Chapter 12: Midnight Hide and Seek (1) “Please hold on until the evening’…

Bai Bei stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, with a panoramic view of the outdoor scenery. Looking down, he could see the rows of buildings and the continuous mountains in the distance. The prosperous commercial district was only about two or three streets away from the office building.

He zoomed in on the navigation map. The surrounding area didn't look like it would be a good place for a military base. Bai Bei knew Xie Jianshan wouldn't tell him, but he asked anyway: "From what I see, this place doesn't look like a good place for a base."

"Is the Operations Department's headquarters really here? You didn't make it up just to trick our studio people over here, did you?"

"This area is indeed unsuitable." Xie Jianshan avoided answering, slowly leading people to guess, "To be precise, there is no place that can serve as a base for the Operations Department."

"We capture and contain ghosts, analyze the time and location of each ghost's arrival, and conduct endless research. More importantly, we must ensure that they don't escape from the detention room and cause chaos. Even if something goes wrong, there is time to remedy it."

Xie Jianshan turned to look at Bai Bei. He knew that he would understand the answer without further explanation. "Under these circumstances, where do you think the most suitable place is?"

Bai Bei had already reacted. His eyes moved slightly and fell to the ground beneath his feet as he lowered his head.

"underground."

—

Operations Headquarters, 12th floor underground.

"Is it okay for us to come in?" Shi Yu didn't dare to look around, for fear of accidentally finding out something he shouldn't. "After all, we're not official members of the Operations Department."

"It's fine."

Lin Yuan, the short-haired woman who had previously introduced them to the Operations Department and also the Deputy Captain of the Executive Department, waved her hand nonchalantly and led her men into the lounge. "This was also the Captain's instruction, and it's safer here."

"Your ability is backtracking, right?"

Shi Yu wasn't surprised that she knew of his abilities. Lin Yuan took out a blank photo and handed it to him, asking someone to try to reconstruct the contents. He then continued, "That's why our captain initially liked you."

"We know you can't rewind time right now." She took back her words before the other party could give a definitive answer. "But that doesn't mean the future. If one day you can do it, not just time, but even the entire space... maybe you can prevent the occurrence of ghost stories."

Upon hearing this, Su Yang and Wen Tingxu silently looked at Shi Yu who was still in a daze, then sighed and shook their heads at the same time.

Shi Yu, who was placed with high hopes, said: "...Me? You, you think too highly of me?! I, I, I can't do it!"

Why would the Operations Department have such high hopes for him?! There must be many people more capable than him, right?!

"Captain Xie has a very sharp intuition and has never been wrong. His ability occasionally allows him to foresee the future," she said with a smile. "We trust him, too."

Well, Shi Yu sighed like his friend. He returned the photo and told the person on the other side a little embarrassedly, "Sorry, I tried, but unfortunately it seems to have failed."

Lin Yuan stared at the still blank photo paper, expecting no change. "No, this is because of Fei's interference."

Shi Yu recalled what she had said not long ago. The frequent disappearances during that period were due to the emergence of the ghost story game, and the number one player of this game, Fei, enjoyed the most abundant resources, intelligence and unmatched strength.

He always knows about the coming of ghost stories one step ahead, and the Operations Department is eager to have more contact with Fei.

"But are you sure the person I met yesterday was Fei?" Although Shi Yu hadn't been selected by the ghost story game, he knew without a doubt that there must be more than one player who was equally as popular. "It could also be other players at the top of the leaderboard, right?"

"This strange story was deliberately arranged in Jiuyou. It was more like a specially laid trap. The target person happened to be nearby, so it affected you. After the incident, the person even gave us information about the organization behind this incident."

"He's very familiar with that organization, the U. He's incredibly familiar with it. He's the only player who's managed to survive the U's constant attacks and possess so much information."

——Fei, who completed the Kaidan game a few months ago.

From the time the game expanded to the time when reality began to alienate, he was the only player who was still on the U organization's blacklist but lived in peace.

As she spoke, she asked Shi Yu to repeat the appearance of the person he had seen.

He thought for a moment, then picked out some of the more vivid memories. "Short, curly brown hair, blue eyes. I only saw his profile, and he was wearing a black mask."

"He had a jade ring on his right index finger." Seeing that Shi Yu seemed unable to recall anything further, Su Yang took the initiative to add, "If I remember correctly, he had a very light teardrop mole on his left eye. He looked... he seemed to be mixed-race."

His words were exactly the same as those said by his former teammate who was also a gamer.

After hearing this, Lin Yuan thought for a while. She thought that this was most likely not his real appearance. In order to avoid being found in reality, players would basically make minor adjustments to their appearance. As a top player, Fei should have more authority to make major changes to his appearance.

But this information is enough. As long as Fei can be found, it doesn't matter what he looks like.

She finally nodded, her lips raised in a standard friendly arc, "Okay, I understand. Thank you for the information. If there is still time, I will take you to the activity room?"

"OK."

