Chapter 66.2 – Underachievers tend to buy lots of stationery (2/2)

Chapter 66 – Underachievers tend to buy lots of stationery
Translator: Xena

Jian Xie: “…”

He subconsciously looked behind him, but Qin Zhuo wasn’t there. For some reason, he felt a pang of guilt.

However, maybe It saw it but didn’t speak, and was also observing.

This sentence…

His lips twitched.

If it weren’t for the numerous gory images appended to the email that needed to be censored, he would have thought he was watching a typical teen movie.

Jian Xie slid his finger down and easily scrolled to the end.

Having confirmed that there was no more content, Jian Xie frowned as he stared at the photos, which clearly featured only one person.

Drowning, suffocation by hanging, falling from a building…

It was impossible for a person to die in so many ways.

It wasn’t a staged photo shoot or a publicity stunt, because even through the screen, the aura of death permeated the air.

Although the email initially sounded like Jian Xie speaking, the last sentence was clearly not written by him.

Someone impersonated him, deliberately making him click to see these photos.

After seeing these photos, Jian Xie, who usually has a strong tolerance for disgusting images and could face all kinds of monsters with a straight face, felt a strange feeling in his heart.

He felt very uncomfortable.

“……”

The air fell silent as he stared at the photographs for a long time.

Then, he actually chuckled, long-pressed to save the photos, and then closed the email website.

If someone saw his smiling face, every pore on their body would probably explode instantly.

Perhaps it was because he had spent a lot of time with Qin Zhuo, but when Jian Xie let out that cold chuckle, it carried the same overwhelming sense of pressure.

But it lacked the wantonness and recklessness, replaced instead by an indescribable chill.

Regardless of who sent the email or what they were trying to imply with the photos, there was one very clear purpose—

It wanted to make Jian Xie anxious about the missing segment of his memory, and without much thought, he could tell that this behavior was full of malice towards him.

But, it made a mistake.

This wasn’t the so-called provocation it imagined—it was setting itself up for disaster.

Those who underestimate his monstrous nature would pay the price.

Although Qin Zhuo always claimed that the investigators were blinded by their own limited perspective, overconfident, and narrow-minded, judging from the monsters Jian Xie encountered, they seemed to be no less so.

No wonder some people say that arrogance is the root of all evil, because everyone falls into it without realizing it.

Even though his memories were jumbled, Jian Xie still remembered some scenes that flashed through his mind.

The backdrop to these corpses was the same hotel where he and his parents stayed during their vacation, albeit in a different location within the hotel grounds.

It seemed the car accident was indeed not as simple as he had thought.

Although Jian Xie did have a desire to investigate the truth of the matter, the timing of his discovery of this long-forgotten email was too coincidental, like a deliberately thrown bait.

While pondering, Jian Xie found Lu Xueya’s email, opened it, and took a look.

She did indeed attach the initial password.

Six zeros.

Given Lu Xueya’s Special A-level qualification, Jian Xie wasn’t surprised that she was able to obtain Minister Zhang’s initial password in advance.

It seems the entire affair of her coming to him for help was orchestrated by this minister.

Jian Xie returned to the forum interface, entered his password, and logged in.

Soon, he saw several small red dots at the bottom of his account’s main interface. He clicked on them, and the system automatically redirected him to his personal interface.

There was a section labeled [Private Messages].

Unread messages were displayed here.

As expected, Lu Xueya had sent him a private message. Her words were straightforward and to the point.

[Thank you for your help last time. I overheard Xu Yujin mention that you were very interested in an old missing person notice, even though he only saw a blurred name. I was surprised because, if he remembered correctly, I knew this person. I don’t know if this will be helpful to you.]   

[Link]

[Private mission. Do not disclose.]

Xu Yujin was the Special A-level investigator who had come with him to the old residential building to solve his neighbor’s accident last time.

The image of the other person wearing a trench coat and wielding a short knife came to mind.

He was some distance away from Jian Xie at the time, and tried his best to be cautious. Jian Xie also intentionally or unintentionally covered the interface of the missing person notice, but Xu Yujin still saw the only clear name on the yellowed and blurry paper. His eyesight was indeed good.

Minister Zhang has imposed restrictions on Special A-level investigators since the tasks they handle were of a very high level and confidentiality measures were essential.

Lu Xueya went against the rules by assigning her own task to Jian Xie, which showed that she genuinely wanted to express her gratitude.

Jian Xie opened the document.

The name caught his eye at first glance.

…Indeed, it was the person mentioned in the missing person notice lying in his drawer.

Seemingly sensing what Jian Xie was looking at, the neighbor in the glass bottle that was originally on the living room table suddenly became agitated, emitting a vibrating buzzing sound and hitting the bottle wall, as if it wanted to get out of it immediately.

“I’m looking.” Jian Xie glanced at it, “Don’t get excited yet.” 

As if it understood his meaning, the noisy sounds from the insect quieted down for a few seconds, and then it fell back to the bottom of the bottle, staring at Jian Xie with its compound eyes.

Like a little child eagerly waiting to be fed.

Jian Xie touched the bottle as a gesture of reassurance and continued looking at it.

He scrolled down and saw a photo of a smile that looked a bit old. The person in the photo didn’t look very old, only a teenager.

He was the same age as Jian Xie.

It was through this photo that he learned the reason for his neighbor’s excitement.

Jian Xie had a strong impression of this face.

He rarely remembered people, but once he did, it meant there was something about that person that was worth remembering.

