Good and Evil Chapter 122: The Love Story of 999 Strawberries

It took nearly two months to solve the Han Xingchang murder case. Once it was closed, the police realized that the case itself was not complex; what had been complicated were merely the personal relationships between the individuals involved.

Following the resolution of the case, Ning Yanran returned to the Second Criminal Investigation Team of the Public Security Bureau, while Xu Lang returned to his detective agency, both preoccupied with their respective matters.

More than half of November had passed. Autumn had drifted away in silence, the weather grew increasingly chilly, and winter arrived without a sound.

After the Han Xingchang case was solved, Xu Lang spent his days confined to his office at the detective agency. No one knew what he was doing in there. Ever since Jin Enpei had witnessed Xu Lang’s outburst last time, she rarely entered his office, and the others avoided it entirely. Whenever there was business or a new case, they went directly to Du Ziqiao.

Du Ziqiao had complained to Xu Lang about this behavior, but every time he approached, Xu Lang would pull out a pack of 1916 cigarettes and brew a cup of fine Longjing tea. Under this "smooth operation," the words already on the tip of Du Ziqiao’s tongue would inevitably be swallowed back down along with the tea and tobacco.

Du Ziqiao tried twice, and after the same result both times, he stopped bothering Xu Lang, handling matters himself. Meanwhile, Xu Lang sat before his computer daily, reviewing case files of past crimes where suspects had dismembered their victims.

November 22nd marked the "Minor Snow" solar term.

Xu Lang was viewing photos on his computer when a knock sounded at his office door. He looked up, closed all the windows on his screen, and then said, "Come in."

The door pushed open, and Jin Enpei entered, carrying a notebook and a folder. Seeing her demeanor, Xu Lang knew the agency must have received a difficult case; if it were ordinary, Du Ziqiao and the others would have handled it without needing him.

Sure enough, after sitting down, Jin Enpei handed him the folder. "Brother Lang, take a look at this case. I’m not sure if it’s real."

Intrigued, Xu Lang picked up the folder. After a quick scan, he felt something was strange—it didn’t read like a criminal case, but rather a tragic love story.

The case originated from a 2D fighting game introduced from South Korea the previous year called *Dungeon & Fighter* (DNF). Developed by a Korean team and brought to China by Tencent, it officially launched in August of the previous year.

While Xu Lang was an expert in criminal investigation, combat, and marksmanship, he was not a gamer. However, he had played *The King of Fighters* in the past, so he had a general idea of how such games worked.

The case centered on this game. DNF was a 2D fighter focused on leveling up and character cultivation, featuring four base classes: Slayer, Gunner, Mage, and Fighter, each branching into four sub-classes. For instance, a Slayer could advance into a Berserker, Soul Bender, Blade Master, or Ashura.

The level cap was 60, and reaching the max level took at least a month. Equipment was color-coded by rarity: white, blue, purple, and orange. White was common, while orange required rare items to unlock hidden dungeons. Players had to manage HP (Health Points) and MP (Mana Points). If HP hit zero in a dungeon, the character died and the mission failed. To recover, players used items like "Strawberries," a common low-level HP recovery item. The story revolved around this item.

A Gunner with the ID "Fool and Girl" met a level-three Mage named "Cute MM" while leveling in the beginner zone. The boy playing the Gunner, out of kindness, helped the lower-level girl clear dungeons. Because his gear was poor and his skills were lacking, he often died, but the girl stayed by his side. They chatted and added each other as friends.

As the girl’s level surpassed his, she found stronger players to carry her. They drifted apart, but the boy realized he had fallen in love with her.

The boy was Zhou Hongwen, 18, and the girl was Wu Mengmeng, 17. The boy’s identity was confirmed by his parents, who had visited the agency. Zhou Hongwen had confessed to her in the game and via QQ, but was repeatedly rejected. Finally, perhaps moved by his persistence or merely annoyed, the girl told him if he wanted to be with her, he had to collect 999 "Strawberries"—the low-level HP recovery items.

While strange, Zhou Hongwen agreed. Buying them was too expensive for a high school student, so he resorted to carrying other beginners through dungeons, charging five strawberries per run. To reach 999, he needed to complete 200 runs. It was a grueling task, hindered by the game’s "PL" (fatigue) system, which limited how many dungeons one could run per day.

He spent months in the beginner village, earning a reputation for his dedication. Even when the girl and her high-level friends mocked him, he remained undeterred. About two months ago, he finally reached 998 strawberries. He contacted the girl, they spoke for a long time, and then... he vanished. He never logged into the game again. Many speculated that the 998 strawberries were a symbol of his love, and the missing one was the last shred of his dignity. Others thought it was just a staged farce. Regardless, both their accounts went dark.

Xu Lang finished reading, feeling it sounded like a mere internet romance. "This is just a story," he said, looking at Jin Enpei. "What does this have to do with a missing person case?"

"Keep reading," Jin Enpei replied.

It turned out that after that final conversation two months ago, Zhou Hongwen had disappeared. He had been admitted to S University but vanished shortly after military training. His parents, busy with work, assumed he was busy with his studies, and the school assumed he was home recovering from an injury.

It was only when the school threatened expulsion that his parents realized he had been missing for two weeks. The school and his parents searched his dormitory, but the other freshmen knew nothing of his whereabouts, only that he often went to a local internet café to play DNF.

The café owner recalled that Zhou had indeed been a regular, always pulling all-nighters, but hadn't been seen in two weeks. His parents searched every internet café in S City, but to no avail. The police were eventually involved, but the investigation stalled, and he was officially listed as a missing person.

Though the police had stopped searching, his parents refused to give up, continuing to scour the internet cafés of the city until, through a referral, they arrived at the Lang Detective Agency.