September 13th.
When the impact of an event becomes so great that individual strength cannot resolve it, its becoming a focus of intervention is only a matter of time. Thus, when the second or perhaps third victim of this murder case appeared, the situation spiraled out of control.
Vil-V, who should have been investigating this matter in secret, now lay with her chest pierced by a sharp blade. Her once clever, eccentric eyes had lost their focus, and the pool of blood beneath her spread all the way to the entrance of the Spiral Workshop.
Lin, who had been commissioned by her, was now investigating the cause of her death.
The thoracic artery had been severed, and the entire heart was pierced. Based on the wound, it was a single lethal strike from behind—just like Erwin, clean and decisive, without a hint of hesitation. The massive screen she used to love watching all day while sipping coffee now displayed only smeared blood and a crimson "ERROR."
Lin exhaled slowly. To be honest, he could not have imagined that Vil-V would be killed. She always seemed to have everything under control, possessing a clear understanding of interpersonal relationships and Fire Moth's systems. If everything in this world could be compared to a game, Vil-V would be a high-level player who knew all the rules, exploits, and shortcuts. But even a pro gamer is still just a player, and every player has a day they lose.
"..." Lin coldly examined Vil-V's wound. Even using the most sophisticated instruments, he could find nothing unusual about the incision. He couldn't determine the type of weapon; he knew every weapon in Fire Moth, but it was impossible to identify a specific weapon based solely on the shape of a wound.
Of course, Lin did not pin his hopes on the wound itself. What he wanted to find was a message from Vil-V. Knowing her, she would leave a "backdoor" for everything she did. Even for her own death, she must have prepared a contingency.
"Lin... what are you doing?"
Prometheus cold voice sounded from the side, but it didn't make Lin stop. He reached toward Vil-V's wound—a gory incision that looked like a piece of sashimi sliced by a master chef. In such an obvious place, it was highly likely to have been examined...
"What are you doing?" Prometheus grabbed Lin hand.
This caused Lin to turn his head and look at her. Her face, cold and hard as a diamond, was less than five centimeters from his own. A sense of "inhumanity" radiated from her unblinking pupils.
"...I am looking for clues," Lin responded icily. He tried to shake off her hand, but it remained motionless. It was normal; Lin had not yet fully recovered, and Prometheus slender-looking arm actually contained power far exceeding that of a human. If she didn't want to let go, Lin shouldn't be able to break free.
"You are desecrating Dr. Vil-V's corpse."
"...If I don't do this, I won't find it."
"You wouldn't have done this before."
Wouldn't have done what? Desecrate a friend's body? Or do it personally?
"That is just your misunderstanding of me. If necessary, I will do it."
Perhaps persuaded by Lin, or perhaps deterred by his strange, freezing gaze, she slowly released her grip. Without restraint, Lin resumed his investigation.
...
Before Vil-V's body was damaged beyond recognition, Lin found what he was looking for. Inside Vil-V's throat was a circular device so small it was almost invisible.
She implanted a black box in herself... how typical of her.
After Lin handed the black box to Prometheus, she automatically began reading its contents without needing a command. She opened her palm, and a projection emerged—a noise-filtered audio recording and a string of cryptic symbols.
Perhaps because it was implanted inside the body, the recorded voice remained intermittent and muffled even after noise reduction.
"You... actually... consciousness..."
Even a short sentence was fragmented into pieces, making its meaning entirely unclear. Afterward, the projected symbols began flashing at a high frequency. Lin recognized their meaning.
Morse code.
Without wondering how Vil-V had managed to input Morse code into the black box, Prometheus translated the entire sequence once it finished.
"Pollution." (Contamination)
What did this mean? Consciousness pollution? By combining Vil-V's words and the Morse code, he arrived at this message. However, he couldn't be sure if this was the original meaning. The recording was incomplete; there might have been other words after "consciousness," and "pollution" might not refer to consciousness at all...
But this word made Lin hair stand on end instantly. Consciousness pollution only led him to one possibility.
...
"Lin, I am officially taking over this case."
Even though Lin had worked overtime to find clues, he still hadn't found the key evidence by the time Kevin appeared before him to announce this fact. The killer was calm, cunning, intelligent, and possessed extreme patience. They could kill a person without leaving a single flaw—not even an extra millimeter of wound—and then destroy all evidence. Lin couldn't even discern the technique used.
In front of Kevin, who radiated an even more frigid air than usual, Lin simply nodded in silence. This was no longer a problem individual ability could solve. Using Fire Moth's collective power for a search was the correct move.
So, Lin recounted all the intelligence to Kevin, who listened patiently to everything. Finally, Kevin turned to leave with a cold face.
"...What will you do?" Lin asked inexplicably.
"Lin, I know you've been hit hard recently," Kevin replied, but not to the question asked. "But if you can't handle it, either hide in your room or go to Dr. Mobius. Don't... ask questions like that."
"..."
Strange. Prometheus had said something similar. Had he really changed somewhere? But was there something wrong with that question?
"After the killer is caught, execution."
Kevin dropped those cold words and, as if he didn't want to waste another breath on Lin, led the others away to conduct the search. An expected answer. No... Lin already knew Kevin would say that.
Then... why did he ask?
"Hehe..." A cold sneer sounded from behind him. He turned around. This time, there was no one there.