"What happened? Why did the ride-sharing service take him away?"
The perks that were supposed to be reserved ended up benefiting random passersby who appeared out of nowhere, leaving the organizers somewhat dumbfounded.
"There's nothing we can do about it. The staff doesn't know about these things. This contestant gave the key clue of 'detective assistant,' and that's how the ride-sharing started."
"Where is the young master?" the organizer asked again.
"They'll be down soon."
The organizer wiped his face, unable to blame his own brother, so he blamed others instead: "At times like these, we should be more vigilant and find an excuse to delay the distribution of benefits."
The team leader was silent for a moment: "He's a doorman."
The person in charge of this welfare is just the doorman standing at the entrance. How can he be so slow? Where's his brain? Did a zombie eat his brain?
The team leader began to suspect that the family's intelligence was questionable. Providing conveniences for pre-selected players is understandable, but demanding that everyone follow his script shows they seriously underestimated the potential of talent.
Meanwhile, Ren Yifei, who had unintentionally snatched the prince's benefits, had already arrived at the scene by car, or rather, at the entrance of an upscale residential area.
He repeated his story, claiming he was a detective's assistant there to help with the investigation. The security guard at the door made a seemingly legitimate phone call to his superiors before letting him in.
A man ran out from the neighborhood, saying his surname was Liu and that he was in charge of guiding Ren Yifei through the case.
The community consists of villas, each surrounded by a garden and a ring of trees.
"We value the privacy of our residents, so we have planted tall trees around each house," said the person in charge, surnamed Liu, and Ren Yifei.
As they walked, they talked about the recent thefts in the neighborhood.
"Theft? Isn't it robbery?" Ren Yifei asked.
"It started as theft... Hello, thank you for your hard work (greeting the lawnmower). It started as theft, but one time the lady of the house who was supposed to be out came back early, and it turned into... Hello (greeting the passing garbage collector). It turned into robbery and rape. But because the other party was wearing a mask, we didn't know what he looked like, and we didn't catch him."
This neighborhood is very realistic. There are young mothers pushing strollers for a walk, young people jogging, elderly people practicing Tai Chi in the small garden, and office workers rushing to work.
There are also sanitation workers riding garbage trucks, lawn mowers, and electrical repairmen carrying toolboxes.
"No surveillance footage?"
"The houses that were robbed didn't have any. As for the outside, there are only a few main roads with surveillance cameras. However, surveillance cameras have now been installed in the residential area and even on the side streets," explained the person in charge, Liu.
"The last one had no fingerprints or semen residue?" After leaving the area with the most NPCs and turning onto a deserted path, Ren Yifei asked his question again.
"The other party was very cautious. He wore gloves every time, and he also used safety measures during the rape."
"Several thefts have occurred, but only this time was the owner caught?"
After thinking for a moment, Liu, the person in charge, said, "It happened seven times in total, but only this time was it discovered."
Seven thefts, only one of which was discovered when a resident unexpectedly returned early; this person was very familiar with the residents' comings and goings. Someone in this neighborhood could know this without arousing any suspicion…
"Did the thief break the key or use some other method to open the door?"
"All the door locks in our community use both fingerprint and password security. If someone tries to pry them open, the alarm system will be activated. Since he couldn't open the door lock, this person chose to break in through the window."
Ren Yifei nodded. With both fingerprint and password locks, it was indeed difficult to get in: "Is there an alarm system on this side of the window?"
"It's on the first floor, but not on the second floor... We've arrived."
In front of them was a three-story villa with its own garden, surrounded by tall trees, not much different from other villas.
"Are all the villas where burglaries occurred laid out exactly the same?" Are these villas, which look similar, all identical in their interior structure?
"No, considering the different needs, we have twenty-four interior design models here. These burglarized homes are not all of the same type." Manager Liu had already rang the doorbell of the garden gate and explained his purpose.
The large iron gate opened automatically, and the villa door inside also opened, revealing a maid wearing an apron.
"Was the maid not here that day?" Ren Yifei asked as he walked.
"The maid happened to be on holiday those days."
There were three people sitting in the villa: a young couple and a middle-aged man, seemingly a family spanning two generations. Upon seeing them enter, the young man put his arm around the woman, as if to protect her.
The family already knew why they had come, and upon seeing Ren Yifei, they simply said, "We hope you can catch that bandit as soon as possible."
"Please rest assured."
The person in charge, Liu, took Ren Yifei to the third floor to check the situation: "That person came in from the study on the second floor, and then went directly to the room of the male and female owners on the third floor."
The person in charge, Liu, showed him the route. The other party climbed in from the balcony. Since the balcony door was unlocked, they didn't break the window and went directly up the stairs to the third floor wearing shoes. While they were prying open the safe, the unconscious female homeowner woke up, and then some unfortunate things happened.
"After tying up the victim, the man went down to the first floor and left the villa."
"The purpose is very clear." This indicates that the person didn't just randomly pick a place to enter, but rather scouted the area beforehand. Moreover, Ren Yifei suspected that the person was someone who regularly entered and exited the community, so coming out of the villa wouldn't arouse suspicion.
