"Where are you, what's going on?"
Hoang Tuan sent this message.
But for the next half hour, there was only silence on the phone.
Hoang Tuan was used to this...
Le Hoa Phat always liked to do other things after sending a message, like taking a bath and forgetting about it, then replying a few days later.
"Ugh, I hope he's not asking to borrow money again. I don't have much to lend him..."
Hoang Tuan suddenly remembered this.
He couldn't help but feel a bit of a headache.
The money Le Hoa Phat borrowed last time still hadn't been repaid...
"Forget it, I won't think about that anymore."
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
Hoang Tuan knew the food he ordered had arrived, so he put the mobile phone on the computer desk and wheeled his wheelchair to get the food.
He didn't know if it was because he had gotten used to his "mother's" cooking.
Normally, the takeout food he ordered tasted very good.
Now, chewing it in his mouth, it tasted like chewing wax crayons.
It took about an hour to finish a meal...
When Hoang Tuan picked up his phone again.
Le Hoa Phat had replied.
"If possible, can you come to my house? It's inconvenient for me to go out now."
Hoang Tuan looked at the message.
Feeling a bit strange.
Because of his leg disability, Le Hoa Phat usually came to his house when they needed to meet.
It was rare for the other side to invite him over...
"What could be going on with him?"
Hoang Tuan thought.
As one of his few friends.
Of course, he was concerned now.
He felt doubtful.
Originally, he wanted to rest well after returning from that world, but now he could only quickly pack up and head to Le Hoa Phat's house.
But just as he was about to leave...
Another message came through.
“Never mind, don't come.”
Le Hoa Phat had replied.
"What the heck?" Hoang Tuan turned off his phone, feeling the messages from Le Hoa Phat were inexplicably strange.
Like someone who had just experienced a breakup, he always liked to send random messages to friends...
He hesitated for a moment.
Hoang Tuan still wanted to check it out.
His behavior was really a bit abnormal, it wouldn't hurt to take a look...
Wheeling his wheelchair.
Hoang Tuan opened the door he hadn't seen for almost half a year, took the elevator, and tiredly left the building.
...
…
An hour earlier.
In a dim office.
Fine smoke wafted gently.
On a brown leather sofa, a young man was sitting, smoking, the cigarette glowing at his fingertips.
In front of him.
A stack of documents was arranged...
Under the dim light of the lamp, Hoang Tuan's photo in the file was clearly visible at the top left.
This was not a standard 3x4 photo for records or anything.
It was just a blurry photo taken at some unknown time when Hoang Tuan went downstairs to buy snacks.
Perhaps due to the photographer's lack of skill.
Hoang Tuan's face, generally considered handsome, looked overly elongated like a horse's face in the photo...
The young man slowly flicked through the documents with his left index finger.
His face obscured by smoke, his thoughts unclear.
"Yeah, he was raised by his grandmother since childhood, his only relative passed away when he was in high school, and he's been living alone since then..."
“He was born with a leg disability, limiting his mobility. He can only barely stand and has difficulty taking care of himself.”
“Even so, he hasn't hired a caregiver.”
“He works in the online novel industry, once a famous novelist, but the quality of his work declined, making him a down-and-out author, becoming a poor writer beyond imagination…”
"His social network is very simple. Because he works in the novel industry, he doesn't have many colleagues. He has only a few friends from his student days."
"He has no romantic history, nor much contact with any women besides relatives and his grandmother. He's considered a reclusive individual."
“Strangely, although he hasn't interacted with the opposite sex, half a year ago, he anxiously claimed to have a wife named Thanh Linh, asking everywhere about her whereabouts…”
“He likes playing games but is extremely bad at it. His game account was suspended for two weeks for accidentally harming teammates.”
“He used to love singing, but after performing on the street and being mistaken for a street artist, receiving a few thousand in front of him, he never sang again…”
“He also loves painting and has a high talent for it, but due to financial constraints, he gave up after a short time of exposure.”
