Chapter 2: 2. The First Side Quest

The black car sliced through the twilight rain as it slowly blanketed the sprawling Niskala metropolis. The lights from towering skyscrapers shone even brighter, while beams from the headlights of countless vehicles lit up every corner of the streets. Traffic lights at various intersections shifted colors in steady intervals, forcing cars to halt when the red glow dominated the scene.

At a bustling intersection, one such light turned red, prompting the almond-eyed man behind the wheel to stop his car, waiting for the green to reappear. His deep black eyes absentmindedly followed the people crossing at the intersection when suddenly something caught his attention—an unexpected vision that he first dismissed as a mere illusion.

Ping!

[ Status Window]

System: The Code Of Death

User: Derian Baskara Fajar

Gender: Male

Age: 28

Current Status:

Level: 1

Health: 100 / 100

Mental Stability: 70 / 100

XP: 0 / 1000

Skill Points: 0

Total Points: 0

Good Karma: 0 / 10

Bad Karma: 0 / 10

Reputation: Trusted (Well-regarded by colleagues and the public)

Note: The first side quest is awaiting your action!

Derian instinctively rubbed his eyes, his logical mind trying to convince him that the sudden appearance of a blue holographic screen floating in front of him was just an illusion—a side effect of his recent mental strain. "What the hell is this? Is the new medication causing visual and auditory hallucinations?" he muttered, clearly confused.

He slowly closed his eyes, tapping his ears lightly in an attempt to block out the female voice echoing strange words in his head. But then, his eyes shot open again, this time with a deepening sense of bewilderment. The voice was oddly familiar. "Why does this sound so familiar?" he whispered to himself as a wave of déjà vu swept over him.

Honk! Honk!

Derian gasped as the blaring horns of several cars and the angry shouts of drivers aimed directly at him jolted him back to reality. He glanced up at the traffic light, realizing it had been green for quite some time.

Strangely, the holographic screen and the voice he thought were just illusions had disappeared in an instant, making him even more certain that the bizarre things he'd just seen and heard were nothing more than the product of his fraying sanity.

Shaking his head, Derian tried to push the strange encounter from his mind. He quickly put the car back in motion, heading toward one of the southern corners of Niskala—a place where the stark reality of social inequality stood in plain sight, in a village called Bena.

Time seemed to flow as steadily as the wheels of the car, rolling relentlessly down the road. The towering skyscrapers gradually disappeared from view, replaced by a stark contrast of tightly packed, modest buildings that gave off a stifling and suffocating atmosphere. As the car transitioned from smooth pavement to a bumpy, pothole-filled road, signaling the approach to his destination, Derian's eyes were drawn to a line of protest banners strung along the side of the main road leading into the village.

His dark eyes quickly scanned the faded banners, which displayed the villagers' desperate pleas, protesting the forced evictions that had been ramping up in recent months—driven by those in far higher social and economic positions.

The sight held the light-skinned man's attention for a few moments before his car continued forward, drawing closer to the crowd gathered at the end of the road. Flashing blue and red lights pierced through the fading orange glow of twilight, and soon, the noise reached his ears—a chaotic blend of blaring police sirens, the rapid clicks of cameras from arriving media, and the chatter of residents crowding the perimeter of the crime scene.

Derian quickly pulled his car to the side of the road when his dark eyes caught sight of a man with curly brown hair emerging from the crowd. The man immediately sprinted toward him upon spotting the black vehicle.

The man in the gray shirt crossed his arms over his chest, leaned against the car, and shot an irritated glance at Derian as he stepped out of the vehicle. "Bro, what took you so long?" grumbled Candrasa.

Derian rolled his eyes, clearly tired of his partner's constant complaints. "I drove here, not teleported. Obviously, it takes time," he replied, laced with sarcasm as he eyed the 26-year-old in front of him.

Candrasa Raditya sighed, letting the comment slide as his sharp brown eyes dropped to the small notebook in his hand. "The victim is a 35-year-old man, a local resident. He was found by another villager who happened to stumble upon the body while searching for her missing cat," he explained.

Derian listened intently to the narrative before suddenly asking, "How long is the victim thought to have been dead?"

Candrasa turned his gaze back to Derian, his hunter eyes conveying a sense of seriousness. "Based on the rigor mortis¹ and livor mortis² observed on the victim's body, he should have been dead for more than 12 to 24 hours before being discovered," he replied.

A deep frown creased Derian's forehead upon hearing that answer. "It's been that long?" he asked in astonishment. "How could the victim go unnoticed for such a long time? The corpse was clearly lying in an alley that serves as a main access path in this neighborhood, which should be frequented by passersby. Was the victim's body covered by something at some point?" A puzzled expression reflected in his dark almond eyes, stemming from the anomaly he perceived.

Candrasa immediately shook his head. "No, it's due to the quietness of the neighborhood," he replied, slowly walking toward the crime scene. "Many residents have been leaving the village over the past few months because a company plans to build an infrastructure project on the village's land, leading to forced evictions."

"While many residents chose to leave, some have insisted on staying and protesting, feeling that the compensation they're being offered doesn't match their losses," he continued. "Now, there are more empty houses than residents remaining. Coincidentally, the area around the alley where the crime occurred is surrounded by vacant buildings. That's why the victim went unnoticed for so long, because that spot is rarely visited by people."

Meanwhile, Derian listened intently to the explanation while following Candrasa's lead. His dark eyes scanned the surrounding environment, which was dominated by the sight of empty houses that had been neglected since their owners abandoned them. The few remaining residents of the neighborhood were gathered around the police line, mingling with curious onlookers from neighboring villages who had come to learn about the murder case.

But as he took more steps toward the crime scene, the two things he thought were illusions suddenly reappeared before him.

Ping!