This time, things went quite smoothly—or perhaps it could be said that the story wouldn’t add unnecessary difficulty for the participants. In any case, Ye Sheng quickly found the address of Dayang Software, and it was right in this city.
Of course, for Chen Mo, this wasn’t surprising either. This city was like the stage of the story; no matter how the plot unfolded, it would never stray beyond the stage’s bounds.
“At least now we know the source of this cursed game. Maybe we’re not far from the truth.”
“Yeah, no time to waste. Let’s take a car over.” Lin Tianheng walked over, grinning as he patted Li Kai on the shoulder, then raised a hand to hail a taxi. “But let’s grab something to eat first. Even if you’re not hungry, I’m starving. If I’m going to die, at least let me die with a full stomach.”
Li Kai frowned. Lin Tianheng’s careless words struck a nerve. Among the participants, Li Kai was in the most danger right now—who knew when the curse’s attack might suddenly come?
Dayang Software was located in a bustling tech park. After eating their fill, the participants arrived at the company’s front desk. When asked about their business, Dai Minghan calmly flashed his “credentials” again. The pretty receptionist paused briefly, then immediately made a phone call, seemingly contacting her boss directly.
“That fake ID of yours is really handy. Once this mission is done, I’m getting one too.” Lin Tianheng watched Dai Minghan with interest, drawing glares from the others. Although they knew the shop item had a 100% effect on story characters, openly mentioning a fake ID right in front of them like that—such a reckless personality—made Chen Mo and Dai Minghan exchange a meaningful glance.
Dai Minghan’s meaning was clear: even though they were teammates on this mission, if this guy dared to jeopardize everyone’s safety by pushing his luck endlessly, he wouldn’t hesitate to “put righteousness above family loyalty” and personally eliminate this clueless fool.
Just then, the pretty receptionist hung up the phone, as if she hadn’t heard Lin Tianheng’s remark at all. She slightly bowed and said with a smile, “Please follow me.”
Unlike the Rinz Company, which had closed seven years ago, Dayang Software seemed much smaller, occupying just one section of a floor. The receptionist stopped at a door, knocked lightly, and waited until a voice inside said, “Come in,” before gesturing for them to enter.
To avoid alerting anyone, as agreed beforehand, Lin Tianheng, Li Kai, and Ye Sheng stayed outside, while Chen Mo and Dai Minghan walked directly into the office.
The office wasn’t large. Facing the door was a huge floor-to-ceiling window, in front of which stood a tall man, seemingly gazing down at the bustling traffic below. He turned his head at the sound of their entry.
“Hello, both of you.” Seeing Chen Mo and Dai Minghan come in, the man’s expression grew serious. “I’m Zhang Yiming. May I ask what brings two police officers here?”
This was the target of their visit!
To be safe, Dai Minghan immediately pulled out the “Real Fake ID” again and asked the other to “verify the credentials.” But Zhang Yiming didn’t seem suspicious of their identities, waving his hand repeatedly to decline. “Please, have a seat and talk.”
Chen Mo didn’t stand on ceremony. He sat down with Dai Minghan on the nearby sofa. When Zhang Yiming started to fuss about pouring water, Chen Mo quickly raised a hand to stop him.
“We’re just here to look into a few things. No need to go to the trouble.”
Hearing this, Zhang Yiming frowned slightly. “May I ask what matters you’d like to look into? My company may not be large, but we’ve always operated within the law.”
“It’s not about the company. It’s an old case. We’ve uncovered some new leads and came specifically to verify and learn more from Mr. Zhang.”
As Chen Mo spoke, his gaze casually—yet deliberately—swept over the other man, observing the subtle shifts in his expression.
“An old case?” Zhang Yiming seemed momentarily taken aback. “What old case? If there’s anything I can help with, I’ll fully cooperate.”
“In that case, we’ll get straight to the point.” Organizing his thoughts, Chen Mo lowered his voice slightly. “It’s about the case of the successive deaths among the Rinz Company development team. According to our investigation, Mr. Zhang once worked at Rinz Company, and it seems you were a key figure there.”
“Rinz Company?” Zhang Yiming’s eyes flickered briefly, but he quickly calmed down. “That’s right, I did work there. But that was nearly ten years ago…”
“Not ten years—seven years ago,” Dai Minghan immediately corrected him. “We’d like to know your specific position at Rinz Company.”
“Well… I was one of the development team leaders at the time. But later, I resigned.”
“Resigned?” Chen Mo frowned. “May I ask, Mr. Zhang, when exactly did you resign?”
“Let me think… Probably about half a year before that game project was released.”
Chen Mo and Dai Minghan exchanged a glance, their hearts skipping a beat. That meant Zhang Yiming’s resignation came before the “cursed game” erupted at Rinz Company?
Was it a coincidence, or did he actually know something? Could his early resignation have spared him from the curse’s cycle?
Chen Mo thought for a moment and rephrased his question.
“Can you tell us the reason for your resignation?”
“I was young back then, always wanting to take a chance.” Zhang Yiming smiled slightly, seemingly unbothered by the inquiry. “Rather than working for someone else, I wanted to strike out on my own. Isn’t that how young people think? It’s thanks to that impulsive resignation that I have this small company now.”
“As far as I know, Rinz Company was developing a highly anticipated game at the time, with less than half a year until its official release. As one of the key leaders of the project, suddenly resigning at that point—explaining it solely as impulse seems a bit unreasonable?”
“People’s thoughts aren’t always fully explainable by reason. I can only tell you that’s how I felt then, and that’s why I chose to resign.”
The seemingly watertight answer made Chen Mo feel like he’d hit a soft but unyielding wall. Yet this explanation didn’t convince him at all. If anything, it made Chen Mo suspect that Zhang Yiming knew something about the events of that time.
Perhaps even something crucial.
“Actually, there’s another reason we came to see you today…” Chen Mo deliberately slowed his pace, fixing his gaze on the other man. “Something… that might concern your safety, Mr. Zhang…”