. Some have even started discussion threads on this topic.
In discussions with particularly high volumes, players from different nations sometimes help translate for each other, though it’s often machine-translated content and contains several errors. Nonetheless, it provides a channel for information exchange; every bit of intelligence is invaluable. Only with sufficient intelligence can one secure a foothold in the Second World.
Kui Xin focused on the homepage looking for translation posts and foreign keywords, with various odd letters making her dizzy. After about ten minutes, a player with decent English skills posted a translation thread.
“Translate the thread by the poster nicknamed ‘Z·D,’ search for keywords in the English title including gun, killer, police. Summary of translated content: Around an hour and a half ago, a shooting occurred in the city of the poster next door, and he suspects that the shooter is a Remover while inquiring whether the timing of the shooting and the forum’s death report aligns.”
First Floor: Next is the translated content, with paragraphs corresponding to the posts of the adjacent poster’s First Floor, 3L, 8L, and 16L. The translation level is average; please bear with it.
1. Shootings happen almost every day in my city, but this one I swear is different because the police almost brushed past the murderer and let him go! The surveillance along the street where the shooting happened is fine, and within five minutes the police showed up to seal off the scene. As a result! The masked murderer, covered in blood and holding a gun, walked out of the apartment complex where the shooting occurred, directly crossing the police tape, and the police acted as if they didn’t see him while continuing to investigate the scene, completely ignoring the murderer! I’ll post the video link shortly.
2. The police in my city are a bunch of lazy fools, but I don’t think they could be foolish enough to overlook the murderer, especially someone covered in blood holding an obvious weapon like a semi-automatic rifle. How could none of the dozens of police present react to the murderer? Not even a single person raised a weapon in defense; this is far too unusual!
3. I think it may be some sort of psychic hypnosis ability. I was shocked when the police released the surveillance images while looking for the suspect; what else can explain all of this aside from extraordinary abilities?
4. The time zone where the shooting occurred is CST (Central Standard Time), and the time indicated by the police is 00:51. We now just need to confirm whether the time of the shooting and the forum’s death report align, allowing us to pinpoint if the murderer is Remover 777.
1L: Psychic extraordinary ability!
2L: Who can quickly calculate the time zone! Our forum has players from all time zones, with someone online 24/7, so someone must have seen it.
3L: At the time of the shooting, it was around 14:51 in our country; they were in the evening while we were in the daytime, so plenty of people on the forum should have seen it. We’re just waiting for someone with insider knowledge to confirm the report’s timing.
18L: Oh my god, I saw it! I remember it very well because I had ordered takeout, and the delivery guy arrived right around 14:50! I hadn’t even opened the delivery yet when I refreshed the forum and saw the death report—it nearly stopped my heart! The timing matched!
19L: We cracked the case! Someone with good English should tell the adjacent poster to quickly change cities!
20L: Don’t get ahead of yourself; it only indicates he might be a Remover; his true identity is still unknown. The adjacent poster said the murderer was masked, so who knows if he’ll get caught.
22L: I think it’s hard to catch him; after all, he has such strong extraordinary abilities that even the police ignored him!
23L: How was the surveillance footage released? I thought the police wouldn’t release such strange footage?
24L replies to 23L: Uh… maybe to aid in the manhunt? After all, the wanted poster needs to depict the suspect’s appearance.
25L: Assuming Remover 777’s extraordinary ability is related to psychic deception, their psychic fraud definitely wouldn’t fool the surveillance and could only deceive the human eye; you can see their body was recorded by the surveillance.
26L: Why do I feel that Remover 777 is even more arrogant than Remover 233? They dare to show up directly under the cameras.
28L: Perhaps they didn’t notice the surveillance cameras; some cameras are hidden in corners and are hard to spot. Maybe this Remover 777 thinks they can confuse people with their extraordinary abilities and relaxed their vigilance, overlooking the surveillance issue.
29L replies to 28L: That hypothesis sounds a bit far-fetched…
30L replies to 29L: Not far-fetched; even more bizarre things have occurred in reality. You’re imagining Removers to be invincible; truthfully, most of the people in the world are ordinary people, and with ordinary intelligence and disposition, it’s normal for them to overlook certain things. But ultimately, 28L’s guess is still just a guess; aside from Remover 777, no one knows what they’re truly thinking. They exposed themselves quite easily, giving me a feeling similar to Remover 233—they seem fearless.
31L: Agreed. Remover 777 is indeed fearless; I just snuck into the adjacent thread and watched the video link that the adjacent poster posted—goodness, this murderer is truly calm; they just strolled right through a crowd of police holding a gun. Are all Removers high-level players?
