Chapter 5: Discovering Players

After about 10 minutes, the sparrow finally gave up. It cast a deep glance at Mo Qi, flapped its wings, and flew away.

Its small, pea-sized eyes somehow made Mo Qi feel like a “jerk.”

During this time, none of Mo Qi’s classmates or teachers seemed to notice his interaction with the sparrow. Normally, if he had opened a window and started playing with a sparrow during class, someone would surely have noticed. It seemed the “Gaze” skill not only concentrated the charm effect entirely on an individual but also provided some level of concealment, though this stealth effect wasn’t very pronounced.

Despite feeling sorry for the sparrow, Mo Qi decided to experiment with the “Gaze” skill on various items.

Objects like desks, chairs, and benches, no matter how long Mo Qi stared at them and imagined them as incredibly beautiful individuals, had no effect whatsoever. Outside the window, the flowers, plants, and trees were somewhat useful, though not as noticeable as the sparrow. If it hadn’t been for a sunflower defying its biological instincts and turning towards him with great effort, Mo Qi might have overlooked the skill’s influence on plants.

The “Gaze” skill only affected living beings or individuals capable of emotions, and its effectiveness depended on the emotional attachment of that individual. For creatures whose instincts outweighed their emotions, like animals and plants, their emotional value might be as low as 5, but that entire amount would be directed towards him.

As for humans, complex beings with varying emotions, it was hard to predict the outcome. Some individuals, even deeply in love, might not easily compromise, while others were willing to make sacrifices.

Regardless, Mo Qi found this skill, which played with people’s emotions, rather unsettling.

It took nearly an hour to fully test the skill’s effects. By this time, Mo Qi also received a message from Liao Ruxue:

Liao Ruxue: Is your phone charged? I’ve received information from the publicity department head. I’ll send you the details and photos to see if any of them match the person your client is looking for.

Liao Ruxue was thorough in his work. For an inquiry about someone, he had actually sent over a detailed document outlining the conflicts Ke Xiaoxi had this semester and added comments like “Information from the publicity department head hearsay, no solid evidence found, low reliability” for some entries.

The spreadsheet was incredibly convenient to navigate. Mo Qi could easily disregard trivial matters and focus on the three individuals highlighted in red by Liao Ruxue.

The first person was Xiang Wansi, a campus radio announcer known for her beauty and excellent grades, widely recognized as the campus belle. She had no interaction with Ke Xiaoxi personally; instead, Ke Xiaoxi unilaterally envied her and spread rumors around campus. According to Ke Xiaoxi, Xiang Wansi had multiple boyfriends before college and had even undergone an abortion. However, these rumors had no effect on Xiang Wansi herself since nobody believed them.

Liao Ruxue also noted that Xiang Wansi herself did not know Ke Xiaoxi and was likely unaware of these unfounded rumors.

The second person is Ruan Hongdou, a freshman from the School of Social Sciences. She is in the same club as Ke Xiaoxi’s boyfriend, Guo Mingzheng, and they appeared close during club activities. Ke Xiaoxi once confronted Ruan Hongdou and even slapped her.

The third person is Qi Qiaoyan, who is in the same class as Ke Xiaoxi. She is described as modest and studious, and she competes with Ke Xiaoxi for scholarships. There is significant conflict between them; Qi Qiaoyan once reported Ke Xiaoxi for bullying her on campus, but due to insufficient evidence, the counselor only mediated the situation.

A few days later, Ke Xiaoxi reported Qi Qiaoyan for allegedly running the 800-meter fitness test for another female student last semester, which violated school rules. Qi Qiaoyan received a warning as a disciplinary measure and hence lost the opportunity for a scholarship.

Accompanying these descriptions were several photos, each annotated with their respective names.

As Mo Qi looked through the photos, he realized that the girl who had passed him a note to help during the morning class was actually Xiang Wansi, the campus belle.

Xiang Wansi was very famous, with many boys secretly admiring her around Mo Qi. Although he hadn’t met her before, he had heard that she didn’t have a boyfriend. Mo Qi was surprised that such a girl would show interest in him proactively; the effect of his “Charming aura” was indeed powerful.

