Muscle soreness and her internal clock woke Ivy on time.

The first thing she saw upon opening her eyes was the system interface projected onto her retina.

[Game Inheritance Progress: 1%]

[Rewards have been sent!]

[Please keep working hard, Player, to increase your progress and unlock more inheritance rewards…]

Ivy closed the interface, muttering, “The system is repeating itself again. Just deliver the rewards already. 'Sent' and 'received' are two different things, you know.”

Ivy felt that checking the interface every morning was just like waiting for a package delivery in her previous life. The anticipation and impatience were maddening.

Only eating iron could ease her anxiety.

After washing up in the bathroom, Ivy suddenly realized that she hadn’t had a bowel movement in two days.

“Since I’m only eating iron and not regular food, it makes sense that I don’t need to excrete waste. Although I still have this human skin bag, my insides are no longer those of a mortal.”

Ivy looked at her reflection in the mirror. Her face was paler than usual, lacking its usual color.

She pulled open her collar, revealing her chest in the mirror. Perhaps it was psychological, but she felt that the muscles in her chest seemed to have sunk inwards a centimeter, revealing a hint of bone structure.

Ivy pressed her hand against her skin. The coldness emanating from her bones was more distinct now, as if pieces of cold iron were hidden beneath her flesh.

“My bones are turning into iron? Hmm, I hope I won’t end up growing an exoskeleton.”

Ivy swallowed, her mind recalling an anime character from her previous life, one who could pull out his bones and make them dance. It was ridiculously cool.

What happened to that character in the end? Bone cancer? Leukemia?

Swallowing a few more iron beads, Ivy pushed these thoughts aside, grabbed her bag, and headed out.

Today, she skipped the hardware store and went straight to school. Passing a dilapidated bridge, Ivy stopped her bike and tossed the lunchbox underneath.

Under the bridge, several beggars lived in makeshift tents. Their faces were grimy and their genders indistinguishable, their eyes empty and devoid of emotion.

It wasn’t until a stray dog dug up the lunchbox that the beggars seemed to suddenly come alive, letting out low growls and scrambling towards the dog on all fours.

For a moment, Ivy could hardly tell which were humans and which were dogs in the tangled mess.

She got on her bike and left.

Early in the morning, a police car was parked at the school gate. Two precinct officers walked onto the school grounds with the security guard. Passing students and teachers cast curious glances at them.

Ivy slowed down, pushing her bike, and vaguely overheard the words “missing” and “investigation.”

She narrowed her eyes, discreetly memorizing the appearances of the two officers.

School life was repetitive and monotonous. The arrival of the two officers was like throwing two lumps of cat poop into a clear broth; it was hard not to notice.

Ivy sat quietly in the back of the classroom. She didn't need to go anywhere or ask around. Fragments of information naturally drifted into her ears.

“Let me tell you, those two officers are here to…”

“Ah, the precinct received two reports. They were…”

“I heard from Class Four, Grade 11, that…”

“…”

Every classroom became an intelligence hub, the students transformed into secret agents. The most terrifying thing was that they had absolutely no sense of secrecy.

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They tirelessly shared information and exchanged news, ultimately spreading the latest updates to every corner of the school.

This was precisely why Ivy, even after dealing with the bodies, still stubbornly clung to school. This was the moment she had been waiting for.

“Everyone is my informant. Thank you,” Ivy thought, her eyes slightly moist. She felt the camaraderie and support from her classmates. Her mind raced, quickly piecing together the preliminary information:

The female deceased, Wang Wei, from Class Four, Grade 11. Beautiful, introverted, average grades, poor family background, father deceased, mother unemployed. She apparently had some family issues and was short on money.

The male deceased, Zheng Hang, from Class Seven, Grade 11. Ordinary looks, average grades, but spent money lavishly. He had several followers at school and had changed girlfriends three or four times in high school. His family supposedly had some influence.

Zheng Hang had been pursuing Wang Wei, who had rejected him.

Wang Wei’s mother had reported her missing two nights ago, Zheng Hang’s father had reported him missing yesterday.

...

By lunchtime, the fervent atmosphere of information gathering reached its peak because a body had been discovered in the abandoned storeroom.

As the white sheet-covered body was carried out, the entire school erupted.