32L: I think you’re overlooking something; Remover 777 may possess two or more extraordinary abilities… Not only can killing a player confer extraordinary abilities, but slaughtering awakened beings or heterogeneous blooded individuals in the Second World can also do so. The death of players triggers a report, while the death of NPCs doesn’t… No one knows what experiences players will undergo in the Second World; it’s far from peaceful, and there are also small-scale counter-terrorism wars; it’s possible to appear as mercenaries or soldiers.
33L replies to 32L: Hiss… terrifying.
Having finished reading the most valuable discussion threads on the forum, Kui Xin rubbed her temples.
When she refreshed the forum again, she noticed that a certain type of post was taking over—team-up threads.
She clicked into a few team-up threads but quickly lost interest. Most of the team-up posts asked for private messages regarding national or regional requirements, as everyone was keen to keep their real information hidden, revealing little personal intelligence in the posts.
Actually, players forming alliances is an inevitable phenomenon.
Whether in the First World or the Second World, teaming up can effectively enhance survival rates. For instance, if one encounters an attack by a Remover in the First World, they can promptly react and convey messages to unite against it. Similarly, in the Second World, encountering peril can lead players to seek help from others.
It’s foreseeable that in the near future, survival for Removers will become increasingly difficult. They cannot team up with other players and must face hostility and opposition from Proxy players; any misstep could lead to being attacked first.
Kui Xin processed the intelligence obtained from the forum for a moment.
Players’ understanding of Remover 233 remains superficial, and the speculations drawn from the current information are not entirely accurate; this is a good thing.
As for Remover 777… from Kui Xin’s perspective, their emergence is favorable for her. She sensed that Remover 777’s style is more reckless and unabashed, making them a splendid target to draw fire.
Remover 777 isn’t in Huaguo, which is excellent news; Kui Xin does not need to allocate too much attention to them, allowing her to focus on her own matters.
Kui Xin glanced at the clock; it was nearly evening. She had been very busy all day and hadn’t eaten a bite.
In the morning she had used her extraordinary abilities for a prolonged period to kill Fang Zhi, and now her stomach was growling, feeling as though it was pressed against her back. When she was entirely focused on the forum a moment ago, she hadn’t noticed her physical hunger. Now, with her mind relaxed, the feeling of hunger overtook her brain; she was even feeling a bit dizzy from it.
Kui Xin went to the kitchen to stir-fry some dishes, intentionally preparing a bit more as she combined lunch and dinner.
…
The next morning at 6:30.
Kui Xin donned a raincoat and left through the back door of her community, where there were no surveillance cameras, crossing through alleys and streets to avoid appearing under the watchful eyes of cameras.
Before leaving, she saw a message from the hacker.
Hacker: “We arrived in your city last night and are staying at a hotel. Have you decided on a meeting place?”
Kui Xin glanced at the message without responding, instead turning off her phone to avoid location tracking.
She envisioned several meeting places: one, a large shopping mall; two, a park square near government buildings; three, a restaurant with a private space but bustling enough to avoid being too secluded.
However, none of these options met Kui Xin’s requirements. She needed a quiet place that was hard to eavesdrop on, yet busy enough that it wouldn’t seem too suspicious.
The reason for such a site was not only for her own sake but also to avoid raising the hacker’s suspicions.
Kui Xin had two plans in mind: to conduct a transaction or to proceed with the next hunt.
Which option she chose depended on the hacker’s attitude and strength.
The hacker’s side was not merely aiming to recruit; they needed to discuss certain matters privately that were inconvenient to share via text.
It was still overcast today, with a persistent drizzle falling from the sky.
Upon arriving at the mall, Kui Xin looked up to observe the building.
Having lived in this city for so many years, she was already accustomed to the presence of various structures but was now viewing the cityscape with a more scrutinizing eye.
Amidst the high-rise buildings, this six-story commercial center seemed somewhat small. The top floor of the mall featured a public badminton court, which was nearly empty on a rainy day. Kui Xin chose the court as their meeting point.
The rooftop badminton court was spacious with few people, hard to eavesdrop on, as vehicles entering required passing several surveillance cameras. Pedestrians could take the elevator up or avoid the cameras by using the fire escape on the side of the mall.
Kui Xin did not head straight to the badminton court to wait for people.
She turned around and took a detour to a taller building not far from the mall. This building served as a community center for the elderly. She turned left and right at the bottom of the building until she found the fire escape, then climbed up about ten flights of stairs. The rooftop of this building was usually open, where elderly folks could chat over tea or play Mahjong, and on a rainy day, of course, no one was around, allowing her to have the rooftop all to herself.
Standing at the edge of the rooftop railing looking down, she could see the public badminton court on the mall’s top floor clearly, with an unobstructed view, making it an excellent sniper point.
