Chapter 60: An Unforeseen Arrest
By the time Rovel left the combat gym, the first hints of dawn were already painting the eastern sky. He was preparing to head straight to Chiba Academy.
However, as he walked along the quiet street, the morning calm was shattered by the approaching wail of a siren. A black-and-white patrol car screeched to a halt directly in his path, its emergency lights bathing the pavement in strobing flashes of red and blue. Two uniformed officers stepped out, their expressions grim and all business.
"Mr. Fang Ruobai?" one of them asked, though it sounded more like a confirmation. "You are suspected of murdering a student of Chiba Academy, Asakura Miyuki, in your capacity as a Descender. Please come with us."
The other officer produced a pair of gleaming handcuffs and, with a swift, practiced motion, snapped them onto Rovel's wrists. The cold metal clicked shut with an air of finality.
Rovel simply stood there. "..."
He blinked, the scenario so far outside his calculations that his mind momentarily stalled. He genuinely never expected something like this to happen.
"If the investigation clears you of any wrongdoing, you will be released," the first officer stated, his tone flat and procedural. "Please cooperate."
Maintaining their professional distance, the police escorted a still-bemused Rovel into the back of the patrol car.
He let out a soft sigh and offered no resistance. Since he'd never been arrested in the real world, he figured he might as well experience it in the game. It was, if nothing else, a novel situation.
Before long, the car arrived at the local police station, and Rovel was led into a brightly lit interrogation room.
"It's him! He's the one who knocked us out yesterday!" a voice suddenly shouted from the hallway. "When we woke up, Asakura Miyuki was already dead!"
Rovel glanced over to see the three thugs he had dealt with in the alley, their faces a mixture of fear and righteous indignation as they pointed at him.
"That's right, I remember his face clearly! It's him!" another one chimed in, his voice cracking.
The third nodded vigorously in agreement.
"Mr. Fang Ruobai," an officer sitting across the table began, his pen poised over a notepad. "These men have accused you of killing Asakura Miyuki. Based on footage from the street cameras we've deployed, we did indeed find traces of you in the vicinity of the crime scene."
He looked up, his gaze steady. "Do you have an explanation?"
"Last night, I was passing by that alley and saw those three attempting to assault Ms. Asakura," Rovel explained calmly. "I stepped in to stop them."
He paused, then spread his cuffed hands in a gesture of helplessness. "And yes, I did kill Asakura Miyuki..."
At the time, her state had been bizarre—somewhere in a terrifying limbo between a human NPC and a mindless Death Soldier. Rovel wasn't even sure how the system would classify it.
Before he could finish his sentence, an enraged voice erupted from outside the room.
"Fck, I knew it!" The shout was accompanied by the sharp crack of a fist slamming against a table. "These damn Descenders are all the same! They've never treated us as human beings, just props in their goddamn game!"
Another voice joined in, thick with resentment. "And he admits it so openly! What's he worried about? The law says we can only hold him for three days! Shit! What a piece of work!"
It seemed the local population held a rather… complicated view of Descenders. Rovel remained noncommittal, neither agreeing nor disagreeing with the assessment. He couldn't speak for all players, but he also couldn't deny the identity that bound them together. The actions of one were too easily projected onto the entire group.
It was the same simple, flawed logic that made a child bitten by a dog fear all dogs for the rest of their life. Or the same prejudice that colored perceptions of entire demographics based on crime statistics. A part of him recoiled at the injustice, but a more pragmatic part acknowledged the ugly reality of it.
"…However," Rovel continued, his voice cutting through the distant shouting, "I only killed her because she had already turned into a Death Soldier. I had no other choice."
"Turned into a Death Soldier?" The interrogating officer looked up from his notes, a skeptical frown creasing his brow. "That doesn't add up. If she had transformed, how would these three hooligans have dared to lay a hand on her in the first place?" He had spotted the apparent flaw in the story.
"I don't know for sure. Fear, probably," Rovel said. "This was the second time I'd saved her in that same alley. The last time, she was cornered by two other thugs. This probably wasn't the first or even the tenth time something like this had happened to her. She must have developed a deep-seated psychological trauma."
He tried to find an analogy. "Imagine a cat that's been tormented by stray dogs its entire life. One day, that cat transforms into a tiger, but when it sees those same dogs, its first instinct is still to cower. It doesn't even dare to consider fighting back."
The officer listened, his expression unreadable. "...I'm sorry, Mr. Fang, but your verbal statement is insufficient as evidence. Do you have any witnesses? Or perhaps video footage?"