Mo Qi rubbed his face thoughtfully. He knew he wasn’t bad-looking and didn’t mind using his appearance to attract clients and earn extra money. However, he didn’t think his charm was strong enough to attract someone like Xiang Wansi.

Mo Qi carefully considered the detailed notes in the spreadsheet regarding Ke Xiaoxi’s scholarship, the reports against her, the discovery of a secret, and her self-inflicted troubles. It seemed that all signs pointed towards Qi Qiaoyan. Mo Qi decided to prioritize investigating her, though he couldn’t ignore the other two individuals.

Looking at the meticulously annotated spreadsheet, Mo Qi couldn’t help but smile wryly. Liao Ruxue had put in too much effort into this; he owed him a favor now.

Thinking about how Liao Ruxue’s caring gestures were unintentionally triggered by his skill, Mo Qi felt a pang of guilt. After a moment’s hesitation, he replied: “Thanks, President Liao. Let me treat you to a nice dinner tonight.”

Liao Ruxue replied swiftly: “Forget it. If I see your pained expression at the dinner table, I won’t enjoy it. Just help me out with some tasks.”

Mo Qi agreed: “Okay.”

Mo Qi added: “I’ll also come to help at the art exhibition the day after tomorrow.”

Liao Ruxue insisted: “Come help tonight as well.”

Mo Qi agreed again: “Alright.”

In response to Liao Ruxue, Mo Qi messaged Gao Li again: “During the class I helped you with today, the campus beauty sat in front of me.”

Gao Li: “Campus beauty? Which one? Wang Wanxi?”

Mo Qi: “Yes, her. You’re in the same large class, right? Is there a group chat?”

Gao Li: “There is, but it’s not real-name registered. Who knows which one is her.”

Mo Qi: “Add me to the group.”

Gao Li: “The toad wants to eat swan meat, dream on.”

Despite saying this, he still invited Mo Qi into the group.

After joining the group, Mo Qi changed his avatar from a casually taken photo of a book to his own picture. He then posted a message in the group: “Morning, thanks.”

After sending the message, Mo Qi stopped paying attention to the group chat, preparing to leave class and find Qi Qiaoyan.

At this moment, Gao Li sent another message: “Bro, are you trying to get the attention of the campus belle with that message? Stop kidding around. Were you daydreaming about her the whole class?”

Mo Qi ignored Gao Li. He recalled the silhouette of the campus belle and thought it wasn’t as appealing as the painting in the exhibition Liao Ruxue mentioned. Mo Qi hadn’t paid attention when Liao Ruxue talked about it earlier, but now, recalling it, he realized the proportions of the figure in the painting were truly superior, and the scenery depicted a mysterious aura, indeed a handsome silhouette.

After enduring until the end of class, Mo Qi hurried to the cafeteria and enjoyed Auntie’s extra meal at a very low price. Following this, he contacted Guo Mingzheng and arranged to meet him downstairs at the dormitory building of the School of Social Sciences.

Guo Mingzheng readily agreed without hesitation, even cheerfully remarking, “I thought you wouldn’t contact me anymore.” Mo Qi couldn’t help but raise his eyebrows at this.

The system was right. This task indeed suited him well. Mo Qi could easily connect with those involved in Ke Xiaoxi’s death, with people eagerly providing him information.

Guo Mingzheng hurried over, jogging all the way, and looked up at Mo Qi expectantly. “What’s the matter? Why did you ask me to come?”

Mo Qi scrutinized him for a moment and noticed that he looked well, having evidently moved on from the shadow of his girlfriend’s death.

“Has your emotional recovery been too quick?” Mo Qi couldn’t help but ask. “How are you feeling?”

Guo Mingzheng paused for a moment and replied, “Are you talking about Xiaoxi’s incident? It was really heartbreaking that she didn’t get the scholarship and ended up jumping into the lake. But I am trying to stay strong and move forward!”

“Not getting the scholarship and jumping into the lake?”

