Chapter 59: Chatting with X
Shoutout to nyanmaru for the commission!
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Hi-
It seems like you haven’t been playing the game recently.
After the psychological therapy session, X sat in a wheelchair, parked in the long corridor of the hospital. He sent out WeChat messages from his phone, but there was no response.
The afternoon sunlight shone through the hospital windows, and the sound of waves could be heard in the distance.
X closed his phone. It seemed that Chu Feng didn’t intend to respond to his greeting. He still wanted to ask Chu Feng how he planned to deal with the “Ghost Virus” in the city, and whether those two questions had been solved.
After some thought, Chu Feng looked to be in his twenties, probably just graduated and started working. Real life isn’t just about the game.
Sitting in the wheelchair, X waited for his medical assistant to come and take him to the next medical department for a follow-up examination.
“Hello, regulator-X, I am your medical robot, Neo!”
The leaden-gray AI robot slid over to X, its eyes flashing with high-tech blue light. It extended its mechanical hand, gripping the handle of X’s wheelchair, and began to push at a steady pace.
After the psychological therapy session came the surgical follow-up.
With the assistance of the medical robot, X underwent X-ray imaging.
“The last surgery was very successful. Your… leg has recovered very well!”
X looked at the French doctor in front of him, a top-notch surgeon specially arranged by the gaming company. French was the official language of the new country of New Carnea, but X didn’t understand, and the doctor didn’t speak Chinese either.
AI Neo translated for the two of them word by word, with a stiff mechanical tone that sometimes made the sentences sound very strange:
“The rehabilitation meetings will be scheduled into your agenda next, where you will be able to try standing up.”
X paused. “Is it possible to recover to the level of a normal person?”
“Of course.”
The doctor seemed a little dissatisfied with X’s question, as if questioning his superb surgical skills.
“Rest assured, your leg surgery was very successful. As long as you follow the rehabilitation course for practice, we are determined to verify that you will recover to the level of a normal adult male.”
“…” X glanced at the poorly translated Neo. The doctor couldn’t understand how bad Neo’s Chinese translation was. He smiled friendly at X, his sixteen big white teeth shining brightly.
X didn’t say anything, just smiled back. Neo pushed his wheelchair, leaving here, heading to the rehabilitation department.
X looked at his legs. He was like a disassembled set of parts, piecing himself back together one by one. And now, he was almost there. His legs would recover. X calculated that there was still the skin graft surgery to restore his appearance, and the craniotomy surgery that might help him regain his memory.
During the CT scan, the doctor pointed out that there was a fragment lodged in his brain, which could be one of the factors causing his amnesia. But the doctor couldn’t guarantee that removing the fragment through craniotomy surgery would definitely help him remember. It could only be said to be of possible assistance.
Craniotomy surgery carried a certain risk, and the surgeon advised waiting until the other functions of his body were fully restored and he was in a healthy and stable condition before undergoing this surgery.
“Regulator-X, your medical rehabilitation plan is currently completed to… 80%,” as usual, AI Neo reported to its master.
“Considering that your physical condition is gradually improving, I have scheduled your skin graft surgery and will make an appointment for you with a world-class doctor. The laboratory will extract your cells for differentiation and cultivation…”
X wrapped in bandages, didn’t care much about his appearance, and no one paid attention to his face either. He was more concerned about his craniotomy surgery:
“Has the appointment with the top neurosurgeon been made?”
“Not yet,” Neo replied, “Dr. Rossflan’s schedule is very busy. We have tried to make an advance reservation for you, but it takes time. Neo assistant sincerely advises you to undergo leg rehabilitation treatment first…”
X: “Is there a way to have the craniotomy surgery as soon as possible?”
He felt like he was gradually remembering, but still lacked something. Perhaps it was because of the fragment in his brain. He wanted to remove it immediately.
Neo: “It’s somewhat difficult, but rest assured, Neo assistant will do its best to provide you with feedback. Please be patient~”
X knew that this was the customer service way of saying “There’s no way.”
Neo: “If the cells for the skin graft surgery are cultured in advance, you can proceed with the skin graft surgery first! Having a high level of attractiveness can bring unexpected surprises to your life!”
