Part 6
Hugo Spencer has a mole at the corner of his eye, and the comic character has a mole in the same spot on her face.
Countless details prove that this is a girl subtly expressing her secret crush.
The Vault: Hugo Spencer is the guy who blocked me at noon today. When I first loaded into the instance, he even hit me on the head.
The Vault: [Image · Red String] The same one from Taobao that Wendy Ward bought.
The Vault: XY.
The Vault: Yo-ho.
This "yo-ho" is really soulful.
Julian Grant felt he could detect a hint of pride in it.
Netizens were also unusually excited by this discovery, their long-dormant spirits finally revived.
"Damn! She figured out this plot so early? The player I watched only realized it right before dying!"
"Sigh, young people these days."
"Think about Hugo Spencer's attitude toward her... This is a story that was already doomed from the start."
"She could spot a character who took up less than a quarter of the screen in so many photos? [Pupil quake] Is she a humanoid system? Can she auto-analyze images?"
"She really does have that 92-point vibe, I can say it out loud!"
"When I thought this instance was about school bullying, you suddenly tell me it's actually a youth romance drama?"
"Wait, but didn't players previously deduce that Wendy Ward's suicide had nothing to do with Hugo Spencer's actions?"
"Maybe it's because she was already used to it, so the data didn't fluctuate in time. It's normal for there to be errors in before-and-after deductions in [Crime Analysis]."
Chapter 4: Fear
Julian Grant immediately asked the same question as the netizens.
Julian Grant: But you said that when Hugo Spencer hit you today, your suicide progress didn't change.
The Vault: Yeah.
The Vault: Maybe Wendy Ward finally saw through the coyness of love and returned to the embrace of science. After all, the photos were all taken before Nathan Sanders’s suicide.
On the other end, Julian Grant was once again surprised.
Which school of deadpan jokes did this person graduate from?
Julian Grant: ...?
The Vault: If she doesn't have any special fetishes, she probably wouldn't fall for a guy who maliciously bullies her, and Hugo Spencer's dislike for Wendy Ward is very real and clear. This suggests that Hugo Spencer's bullying of her likely started only recently, and the reason it started is directly related to her suicidal tendencies. Wendy Ward is under a lot of mental stress and no longer has the energy to care about what her classmates or Hugo Spencer think of her.
The Vault: Of course, we can't completely rule out other possibilities. It could also be that the suicide progress can't display changes after the decimal point.
The logic was very clear, and the analysis quite objective, without any arrogance or dogmatism based on intelligence.
The Vault was a bit more reliable than Julian Grant had imagined, somewhat different from the rumors.
After a while, The Vault reflected and sent another not-so-sincere message.
The Vault: Oh, or maybe it's just a way for them to attract each other's attention, and I overreacted and turned it into violent harm. No wonder Hugo Spencer's expression looked like he'd seen a ghost at the time. After all, I don't really understand high school romance.
Julian Grant: ...
It was just suffocating.
·
A bunch of straight guys and girls in the livestream saw this message and only then belatedly realized, instantly feeling utterly exhausted inside.
"I get it now. Ordinary girls get hit: red eyes, all aggrieved. Boy: Okay, okay, I was wrong, let me buy you dinner to apologize, okay? Iron-straight girl: I’ll freaking knock your dog head off! Boy: Holy crap! [Perfect][Smile]"
"Elements that create love: civility, subtlety, and being all aggrieved."
"This is a test point, everyone please remember."
"This discovery sounds so heartbreaking."
"This couple is doomed, just give up, there's no hope for this CP."
·
Julian Grant kept waiting for a long time, but there was no follow-up. The other party just stopped abruptly, not even saying goodbye.
Julian Grant: And then?
The Vault seemed to have lost interest in chatting, and only replied after four or five minutes.
The Vault: It was just a small discovery, what more do you want?
Julian Grant: Predictive inference based on current information. Bold guesses, careful verification, you know?
The Vault: I did verify, just not sure what kind of guess counts as bold.
