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Chapter 3: Suspicion
"It's already twelve o'clock and he's still online. This 'Kyle' must be a die-hard enthusiast."
Shi Rang smiled contentedly. He was also waiting online, hoping that "Agent Kyle" would give him some feedback.
"But maybe he’s in another time zone; it could be daytime there..."
Just as he had been standing by the window wishing on a shooting star and about to shut down his computer for the night, a message finally came through.
The item he wrote was highly praised!
Shi Rang didn’t reply under the thank-you comment. Since “Kyle” played the role of an investigative agent on the site, his cool response indicated a successful mission.
The story had come to an end, no need to overdo it.
Collaborating with strangers across the internet to enact a fantastical adventure was quite enjoyable. Shi Rang had been very fond of this kind of role-playing game in college—once, he gathered the courage to invite Yingshang to the board game club, and she ended up falling in love with tabletop games. Even though each adventure often lasted a week or even half a month, consuming all their extracurricular time, they never tired of it.
He always chose to be the sorcerer, while she chose to be the paladin.
Since the person who used to play with him was gone, he hadn't touched the game for two years...
Shi Rang felt a bit heavy-hearted and turned back to review the item he had written. After the initial excitement faded, he immediately noticed some mistakes he had overlooked before.
According to the witnesses’ testimonies, the "Visitor" should have been incorporeal, more like an omen of disappearance than a clichéd sci-fi monster. At the time, he thought the interweaving of nightmare and reality was a stroke of genius and completed it in one go, but now it seemed to have undermined the mystery.
Why let the victim wake up just before being devoured after already incapacitating them? It was too redundant.
A monster without combat capabilities adding a row of teeth only made it look comical...
Wouldn’t it have been better to write it as a dark, man-devouring shadow?
When he refreshed the page, he was astonished to find that the file had already been archived and categorized. Not only had it been assigned a number, but its classification had also changed from something akin to a "minor paranormal event"—previously labeled as a Distortion Phenomenon—to the far more serious designation of Hazardous Object, rated Class C. Considering that S was the highest level and D the lowest, this was quite a respectable rating.
Was it because he wrote it in great detail, or did the settings imply higher danger?
Even the site administrator was online around the clock, diligent indeed.
Not only was it not deleted, but it was permanently preserved—a good start.
This weekend was sure to be pleasant.
With a small sense of satisfaction, Shi Rang ended today’s investigation and went to bed.
---
Thousands of miles away, the Director of Information Technology at The Management Bureau couldn’t sleep tonight.
“Can’t find anything? If you can’t find it, delete the entry right away!
“What do you mean, it can’t be deleted?
“No access source detected? Are you telling me this mysterious account grew out of the code comments? Keep looking!”
The director hung up the receiver, feeling dizzy and disoriented.
At this moment, the assistant returned to the office.
Director: “Give me some good news…”
“All the access records are here, but the mainframe shows this account cannot be queried. The Intelligence Department found no trace of this person either; it's practically a ghost.”
The assistant carefully handed over the retrieval log, stamped all over with [Level-4 clearance required].
The IT director grabbed the stack of papers and started flipping through them, his brows furrowing deeper with every page.
Faced with the papers filled with lines like [Accessing CVA-S-01… Accessing CVA-S-02…], a complete browsing history of every S-Class item, he froze. The account moved through the Management Bureau’s highest secrets as casually as strolling through a garden.
Every special entry had its own safeguards! Only….could browse them so openly.
A chill ran down the director’s back. He snatched up the internal phone and dialed his subordinate. “Stop the investigation. Don’t pursue the account or the entries any further. Wipe every access log. From here on, I’ll take responsibility for this myself.”
The assistant stared in disbelief as the technical director nullified the entire department's two hours of overtime work.
The director slowly set down the receiver and turned to his somewhat underqualified subordinate. “Next time you sound the ‘intrusion alarm,’ try using your head first. Didn’t it occur to you that this account was… unusual?”
“Of course, it must be a hacker with extraordinary skills—”
“Do you really believe any hacker could break through the system firewall, make a big fuss, just to browse the archives?”
The assistant frowned and replied quietly, “I didn’t believe it before… but now that everything’s happened…”
Seeing that the other still hadn’t grasped his meaning, the director glanced at the camera in the corner of the office, signaling him to stop talking. He hinted obliquely instead, giving him a wordless warning.
“Think carefully. If it were a thief, why not directly copy the data in bulk instead of accessing each one individually? What reason would someone with such high skills have to breach defenses and then not rush to complete their mission and retreat? With such formidable abilities, why would they publicly challenge The Management Bureau by saving someone? Think again if there might be other possibilities. Don’t you think there’s something fishy behind this?”
“If it’s not an intruder, could it be...” The assistant exclaimed, “An anomaly?”
The director felt his blood pressure rise.
This assistant was good in every way except for lacking political acumen.
Unfortunately, the assistant didn’t have clearance to know the full details, so he couldn’t be directly told the confidential information. The director lowered his voice and continued, “Open your eyes and take a closer look at the entries this account accessed. Haven’t you ever seen those ‘proceed at your own risk’ warnings when browsing certain files? Would you dare keep going after seeing them? Don’t you realize what these measures are meant to guard against?”
“Bypassing the security protocols… So, this is a secondary account created by someone high up? Not only did they sidestep the Intelligence Department to edit classified files without permission, but they also meddled in field operations against protocol. That’s just too bla—” The assistant, finally piecing things together, started mumbling his deductions aloud, only to have his boss abruptly clamp a hand over his mouth.
“Don’t say it. Just understand it for yourself—don’t say it out loud, and definitely not in my office!”
Even the densest person would’ve understood the gravity of the situation upon seeing the director’s panicked expression.
Only the highest leadership of The Management Bureau, the superiors of the entire departmental leaders, could instill such fear.
Only those top figures would disregard account usage regulations and act recklessly.
After finally calming down, the assistant, fearing for his job, quickly remedied the situation: “If that’s the case, then isn’t the Intelligence Department just using us as scapegoats by having us identify the culprits behind the violations? But they won’t let it go without results.”
Director: “You still don’t get it. This isn’t a problem caused by unauthorized operations; it’s a demonstration. Protecting a rule-abiding Field Department agent would be one thing, but protecting an agent who ignores standard protocol, saving his life, and shielding him? Everyone knows how much the Field Department dislikes the lengthy operational guidelines set by the Intelligence Department. Everyone in the bureau knows how inefficient the Intelligence Department is, especially their painfully slow analysis speed! I previously thought the Field Department would only criticize them in meetings... But now, it seems like the Field Department has brought in powerful backing.”
The director fed the retrieval records into the shredder, watching the paper slowly shredded into pieces.
“The account name ‘Mud Truck’ signifies an unstoppable heavy vehicle. Considering all these oddities, no matter how incredible the conclusion may be, it reflects the truth.”
The assistant nodded in understanding, his face pale, stating the conclusion:
“Someone high up is openly backing the Field Department. To avoid drawing attention, they’re using a secondary account as cover.”
Director: “Regardless of how the Field Department and the Intelligence Department fight, or who is backing whom, as a technical department, we need to remain neutral. If we can’t find anything, that’s our duty done. Don’t get involved in murky waters, and don’t point fingers at our superiors—remember, I’m just giving you work guidance today.”
The assistant nodded vigorously, filled with admiration.
No wonder the director was far superior in this aspect compared to himself, an inexperienced assistant.
If it were him, he would have already fallen headfirst into this obvious trap!
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