“When he was in school, his academic performance was excellent, but because of his grandmother's illness, he dropped out in the 11th grade of high school and didn't take the university entrance exam…”
The young man carefully read from top to bottom.
Finally, he stubbed out the cigarette in his hand in the ashtray.
The smoke slowly dissipated, eventually becoming still.
He picked up the file again.
Leaning back in his seat.
Frowning, he prepared to review it again...
“Knock Knock Knock!”
There was a knock on the door.
He calmly said, “Come in.”
After the door opened, a young man in a baseball uniform walked into the room.
Perhaps because of the smoke inside.
The young man couldn't help but cover his nose, walked to the window sill, pulled the curtains open, and pushed the window aside.
A cool breeze immediately blew in from outside along with the harsh sunlight.
"The curtains are always closed, it's always gloomy. Isn't this better? Why not turn on the desk lamp during the day."
After the young man finished, he muttered a sentence.
"What? I purposely drew the curtains to create a Godfather atmosphere, now you've ruined my whole vibe."
Duong Khanh Vi put down the documents.
He spoke with dissatisfaction.
"If you want atmosphere, why not add some background music?"
The young man in the baseball uniform said.
Hearing this.
Duong Khanh Vi couldn't help but recall someone carrying a large dark blue bag, with an MP3 player in the pocket, wobbling on a bicycle and saying he wanted to be a hero...
Bringing his mind back.
He brushed aside the strange memory from his head.
“Have you finished reading the file?” The young man in the baseball uniform walked over to Duong Khanh Vi, picked up the file, and glanced at it indifferently.
"I've finished reading, but the file you compiled is somewhat unusual. I feel it's of no use."
Duong Khanh Vi complained.
At the same time, he pulled out another cigarette from his pocket, preparing to light it for himself.
"What? All the information about this person is here. There's nothing special about him, before Mo Giang asked us to. This is the second collection... Cough Cough! I've told you to quit smoking, if you feel it's unbearable, quit. People smoke, but you're killing people!"
The young man coughed twice.
Deliberately moving away from Duong Khanh Vi, avoiding the thick smoke wafting into his face.
"Hmm? Mo Giang also wanted information about him?"
Duong Khanh Vi looked up and asked suspiciously.
"Yes, not long ago, at that time, she even said she wanted to negotiate with this person named Hoang Tuan, inviting him to join us. Mo Giang even personally went to his house."
The young man explained.
"What was the result?"
"The result? With Mo Giang intervening, what result do you expect? You know her nature, she can turn hope into despair, even doing things that shouldn't be done. Naturally, the person refused."
The young man finished speaking.
Duong Khanh Vi nodded in agreement.
Mo Giang, despite her very good talent, could be considered a fish in water when encountering the horror world, easily resolving difficulties.
But when it comes to persuasion skills...
As someone who had much contact with Mo Giang, he had to admit that she was very eloquent.
While persuading, Mo Giang also had a mysterious confidence.
Making people always have the urge to punch her...
Hoang Tuan refused.
And it was indeed so.
"Forget it, we'll negotiate again if there's a chance."
Duong Khanh Vi muttered.
"What? Are you also interested in him? Does he have some magical power? It seems both you and Mo Giang are interested in him."
The young man asked with a smile.
"It's quite magical. To be honest, this time when I stepped into the coordinates (5, 2), I met him.. and he made a great effort to solve the place."
"Really? Should we find a professional to recruit him?"
The young man continued after hearing Duong Khanh Vi's words.
Although he didn't know what special ability this novelist named Hoang Tuan had.
Seeing both Duong Khanh Vi and Mo Giang interested in him.
He thought it couldn't be too bad.
Moreover, the overall strength of the organization was still very weak, even though recently they recruited more new people, their talents were average, let alone being self-trained, which was a distant dream...
Finding suitable new blood.
Of course, it was better to recruit as many as possible.
"No, no need. I don't know if this person is still alive or dead. When I left, he had encountered an accident. I just think optimistically and believe he might have survived."
"If you've investigated before, help me see if he's returned this time."
