Although Lin hadn't been to an internet cafe in many years, he still remembered how things worked.
How could a waiter possibly work the morning and night shifts at the same time? One must remember that internet cafes are open twenty-four hours a day, so waiters definitely work in shifts. Yet this person was here when they came looking yesterday at noon and had been on duty until morning?
Furthermore, he probably thought he was being very discreet, but Lin still noticed him adding some powder to the drink.
This person's information could be seen clearly by querying Fire Moth's database through his helmet; he could even know which year, month, and day he stole a glance at the girl he had a crush on. But why would an ordinary person with such a clean record knock out his colleague, pretend to be the waiter on duty, and even drug a drink?
"Guh... mmm..."
Lin saw that this person's initially panicked expression trembled after being exposed, and then...
"He-he-he-he-he... Hahaha... He-he-he-he..."
He laughed.
He let out an inexpressibly eerie laugh, his mouth curling into a terrifying arc as if his cheeks were being torn apart.
He didn't care at all that he was still being held by Lin, flailing his limbs frantically like a crazed cultist who had seen his deity.
This was not a state a normal person could possibly be in.
Lin frowned, choking the waiter unconscious before he could make any more indescribable noises.
Looking at the waiter collapsed on the floor and the crazed smile still lingering on his lips, Lin felt as if he were in a fog, looking toward an unknown and gloomy path ahead.
...
"This person's brain waves are abnormal."
The person in charge stated the result of the examination. He was extremely dissatisfied with this result, his eyebrows knitting together like a clump of caterpillars. "When you first brought him back, his brain waves were in a high state even while unconscious. But the moment we began to examine him, the excitement level of the brain waves dropped rapidly. An hour ago, they stabilized in the normal range."
"And now... hehe... see for yourself."
The person in charge handed the report to Lin. Lin fell silent after seeing the content.
This person was in exactly the same state as the victims of the "1:15 AM Video."
But during the time Lin had brought him back after knocking him out, he was under strict supervision. He hadn't woken up, and it was even less possible for him to have contacted a phone or computer. How did he...
Lin suddenly remembered something. He opened the internet cafe surveillance footage he had retrieved earlier on the screen inside his helmet, setting it to 1:15 AM and stopping at the moment the student fell into a coma.
His gaze slowly moved from the student to the space behind him.
That waiter, at that time, happened to be right behind him... although the facial details couldn't be seen, he must have accidentally glanced at the content on the screen while passing by.
"Should I say congratulations that we finally have some progress?" the person in charge whispered, as if mocking himself.
...
He didn't fall into a coma directly after watching the recording, but acted normally for a few days, and then took action when someone came to investigate the incident...
Was attacking them out of his own will? It didn't seem like it; his final crazed behavior was worlds apart from his previous personality.
Could everyone who watched the recording hide as a normal person instead of falling into a coma directly?
If so, the level of eeriness in this incident would likely far exceed imagination.
How many people who watched the recording are disguised as normal people? Who is spreading the recording? Would the people already in comas undergo a sudden change in personality like that waiter, or even wake up again and start causing destruction?
And the most important point... how exactly can such a thing be done through a recording—a recording that, according to surveillance time, lasts less than two seconds? Even the nearly omnipotent Honkai energy couldn't explain how this phenomenon was achieved.
It couldn't be a Super High School-Level Despair Video, could it?
"Yawn... I slept so well." Elysia, who was following Lin, yawned. "I only found out today that you have a very nice scent on you, Lin. You can't smell it at all unless you get close."
"...Is there?" Lin couldn't even smell any odor on himself when he had a sense of smell.
Elysia rubbed her eyes and giggled. "You can't smell certain scents on yourself."
Lin remained noncommittal; there was indeed such scientific validation.
"Alright, where are we going to solve a case this time? Mr. Detective?"
"The school."
"The school?"
Lin nodded. "When that student fell into a coma, he had a friend with him."
In other words, the closest witness at the time, besides that waiter, was the victim's friend.
What Lin wanted to know most now was the situation at the moment it happened; perhaps the problem wasn't in the recording itself.
Since Prometheus wasn't needed this time, only Lin and Elysia came to this school, which wasn't far from the previous internet cafe.
Yesterday was a holiday. Most students coming to school today looked listless, as if they had overindulged, clearly suffering from post-holiday syndrome. Lin soon found the person he was looking for.
This male student looked much like the others—with dark circles and low energy—but it could be seen from his somewhat fearful eyes that the reason for his low energy was different from the others.
"Who?"
The male student stopped in a daze, looking at the two people blocking his path. One was in a black hat, black glasses, and a black mask, looking very suspicious; the other had a hood covering half her face.
"We need to talk to you about something."
"Who-who are you? Don't come over, this is a school."
As mentioned before, the male student's mental state was not normal. He looked at the two in fear, his legs already starting to shake as he thought of running away.
But after Lin pulled a police ID from his coat pocket and flashed it at the student, all misunderstandings were cleared.
"How much do you know about what happened that day?"
Lin sat down properly on a stone bench in the school park, took out a pen and paper, and looked at the anxious male student.
However, the student seemed more concerned about Elysia, who was sitting with them, idly blowing bubbles with gum. Would the police be so... casual when handling a case?
"Ignore her, she's my assistant," Lin said calmly. "Let's talk about the case."
"Ah... okay..."
The male student uneasily toyed with his fingers on the stone table. The mottled shadows of the trees fell on his face. He didn't speak immediately but looked as if he were thinking in great distress.
But Lin was in no hurry; he waited for the student to speak for himself.
"I... saw it."
His first sentence made Lin frown.