At this moment, Shi Yu thought it was a place like a rest area, but he soon regretted it. He stood blankly in the overly spacious room, holding the gun that had been stuffed in his hand at some point, not daring to move.

He heard a cold voice say, "Occasionally, multiple ghosts will invade at the same time, which can be difficult to deal with. If you have time, we will contact you and send a small number of our team members with weapons to provide support."

The gun in his hand was already loaded and could go off accidentally if he wasn't careful. Shi Yu's voice trembled slightly: "There's no need to fire it now..."

There were already several black holes on the shooting target not far away. Wen Tingxu's posture was very standard. Su Yang had never touched a gun, but she got the hang of it quickly. Only Shi Yu had not tried it yet.

He raised his gun, but was interrupted by a sudden, piercing alarm. Then came the sound of synchronized footsteps. The young team member they had met earlier hurriedly opened the door. "Sister Yuan! The detector indicates that a high-risk ghost story is about to occur at University A!"

Now not only did Lin Yuan's attitude become serious, but everyone else in the activity room also looked over instantly.

Lin Yuan knew they wouldn't sit idly by, especially since this was a high-risk ghost story, and it landed in a school, which would cause many casualties. "If you want to go, hurry up and follow us."

The Operations Department quickly took them to University A.

The familiar gate came into view. The security room was empty. The school's iconic statue was placed in the middle of the wide main road, with dense trees and shrubs on both sides. The teaching building of one of the colleges was not far away.

The students that were seen everywhere were nowhere to be seen. Although it was still daytime, the school felt eerily empty.

"Zizi..." The communicator rang with a subtle electrical sound, as if something was interfering on the other end. Lin Yuan led the team to the dormitory building to ensure the students were safe. She adjusted her bone conduction headphones and said, "Captain."

"The school has been evacuated. I'm in the lobby of the Humanities Library." The voice on the communicator quickly stabilized. "There's a note at the front desk with the rules written on it."

Lin Yuan paused, "Has the evacuation been completed...?"

"Our old friend is here too. He told me in advance the time of the ghost story and the location of the basic rules." Xie Jianshan and Bai Bei were originally wandering around the new venue. The news about the unknown number came suddenly, and he also thoughtfully marked his identity at the end.

--Fiji.

Without any intention of concealing anything, he blatantly broke the window paper and revealed the information directly to the captain of the first team of the executive department. He was also paying attention to them and knew exactly what the operations department was planning.

"If we're lucky, we might even run into him, provided he doesn't avoid us this time."

Xie Jianshan still had the leisure to make a few jokes, but after he finished speaking, he turned his attention back to the main topic and began to repeat the black words on the paper. After he finished, he took out his mobile phone again.

He read out the text message from an unknown number: "The strange story is about to arrive, right now."

He relayed the sound of the countdown to the game's opening.

“3, 2…”

“1.”

The day came to an end, and night took its place, and the natural light that streamed through the windows into the corridor dimmed.

Ghost stories cover this school.

【Who turned off the lights? 】

[I dreamed that the university I attended was destroyed by a ghost story guy]

Why are there so many high-risk ghost stories lately? The sequel is so fast-paced, is the arrival of an S-level ghost story not far off?

I was really surprised by the message the boss sent to Captain Xie. He didn't even bother pretending and just stated that he already knew the Operations Department was looking for him. And his prediction was so accurate... Could Brother Fei really be a prophet? Oh my god.

[Today is also a long wait, the daily question is, when will Fei appear? The last profile of him made me dizzy.]

Fei, who was on the third floor of the library, pulled out a book from the bookshelf. He opened it and found that all the papers inside repeated the same content. The dried bloodstains were depicted in two words: "Run!", as if it was a warning left by a predecessor who had unfortunately been killed before his death.

Fei calmly stuffed the book back. He was only two floors away from Xie Jianshan. If it wasn't dark, he could stand next to the railing and lower his head to greet people. The distance was far enough for him to escape.

To be honest, Fei thinks it's a pity.

"Boom boom..." The radio suddenly started, and intermittent test sounds were clearly transmitted into the hall. It sounded like someone was hitting the microphone with something, and was soon replaced by a child's tender voice, "Oh, there are not many people here."

"That's strange. Today isn't a holiday."

The child continued mumbling, "With so few people, I can't continue my game. It's so troublesome... Well, my brothers and sisters, I think you wouldn't mind adding a few 'people'?"

Of course not a living person.

Fei turned sideways, and countless papers broke out from the book, growing flesh and blood the moment they hit the ground. They looked almost the same as normal people, but if you paid a little attention, you would find that they did not blink and did not breathe.

They had no intention of attacking and walked towards the door together.

"My brothers and sisters don't need my reminder, do they?" The child's laughter was innocent and full of endless evil thoughts. "Class is about to start. I don't want to see anyone breaking the rules and being absent without permission."

"Please hold on until the hide-and-seek time tonight, otherwise the game will become very boring."

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