Chapter 4: Cyber Ghost

Duya’s mouth twitched at Ye Xiao’s words.

“Didn’t you see that I am a police officer?”

As an elite investigator for the Special Task Investigation Team, he was part of the public security department, so how could he possibly report himself to the police?

“Isn’t that even more serious?”

Ye Xiao seemed intent on teasing the stiff, wood-like Duya.

“Committing a crime while knowing the law adds to the severity of the offense.”

“Get to the point.”

“Sigh, what a boring man.”

Ye Xiao spread her hands and continued on the other end of the line.

“You need to know that Bubble Shadow is a monster with an unknown true form. It could be anything, and it might even turn into you or me.”

“Although this little system sprite looks a bit silly and cute, we cannot rule out the possibility that she is Bubble Shadow.”

“So, legendary investigator Duya, the task of finding clues about Bubble Shadow inside this game is up to you.”

After hearing what Ye Xiao said, Duya suddenly realized something.

“Wait? Just me? Where is everyone else?”

“They are all busy.”

“What about weapons and equipment?”

“The highest level of clearance we can provide is an armed helicopter, but then again, why would you need weapons to play a game? You can’t take an armed helicopter inside anyway.”

“What about funding…”

“Hello? Hello? What are you saying? The signal is bad here, I’m hanging up. Bye-bye.”

“You damn woman!”

Ye Xiao did not give Duya a chance to reply and hung up the phone completely.

This made Duya grit his teeth, but he was helpless.

“Forget it, I’ll go back first.”

The man sighed, preparing to leave the laboratory.

However, before he had walked more than a few steps, his cell phone rang again.

“Oh, right, the game helmet is yours to keep, my dear S-rank investigator, Mr. Duya.”

“I expect a raise.”

“No money for you, take my life if you want.”

“Get lost!”

Towards this brazen female superior, no matter how cold Duya was, he couldn’t help but raise his middle finger at the woman on the other end of the phone.

After hanging up the phone again, he looked at the brain-computer interface on the lab bench.

Although the device was highly suspicious in every aspect.

Normally, as someone who was always cautious, he would never have taken this thing home.

But for some reason, thinking of Fuyeli, whom he had insulted… or rather, whose clothes he had accidentally stripped off, his heart couldn’t help but stir with pity, and he wanted to see her again.

After all, it was his fault.

While deep in thought, Duya took out the file on “Bubble Shadow.”

“SP-871, code-named Bubble Shadow.”

“An abnormal entity with high mimicry and division capabilities. Origin unknown, true form unidentified.”

“The only recorded form is that of a young girl with white hair and purple eyes; it is uncertain if this form is merely one of its many disguises.”

“Known abilities include perfect replication… cognitive corruption… fission and proliferation…”

“Escaped from the SP Containment Facility three years ago, which resulted in the facility being completely destroyed…”

“Threat Level: Extremely High!”

“…”

There was much more recorded in the file, but Duya focused on the single photograph.

There was no doubt that the girl’s appearance was beautiful to the point of being… eerie, even looking like someone who shouldn’t exist in reality.

Just by looking at the smile on her face and her purple eyes, Duya couldn’t help but shiver.

It was hard to imagine that such a cute girl was the grotesque entity that had turned the entire SP Containment Facility into ruins.

“Let’s go.”

Although he had been bickering with Ye Xiao, Duya picked up the game helmet, preparing to take it home to study.

….

This game world was not under Fuyeli’s control, and there were few things she could do or change.

If she could do whatever she pleased, she would not have been trapped in this game for so long.

Although she escaped from the containment facility three years ago, her physical body was destroyed in the battle, and she could only linger on in this game world.

This was also the reason why she was so desperate to capture Duya.

She needed a physical body—a body in the real world—so she could leave this godforsaken place.

The most secure way to occupy a body was to completely destroy a person’s mental will.

Moreover, Duya’s will was very strong; if she acted rashly, it was likely that she would be the one to die.

As Bubble Shadow, she could create many, many characters, including her former self.

But just like how most men play as female characters in games, since she had the ability to create characters, why not make a beautiful girl?

Especially this white-haired, purple-eyed girl—wasn’t she cute?

And the most important point was… playing as a girl was truly more enjoyable than playing as a boy.

“Well… it’s just right, I should go to the inn to prepare.”

For Fuyeli, she could only hope to take advantage of the situation if she gradually disintegrated the mind of the man named Duya.

As a cyber-ghost wandering within the game, Fuyeli had to consider whether this was her one and only chance in this life; therefore, even if Duya was powerful, she would not give up.

Fuyeli arrived in front of a dilapidated inn.

The time setting of this game was similar to the Middle Ages, and the architecture here was quite different from her home country, looking rather Renaissance-style.

The inn’s front door was a wooden door painted with red paint that looked very worn out.

The lobby was desolate, and the wooden front desk also maintained a Renaissance style.

Sitting at the front desk used for registering guests was an elderly man.

“Sir, I would like to book a room.”

Upon hearing Fuyeli’s voice, the old man looked up at the white-haired girl with purple eyes.

“68 a night.”

“That cheap?”

Fuyeli handed over a hundred-dollar bill and her identification.

The old man extended his withered, branch-like hand to receive the bill, his face devoid of any expression.

He simply handed the change and the key to Fuyeli.

After glancing at the room number on the key, Fuyeli headed toward the second floor.

The hallway on the second floor was pitch black, a darkness where one could not even see their own hand.

Moving along the hallway, Fuyeli quickly found her room.

As she inserted the key, the old wooden door was pushed open.

Fuyeli walked in and was just about to think about what to do next when a knock sounded at the door.

Knock… knock… knock…

Three consecutive knocks made Fuyeli’s gaze drift toward the door.

Filled with a trace of confusion, she opened the room door to see a woman in her early twenties standing outside.

The woman looked at Fuyeli with an expression of surprise.

It was as if she was questioning why a young girl like this was the one opening the door.

“Is something the matter?”

Fuyeli looked at the woman outside the door with a strange expression.

After the woman regained her composure, she spoke to Fuyeli.

“Little one, take my advice: if you don’t want to die, move out of this room immediately. Don’t be greedy for such cheap prices.”

“Someone… died in there.”