Chapter 14 - Subject of suspicion

"Report to the Commander, all suspected xjbxd44011 personnel have been identified, and here is the list of names!"

In a sci-fi-inspired office, a woman dressed in a military uniform, with delicate features and a valiant appearance, hands over a thick stack of documents to her superior.

Code xjbxd44011, entered the game two hours and fifteen minutes ago, final evaluation: SSS.

Gender: Male

Age: Suspected to be between 16 and 25

Suspected occupation: Student, marketer, or non-manual labor

Personality: Extroverted, good at communication, skilled at flattering, thick-skinned, and possibly having multiple identities.

Priority level: B-class.

List of suspected individuals:

First: Claude

Background and suspicion: Recently registered as a member of the thriller forum with the ID xjbxd51010, which does not comply with the code generation rules and has been modified from the target code. After testing, he has a higher constitution than ordinary people and is likely to have gained ghostly energy from the instance. He still deliberately conceals his identity, preferring to be humiliated at home rather than exposing himself.

This might be due to his intention to play dumb and show off later, or having masochistic tendencies, or having gained only a small advantage but suffering from delusions of persecution.

Inconsistency: Personality (possible deliberate disguise)

Degree of suspicion: 4 stars

Second: Jack

Background and suspicion: A college student who works part-time at McDonald's. He demonstrates extraordinary strength when provoked by a classmate at dusk.

His personality is similar to the target's simulated personality, with an equally thick-skinned nature. He also deliberately conceals his chosen identity.

Inconsistency: Unable to determine the exact time of entry; considering his abilities, he might have entered much earlier than the target (possibility of ghostly influence not ruled out).

Degree of suspicion: 5 stars

Third: Jerry

Background and suspicion: An eccentric man with blindness in both eyes. He claims that his eyes were burned blind by a terrifying ghost more than a decade ago, but that was before the advent of the horror world, and no real ghosts had ever appeared.

Not long ago, Jerry secretly underwent a checkup, and his vision mysteriously recovered.

He has an in-depth understanding of the horror world, and even if he isn't a 3S-rated individual, his evaluation would definitely not be low.

Inconsistency: Personality, the target's vision was normal when entering.

Degree of suspicion: 4 stars

Fourth: Tom

...

Fifth: Li Xiaolong

...

Profiles of hundreds of people stacked up into a thick pile.

The middle-aged man known as the Commander, with hawk-like sharp eyes, scanned them one by one, and coldly said:

"Is this all?"

"Not at all! These are just the first-level suspects, and there are thousands of second-level suspects, such as this newly registered person with the code dsnis850 who registered just a few minutes ago. According to the coding rules, he should have registered two months ago, but he is registering now. Through tattoo scanning, his age matches the suspected conditions, but strangely, our technical staff cannot lock his location and determine his identity. In addition to this, there are third-level suspects, and their numbers are even larger, and they are being screened." The female officer explained.

"No need to rush, we will screen them one by one, and we absolutely cannot let any suspect slip through our fingers. This is the first-ever 3S in history!" The Commander nodded and solemnly reminded.

The same thing was happening not only in this mysterious office but also in the headquarters of various major forces and even some smaller forces. They all unanimously focused on the first-ever SSS-rated individual.

At this time, Alexander had no idea that just over two hours after leaving the instance and registering on the forum for only a few minutes, he was already listed as a second-level suspect.

He was browsing the forum at the moment.

dssni901: "Selling soul-level ghost technique for brainwashing, a powerful ghost technique that can control evil ghosts for a short time!"

dreal599: "Bloody hemp rope, a top-tier control-type ghost item at the fierce ghost level, only exchange for a healing-type ghost item of the same level!"

djux878: "The one selling the ghost technique is a scammer, don't be fooled, everyone. What's the use of controlling a soul for a short time? It's only useful for beginners, and he's selling it for 500 ghost coins, is he crazy? Even 50 is too much!"

xjbxd51010: "To the first floor, how long can you control it? If it's more than 10 minutes, I'll buy it for 80 ghost coins!"

djux216: "Newcomer upstairs? Just finished the assessment? Send me an email, and I'll give you something good."

dssni901: "A newbie? I'm a person who likes to help newcomers the most, so I'll sell it cheaper, 50 ghost coins for you. It's not convenient to talk here, let's add each other on Discord!"

xjbxd51010: "Just passed the third instance, I'm an experienced player, don't try that trick on me!"

...

The chat on the forum terrified Alexander.

Especially the one with a similar code to his own, as soon as he appeared, a bunch of people immediately surrounded him, trying to get close and build a relationship. In short, they had one goal: to get his address.

It's still fine in the forum, as the entire thriller forum is divided into several sections, not only for the United States but also for other countries with corresponding sections. It is said to be a joint development by multiple countries, ensuring absolute confidentiality.

Whether it's true or not, with official guarantees, it can at least make people feel a little more at ease.

Even if there is any trickery, it's not like ordinary players or small forces can easily trace you through the internet cable to your home.

However, if your email, Twitter, or similar things were exposed, that would be a different story.

Originally, he had some questions to ask, but seeing this situation, he stopped his hand that was about to type on the keyboard.

He should first search for information about the Soul Apartment invitation on his own. He should avoid posting unless it's absolutely necessary, so as not to attract attention to himself as a newcomer.

After all, his computer doesn't have any advanced firewall. If someone targets him and wants to trace him through the internet cable, what should he do?

Abandoning his plan to post questions, Alexander started browsing directly.

As expected from a forum specifically designed for the world of horror, many posts were very useful to Alexander.

Unfortunately, after browsing for a long time, Alexander didn't find any information about the Soul Apartment.

Fierce Ghost Cinema Instance, the worst instance in history, don't ever enter!

Suddenly, Alexander was attracted to a post and was about to click on it when a knocking sound came from the door.

Looking at the time, the passage of time in the instance and the real world did not overlap. Even if he stayed in the instance for ten years, the real world would still only pass in an instant.

It was just before 5 o'clock when Alexander left the instance, and now it was already past 8 o'clock.

At this time, who would come to find him?

Could it be that his 3S rating identity was exposed?

Alexander's heart suddenly skipped a beat. Although he thought the possibility was low, he still felt uneasy.

With a bloodstained baseball bat in hand, Alexander walked to the door and coldly asked:

"Who is it?"