Chapter 2: Chapter 2: You Can’t Solve the Case
[Ding! Congratulations, Host, on activating the system for the first time.]
[Congratulations, Host, on triggering the mission: Write the plot for ’The Modern Jesus Case!’]
[(Incomplete)]
[Rewards are divided into four tiers: 25% Immersion, 50% Immersion, 75% Immersion, and 100% Immersion.]
[Writing Time: Four days.]
[Failure Penalty: Forfeit the reward for this mission.]
Looking at the chaotic scene before him, Xu Huo felt a daze, but a moment later, his expression tightened.
’Wait, first time activating?’
’Then what were all the manuscripts I wrote before!?’
Before he could figure it out, he suddenly realized something else.
’It seems I... sent out a manuscript half an hour ago...’
Watching the police arrive at the crime scene and the flashing red and blue lights of the patrol cars in the rain, Xu Huo...
...fell silent.
’Is it too late to delete the manuscript now?’
...
...
「September 2nd, 12:00 PM sharp.」
CREAK~
The main door to the interrogation room was pushed open. A sliver of harsh light made Xu Huo squint, and then two figures appeared.
"Talk. What’s the deal with that manuscript you published at 5:07 AM on the day of the incident?"
"...A dream. It was a scene from my dream."
"Are you saying that the fact you clearly described the victim’s physical characteristics, the body’s posture, and even the time of the incident in your manuscript... you think that’s a coincidence!?"
One of the officers slammed his index finger heavily on the table. His gaze fixed on Xu Huo, his brows tightly furrowed.
"You had a dream the night before last, finished writing the manuscript at 5 AM yesterday, and half an hour later, the scene from your dream became reality!?"
Looking at the two officers in front of him, Xu Huo heaved a heavy sigh, feeling a wave of helplessness.
He discovered that he had, it seemed...
’Been screwed over by the system.’
’It should have told me to trigger the mission *before* writing the plot!’
’I can’t actually end up getting arrested, can I...’
"Yes."
Xu Huo suppressed his internal complaints and frowned, starting to think about his current situation.
’The manuscript was discovered.’
’Many people had witnessed the crime scene; news of it had spread throughout the entire city and made headlines by morning.’
’As the number of witnesses grew, my manuscript was mentioned in a call to the police at 4 PM yesterday. By 4:15, I was brought to the criminal investigation department.’
Facing someone who had written down and published information about the crime scene about half an hour *before* the first person even called it in...
He was immediately listed as the prime suspect!
"Are you treating the police like—"
One of the officers in front of him showed a flash of anger, but before he could finish speaking, Xu Huo interrupted him.
"On the morning of the first, I published the manuscript first, then went downstairs. There was only a fifteen-minute window between when I went down and when the case was filed. If I had committed the crime during that period, it’s obvious there wasn’t enough time."
Xu Huo said suddenly. The officers in front of him paused, then gestured for him to continue.
"As for the manuscript..."
"I got up early at 4 AM to write it. The keystroke logs for my writing can prove this."
"The killer... If I’m not mistaken, the police should have determined the time of death."
The time of death for a corpse was easy to estimate. Even with just a glance from a distance, Xu Huo could tell.
"I saw the body."
"The time of death was around 3:30 AM, give or take half an hour."
"In other words, the victims were killed around 3:30, and then the crosses were made, the four victims were moved, and the crime scene was set up. Even at the fastest, this whole process would take at least an hour!"
Xu Huo laid out his case. His logic was so clear that even the surrounding officers couldn’t find any flaws.
The officers’ feigned anger dissipated.
"This means the killer didn’t finish setting up the crime scene until sometime between 4:00 and 4:30 AM."
"And I, from 4:00 AM to 5:00 AM, was writing the entire time. The records from my writing software can prove it."
This was a rock-solid alibi.
Even if the software couldn’t prove it was him writing, the security camera in his bedroom could.
"Besides, you’ve probably already checked the camera footage, right?" Xu Huo added suddenly.
A few years ago, Xu Huo suspected he might be sleepwalking during his Dream Control sessions, so he spent some money to install a private security camera. The footage could prove that during the time of the incident, he was either sleeping or grinding out his manuscript.
The two officers were speechless.
Every piece of information the police had found, aside from that manuscript, proved Xu Huo was completely without suspicion.
But the manuscript itself was suspicious beyond belief!
Written twenty minutes before, and became reality twenty minutes later...
They could also suspect he had conspired with someone and knew about the crime scene in advance, but...
If you were the killer, would you write down the details of the crime scene, publish them, and all but tattoo "I’m the killer" on your face?
The surrounding officers fell into silence.
After a long pause, the two officers closed their notebooks and capped their pens. The older one, a Level 3 Police Chief, shook his head.
"Take Mr. Xu to get some rest."
Xu Huo let out a sigh of relief. He stood up, walked out of the interrogation room, and headed slowly toward the holding cell.
’Actually, dreams coming true isn’t that uncommon.’
’For example, during the high-pressure period of the college entrance exams, many people dream of the testing environment or even the questions in advance.’
’This is what people call a ’precognitive dream’.’
’There’s an even more mind-blowing example: the mathematician from Lizard Country in his past life—Ramanujan.’
How mind-blowing was he? As everyone knows, scientists spend years, even decades, running constant experiments in a lab and performing complex mathematical calculations just to derive a single formula or result.
But Ramanujan was different.
