"Gao Ming? Director Chen said you wouldn't arrive for another three days, so how come you're here now?" The only female investigator among the four greeted Gao Ming with a handshake, "I am the deputy head of the Investigation Group One—Bai Qiao. These three are newbies; they've never dealt with an Abnormal Event before."
"You're taking three newbies into an Abnormal Event?" Gao Ming remembered Abnormal Events to be extremely terrifying, with a very low survival rate for ordinary people.
"Based on survivors' testimonies, this Abnormal Event apparently doesn't involve specific ghosts, just some strange signs. We preliminarily classified it as a Level 1 Abnormal Event, which is quite friendly for the newbies." Bai Qiao activated the Black Ring and played a video: "Yesterday evening, someone called the police, saying that there was a child crying continuously on the fourth floor of Number 4 Court on Minlong Street. The police searched the whole floor and couldn't find the child. Later, an elderly person in the building said that a family of three used to live there. The man had a severe tendency for violence, and the woman was no saint either. Roughly a few days ago, the couple had a quarrel in the evening and then moved away overnight, but it seems like the child didn't leave with them."
"Was the child killed?" Gao Ming watched the video and immediately thought of this possibility.
"We don't know. We've looked for the couple, but they've disappeared in the Old City District." Bai Qiao turned off the video, "Ever since the couple moved away, there's been continuous crying heard from the fourth floor. At first, the crying was weak and would stop after some time. But since last night, the crying hasn't stopped. We suspect that this Abnormal Event is worsening and must be investigated promptly."
"Just crying? No one injured?" Gao Ming had done many games related to crying and with the information at hand, it wasn't enough to determine which game had turned into reality.
"No injuries for now." Bai Qiao glanced at her watch, "Other investigators are on their way here. We'll enter the building interior when it's almost dawn."
After several days of torrential rain finally started to weaken, the gloom still hung over the city without dissipating.
When there was slightly more than forty minutes before dawn, a black van parked in the middle of Minlong Street; the driver wore a cap and was well-built, with the Black Ring cutting into his flesh on his wrist.
"Good morning, Sister Bai," said the brawny driver, slapping the van's body, and swinging open the rear doors. Four investigators stepped out, carrying various equipment.
The two youngest among them didn't have Black Rings; they seemed to have just been chosen to join the Investigation Bureau.
"Pack the stuff in your backpacks. Tonight, we need to test seven items in the context of an Abnormal Event…" The driver had only gotten halfway through his sentence when he suddenly saw Gao Ming, "This brother looks a bit unfamiliar."
"He's a newbie recommended by Old Qin, who has survived a Level 3 Abnormal Event," Bai Qiao counted the people after closing the vehicle, then lifted her arm with the Black Ring, "I won't elaborate on the dangers of an Abnormal Event; you've all received comprehensive and systematic training from the Investigation Bureau. In this operation, I want you all to stay fully alert and strictly adhere to the regulations."
"Understood!" The three newbies led by Bai Qiao and the four who came out of the van answered together. There was no fear in their eyes, only nervousness and a hint of curiosity.
"Let's move out!"
Counting Gao Ming, a total of ten Investigation Bureau members entered Building Number 4. However, only Gao Ming, Bai Qiao, and the brawny driver had experienced an Abnormal Event before.
The Investigation Bureau was severely short-handed, so when seasoned members encountered Abnormal Events with a lower risk factor, they would take new members to participate, allowing them to familiarize themselves with their "enemy." Tonight's operation was actually a sort of specialized training for the newbies.
The narrow corridor was cluttered with various household rubbish, and the stairs were marked with footprints. The corridor walls were covered in graffiti.
The investigators cautiously approached the fourth floor, but Gao Ming turned on his flashlight and looked closely at the drawings on the wall.
The graffiti, drawn on the cracked wall, seemed to tell a complete story and featured three small figures drawn with a black crayon.
The most robust and violent figure seemed to represent the father, the little person with long hair represented the mother, and the most slender one must be the child.
The doodles looked like they were scribbled by a child at random, but on closer inspection, certain problems could be discovered.
The figures representing father and mother were always fighting, and every time they clashed, many small figures drawn in red crayon would emerge behind them.
Those red figures congregated around the child, slowly piling up, folding, and distorting.
As time passed, the red figures began to make more terrifying movements, breaking off heads, detaching arms – although they seemed to crawl out from the parents, they appeared indifferent to the child's feelings, never there to accompany the child.
The arguments and scuffles continued, and the red figures became more and more horrifying; they would suddenly appear while the child was concentrating on other things.
In a doodle at the corner of the second floor, the child was doing homework when red figures suddenly crawled out from under the desk, tearing at his hair, strangling his neck, preventing him from studying.
There was also a doodle on the third floor, where the child lay in bed sleeping, and red figures suddenly crawled out from within the blanket and beneath the bed, prying open the child's eyes, preventing sleep.
The child was very frightened. Even when it was too hot to sleep, he would wrap himself in a blanket; and even when shampoo flowed into his eyes during a bath, he dared not close them.
Seeing their timid and abnormal child, his parents seemed even angrier and their conflicts would also affect the child.
"The police didn't find the child inside the building, could the child be trapped in the Shadow World?"
Arriving on the fourth floor, those investigators, led by Bai Qiao and the driver, skillfully placed various devices.
"There are six households on the fourth floor, but they've all moved out. You'll go in pairs to search the rooms, and no matter what happens, do not lose sight of each other."
Using keys provided by the police, the investigators opened each door one by one. When they touched the key to room 405, the red lights on everyone's wrists suddenly lit up, and communications were forcefully interrupted.
It was also in that instant that Gao Ming saw massive shadows surge out from the door gap of 405, enveloping Building No. 4 within them.
A chill penetrated his body; Gao Ming took a deep breath, as the hidden game inside Building No. 4 on Minlong Street was triggered.
Casting a glance downstairs, Gao Ming received even worse news, the game field shrouded by shadows was as vast as the one Zhao Xi encountered before. If it was anything like the last incident, this wasn't a level one Abnormal Event but rather a gruesomely deceptive level three Abnormal Event.
"There are twenty minutes until daybreak." Bai Qiao once again raised her arm: "Now we are truly entering the Abnormal Event. Any piece of information you find here can be of immense help to those who follow, and any rule you discern here will be recorded in the archives of the Headquarters. Of course, all this is based on the condition that you can bring the information back alive."
The burly driver stood up straight: "The red signal light of the Black Ring indicates complete communication breakdown. Do not trust any time you see within the building. Only when the red light on the Black Ring goes out and the yellow light turns on are you truly out of danger."
"Twenty minutes can be short, but it can also feel incredibly long." Bai Qiao's face was devoid of any hint of a smile as her gaze swept over each person present: "Investigation of the Abnormal Event begins! I hope each one of us can safely emerge from the darkness!"