Upon hearing the words “high level of attractiveness,” memories of Chu Feng’s handsome face involuntarily surfaced in X’s mind.
Buzz…
His phone in his pocket suddenly vibrated. “CF4088” sent a message.
X opened his phone, and Chu Feng’s profile picture, with a fluffy black cat, popped up with a delightful red message.
X hadn’t opened it yet, but the red message suddenly changed to ③, ④, ⑤.
So many messages. X raised an eyebrow, it was probably related to the husband of that little beauty again.
X felt a bit annoyed. Chu Feng’s obsession with his husband far exceeded the level of ordinary widows. What was so good about that guy?
X recalled that on the bus, his husband pretended to be a “kidnapper” and kidnapped Chu Feng, wearing a hood so he couldn’t see his face clearly. In kindergarten, his husband was only five years old, a little rascal, nothing special. The only time X had seen his face clearly was at the hospital with Dr. Xie.
He was…
Indeed, somewhat handsome.
X suddenly thought of what AI Neo had said: “Having a high level of attractiveness can bring you unexpected surprises in life~”
“Neo.”
“I’m here! What do you need help with?”
“Can you check how long it will take to cultivate cells for the skin graft surgery?”
As X spoke, he opened the chat box with Chu Feng.
***
Tap tap tap…
Chu Feng sat in his bedroom, quickly typing to X: –
Haven’t been on the game recently, been solving puzzles –
I’ve figured out the answers, but there’s still a bit of a problem, let me show you –
Relationship Chart.jpg –
There are two questions, one is about that blue ribbon, what was it hidden for?
Chu Feng then sent a screenshot of 7-year-old Xiao Xie’s doodle diary from the “Dream City” game:
The second question is this, there are five checkmarks on the doodle diary.
X looked at the bombardment of messages on the chat screen.
He first looked at the relationship chart. To be honest, the chart was very messy, with various intersecting and complicated lines. It could be seen that Chu Feng had made a lot of notes and deductions, some of which had been overturned repeatedly. At first glance, it should be difficult for a normal person to understand.
But without any text explanation, X understood Chu Feng’s relationship chart notes.
After the barrage of messages, Chu Feng looked back and found that he hadn’t explained anything throughout, just threw out a relationship chart, said he found the answer, and X probably didn’t even know what the answer was.
Then he threw out two big new questions, the blue ribbon and the diary. X probably had no idea what he was talking about. The regulator was probably quite busy as usual, besides him, he also had to protect other players, and probably didn’t remember what happened in his Dream City.
Chu Feng sighed. He thought about repeating the process he had just explained to Lin Lan to X again. It was really troublesome.
It would have been better if he had recorded it. Chu Feng opened the relationship chart he drew, thinking about where to start would be more concise and clear, when suddenly, X on the other side sent a message:
“The answer is the deceased Cui Jun, and the murderer is Room 304?”
Chu Feng was taken aback.
—In such a short time, this regulator extracted important information from his chaotic relationship chart and analyzed the answer.
Looks like he didn’t pick the wrong person. Chu Feng thought that regulators who dealt with danger all year round naturally had a kind of intuition for judgment.
Chu Feng continued typing, wanting to explain to X his doubts about the blue ribbon. But halfway through, X popped up a message:
[Your judgment is correct. This blue ribbon is definitely useful, otherwise, he wouldn’t have hidden it.]
Chu Feng was somewhat surprised, and X didn’t refute him.
—Normal adults would think that a 7-year-old child’s actions, like hiding a ribbon, are just a momentary whim. But X didn’t think that way; he didn’t use the arrogance of an adult to deny the curiosity of a 7-year-old.
Chu Feng was touched by this, and he continued chatting with X:
[What do you think it could be used for?]
X: [The blue ribbon is solid evidence of Room 304’s cat-abusing murderer.]
Chu Feng: [Yes, but I haven’t found any police reports. This evidence wasn’t used to solve the case, and the police don’t even know that the cat-abusing man has been killed.]
Chu Feng waited, feeling that X on the other side paused for a moment, seemingly contemplating. Then the chat box showed that the other party was typing, and X sent a message:
[Look at it from a different angle. When do people hope for a case to be solved?]