"There was another Descender nearby at the time," Rovel recalled, thinking of Funahiki Shin, who had been watching from the alley's entrance. "But he's not in a position to testify right now."
Besides, even if Funahiki Shin could be found, there was no guarantee he would help. He might even make things worse.
"The testimony of another Descender cannot be considered valid evidence," the officer said, shaking his head.
'Is it because the crime rate among players is too high?'Rovel wondered.'Or is it because we're known for covering for each other?'
"Then I suppose I don't have any," Rovel conceded with a helpless shrug.
"Alright." The officer closed his notepad. "It seems we'll have to place you under temporary detention. Don't worry, we will begin searching for witnesses in and around Chiba Academy immediately. If Asakura Miyuki truly did transform into a Death Soldier, we will clear your name."
With that, he finished the transcript and walked out, leaving Rovel alone in the sterile room.
He'd been in a similar situation before, but this was different from when Bronya had locked him up. At the very least, he couldn't play games to pass the time here. After a few minutes of staring at the walls, boredom set in. Rovel simply logged off and went to get breakfast.
"Boss, one serving of egg and meat rice noodle rolls. No sauce," Rovel called out as he entered a small, familiar eatery. He then grabbed a bottle of cold soy milk from a nearby fridge.
Soon, a steaming plate of fresh rice noodle rolls was placed before him. Without a word, Rovel uncapped the soy milk and proceeded to pour the entire bottle over the dish, drenching the delicate rolls completely.
The stall owner's friendly demeanor vanished, replaced by a blank, almost murderous stare.
Rovel, either oblivious or simply uncaring, swirled the milky concoction with his chopsticks before digging in with gusto. Just as he was about to take his second bite, his phone rang. It was Yuki.
"Brother, you're eating breakfast, aren't you?" she asked cheerfully.
Rovel's chewing motion paused. He swallowed the food in his mouth. "Yuki, did you install a camera in my apartment? Are you stalking me?" he asked, his voice laced with suspicion.
"What are you talking about, Brother? This is just the resonance of Yuki's love for you!" she argued loudly, her tone utterly shameless.
"Alright, alright. What's up?" Rovel wiped his mouth with a napkin.
"It's about the Funahiki Family," she said, her voice turning serious. "Early this morning, they suddenly started putting pressure on all our industries in the Far East."
"Yeah, that's probably my fault," Rovel said calmly. "I killed both Funahiki Shin and Funahiki Gyō."
"I thought so... As expected of my brother, you're amazing!" Rovel could practically picture her proud, hands-on-hips pose. "However, Father seems a little angry. He might call you after he's done dealing with the fallout," she added as a warning.
"Okay. I'll block him."
"Oh, right, right! Brother! Teacher Raven told me something incredible!" Yuki's voice dropped to a conspiratorial whisper, buzzing with suppressed excitement. "In the deepest part of World Serpent's headquarters, there's a place… a place that might allow me to stop being human."
"Is there a Stone Mask there?" Rovel quipped dryly.
"Something even more exciting than a Stone Mask! They're called MANTISes! I heard that after the procedure, your body's genes are completely and permanently altered!"
Her excitement quickly soured. "It's just a pity… only World Serpent executives are allowed to enter that place. I've only just joined, so becoming an executive is still a long, long way off." Her voice was tinged with dejection.
"Is that so?" Rovel's tone remained placid. "Then take it slow, little sister who doesn't want to be human anymore."
"You foolish Onii-sama! Can't you read between the lines?!" she suddenly exclaimed, her frustration boiling over. "Once my genes are completely rewritten, we won't be related by blood anymore! And if that happens, then we could even—"
Beep.
Rovel hung up the phone.
He raised his hand. "Boss, the check please."
The owner stared at him, then at the soupy mess on his plate, and finally back at him. "This one's on the house," he said, his voice dead flat. "Just don't ever come back."
"..."
[Inorin's Note:
Enjoying the story? Dropping a quick review, comment, or Power Stone means the world to me and keeps these daily updates flowing!
Want to read 50 chapters ahead or just want to help keep a shameless translator alive? (My livelihood actually depends on this, haha 😭). You can support me directly here:
(P.S. Just remove the brackets and replace the [.] with a regular dot . to use the links!)
✨ Patreon (50 Advanced Chapters): patreon[.]com/InorinTL
☕ Ko-fi (Support / Sponsor): ko-fi[.]com/InorinTL
Thank you so much for reading and keeping this project alive!]