All traces inside the villa have been cleaned up, but Liu, the person in charge, still has some photos. Ren Yifei saw footprints from the balcony all the way to the third floor, as well as shoe prints from the front door.
"What's your shoe size?" Ren Yifei looked at the photo. The shoe prints in the hallway were clearer, while the shoe prints in the master bedroom on the third floor were messy and had traces of something rubbing against them.
"Landmark 42".
What time did the incident occur?
"It was 3 p.m., but it wasn't until the man from this house returned and something went wrong that he called the police," said Manager Liu, recounting the situation at the time. The woman was bound with duct tape and unable to move.
"Oh." Ren Yifei asked another question, "Why did the mistress suddenly come back?"
She said she wasn't feeling well that day, so she came back first.
The two had reached the master bedroom on the third floor, a large room with a walk-in closet. Presumably because it had been broken into, the room had been sealed off, so everything was still as it had been before.
The person in charge, Liu, brought over shoe covers and gloves, which they put on before going inside.
There was a lot of duct tape on the ground, and the safe looked like it had been pried open. Shoe prints on the ground indicated that a struggle had taken place, but one side was defeated.
One side of the room is a floor-to-ceiling window, offering a wide view and a nice view. Ren Yifei happened to see a flock of small birds landing on a telephone pole, like a string of musical notes.
"Our privacy is very well protected here. You can't see the other side through the tree wall, and there are no tall buildings nearby," Liu, the person in charge, said again, praising the advantages of their community.
Ren Yifei glanced at him: "That's not necessarily true."
After inspecting the room, they left because Manager Liu said they could only stay for a maximum of ten minutes to avoid upsetting the family. Hmm, now it really felt like 'this is a detective game'.
Does anyone in our neighborhood use drones?
The person in charge, Mr. Liu, shook his head: "Our community rules prohibit playing this game."
"Is it also to protect privacy?"
"right."
Manager Liu escorted Ren Yifei to the gate, intending to see him out of the residential compound. Ren Yifei had already seen the other contestants arriving at the gate, all craning their necks to look inside.
"One last question," Ren Yifei turned to look at Manager Liu, "has your community been inspecting and repairing its electrical circuits recently?"
"How did you know?" Liu, the person in charge, blurted out.
With this in mind, Ren Yifei understood the situation. This case wasn't difficult; in reality, it would be solved within a few days, otherwise it would be underestimating the people's police.
"Can I find out more about the situation from the relevant people?" Ren Yifei wanted to meet with a few community staff members.
The person in charge, Liu, looked troubled: "Without the assistance of the police, this..."
"I understand." The game provides limited clues; the rest is up to the players to figure out.
Ren Yifei walked out of the residential area amidst the complex gazes of a group of players, and the second group of players entered. The person in charge, Liu, was going to lead them along the route they had just taken and repeat what he had said before.
These days, NPCs have it tough too; they have to make several trips back and forth in an afternoon.
Fortunately, this was a group service; if it were done one by one, Manager Liu would have lost ten pounds in a day.
"There are advantages to arriving early, such as personalized service." Ren Yifei said with a smile to the viewers on the other end of the live broadcast, "After walking all this way, I think most of you have already guessed who the murderer is, just like me."
He glanced back at the residential area: "Only one person meets the criteria. It seems there won't be many eliminations tonight."
The live stream at this moment.
"...Comrades, do you all know who the murderer is? Did I miss something? How come I have absolutely no clue?" This audience member wished he could go back and watch it again. They had only walked this far, how could he possibly figure out who the murderer was?
"I had no idea and I've lowered everyone's average IQ. I'm deeply sorry."
"I have some ideas, but I'm not sure."
From entering the residential area to leaving, the audience's focus was entirely on Ren Yifei, taking in the sights at a leisurely pace. Although many clues were obtained through his questions, these clues were all individual and could not yet be connected into a coherent whole.
"Is he just trying to scare us? I think he's just talking nonsense. Find the murderer in such a short time? Does he really think he's a detective?"
"But judging from his expression, he seemed quite confident."
The case captivated the audience, causing them to inadvertently forget Ren Yifei's 'dark' past. The live stream chat even began to discuss the case with great enthusiasm, with every character who appeared being suspected, and even the female homeowner being suspected of orchestrating the whole thing herself.
Some people who were just casually watching also stayed in the live stream. Although they disliked Ren Yifei, they wanted to know the answer to the story—did Ren Yifei really already know who the murderer was?
Ren Yifei, however, didn't say a word about the plot during the live stream. Instead, he introduced the scenery, some interesting and unique buildings, and some NPCs that looked quite interesting to the audience.
He had the route from the villa to the community memorized. Ren Yifei walked slowly, stopping and starting, and finally arrived at the villa before dinner.
The contestants returned one by one and sat down on either side of the long table. No one spoke, and no one discussed the previous cases.
By 5:30, most of the athletes had returned, apparently having rented bicycles on the street to make their way back.
At 5:30, the main door closed, and the crystal chandelier inside lit up.
"Congratulations everyone, you've successfully returned before dinner. Now..." the voice appeared again, "Please write your answers on the table. Who is the real culprit in the series of burglaries in the neighborhood?"