As her professional habit kicked in, she felt that her hands lacked something heavy… if only she had a K80 in hand.
After surveying the view, Kui Xin descended from the building rooftop, taking a longer route to a distant small square, opened her phone, and sent a message to the hacker.
Kui Xin: “Top floor of Baihua Mall, badminton court, 9 o’clock, don’t be late.”
Hacker: “No problem.”
After sending the message, Kui Xin turned her phone off again, took a detour back to the building where the elderly community center was located, and climbed back to the rooftop again, occasionally glancing at the mall’s top floor badminton court and the street outside, calmly biding her time.
The careful act of leaving the building to send a message ensured the phone’s activation didn’t lead to location exposure.
Kui Xin had not taken the subway to the mall, spending quite a bit of time, and it was now past eight.
She pulled out an old mobile phone from another pocket, checked the time, and began to wait impatiently.
As nine o’clock approached, a dark gray sedan pulled into the main road below the mall. The model was quite discreet, but Kui Xin keenly recognized it as a luxury car. This was because a classmate who loved to show off in high school had a nanny who drove that model to pick him up after school; he had once casually remarked: “This car isn’t expensive, only a few million; it’s one of the most stylish and stable ones among high-end cars.”
The car was parked a little far away, preventing her from seeing the license plate.
She quietly watched the dark gray sedan attempt to enter the underground parking lot but was stopped by mall security. After heavy rains the previous day, the garage had some water accumulation, forcing the gray sedan to turn around and park in the outdoor parking lot outside the mall.
Two men and a woman exited the car. The taller man wore a white shirt and casual pants, while the woman donned a light green dress. The remaining individual, dressed in a blue sweatshirt, appeared to be closer to Kui Xin’s age, somewhat shorter than the other two, with black-framed glasses on his face.
They walked through the main entrance into the mall, disappearing from Kui Xin’s view.
“Could it be them? They seem like… but they didn’t even try to avoid the cameras. Do they lack this awareness, or does the hacker delete the surveillance records?” Kui Xin speculated inwardly.
Three minutes later, the trio who had exited the dark gray sedan arrived at the badminton court, scanning the area like they were searching for someone.
Kui Xin more or less confirmed their identities.
Still, she did not act. Instead, she calmly stood at the edge of the rooftop, observing them from their blind spot, watching for more than an hour.
During this time, the bespectacled boy frequently glanced down at his phone, seeming to send messages. The woman in the light green dress, holding an umbrella, tapped her high heels impatiently against the ground while the tall man frowned and kept surveying the surroundings.
Aside from this, the three of them had no further movements.
Kui Xin felt a sense of relief, reaffirming her hypothesis—this hacker group was entirely composed of ordinary people. Even if they might possess extraordinary abilities, their thought processes remained those of regular individuals.
She intentionally delayed the timing, wanting to test whether they would make any moves. However, they remained motionless, indicating their intentions for meeting her were relatively pure.
Kui Xin turned to descend.
Before heading to the badminton court, she needed to take note of the license plate number of the car the hacker’s side arrived in.
…
“Why is this girl still not here? Check again if she has replied,” the woman sighed.
The bespectacled boy glanced down at his phone: “No… What if she is skipping out at the last moment? We know her home address; she should know escaping is pointless.”
The woman replied, “So what if we know her address? She’s clearly resistant, and if we go to find her, wouldn’t it pressure her more? It’s normal for her to be scared, and it’s normal for her to skip out at the last moment. After all, we are strangers; if she truly doesn’t want to meet us, we’ll let this matter pass and allow her to live a peaceful life.”
“Alright, let’s wait ten more minutes,” the man said. “If she doesn’t show, we’re leaving.”
“She wouldn’t call the police, would she?” the bespectacled boy asked anxiously. “She reported to the police last time.”
“She won’t report anything.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“Women’s intuition.”
The bespectacled boy: “… Uh, okay.”
“As soon as I see her, I’ll know if she’s trustworthy,” the woman said. “I hope she comes; at least that would confirm she’s not Remover 233, and we can rule one person out and narrow our search.”
Her extraordinary ability is “malice marking,” one that lacks combat power but helps her see the true character of a person.
For those harboring ill intent, she can see a dark-colored mark above their heads, while for those with good intentions, the mark tends toward a lighter color. The deeper the ill will the other party harbors, the darker the malice mark becomes.
At that moment, footsteps echoed in the badminton court’s corridor as the girl in the raincoat rushed upstairs, breathing heavily.
She stood at the corridor’s entrance without advancing, silent, just watching the three people on the badminton court with vigilance, seemingly ready to escape at any moment.