“Yeah, I just found out about it. She was so stubborn. Why didn’t she tell me? I would have comforted her and been there for her,” Guo Mingzheng said.

Mo Qi felt something was amiss. He asked again, “When did we first meet?”

“Wasn’t it this afternoon when I was walking alone by the lake?” Guo Mingzheng replied innocently.

“What about Ke Xiaoxi? Wasn’t she with you this afternoon?” Mo Qi inquired.

“No, I haven’t seen her at all today,” Guo Mingzheng insisted, staring wide-eyed.

Guo Mingzheng’s memories had been tampered with!

Mo Qi’s first instinct was to check the crystal box, but it showed no changes. So, was it the game that altered Guo Mingzheng’s memories, or was it another player investigating this matter as well?

Mo Qi recalled Guo Mingzheng’s demeanor when the counselor took away Ke Xiaoxi’s body that afternoon. At that moment, he remembered seeing Ke Xiaoxi dead before his eyes. If the game had altered memories, it would have happened then; there was no need to wait for two or three hours to make changes.

Mo Qi hurriedly asked, “After we separated this afternoon, did you meet anyone?”

“I met quite a few people,” Guo Mingzheng replied.

“Did anyone specifically ask you about Ke Xiaoxi?” Mo Qi pressed on.

Guo Mingzheng shook his head slightly. “There was someone, strange though, I can’t seem to remember who it was.”

“I can’t remember anything at all?” Mo Qi grabbed Guo Mingzheng’s shoulder, staring at him intently.

Mo Qi’s urgent state triggered his “Gaze” skill, causing Guo Mingzheng to suddenly feel an overwhelming urge to remember for Mo Qi’s sake. He clasped his head and squatted down, as if struggling against something. Finally, with a pained expression, he said, “I don’t remember who he was, but he seemed to have called me.”

“Don’t worry, take your time to think,” Mo Qi reassured Guo Mingzheng, trying to calm him down.

Guo Mingzheng unlocked his phone and checked the calls from the afternoon. Aside from the call he made to the counselor, there was only one incoming call from an unknown number. “I’ll call him right away,” he said.

“Don’t mention Ke Xiaoxi, just ask if he called you this afternoon,” Mo Qi reminded him.

Judging from Guo Mingzheng’s behavior, he seemed to have forgotten this person and had only recalled it due to Mo Qi’s skill. Directly confronting him might spook him off.

Guo Mingzheng obediently dialed the number. Someone picked up quickly on the other end. Guo Mingzheng asked, “Hello? You called me this afternoon about a delivery, right? I forgot where you left it.”

He activated the speakerphone, allowing Mo Qi to hear the person on the other end say, “Ha, so they changed the memory to delivering a package and now they’re asking me about the delivery. But that works out, I also need to ask you something. Besides Qi Qiaoyan, who else did your girlfriend have conflicts with?”

Upon hearing this, Mo Qi immediately concluded that the person on the other end was also a player.

This individual likely noticed the changes in the crystal box and used some method to investigate Ke Xiaoxi. During Mo Qi’s class in the afternoon, they approached Guo Mingzheng, and upon obtaining information about Ke Xiaoxi’s dispute with Qi Qiaoyan, somehow manipulated Guo Mingzheng’s memories.

“This method must be a skill granted by the game or a special item, but it seems to have moderate effectiveness, or else Guo Mingzheng wouldn’t recall anything under your prompting,” Mo Qi thought.

However, this made sense. Guo Mingzheng was just an ordinary person; there was no need to waste overly precious abilities on him.

“Who are you? Weren’t you calling about a delivery? Why are you asking about my girlfriend?” Guo Mingzheng asked.

“It’s hard to explain over the phone. How about this, where are you? I’ll come find you,” the voice on the other end said.

Following Mo Qi’s signal, Guo Mingzheng replied, “Oh, you can deliver it here? That’s convenient. Alright, I’ll wait for you at the dormitory building of the School of Social Sciences.”

After getting his location, the person hung up. Guo Mingzheng looked at Mo Qi triumphantly.

Mo Qi turned away from his gaze. “Thanks.”