novelraw Chapter 40: Sea of Darkness - (40)
Chapter 40: Sea of Darkness - (40)
A quick scan of the forum’s homepage revealed that posts related to Depriver No. 233 only occupied a small portion. Players’ attention had been captivated by the newly surfaced Depriver No. 777.
Posts needed to be read one by one, and matters were investigated piece by piece. Kui Xin started by opening her own thread.
The forum contained numerous miscellaneous and meaningless threads; some were posted solely to express shock without any substantial content, making them unworthy of reading. Threads with high reply counts often involved heated debates or analyses, which were the types Kui Xin was required to examine.
The hottest thread had over five hundred replies.
Title: “Beware of Depriver No. 233! Perhaps the first killing could be explained away as an accident or coincidence, but what about the second? I have reason to believe they are selectively targeting and hunting players!”
The title was quite provocative… It seemed likely that many ordinary players shared this sentiment.
Once could be a coincidence, but what about the second time? Too many coincidences leave no room for excuses. Moreover, Kui Xin’s identity was highly sensitive; she was the first Depriver on the forum to reveal her number and the first player known to kill another of their kind. When she committed those murders, most other players hadn’t even experienced spilling blood, let alone killing fellow participants.
Kui Xin clicked into the thread to read the replies.
First Floor: Everything I wanted to say is in the title. Hopefully, there won’t be any bleeding-heart naysayers, right?
1L: You’re spot-on; exactly my thoughts too.2L: My mother always taught me to assume the best in people, but I guess it’s time to change this habit. To be honest, when discussing Depriver No. 233 before, I wondered if there might have been some compelling circumstances for this player. Normal individuals wouldn’t commit murder… Now my face has been slapped hard with reality.
3L: Throughout my life, I’ve never hesitated to attribute the worst intentions to others. Sometimes, people around me call me selfish and pessimistic, but only I know why I perceive things this way—there exist all sorts of devils in the world. I believe in human depravity, fearing that one day the misfortunes others experience will befall me as well. This is precisely why I tend to suspect others from the darkest perspective.
4L replied to 3L: To some extent, isn’t this also indicative of heightened vigilance and self-protective instincts? Living with such awareness might be more exhausting, but it allows one to survive longer than others.
5L: If I had to choose between living a tiring life or living longer, I’d pick living longer.
6L: Who wouldn’t want to live longer, right?
7L: Why on earth did Depriver No. 233 kill someone??
8L replied to 7L: Isn’t it obvious? For superhuman abilities, obviously. This Proxy must have exposed themselves and gotten caught by the Depriver.
9L: In just three short days, Depriver No. 233 managed to pinpoint a player. How did he accomplish that?!
10L: I’m wondering how exactly Depriver No. 233 found another player amidst so many people. Was it pure coincidence, or does he possess unique investigative tracking abilities? It’s truly frightening. Only three days—it has been merely three days since we returned to the real world.
11L: I’ve decided to bid farewell to the big city and move to the countryside. Tomorrow, I’ll submit my resignation letter. In a bustling city, I feel like encountering a Depriver is more likely, whereas rural areas have sparse populations where everyone knows each other; it seems relatively safer. At least going back home to farm won’t leave me starving.
12L replies to 11L: Brave decision… However, I don’t think it’s necessary with so many people worldwide.
13L replies to 12L: It might be my desire to escape being influenced. Returning home allows me to honor my parents and avoid the dangerous environment; I believe it’s a reasonable choice.
14L replies to 13L: Don’t go back! The countryside has vast vegetation, making it simple for someone to kill you and bury your body in remote areas. Trust me, years could pass without anyone finding your remains.
15L: Are we all already contemplating our next steps? There’s no need for that. With such a wide world, we don’t even know which country the Deprivers hail from yet.
16L: What if there’s more than one Depriver in the world? What’s the ratio between Deprivers and Proxies? So far, only one Depriver has been reported on the forum, but that doesn’t mean there aren’t others among the ten thousand players. Possibly, additional Deprivers haven’t had the chance to commit murder yet; hence, they remain unreported. We can’t afford to rely on luck in this situation; the concerns raised by the previous poster hold some validity.