The more the teachers stressed the importance of not crowding around, the more students gathered outside the cordon. The more the teachers emphasized not discussing the matter, the more gossip spread throughout the school.

The students crowded outside the cordon, craning their necks and standing on tiptoe, their eyes practically boring holes through the walls.

Ivy, with her backpack on, stood among them.

Because a body had been found, the case had been upgraded from a missing person case to a murder investigation. Two more officers and a forensic investigator arrived as reinforcements.

Ivy narrowed her eyes. “Only four officers for a murder case? Looks like the precinct is really tied up with that major case and can’t spare any more people.”

She silently memorized the appearances of these officers.

Deputy Captain Li Xiang, in a blue police uniform with a stained collar and a scar on his face, looked exhausted, clearly having worked several days and nights without rest.

“Two people are missing, but only one body was found at the scene?” Li Xiang asked, frowning.

“Yes, just one. Judging from the bloodstains at the scene, the victim was likely bludgeoned to death here, and then dragged to the dark room behind the wooden shelf,” Officer Chang Erbing replied.

The wooden shelf had been moved. Li Xiang entered the dark room, his pupils suddenly constricting.

Strange brownish-black lines etched into the floor, swirling like a black snake embedded in the ground, exuding an unspeakable aura of evil and bloodlust.

“A dark ritual!” Li Xiang said grimly.

Chang Erbing nodded, his eyes filled with disgust and apprehension. “The victim, Wang Wei, was lured here, murdered outside, and then brought here as a sacrifice.”

Chang Erbing pointed to the outline of the body marked with white lines in the center of the altar.

Li Xiang paused, then asked suspiciously, “Who do you suspect is the murderer?”

Chang Erbing replied, “Their disappearance times are basically the same, and their last known location was the school. It’s highly unlikely to be a coincidence.”

As he spoke, Chang Erbing took out a phone case and handed it to Li Xiang. “Only Wang Wei’s phone was found at the scene. The last call was two nights ago, and the contact was Zheng Hang.”

Li Xiang examined the phone. “Go on.”

Chang Erbing continued, “So I have reason to suspect that Zheng Hang lured Wang Wei here, murdered her, and performed the dark ritual.”

Li Xiang pondered for a moment, then said noncommittally, “The two missing persons are connected, their disappearance times and locations match. If one is the victim, then it's highly likely the other is the perpetrator who then went into hiding.”

He paused, then asked, “Were any of Zheng Hang’s belongings found at the scene?”

“No.”

“Were there any footprints from a third party?”

“No, only the footprints of the two victims were found.”

Li Xiang returned the evidence bag to Chang Erbing, and suddenly asked, “If Zheng Hang was the perpetrator, why didn't he take Wang Wei’s phone?”

Chang Erbing replied without hesitation, “The phone was found in a gap under the wooden shelf. It was probably dropped accidentally while the body was being moved. Besides, the perpetrator is a high school student. It's not unusual for them to make mistakes and leave clues behind; it fits the profile of a student crime.”

Li Xiang narrowed his eyes and suddenly changed the subject. “What about the social status and family backgrounds of the two students?”

Chang Erbing replied with a smile, “Both were eleventh graders who hadn’t registered for the college entrance exam. They’re both voids. Wang Wei only has a mother, who is also a void. Zheng Hang’s father seems to have some gang connections.”

Li Xiang chuckled. “If the father is involved in gangs, then it's not surprising that the son would perform a dark ritual. Report this back to the station and issue a wanted notice.”

Chang Erbing hesitated. He strongly suspected Zheng Hang, but was it too hasty to definitively label him as the murderer?

Li Xiang yawned and patted Chang Erbing on the shoulder, saying meaningfully, “Let’s quickly close this case so we can go back and help with the other one.”

Chang Erbing’s eyes lit up. Thinking of the pressure the precinct was under to solve the major case, his breathing quickened.

Chang Erbing knew what to do. They exchanged a few more words when they heard a woman’s cries from outside.

“That must be the victim's family,” Chang Erbing sighed. He had explicitly warned the school not to contact the families yet.

“Go take care of it,” Li Xiang said, waving his hand, taking a cigarette from his pack, lighting it, and taking a deep drag.

The smoke curled upwards, the gray haze he exhaled obscuring his face, his tired eyes staring at the ritual pattern, lost in thought.

Falling ash, contaminating the crime scene?

Ah—

Surprise!