Looking at the question, Chu Feng thought for a moment. Normal people hope that wrongdoers are punished, so detective dramas often have cases of innocent people suffering. The victims are pitiful, the culprits are despicable, and people especially hope that the police will find solid evidence to apprehend the culprits.
In short, a key piece of evidence in solving a case has two purposes: ① to catch the culprit; ② to help the victim punish the wrongdoer.
At first glance, these two points seem the same because, in general, the victim is a kind and pitiful person, which evokes people’s sympathy.
But in reality, it’s not always the case; the victim may also be the perpetrator. Chu Feng thought that the unemployed man Cui Jun, whom the store owner of Room 304 killed, was himself a scumbag. He was the real culprit in the red plastic rope dismemberment case and the cat abuser who cruelly killed the little tabby cat that Xiao Shiyu liked so much.
Little Shiyu must be very angry, and witnessing the cat abuser being killed should have been a relief to him.
Seven-year-old Little Shiyu took such a big risk to get this evidence, not to help the victim, the cat abuser, but to target the store owner of Room 304.
In the chat box, X sent a message:
[On that blue ribbon, there are two crucial things: ① the bloodstains of the deceased cat abuser; ② the fingerprints of the culprit from Room 304.]
Chu Feng: [Are the fingerprints more important?]
X: [If he’s only targeting Room 304, then actually, it doesn’t matter whose blood is on the blue ribbon.]
When Chu Feng saw this sentence, he suddenly felt a chill all over his body.
He suddenly came up with a terrifying conjecture.
It’s known that Little Shiyu couldn’t be an extremely righteous child; he wouldn’t take such a big risk to get evidence unless it had a greater benefit to him.
Furthermore, Little Shiyu didn’t directly use this evidence to report and capture Room 304.
—But he still targeted Room 304 and didn’t let him off.
Chu Feng believed that with Little Shiyu’s execution ability, the person from Room 304 should have received his due retribution, and by now, he’s probably no longer in this world, with no evidence against him.
Chu Feng looked down at the doodle diary he sent to X, where one page depicted a residential building, and each window on every floor was labeled with a room number. On the right side, Little Shiyu had neatly checked five boxes.
X: [What do these checkmarks mean?]
Chu Feng: [They should signify completion.]
X stared at the five immature checkmarks, feeling a somewhat familiar sensation stirring in his heart.
[Completion of what?]
Chu Feng: [Not sure, take a look at this.]
He dug out a few more pages of Little Shiyu’s doodle diary and sent them over.
X looked at them while sitting in the wheelchair. These drawings depicted the child’s retribution against others: an annoying aunt standing at the door, frustrated and angry at the keyhole, which X guessed might have been blocked by something the child used, preventing her from opening the door.
Then there was the cat abuser, terrified of spiders, who was scared by the child using a huntsman spider.
The third was a drunkard from Room 403, slipping on a banana peel in the yard.
Without exception, each of these three doodles had a small checkmark beside them, indicating completion.
Each checkmark hooked X’s eyes like a hook, and he felt… a sense of déjà vu.
After the three drawings, there were no more pictures.
Five checkmarks, two more to go.
X: [What about the remaining two people?]
Chu Feng: [There aren’t any.]
Little Shiyu made five checkmarks, but he only drew three people. Who were the missing two?
—With the blue ribbon, the fingerprints are what matters, not the bloodstains.
The bloodstains could belong to anyone.
Chu Feng held his phone, wondering if Little Shiyu didn’t draw those two people because he couldn’t.
—The 24-year-old Doctor Xie wouldn’t honestly draw all four of those d*mn people; he simply drew a bottle and checked it four times.
Ding-ding—
A notification from the Dream City system popped up on Chu Feng’s phone.
It was probably another incident involving Little Shiyu in the game. Chu Feng quickly said goodbye to X:
[Sorry, something came up suddenly at work. I have to go deal with it.]
His finger was about to swipe to close the WeChat conversation with X—
Buzz!
This time, X didn’t obediently bid him farewell. Instead, he sent an emoji, once again stealing the kitten emoji from him:
A fluffy kitten wearing bunny ears, looking dejected and resigned, squatting in a corner:
I seem to be your tool.jpg
Chu Feng: “…”
His finger hesitated over the button to exit WeChat.
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