Duong Khanh Vi thought of Hoang Tuan standing alone in "Tran Hung Dao High School" facing a scene full of bizarre creatures.
He felt a bit regretful.
It was an extremely dangerous situation.
He wasn't even sure he could escape safely, let alone someone untrained like him.
"I hope you survived..."
Duong Khanh Vi stared at Hoang Tuan's photo in the file.
Silently thinking.
After a while, he looked up as if remembering something, and asked the young man in the baseball uniform: "By the way, what happened in the 'reality invasion' event at the mental hospital last time?"
The young man named Do Hoanh Thien was the head of the investigation team in the organization, he often received the earliest news.
Duong Khanh Vi looked at Do Hoanh Thien in front of him coincidentally present here.
So, he asked about it next.
But when mentioning this topic...
Duong Khanh Vi noticed Do Hoanh Thien's expression was a bit strange.
The other first frowned, then turned around and sighed softly, as if a serious accident had occurred, making Duong Khanh Vi feel a bit worried.
"Just say it straight. No need to choose words. Did something happen?"
Duong Khanh Vi felt that Do Hoanh Thien might not be easy to talk to, so he said it like that.
"No, the mental hospital situation is relatively simple, the invasion state is normal, after Mo Giang brought people there, it was easily resolved." Do Hoanh Thien honestly replied.
"Then why did you make that face, making me think something unexpected happened, it's good that it was resolved."
Duong Khanh Vi sighed with relief, at the same time said to Do Hoanh Thien: "In the future, you should smile more, as an information gatherer always having this look, it easily causes misunderstandings."
Do Hoanh Thien said nothing about this.
He had heard too many similar words.
He had once heard strange persuasions like “a smiling face can overcome conflicts”.
Just that there was no other choice when born with this gloomy look.
Even when telling jokes, people could easily mistake it for a ghost story.
He was used to it...
"I know, but I didn't intentionally make this face. What I wanted to add is, although the event ended successfully, there was a bit of an accident."
Do Hoanh Thien's words pressed down on Duong Khanh Vi's just relaxed heart.
He stubbed out the half-smoked cigarette into the ashtray, the smoke began to rise again...
“What happened?” Duong Khanh Vi's expression became serious.
"Originally it was just a simple invasion event, based on a rough story of a 'ghost bride' but the bride wasn't a woman. There were murders before, the doctors in the psychiatric department also knew about it."
"So?"
“Then, a blockade was implemented at that time, the organization sent people to resolve it. Since the blockade timing couldn't be ensured, it led to an early release.”
"Although when Mo Giang's people arrived there were no casualties, a psychiatrist seemed to have gone mad because of it..."
Do Hoanh Thien explained.
He looked at Duong Khanh Vi staring at him, paused, then continued.
"After the doctor was rescued by Mo Giang's people, his whole nervous system was affected. He locked himself at home and refused to come out no matter what. If anyone tried to knock on the door, he would directly use violence."
"Was he stimulated, causing his nerves to become sensitive?"
Duong Khanh Vi asked.
People often became anxious after encountering bizarre events.
There were people who, fearing harm.
Forced themselves to be locked at home.
Anyone who touched them would feel provoked, and they would not leave home until they were truly hungry and couldn't bear it.
Hearing the cause.
The immediate speculation of Duong Khanh Vi was like that...
“No, it wasn't like that.” Do Hoanh Thien denied the question, “Before locking himself at home, he said a lot of nonsense, even hurt another psychiatrist, his colleague.”
"Huh? Was the doctor accidentally provoked by him?"
"No, later investigating, others said the situation was normal, but he suddenly rushed out to hurt others... The doctor was just unlucky, accidentally stabbed by him... others were also his targets, but they avoided it.”
"Is it that serious..."
Duong Khanh Vi felt this person might be too weak.
This reality invasion seemed to destroy his basic perception...
"But as a psychiatrist, shouldn't he be stronger?"
Duong Khanh Vi thought.
Then asked Do Hoanh Thien: “What's the name of this nervous problem doctor?”
"Le Hoa Phat."