After her user level was upgraded, Cheng Tingyu had access to more free posts. She first searched for introductions to various types of abilities, then chose one that seemed more reliable than the basic knowledge posts she had seen before. Considering that the inspection team who gave her the phone might check her browsing history, she decided to cover her true intentions and expand her knowledge base by searching for each type of ability.
More than one post has mentioned that for the guardians of City F0631, the "Secret Eyes" are undoubtedly the group most worth guarding against. Once encountered, the best outcome is long-term surveillance of the other party. Next are the "Boundary" players, but compared to the former, as long as "Boundary" players report their status, their normal work and life will not be greatly affected.
Of course, as a city with a rich heritage, F0631 City also had some relatively stable "Secret Eye" type players. Cheng Tingyu saw a post mentioning that there was once an ability user in the city whose true name was "Secret Eye: Banquet Host."
"The Banquet Host" and "Secret Eye" are two terms that seem to lack any literal connection, making one wonder if they have been mistakenly categorized.
Fortunately, the poster provided a brief explanation of the ability of "Mithra·The Host": that player can see the most overlooked target in a team.
——A competent host of a banquet must, of course, pay attention to all the guests.
Apart from the "Secret Eyes" related to himself, Cheng Tingyu was most curious about the explanation of the "Disaster Insect." Some posts also mentioned this
"In the understanding of many people, 'calamity insects' do not refer to actual insects; the term 'insects' is used merely for ease of comprehension."
"'Pest' type players have abilities that bear many similarities to insects in the natural world. Some players can devour certain things, or place their own 'insects' in other areas to achieve certain effects."
Reading the knowledge in the post, Cheng Tingyu felt the concepts in his mind gradually becoming clearer.
Additionally, regarding the abilities related to "domains" and "flesh," the poster's description was similar to what Cheng Tingyu had previously understood, with only minor differences—besides high output, high defense, and high health, "flesh" also had healing abilities. For instance, the "life overload" in the last instance was actually a self-healing skill.
In the last post she opened, there was an introduction to "Cursed Speech."
"'Curse Speech' players, although not as prone to sudden death from madness as 'Mystic Eyes' players, possess a different kind of terror."
"They are adept at using language to exert influence. Note that the term 'language' here refers not only to spoken words but also to written symbols and patterns."
"'Cursed Speech' excels at deception, command, and manipulation. They can be reliable leaders within a team or cunning tricksters."
Cheng Tingyu immediately realized that the [You are the postman] she had received earlier must have had the power of a "curse word."
To facilitate readers' understanding, the poster also shared a short story about a curse word—A certain player who used curse words once found themselves in a desperate situation while clearing a dungeon. Before dying, this person shouted at their opponent with deep resentment, "Go to hell!" As a result, the overwhelmingly advantaged enemy, upon hearing this curse, unhesitatingly chose to commit suicide, instantly reversing the situation.
Cheng Tingyu realized that the first two copies she experienced both bore traces of incantations. The difference lay in the fact that the power of the doll costume tended towards deception and seduction, while the cold-proof house belonged to rule restrictions.
As for his own abilities, Cheng Tingyu still did not have a particularly clear understanding.
She could see the brief information of many items, which required almost no effort, but when it came to some powerful forces, such as the player themselves, the energy consumption increased significantly, and it wasn't guaranteed that she would see the information she needed.
For instance, even now, Cheng Tingyu still doesn't understand Wei Heng's purpose in designing the murder of that flesh-and-blood player, nor does he comprehend why Liu Xuehong from the development zone wanted to target Lin Baichi.
She leaned against the pillow, whispering softly to herself, "'Dangerous Mask'..."
F0631 Outer City District.
Outside the residence that originally belonged to Wei Heng, a black vehicle with a pattern of gray lily leaves was parked.
——The official residents of this place all know that the gray lily tree is the symbol of the inspection team.
Normally, it would take some time for a low-risk instance to receive a detailed investigation from the constantly overworked inspection team members. However, the death of a player with official resident status significantly raised the priority level for resolving this area.
Two people dressed in inspector uniforms got out of the car—the inspector team's work attire was primarily somber and dignified, with members' clothes, hats, shoes, and even their bags all uniformly black.
One inspector said, "It's a pity we didn't catch the 'Archaeology Apprentice'; that would have been a very suitable ability for gathering intelligence."
"The Archaeology Apprentice" was a player of the secret pupil type, who once stayed outside F0631 City for a while.
The other party can decipher the information of an item; the longer the item has been buried, the more comprehensive the related information will be displayed.
Although Wei Heng's residence was only built about twenty years ago, a player died in the replica formed after her death, which barely meets the standards for being considered an archaeological site.