17L: It’s like real-life Mafia now—hidden among us, ready to strike if we let our guard down.
It was evident that when this thread was initially started, Depriver No. 777 had not yet committed murder. The only openly known Depriver at the time was Kui Xin, and the forum discussions were solely focused on her. The speculation about multiple Deprivers could not be verified.
Player 11L’s idea of seeking refuge in their hometown resonated with many players. However, most weren’t considering returning home for safety; instead, they were discussing how to conceal themselves in modern society without being detected by Deprivers.
For several dozen posts, there was intense discussion on how to hide oneself. Kui Xin skimmed through them briefly until reaching post number 89, where relevant information reappeared again.
89L: Borrowing this thread to ask, are there any Jingchu region players who accepted local quests while paying attention to the forum? I’m from Jingchu and took a local quest. Just now, I received a notification indicating task failure. At the time, I was outside and couldn’t conveniently check the forum. Does anyone know when the announcement about Depriver No. 233’s killing spree was posted? Surprisingly, the pinned threads don’t include posting times. None of the official threads have timestamps.
90L: ??? Is someone upstairs suspecting that Depriver 233 completed the local quest?
91L: Seriously? Someone actually accepted the quest! Are they not afraid of dying?
92L (Reply to 91L): You’ve misunderstood. Accepting the quest isn’t inherently dangerous; the risk lies in completing it. If you accept it and simply leave it undone, there’s no harm. After all, the system does not mention a penalty for not completing the task.
93L: Accept the quest, but don’t complete it? Holy shit, what a novel approach!
94L: Back on topic! I am waiting for an informed answer. Were the announcements about Depriver 233’s killings and the failure of the Jingchu region’s local quest posted simultaneously? If so, then the one who executed the quest must be Depriver 233, and the slain Proxy No. 1286 would be Fang Zhi—the murderer with a police bounty of 100,000 yuan on his head.
95L: Damn, if this is true, does that mean Depriver 233 has rid society of a menace?
96L: Thinking bigger here—Depriver 233 is likely in the Jingchu region! I just searched online, and Fang Zhi fled to Tonglin City, narrowing down the area further! Depriver 233 could very well be in Tonglin City!
97L: Is No. 233 from Tonglin City, or did he specifically go there to pursue Fang Zhi?
98L: What a mind-blowing twist! I can already envision a two-hour crime action movie unfolding in my head! Doesn’t this surpass Hollywood films in excitement?
99L: We may not be able to pinpoint Depriver 233 as being from Tonglin City, but at least we can narrow it down to the Jingchu region, right? That significantly reduces the scope!
126L: There’s no need for everyone upstairs to get overly excited and shout blindly. The other informed individuals haven’t come forward yet. To determine if the timing of task failure notifications aligns with the forum death announcements, we’ll have to wait for their insights.
127L: Is OP still around? What format do the task failure notifications take? After someone completes a local quest, will all others receive a notification stating their task has failed?
128L (Reply to 127L): Yes. The Game System notifies with “Detection: Investigation target is deceased. Players in the same area have completed the task ahead of you.”
129L: It’s quite challenging to find someone with firsthand knowledge. I believe that when many players received this task, their initial reaction was to decline it. Non-quick-thinkers may not realize that accepting the task doesn’t mean completing it. If they don’t, there won’t be any failure notifications, right?
130L: Waiting for someone knowledgeable.
131L: Waiting.
250L: I have firsthand knowledge. I accepted the task and have been closely monitoring the forum. I can assure you that the task failure notification was sent out simultaneously with the death announcement. The moment I received the task prompt, I refreshed the forum page and the list of death announcements instantly updated at the top. Barring one-in-a-million coincidences, I believe Depriver No. 233 is the player who completed the local quest by killing Fang Zhi.
251L: Damn.
252L: Holy shit.
The subsequent posts were flooded with expressions of shock, causing Kui Xin’s eyebrows to slightly furrow as she read them.
320L: What purpose did Depriver No. 233 have in killing Fang Zhi?! Was it for the quest or for superhuman abilities? Or perhaps, for justice?
[321L: Plot twist! Depriver No. 233, a righteous avenger ridding society of criminals?]