He relied purely on intuition and dreams.
That’s right, dreams. The mathematical formulas he came up with had no derivation process. In other words, he had a dream and skipped the entire derivation, obtaining the final formula directly from his dream!
The kind you could use immediately...
Although Xu Huo was a suspect, as long as his luck held and he didn’t run into any unscrupulous cops, he’d be fine.
Of course, even if they did play dirty, it wouldn’t matter.
After being transmigrated for so long, he’d gotten to know a few people and had some connections.
CREAK~
The door to the holding cell opened, and Xu Huo stepped inside.
The holding cells in most departments were bare-bones. There’d be nothing inside; they’d just put up some iron bars and toss you in.
Jiangsan City was different. Although there were still iron bars on the outside, the inside had a padded, anti-collision bed, as well as a table and chair.
Xu Huo sat down on the chair. He hadn’t been resting for long when a voice suddenly sounded by his ear.
"Heh, why is the suspect back so soon?"
The voice was soft, and though the tone was sarcastic, it was so pleasant that it made you want her to... say more.
Xu Huo looked up and saw a woman in a police uniform, about five-foot-four, holding a pink plastic lunch box.
"Here, eat up. The suspect’s special meal."
She was very pretty, with a delicate, straight nose, thin lips, and a smooth, oval-shaped face.
One look at her wouldn’t inspire any wicked thoughts; instead, it would just make you want to pinch her cheeks. Her voice was also gentle and her speech was slow, making her sound a bit dorky.
Her eyes were wide as she stood with her hands on her hips, glaring at Xu Huo.
Xu Huo ignored her tone, skillfully pulling out the chopsticks and opening the lunch box.
Two meat dishes, one vegetable dish, steaming white rice, and a duck leg appeared before him.
"Tsk, the suspect’s meal is quite lavish."
Xu Huo smiled. He didn’t need to be a genius to know this wasn’t a suspect’s meal. You’d be lucky to get a vegetable dish, a steamed bun, and some pickled vegetables. A duck leg was out of the question.
Obviously, they knew each other. Or rather, Xu Huo knew many people in this police department, which was why he ate with such relish.
Seeing him eat so heartily without a shred of worry, Chu Xi crossed her arms and sat down next to Xu Huo, sulking.
Xu Huo kept his head down, silently eating the duck leg.
Chu Xi sulked for a long time before she finally spoke up.
"You’re a suspect and you’re still in the mood to eat!"
Her eyes narrowed as she looked at Xu Huo.
Xu Huo looked up, chewed his food, and watched Chu Xi in front of him. He swallowed, gave her a quick once-over, and said in surprise:
"Huh, you’re not talking slowly anymore."
He remembered this girl used to speak very slowly, so slow it made her sound dorky.
Chu Xi got even angrier, her chest heaving. "You’re a suspect! How can you still be focused on things like that!?"
"Suspect?"
Xu Huo tidied up the lunch box a little, leaned back in his chair, and looked at her with a smile.
"I’m not the killer. According to regulations... hmm, I should be out of here around 4 PM."
The law stipulates that for suspects with no evidence against them, the police can only detain them temporarily for a full day—twenty-four hours.
Even if they force a detention, it’s three or four days at most. Once the time is up, you can just walk away.
Of course, if you have bad luck and run into the kind of cops who rush to close a case and don’t play by the rules...
But Xu Huo didn’t have to worry about that. The Jiangsan City Criminal Investigation Department... a year ago, he was supposed to start working here himself. So he had a decent understanding of the department chief’s character, and with so many acquaintances on the inside, he could dismiss that worry.
"What about the case?"
Chu Xi asked, her voice tinged with a hint of complaint, her gaze dark.
She and Xu Huo knew each other. Or rather, her entire graduating class knew Xu Huo.
They graduated from the police academy—the second-best in the country. Her classmates were assigned here, but Xu Huo chose not to join and became a private investigator. Well, a PI who operates in a gray area.
"The case?"
Xu Huo thought about the rain, then about the location of the crime scene.
"Isn’t that what the police are for? Your investigation should be enough."
"Then do you think we can solve it this time?" Chu Xi asked again. "You’ve seen the crime scene."
This time, Xu Huo paused. He looked at her face, thought for a moment, and smiled.
"Do you want the truth or a lie?"
"The truth!" Chu Xi said earnestly.
"Then of course you can solve it."
Xu Huo pointed at the name tag on Chu Xi’s puffed-out chest, teasing her.
"With Officer Chu on the case, how could you possibly fail to solve it?"
Hearing this, Chu Xi didn’t look happy at all. Instead, she became even more sullen, staring intently at Xu Huo.
"You’re lying to me again."
"Tsk, it’s only been a year since you graduated, how come you’re so hard to fool now... Alright, fine. I think this case..."
A smile appeared on Xu Huo’s face, but as he spoke, it vanished, his expression gradually turning serious.
"You guys..."
"You can’t solve it."
In an instant, the atmosphere between them grew tense.
An officer standing not far outside the door frowned upon hearing this.
"Why?"
Chu Xi asked suddenly. She wasn’t angry; her soft voice held a trace of confusion.
"Why can’t we solve it?"
...
...
PS: You can tell how popular the female lead’s character design is from the number of likes on the character list. It’s not the old-fashioned trope it might seem like at first glance. I suggest you keep reading.
As for the plot...
I recommend reading through Chapter 15 before making a judgment.
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