The other inspector shook his head: "Even if we catch him, given the danger of being an 'archaeology apprentice,' mere house arrest won't suffice; he will likely be executed directly."
The person speaking was named Li Yetai. She had a pair of large, bright eyes, which, combined with her uniform, made her look particularly upright and beautiful. However, those with keen observation skills would easily notice that Li Yetai's eyeballs were slightly protruding, making her resemble some kind of insect more than a human.
Her ability's true name is "Calamity Bug · Fearless."
Li Yetai could capture and devour the fear of a place, then preserve these emotions in the form of "fear worms."
——After humans die, the fear they generate does not immediately disappear; instead, it lingers in place for a while before gradually dissipating.
Li Yetai recalled the information he had received, hoping that the player who had accepted the commission hadn't died too quickly, allowing enough time to generate sufficient negative emotions. Otherwise, it would easily affect her ability to perform.
Because Wei Heng's remains had already been retrieved, the instance she was in had actually disappeared, leaving only a few residual forces. Li Yetai activated his ability, closed his eyes to sense for a moment, then turned to his companion and said, "I have already captured that player's fear."
The companion named Zhou Jianyun raised his right hand: "Received." Then, with swift movements, he returned to the car to fetch the prepared equipment.
This time, they went out carrying the work of a certain powerful figure whose ability was of the "domain" type—unlike newly awakened novices, sufficiently strong players could even allocate a portion of their power to create special items.
The name of this piece is "Cranial Projector."
Li Yetai crushed her insect into powder, then carefully placed it into a crystal-clear small box.
Throughout the entire process, Li Yetai's face twitched constantly, but she did not show any sign of fear. When the worm of fear was ground into powder, as its master, she felt the pain as well. However, Li Yetai would simultaneously devour the fear in her heart to prevent herself from hesitating due to fear.
The powder of the disaster bug in the small box was the fuel for the "Skull Projector." Li Yetai started the machine, and soon, scenes soaked with the intense emotions of the deceased were projected one after another—
The tall and muscular flesh-and-blood tasker entered the outer study. Instead of heading towards the desk that hid the bedroom key, he reached out and lifted the picture frames on the wall, carefully inspecting each one until he found a box with a grinning white mask painted on its surface. Only then did he stop his actions.
During the search for the key, the tasker's face gradually turned into an excessively cold, pale blue.
Inside the box was a black key.
The subsequent scene showed the strong tasker trying to use the black key to open the small door next to the bedroom that led to the basement. However, the moment he inserted the key into the keyhole, his body was sliced open by a sharp blade. Bright red blood sprayed out like a shower, spilling onto the corridor. His chest remained open, revealing the still-beating heart inside.
The screen went black, and the showing ended there.
Li Yetai nodded, "It's confirmed to be related to the 'Dangerous Mask'."
As the clerical staff, Zhou Jianyun recorded while saying, "Okay... does the second player who completed the task need to be investigated?"
Li Yetai was just about to give a definite answer when she felt her phone vibrate. She glanced down at the message from her team and immediately felt relieved that she didn't have to work overtime. Shaking her head, she said, "No need. The fact that the player received the task wasn't entirely an accident."
Zhou Jianyun felt slightly puzzled: "…If it wasn't an accident, shouldn't we investigate it further?" Suddenly, he realized, "Could this be an arrangement from our team?"
Li Yetai nodded: "Although the inspection team won't force players outside of the 'Domain' to report their real names, they will still collect data through various means to make judgments."
——She didn't mention "Mithom" not because the inspection team had adjusted their approach to players, but because when they truly encountered "Mithom," unless there was something particularly special about the other party worth holding back for, they would generally skip the data collection step and choose to detain immediately.
Li Yetai: "She just arrived in F0631 City and is a completely new user on the forum, needing to rely on the recommendation system to take on tasks. The inspection team will use this information to assess her level of danger." She operated on the forum for a moment, then showed the interface to her companion. "The task 'Finding Aunt's Corpse' is low in difficulty, quick to earn money, and not far away. It only requires the player's health bar defense. If she really is a newly awakened flesh-type player, she is very likely to choose this task. From the scenes in the projector, if the taker follows the client's description exactly, they will actually be quite safe in the instance."
Zhou Jianyun completely understood: "I see, then she's quite lucky."
The task of finding the corpse itself had other hidden dangers that were purely accidental. Cheng Tingyu was merely an innocent player of flesh and blood who had inadvertently stumbled into it.
As he pondered, he smiled and said, "Actually, there aren't many 'Secret Eye' type players to begin with, and if it's a complete newbie, they wouldn't risk going to City F0631."
Li Yetai: "You're right." She agreed with her colleague's opinion, then wrote down "No issues with the second recipient" as the task's conclusion.