INHA Chapter 71

“You can’t play it,” Xu Dongyou scolded, trying to be stern. However, with his youthful and delicate face, though he seemed a bit more unapproachable when angry, he still didn’t carry much authority.

Despite that, Xu Yangchen really didn’t want to upset his brother, so he reluctantly surrendered his phone to Xu Dongyou, though not without a hint of reluctance. “Fine, I won’t play anymore. But, bro, you better not mess up my game. I worked hard to level up.”

“You should tell your brother a bit about the game,” Tian Ze suggested discreetly from the side. “Otherwise, what if he keeps playing it behind your back?”

Xu Dongyou didn’t want Xu Yangchen to be involved in these matters. It wasn’t because he wanted to shelter him, but because he knew his brother too well. If Xu Yangchen found out about the evil ghost, his curiosity would only grow.

The more they tried to keep him away from it, the more he’d want to get involved.

Tian Ze, realizing that Xu Dongyou probably hadn’t fully grasped his point, decided to address Xu Yangchen directly. “This game has a virus. Once you download it, it can steal your passwords, and antivirus software is useless against it. Just wait and see—the police are going to come to the school soon to check everyone’s phones. If you don’t hand it over, no problem. They’ll forcibly collect the phones and give you a new one in return.”

He finished with a smile.

Xu Yangchen couldn’t shake the feeling that Tian Ze was somehow mocking him, with a smile that seemed particularly mischievous. He started to worry if his brother might be taken advantage of by someone like this.

Despite being the younger brother, Xu Yangchen began to worry about his older brother’s safety.

Xu Dongyou, hearing Tian Ze’s explanation, felt a bit bad about deceiving his brother, but to keep him from getting involved in something so dangerous, he nodded seriously, his ears turning slightly red. “That’s right. So, make sure you don’t touch this game again, okay?”

Xu Yangchen, fully trusting that his brother wouldn’t lie to him, nodded readily, promising not to play it anymore. At the same time, he was puzzled as to how Xu Dongyou knew about this. Wouldn’t it be better to just hand the phone over to the police?

Xu Dongyou was left speechless.

Xu Yangchen continued, “And after they take my phone, they’ll give me a new one, right? Bro, this deal is a win for me!”

Xu Dongyou could only nod. “Sure.”

Handing the phone over to the police would indeed save him the trouble of explaining why he needed to take the phone in the first place.

Xu Yangchen, now excited, pocketed his phone and eagerly awaited the arrival of the police. He even urged Xu Dongyou and Tian Ze, “You guys should head back now.”

Xu Dongyou felt a bit helpless, but Tian Ze stared intently at Xu Yangchen before suddenly saying, “The police have a list of players who downloaded this game. If you shared it with your classmates and they find out, those people could get arrested and detained for a few days. Think about the consequences.”

Xu Yangchen’s expression froze instantly. Xu Dongyou turned abruptly, his eyes wide with disbelief. “Xiao Chen?”

Xu Yangchen hadn’t expected his quick-witted idea to have such terrifying consequences. He had only wanted to help a close friend in his dorm, who was stuck using a sluggish, outdated phone.

Realizing the potential severity of the situation, he quickly assured them that he wouldn’t do it.

Xu Dongyou nodded, still a bit uneasy. “This is really serious. Don’t get any ideas.”

Xu Yangchen, now thoroughly frightened, repeatedly promised he wouldn’t.

Finally, Xu Dongyou sighed in relief, and he and Tian Ze left the school. On the way, Xu Dongyou expressed his gratitude to Tian Ze. If it weren’t for him, Xu Dongyou might never have uncovered this issue.

Tian Ze waved it off. “It’s partly my fault too. I did mention the new phone as compensation.”

And the look on that kid’s face when he left—it was obvious what he was thinking.

Xu Dongyou didn’t go far. He stayed nearby, just in case something unexpected happened at the school and he needed to step in.

His ability to see evil ghosts made him a significant asset on the battlefield.

The arrival of the police and special teams brought urgency to the situation. They informed and warned the principal, which led to the full cooperation of the students. They quickly learned about the dangers of the mobile game, and those who had downloaded it rushed to hand over their phones. Some tried to remove their SIM cards but were told that the cards had to be surrendered as well.

Faced with the stern police officers, the students obediently complied, thinking they were fortunate to be compensated with better phones—almost as if they were getting a good deal.

As for their contacts, in this day and age, everyone uses messaging apps. They could simply log in and notify all their friends about the new number.

There were plenty of solutions.