The Vault’s predictions and analyses on love-related issues have never been very accurate, because people in love seem to have their brains twisted, and she can never know what the other person’s next wild move will be, or where the turning point is.
The Vault: Bro, are you single?
Julian Grant felt a lump in his chest. He felt a bit targeted.
His strange hesitation sent this signal to The Vault.
The Vault: Got it. Then I won’t ask you.
Julian Grant: ...Thanks for your understanding.
The Vault: No need to be polite.
Julian Grant felt another pang in his heart.
This person really isn’t polite.
Julian Grant put down his phone and continued with his work.
He still had evidence collected from the previous two suicide cases that he hadn’t reviewed yet, like surveillance footage.
He was so exhausted from reading all the statements and watching the videos that he felt like his tear ducts were about to dry up from staring at the screen.
After he’d been busy for half an hour, his phone flashed again.
The Vault: Here’s another clue for you.
The Vault: I just looked through Wendy Ward’s homework and textbooks for each subject. She seems to be a diligent student; her early homework was neat, her calculations complete, and her accuracy rate was over 90%. But starting from March 23, her homework became noticeably sloppy, the process was abbreviated, there were no calculation steps, and the error rate in some assignments increased significantly. From my experience, she copied several assignments. This suggests that something happened to Wendy Ward on March 23 that dealt her a major psychological blow.
The Heavens: Nathan Sanders’s suicide happened on March 25. So Wendy Ward’s suicidal anxiety had already started before Nathan Sanders jumped. Whether the reasons the two ultimately chose suicide are the same remains to be further verified.
The netizens who were still chatting were instantly pulled back to the main topic, as if they’d been hit on the head.
"Holy crap?! Is this a major discovery? Right, you can actually use homework to sort out the timeline, this is genius!"
"So it’s still about silencing people—several people knew things they shouldn’t have. Nathan Sanders dragged Wendy Ward down with her because she hated her. The story could turn into a supernatural film, or maybe a science investigation. I’m a genius, hahaha!"
"...Her process for solving problems is so different from previous players? This clue clearly skipped a stage. The last player only got this clue after skipping class for three days and talking to the homeroom teacher."
"This instance has too many misleading clues, it’s easy to fall into a trap. The NPCs are good at lying too. So directly checking the physical evidence is the right move."
"I’m ashamed I ever doubted a 92-point advanced player. I was wrong, but I’ll still dare next time. [doge]"
Not just the netizens, even Julian Grant was shocked.
Julian Grant: The two time points are very close—are you sure?
The Vault: I’m sure. Based on the progress of science classes, the recitation dates for Chinese texts, and the annotations for English dictations. There’s no way all three are wrong.
Julian Grant: Isn’t this really important information? Why is it just a casual mention?
The Vault: Without more evidence, I can’t draw a valid conclusion. If I haven’t figured out a clue, it only deserves a casual mention. Any problem with that?
The Vault: Aren’t I the one carrying you through this? As long as I know, it’s fine.
Julian Grant was left speechless.
Julian Grant: No problem. Just wanted to ask, are there any other unimportant clues you can casually mention?
The Vault: Actually, not really.
The Vault: I did get a pack of orange-flavored fruit hard candy today.
Julian Grant quickly replied. But his focus was, as always, unique.
Julian Grant: Candy, forensics?
The Vault: No need.
Julian Grant: Why?
The Vault: Ate it.
Julian Grant: Health?
The Vault: .
Julian Grant: "..."
"Wait, do they have to follow a decreasing word count when chatting now? Is typing that hard?"
"I can’t take them anymore..."
"Would it kill you to type one more word?"
"I love watching their conversations, there’s always someone who suddenly changes the topic. How do they switch dimensions so fast?"
·
After The Vault finished bantering with Julian Grant, noisy voices came from outside the dorm—it was students returning after evening self-study.
Their dorm was on the first floor, always a rather noisy place.
Wendy Ward’s three roommates showed up not long after, tiredly opening the door and walking in.
Table of Contents
