At 8 PM, Jian Jing ended her live stream and returned to her room to sleep.
The cameraman stopped her, suggesting, "Why don't you summarize today's investigation?"
She thought for a moment, then said, "I currently have three questions: 1. Why did the killer decapitate the victim when he clearly died of asphyxiation? 2. Was there any significance to the phone call made to the restaurant? 3. What was Dan's rationale for choosing his successor, and was it related to witchcraft?"
"I can understand the first two," the cameraman played along, "but what do you mean by the third question? Did the deceased choose an heir based on divination results?"
Jian Jing laughed, "No, what I meant was that people who believe in fortune-telling often have peculiar beliefs. In the past, people thought giving birth to a firstborn daughter would bring misfortune, so they drowned them... Who knows what unimaginable taboos Dan's religion might have."
The cameraman nodded, causing the camera to bob up and down.
"Does Miss Jian also think witchcraft is very important in this case?" Wataru Kojima had returned.
Jian Jing asked, "Also?"
Wataru Kojima said, "Isn't it strange? Not just one person's room had traces of witchcraft. I think there are secrets about this family that we haven't discovered yet."
"That's certainly possible." She opened the door, apologizing, "But that's for tomorrow."
"Please wait." Wataru Kojima stopped her, "You haven't searched my room yet."
Jian Jing: "?"
A large question mark slowly appeared over her head.
"I've completed the challenge left by Miss Jian, so please take on the puzzle I've prepared," he said seriously.
Jian Jing: "..."
For a moment, she couldn't tell if he was driven by a love for deduction or simply trying to attract her attention.
"That's not a challenge, okay? Although I'm very curious about your story and willing to try, it's too late now." Jian Jing politely declined, "Tomorrow, maybe."
Wataru Kojima said, "Then I'll definitely wait for Miss Jian to come."
Jian Jing was dumbfounded, thinking to herself: This script doesn't have a romance subplot, does it?
--
The Golden Crow office building.
With dozens of offices, two-thirds of the rooms were dark, while the rest remained lit as employees worked overtime. Among them, the CEO's office was especially bright.
Clearly, Kang Moo-sung hadn't left yet.
However, he wasn't working today, but watching a live stream instead.
At that moment, he typed "Wataru Kojima" into the search bar and frowned at the results.
Wataru Kojima, mystery manga artist, best known for his work 'The Spring-time Reasoning,' which depicts the beautiful female detective Haruna Nakamori solving cases.
However, the protagonist of the novel is not Haruna, but rather an otaku. By chance, he becomes an assistant at a detective agency and goes from initially questioning "How can such a beautiful girl be a detective?" to adoring "It feels so good to solve cases with Haruna!"
Do the male and female leads have a romantic plot? In the currently serialized work, the otaku is about to confess his love.
Here are some comments from Japanese websites:
[Jian Jing really does look like Haruna, doesn't she?]
[A dream collab]
[Kojima must be excited]
[What an awesome combo, I've decided to follow you guys!]
[Wow, the beautiful detective girl is so cool]
[I'm a fan of Jian Jing now!]
[Kojima got cruelly rejected, huh...]
Kang Moo-sung turned his head away and scrolled down to Wataru Kojima's information.
The eldest son of the Kojima Group's chairman, originally set to inherit the family's billion-dollar fortune. However, from a young age, he loved manga and ran away from home to complete two niche mystery works while living in a rented apartment. Five years ago, 'The Spring-time Reasoning' began serialization in a magazine and became one of the most popular hit manga series.
The Japanese... He closed the page.
--
Jian Jing slept well and was woken up by a knock on her door from a staff member at 8 AM the next day.
"Miss Jian, may I come in?"
"One moment." She grabbed a small mirror nearby, glanced at her face - no issues - then got out of bed to open the door. "So early?"
It was the familiar cameraman with his familiar smile. "Everyone else is already up."
Jian Jing waved her hand. "Fifteen minutes."
She closed the door and started getting ready for the day.
At 8:15 AM sharp, she opened the door to work.
The cameraman: "Um..."
"Yes?"
"There's been no activity from Linnaer's room."
"What?" Jian Jing was surprised and quickly went to check.
By then, a few people had already gathered in front of Room 9, where Linnaer was staying. As soon as Jiang BaiYan saw Jian Jing, he rushed over to share the news, "We haven't seen her all day, and her cameraman didn't show up either."
Not being in the room was normal, but her cameraman also didn't come... which was a clear indication.
Jian Jing: "Where's the key?"
"I have it." The NPC butler came running, out of breath, and used □□ to open the door.
Unable to restrain her curiosity, Jian Jing was the first to peek inside.
"Tsk." Her tone was strangely satisfied, as if she had expected this. "Here we go."
"What's here?" Min-cheol Park maintained his professional demeanor, staying at the front line. "Did you know she would be in trouble?"
Jian Jing said, "The trick of the headless corpse lies in having multiple bodies. One corpse is meaningless."
"Miss Jian is correct." Wataru Kojima also squeezed in and nodded in realization at the sight of the headless female corpse on the floor. "Things have gotten interesting."
Zhang Xue'er looked confused. "Interesting? All I feel is terror..."
Jiang BaiYan remarked, "Because we're not detectives."
Wu Lie also asked, "Does an additional death make the case simpler?"
Jiang BaiYan: "Exactly, at least we can rule out one person now."