The Anomaly Handling Bureau had also anticipated this issue and decided to copy all the contacts from the collected phones. They planned to create an app that the affected users could download, allowing them to log in with their phone numbers and retrieve their contacts.

This decision appeased those who had been reluctant to hand over their phones, especially since the new devices were significantly better. Besides, if they didn’t exchange their phones, they would eventually have to shell out a lot of money for a new one anyway.

Hadn’t the police warned them? The phones had been infected with a virus, and continuing to use them would result in stolen information.

Thus, every phone that had downloaded the mobile game was retrieved, without any being missed, and all were securely sealed away.

What could have been a terrifying crisis was once again averted.

Meanwhile, the research department stepped in. They were investigating the “Monster Town” game, which might have already absorbed some evil characteristics. Instead of hastily altering the backend data, they downloaded the game and registered new accounts. They assigned handlers with strong spiritual energies to play the game.

Nearby, other handlers were on high alert, ready to suppress the phone if anything went wrong.

With their enhanced spiritual energies, these agents also had superior memory. Even though they weren’t familiar with mobile games, they quickly got the hang of it after playing for a short while.

On the other side, Zhang Minfang found herself staying at the police station, constantly surrounded by several people who were monitoring her as she played the game. The pressure was immense. Fortunately, one of the players had good control over the game. However, since it was “Monster Town”, no matter how careful Zhang Minfang was, one of the players accidentally got killed by a monster.

The handlers from the Anomaly Handling Bureau tensed up immediately.

But then, the fallen game character suddenly stood back up, excitedly announcing that they could indeed use a revival coin.

Everyone finally breathed a sigh of relief, no longer worried about the players’ safety. As long as they had money, they could revive indefinitely.

Meanwhile, the research department worked tirelessly for three days, collaborating with those handlers with strong spiritual energies, and eventually uncovered the evil characteristics of the “Monster Town” game.

In the conference room, the Director, the Chief, and even special handlers from headquarters listened attentively as the researchers presented their findings.

Their reactions varied from surprise to frowns, and finally, they nodded in agreement.

After further confirmation and analysis, they finally settled on a plan.

When Xu Dongyou went to the top floor on Saturday, he overheard Elder Chen talking about it. There was a hint of melancholy in his tone, “Humans may seem weak, but their minds are truly sharp. If only our demon race… sigh.”

Xu Dongyou wisely remained silent.

Jiu Chao shared the sentiment, suggesting that perhaps it was because humans were physically weaker that they became particularly adept at learning.

After the two demon elders finished their lament, Xu Dongyou quietly asked, “So, what was the outcome?”

Jiu Chao replied, “They discovered that “Monster Town” seems to have been tainted with evil characteristics. It’s no longer just a simple game. They’re planning to create a passage within the game to see if they can guide the two trapped individuals out as data. It’s a bit complicated, and I didn’t fully understand it.”

The latter part of the sentence was particularly assertive.

Xu Dongyou blinked and continued to sip his tea obediently. When he went downstairs, he headed straight to the Chief’s office to inquire about the follow-up on the matter.

The Chief greeted Xu Dongyou with a smile, inviting him to sit down. “I was just about to have Tian Ze come find you to discuss this.”

Xu Dongyou immediately perked up.

The Chief briefly and straightforwardly explained the results. It turned out that the Bureau was considering the possibility that if they could indeed lead the two individuals out of the game as data, it would also mean they could bring the in-game items into reality.

After all, while “Monster Town” had monsters, it also featured items that could resist monsters. These items might be useful in the real world.

Of course, they also considered that these items might develop evil characteristics. However, as long as they applied a sealing array to the items, they could deactivate the array while using the items and activate it when not in use.

However, these were still just speculations, and they would need to wait until tomorrow to know the results.

Xu Dongyou thought about the fact that one of the individuals trapped in the game no longer had a physical body in reality. If they were extracted from the game, how would they survive in the real world?

The Chief mentioned that the bureau had considered this and planned to transfer the individual into a puppet created by the demon race. This puppet would be almost identical to a human body but was essentially a puppet that needed to absorb ghostly or spiritual energy monthly to sustain itself.

The puppet could still eat food, but it wouldn’t excrete. The ingested food would be converted into energy to maintain the body’s functions.

Since a puppet is still different from a real human, the individual would need to consent to live in this manner in the real world.

Thus, about half an hour ago, they had already informed the person of the situation. Although he was initially devastated upon learning he had died in reality, he quickly regained his composure.

Having survived numerous near-death experiences in the terrifying “Monster Town” and living in a state of constant stress and danger, his mental fortitude had already been profoundly strengthened.

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