There had always been one lingering doubt about the whole situation.
It was the very question he had asked the Disguiser earlier:
Why was the Disguiser so certain that once the Cameraman was handed over to the Order Management Bureau, the Bureau would definitely treat him as the serial killer?
The answer was actually quite simple: because the Cameraman really did it.
Only, he wasn't responsible for the incident in Sleepland two years ago, nor the one in Solitude Lane. He was responsible for the incident in Sleepland just a few months ago.
This explained almost everything.
It explained why the player who posted about meeting the Cameraman said he went out at night and didn't come home, why the Cameraman was always going on long trips in his memories, why the Disguiser believed the Order Management Bureau would ultimately use the Cameraman as a scapegoat, why the Worm Apples on the tree carried the lingering aura of laziness, whose blood had been used to water them in those memories, and why the inner world residents who died a few months ago had been so weak.
When Yan Jing saw that photograph and the memories resurfaced in his mind, he understood everything.
It was a copycat crime.
A few months ago, the Cameraman had mimicked the Disguiser's methods in Sleepland by tearing up a photograph.And the Disguiser had discovered this. For some reason, the Disguiser had grown intensely jealous of the Cameraman and ultimately murdered him.
"You weren't killed unjustly..."
Yan Jing murmured as he opened his eyes.
Outside the Domains of Order, cruelty and violence were actually the norm across most of this world.
Killing a few inner world residents was a minor matter; at worst, it would result in a Wanted Order from a major faction, just like what had happened to the Disguiser. But insisting on stealing someone else's livelihood meant he could only blame his own bad luck.
Having figured this out, Yan Jing set the matter aside for the time being.
Though he still didn't know exactly why the Cameraman had committed a copycat crime, more pressing matters now lay before him.
The Day Selection Ritual.
Investors.
There would be a window of downtime after the end of this first Dungeon, and he had to find a way to increase his strength.
He was simply too weak right now.
Compared to the convoluted methods he had just used to kill someone, he sometimes preferred solving problems head-on.
When the Dungeon concluded the following morning, there was a high chance he would advance to the First Tier. Then, he could initiate a Ritual to obtain Transcendent Tier power.
Right now, he had three options for the Ritual.
The Special Order Badge, yellow quality.
The Pillow Slept On by the Sleepy Village Deputy Chief in His Youth, green-yellow quality.
The head of Solitude Lane's thirty-third ward chief from two terms ago, yellow quality.
Judging purely by quality, the first and third options were the clear winners. Using yellow-quality items for a Day Selection Ritual was a standard only the core geniuses of many major Clans could achieve.
But he also had to consider what kinds of abilities these Day Selection Rituals would grant him.
The Order Badge went without saying; it would naturally provide abilities related to the path of Order.
Yan Jing recalled that icy woman who turned her hands into blades to unleash relentless close-quarters attacks. He wondered if choosing the Badge would grant him a similar power.
Then there was the Pillow covered in swirling patterns. If Yan Jing guessed correctly, it belonged to the Laziness branch of the Sin path.
It felt like a decent option as well, even if the quality was slightly lacking.
As for the final option—that head—Yan Jing thought of the solitary horn on Lin Mian's head. It shared similarities with the horn on that decapitated head, suggesting their power systems might be alike.
But "Solitude"...
He hadn't heard of such a system yet.
After turning it over in his mind, Yan Jing finally made a decision. If no better option presented itself, he would choose the Order Badge.
At the very least, he had witnessed the strength that woman displayed, making it a safer bet.
He had seen posts on player forums where people chose bizarre items for their Day Selection Rituals and ended up with utterly useless trash for abilities:
Things like throwing soda cans with hundred-percent accuracy, automatic dust-cleaning, never needing to shit after eating, or conjuring toilet paper out of thin air...
Alright, that last one wasn't too bad.
Regardless, he still wanted an ability that would reliably improve his combat power, so the Order Badge was the best current choice.
Aside from that, there was one more reason...
Yan Jing pulled out the purple-gold slip of paper the woman had given him and held it above his head.
The ceiling light filtered through the paper, casting a purple-gold glow.
One corner of the slip was slightly folded, seemingly as an intentional mark.
He wondered if pairing a yellow Order item for his Day Selection Ritual with a purple Order item for his calming rite—combining items from the exact same power system—would make him even stronger.
Yan Jing examined the slip of paper for a moment longer before putting it away.
Stretching lazily, he picked up the two heads resting on the floor and headed for the door to finish the final cleanup.
"The sooner this is done, the sooner I can call it a night and sleep..."
...
Gripping a severed head in each hand, Yan Jing wove through the alleyways.
The information he had just leaked wasn't only meant for Lin Mian and An Ranran. The man in the bathrobe and the investor, Mu Wan, should have received word of it as well.
With a bit of luck, he should be able to find those two very soon.
Suddenly, he stopped in his tracks.
Tucked into a corner by the front door of a house, a familiar figure was hiding.
A moment later, the figure poked his head out from the corner, seemingly trying to check if Yan Jing had left.
Soon enough, he locked eyes with Yan Jing, and his golden buzzcut visibly twitched.
"Hello..."
Xu Weizhou gave Yan Jing an awkward but polite smile. He couldn't clearly see whose heads Yan Jing was carrying, but his instincts told him that an inner world resident wandering around a residential area with two severed heads in hand probably wasn't a friendly face.