This person…

Jian Xie frowned.

It was that classmate who used the word “friend” to lure the neighbor out and betray him to that group of young people in the community.

Previously, Jian Xie had indeed contemplated the final fate of the guy who had triggered that series of events, because his neighbor, who was in an extreme state, was very likely to take action against him.

However, he couldn’t find any related information in his neighbor’s memories, so he could only temporarily attribute it to the neighbor not having the time or energy to do it. After all, since being parasitized, he had never left the residential building except for that one time at school.

Now, this missing person notice has made the other person’s identity suddenly very mysterious.

Jian Xie scrolled down.

Lu Xueya’s next sentence answered his question.

[Also, although I don’t know why you were looking for it… this is why I barged into the meeting.]

……

It was in pursuit of this A-level monster whom she had been observing for several months, that she risked entering the abandoned hospital, thus suffering everything that followed.

The guy, who wore a pocket watch, who lured her in, and played a role similar to the rabbit in Alice in Wonderland, was actually on a missing person poster?

She herself felt that the fact was absurd and steeped in dark humor.

After hanging up the previous call, Lu Xueya would frequently look at her phone, waiting for Jian Xie’s message.

That was why she didn’t miss the message from the other side, and immediately noticed the new private message.

She opened the private message with mixed feelings.

The reply was unusually brief. Lu Xueya read it over and over again, but couldn’t find any extra words.

[I understand.]

Contrary to her expectations, the phone didn’t reveal anything, leaving her speechless as she stared at the screen.

Lu Xueya: “…”

To be honest, it’s not surprising.

But soon, another message came: [No need to think about it anymore, it’s pointless now.]

Lu Xueya was taken aback.

[Why?] she couldn’t help but ask, [Aren’t you curious about what happened?]

Jian Xie said this not to cover anything up.

He simply saw through the tricks and, not wanting to play a puzzle game with these monsters, chose the most straightforward method.

Even with all these tricks, it all depended on whether he actually wanted to take the bait.

The monsters who sent the crows to test Jian Xie probably never imagined that they would not only deliver takeout, but also have their plans exposed by a careless remark from the other party.

It was very simple.

[You investigators can turn monsters into props, so why can’t we use corpses?]

If you consider the person in the missing person notice as a layer of clothing on a monster, all problems would be solved.

Regardless of who was wearing this skin, the monster causing trouble underneath were all aiming to create problems.

In other words, it was a smokescreen.

They took advantage of both his neighbor and Lu Xueya.

They underestimated him if they thought they could lure Jian Xie into their web of mystery, making him dance to their tune and chase after trivial details.

[Not curious.] He replied coldly.

Lu Xueya: […]

[If you notice anything unusual about the bracelet, please let me know immediately by calling me directly.]

After leaving that message, Jian Xie turned off his phone without waiting for a reply and tossed it back into the drawer.

He was in a good mood.

Although this was not Lu Xueya’s original intention in giving him this message, it did answer some of his questions.

It could be understood that his current approach of using [Hell] was completely correct.

Otherwise, they wouldn’t have gone to such lengths to distract him and try to lead his thinking astray.

Unfortunately, Jian Xie was a calm and self-reliant person. Once he decided what he wanted to do, nothing could make him deviate from his path.

“Don’t worry, I will kill the culprit.” He reached out and touched his neighbor again, saying thoughtfully, “I have a feeling you won’t be able to stay in this form for much longer.” 

Jian Xie had already made plans.

Once he has freed his neighbor from this insect-like appearance, he would take him to see the homeroom teacher and have him tell her the whole truth.

Jian Xie didn’t want him to leave her with the same wrong impression in the end.

The insect hesitated for a moment, then reached out its antennae through the glass wall to touch Jian Xie’s fingers, responding with a buzzing noise that seemed quite pleased.

【Are you trying to buy yourself some breathing room using this method?】

Qin Zhuo’s voice rang out at just the right moment beside his ear, carrying a hint of laziness and a touch of pleasure: 【It seems they really did find the [Eagle Eye] I left somewhere, and they also know that our relationship is complicated. In that respect, they’re quite perceptive.】

So even though the crow had been eaten and the bird had some suspicions, it didn’t dare to attack directly.

Instead, he chose to delay as long as possible, hoping to use Jian Xie’s concern for his neighbor to distract him from hunting down an A-level monster who was good at hiding his whereabouts.

But it seemed they would be disappointed.

Because in Jian Xie’s mind, It was the priority.

Thinking this, Qin Zhuo curled It’s lips and turned It’s gaze towards Jian Xie. Then, It narrowed It’s eyes.

Almost instinctively, Jian Xie quickly withdrew his finger from the glass bottle.

He quickly realized what he had just done, and immediately thought: “…”

Strange, what was he feeling guilty about? He hasn’t done anything wrong.

Qin Zhuo chuckled softly.

Jian Xie: “…”

He glanced at the homework spread out on the table, piled it up, picked it up, and walked casually toward his bedroom.

It was more convenient to do homework at the desk.

However, while tidying up his stationery, a strange thought suddenly flashed through Jian Xie’s mind.

The monsters tried all sorts of fancy methods to stop him from getting involved, but they all failed.

It seems to be a case of “underachievers tend to buy lots of stationery”…¹Meaning they have all the means but have no idea how to use it

Author’s Note:

Qin Zhuo (emphasizing): I am the most important.

• 1
  Meaning they have all the means but have no idea how to use it ↩︎