"Not necessarily," Wataru Kojima corrected. "The killer who murdered Linnaer may not be the same one who killed Dan. This could also be a copycat murder."
Jiang BaiYan glanced at him. "If it was a copycat crime, why would the first killer decapitate the victim? To set an example for others?"
Jian Jing couldn't help but snicker: "Pfft."
"What do you think, Jing Jing?" He immediately asked her.
Jian Jing sighed, "I don't know, we'll need to see the autopsy report first."
She had never realized how crucial the coroner's role was; without being able to gather clues from the body, the information was instantly cut in half. She felt very unfamiliar with this situation.
However, Wataru Kojima had already gotten into the groove, speculating, "This should be the first crime scene. The killer must have lured Linnaer to open the door before entering and killing her."
Jian Jing: "Not necessarily."
Compared to the study, Linnaer's room was much more horrifying - the sofa, coffee table, and floor were covered in fresh blood mixed with shards of glass. The furniture had also been significantly displaced, indicating an intense struggle had taken place.
"However, the two crime scenes are completely different styles, so they're likely not committed by the same person." She thought for a moment, seeming enlightened, "This case is worth a thorough analysis."
Wataru Kojima agreed.
Turning around, Min-cheol Park was already calling everyone to gather for a meeting.
This time, they could skip the alibis, as none of them had one - from 10 PM last night, everyone returned to their rooms to sleep.
From 10 PM to 6 AM the next day was the "night" time, when the Werewolves could take action.
"It's the second day now, does anyone have any thoughts?" After the first day of incubation, many guests became active on this day, with Connor Lee being the first to speak up.
Jiang BaiYan immediately spoke: "Are the two cases committed by the same killer, or are there two different killers? If there are two people, did they conspire together?"
Jian Jing thought: This is a good question.
According to the game rules, there is only one Werewolf card. So why would there be two killers? The previous European chapter told us that this is a setting-based deduction game.
The setting for the European chapter was that there were Vampires - they were the killers. The killer could turn others into their minions by embracing them, manipulating them to commit murders.
Does this make sense?
Of course not.
But the rules of a setting-based game work like this - if the setting has zombies, you must follow zombie rules for deduction; if the setting has mediums, you have to accept the information given by ghosts.
"Today, we should still look for clues about witchcraft," Ran-er Kim chimed in.
"Wait," Min-cheol Park said, flipping open his notebook to bring up past events, "I have a few questions I want to ask."
He said, "Yesterday, during the interrogation, the wife, eldest son, and younger daughter all said they spoke with Dan. Based on the timelines, the younger daughter was at 8:40 PM, the first one. Please tell us what you talked about."
Zhang Xue'er thought for a moment, "It wasn't much, I just had some casual conversation with my father. He cared about my health a lot."
Min-cheol Park asked, "Did you mention the will?"
Zhang Xue'er hesitated, then said, "He said his health wasn't good, and he didn't know when he might die. He was very happy that I'm pregnant and had prepared some things for me."
"Did he mention anything about the heir?"
She shook her head and explained, "My father is a very traditional man. He believes that a married daughter is like water poured out - no longer part of the family. Since I'm already married, in his eyes, I'm an outsider. The family's assets have nothing to do with me."
Min-cheol Park accepted this explanation and turned to Kumiko, "Madam?"
Kumiko replied, "I only asked him about the arrangements for tomorrow and my sister's matter."
"How did Dan respond?"
"He said that if Ran-er really doesn't like the person he introduced, then so be it, but she's absolutely not allowed to become a singer or actress." Kumiko carefully recounted the scene, "He seemed to really dislike that idea."
"But Linnaer is a singer, didn't he seem to appreciate her singing at the banquet the night before last?" Ran-er Kim asked, puzzled.
Wataru Kojima said, "Perhaps Dan's dislike wasn't aimed at Linnaer, but at Yu Meng. Jian Jing, do you have any clues to share with us?"
Jian Jing was too lazy to explain her broken character setup, "There are old magazines about her upstairs in the library, see for yourselves."
Everyone made a mental note, then turned their attention to the third person.
Connor Lee said, "My father only told me that his health hasn't been good recently. If anything were to happen to him, I should take good care of my younger brother and sisters, as they are my blood relations."
The crowd noted that down too.
"Blood relations," Valeriya said, "It seems Dan really values that."
"Many witchcraft rituals are based on blood ties," Connor Lee added. Having been born in Singapore, he had heard plenty of tales about feudal superstitions as a child.
Wu Lie suggested, "Should we search Dan's room again more carefully? Jian Jing, you mentioned finding a secret room in the madam's quarters. Maybe Dan's room has one too."
This suggestion received unanimous approval from the group.
So the large crowd squeezed into Dan's bedroom and lounge, searching every nook and cranny for a switch to a hidden room.
Only a few people didn't join in.
Min-cheol Park held back the butler, seeming to want to ask him something. Wataru Kojima went to the library to search for magazines about Yu Meng. As for Jian Jing, she had intended to look for the secret room, but Wataru Kojima simply handed her the key to his own room instead.
With the challenge thrown right in her face, how could she not take it?
She could only accept and go search room number 12.
Opening the door, the decor was just as described before - all sorts of photographs densely covering the walls, making the entire room look like a large darkroom.
Jian Jing squinted at the photos for a while, then reached out and tore one down.