But as Yan Jing slowly lifted the heads in his hands, Xu Weizhou's breath hitched.
He covertly pinched his own thigh to make sure he wasn't dreaming.
It was Lin Mian and An Ranran... They were dead, leaving behind nothing but their heads.
Their ashen skin proved they had been dead for a while. Despair and confusion filled their eyes, their pupils dilated and vacant.
"Do you know them?"
Yan Jing pushed the heads slightly forward.
Terrified, Xu Weizhou immediately shrank back.
But he was already pressed into the corner, leaving him nowhere to hide.
"N-No, I don't."
The smile on his face nearly froze in place.
Any inner world resident capable of killing Lin Mian and An Ranran was clearly the incredibly violent type. Inwardly, he frantically prayed that this guy wouldn't set his sights on him.
"Then get lost!!!"
An indiscernible light flashed across Yan Jing's Video Camera head. He barked the command, then immediately turned to leave.
"U-Um..."
Xu Weizhou's trembling voice came from behind. Yan Jing turned his head and looked back at him.
Being stared at by Yan Jing made Xu Weizhou even more nervous, his face turning deathly pale.
"Excuse me, most handsome, dashing, and extraordinarily elegant sir... H-Have you seen my friend? He was wearing a dark gray hoodie and jeans, and his facial expressions aren't particularly varied—"
"You mean him?"
Yan Jing abruptly cut Xu Weizhou off. Turning his back again, he spoke in a freezing tone.
"That human is currently staying at my friend's house."
"You'd better worry about yourself first, foolish human! You're as cowardly as a filthy rat! This is no place for you!"
Xu Weizhou only breathed a sigh of relief when Yan Jing finally left.
He reached back to touch his spine, finding his clothes completely soaked with sweat.
Judging from what this Cameraman had just said, Old Yan was safe. That was good.
But to think Lin Mian and An Ranran had died just like that—he still couldn't quite believe it.
Recalling the Cameraman's parting words, he wiped the sweat from his forehead, gritted his teeth, and continued toward the inner world resident's home he had originally planned to visit.
...
Sitting atop the edge of a wall in a narrow alleyway, Mu Wan and the muscular man casually surveyed the labyrinthine residential district around them.
"This doesn't make sense. We've searched everywhere we could."
Mu Wan looked somewhat perplexed.
"Blockhead, where do you think he might have gone?"
"I don't know."
The muscular man shook his head.
Mu Wan sighed.
"If we miss out on this Day Selection Ritual item, it'll be rather difficult to find another yellow-quality item with no Tier requirements."
"I believe in you."
The muscular man spoke calmly.
Mu Wan dangled her legs from beneath her professional pencil skirt.
"True, there's always another way."
"Even without a yellow-quality Day Selection Ritual item, I won't fall behind them."
The muscular man added quietly.
"Of course. You're the one I picked, after all."
Mu Wan nudged up her glasses.
"It's just that a higher starting point is naturally better."
Suddenly, the muscular man seemed to notice something. His eagle-like gaze locked onto a specific spot. A split second later, he grabbed Mu Wan in his arms and leaped fiercely from the wall, rounding a corner before coming to an abrupt halt.
"What is it?!"
Tucked under his arm, Mu Wan was still a bit dazed, unsure of what had just happened.
But when the scene before her came into clear view, her pupils shrank.
An ashen, severed head sat upon the ground. There was a thumb-sized hole at the crown of its head, indicating that something had previously grown out of it.
"Lin Mian..."
Mu Wan murmured, her complexion looking awful.
Elsewhere, the man in the bathrobe had received a similar gift.
Staring at the severed head that had suddenly appeared on the ground, he rubbed his sleep-crusted eyes. For the first time, a solemn expression washed over his face.
Missing out on the Pillow was one thing, but having An Ranran's head delivered right to his feet meant he was likely being targeted by an existence from the Inner World.
This was a warning.
"Tch, looks like I wasn't fated for that Pillow after all."
He suddenly chuckled and let out a yawn.
"Forget it. There are plenty of other good options anyway, so I won't bother with the hassle."
"Time for bed, time for bed."
"It's a long journey ahead. I need to rest up and conserve my energy."
...
Nothing else happened that night.
Yan Jing switched back to his own body and got a good night's sleep in his room. Ever since the days leading up to the Rotten Vegetable Village Dungeon, he had been in a state of high tension.
On the few nights he actually managed to sleep, incidents occurred constantly. This time, however, he slept undisturbed until broad daylight.
He was awakened by a system prompt from the Inner World.
[Dungeon Rotten Vegetable Village Stage B completed]
[Dungeon tallying in progress]
[Task "Dangerous Village" tally: player injury level is 0, task rating is: S (highest is S-rank)]
[Task "I Have a Clue" tally: player directly identified the killer, task rating is: S (highest is S-rank)]
[Overall Dungeon rating: S]
[Reward tallying in progress]
[Base rewards: 70% experience, 4000 Eerie Coins]
[S-rank bonus rewards: 30% experience, 4000 Eerie Coins, Item Quality Appraisal Ticket1, Mental Immunity Potion (bound item)1, Ritual Blessing Coupon (bound item)*1]
[Player experience detected at maximum. You have advanced a tier.]
[Excess experience automatically converted to next Tier experience at a 50% ratio]
[Ritual can be initiated]