[322L: Seriously? Is this already starting to whitewash his image just because he killed a murderer? Maybe that killer happened to cross paths with him at the wrong time. Killing is killing; dealing with a murderer doesn’t automatically make him just or righteous. Don’t forget, he also continuously murdered two Players!]
[323L: If he were truly righteous, why didn’t he report it instead? Why take matters into his own hands?]
[324L replying to 323L: Honestly… I don’t believe our police have the capability to handle a criminal who might possess superhuman abilities. Fang Zhi managed to kill so many and evade capture for days; he wasn’t weak. He could potentially have very powerful superhuman abilities. Do ordinary people stand a chance against him? It’s fortunate that Depriver No. 233 took care of him, sparing our law enforcement officers from facing such an Extraordinary Ability User and risking their lives.]
[325L: Who would’ve thought… In some way, Depriver No. 233’s act of killing can actually be considered a good deed.]
326L: The world is changing too rapidly; I’m having trouble adapting.
327L: I am currently in the Jingchu region. My hometown isn’t here, but that’s where my work is, and I also received the regional mission notification. I declined it, never expecting Depriver No. 233 might be from Jingchu. Not much more to say, I’ll immediately resign, pack my bags, and move back to my hometown in the neighboring province for better opportunities. A word of advice to everyone: Stay away from troubled areas and don’t rely on blind luck.
328L: I wish the previous commenter good luck.
359L: Now that we’ve confirmed Depriver No. 233 is in the Jingchu region, can’t we find him and take care of the problem?
360L (reply to 359L): Are you insane?!
361L (reply to 359L): If you’re seeking death, go ahead and do so.
362L (reply to 359L): Go for it! Whoever kills Depriver No. 233 will become a hero for all of us. If someone actually accomplishes this, I guarantee the forum will be filled with tales of their glorious deed for at least a week.
363L (reply to 359L): There’s a limit to empty bravado. Depriver No. 233 has already killed two players, possibly possessing multiple superhuman abilities. Going after him would be a suicide mission.
426L: I wrote a lengthy analysis about who Depriver 233 might be. Not professionally trained in psychology, but based on Depriver 233’s actions since entering the game, there is already ample material for analysis.
Firstly, they have exceptional mental fortitude. Normally, killing someone would cause prolonged psychological distress, even among soldiers or police officers, requiring extensive counseling and therapy to avoid severe long-term effects due to trauma. However, after Depriver 233 committed their first murder in the game world, followed shortly by another in the real world, it reveals their frightening mental resilience. For most people, such experiences could lead to a complete breakdown. This can be described as strong mental fortitude or cold-heartedness.
Second, decisiveness and high execution efficiency. There’s no need for me to elaborate much; psychological adaptation requires a process. From when the System issued the local quest until Fang Zhi was killed, how many days passed? Within a short timeframe, Depriver No. 233 was able to locate and kill Fang Zhi, demonstrating exceptionally high execution capabilities and unwavering determination. I believe Fang Zhi likely fled to Tonglin City specifically to evade Depriver 233’s pursuit.
Thirdly, confidence. Depriver No. 233 is proactive. How many players in the Jingchu region would dare to accept such tasks? And among those who accepted, how many would actually take the initiative to carry them out? We are all ordinary individuals; even fighting against another average person might not guarantee victory, let alone confronting a criminal possibly possessing superhuman abilities! Yet, Depriver No. 233 not only accepted the task but also completed it! What does this indicate? It shows extreme self-confidence in his capabilities—Fang Zhi posed no real threat to him. This is why he acts without any reservations, with his formidable reliance and assurance!
The most crucial point is that, despite knowing his killings would be reported on the forum, Depriver No. 233 still chose to commit murder. Why does he feel so emboldened to do so?! Because of his absolute strength, he has nothing to fear, undeterred by being seen as an enemy by other players or potential exposure leading to pursuit. To him, other players going after him would merely be offering themselves up for defeat!
I even suspect that this death notification was intentionally orchestrated by Depriver No. 233 to display his prowess. Furthermore, I suspect it is either a provocation… or a warning to all players.
He is warning us—do not cross him.