Undercover Games  

Mandy Wu?

Who the heck is that?

Wenjay copies, pastes, hits enter, and the search engine's loading icon spins like crazy for a good thirty seconds before showing zero results.

No way... Wenjay stares at the blank search page, his eyebrows knitting together. Seriously, how can a living, breathing human being not leave a single trace on the internet in this day and age?

Could her info have been wiped by some shadowy government agency?

A notification pops up on WeChat. Omega sent a message: [Yo, why did you go radio silent? Who is this gal? Need me to dig up some dirt on her?]

What to do? Wenjay looks at Omega's WeChat profile picture, his fingers hovering over the keyboard. Finally, he takes a deep breath and types: [Can you help me find out who she is?]

Omega sends a thumbs-up emoji and vanishes into the digital abyss. Wenjay figures this might take a while, so he whips out his phone to play an empire-building game while waiting for Omega to get back to him.

As time ticks away, Wenjay, playing as a cunning courtier, manages to outmaneuver and defeat a rival in the game, earning the Emperor's favor and the Empress's jealousy. Just as he's summoned by the Empress Dowager, he remembers Omega's previous advice and spends some experience points on a potion to avoid calamity.

Man, this game is twisted...

After downing three cups of fancy tea and making two trips to the bathroom, it's 8 PM and still no word from Omega. Wenjay starts to worry that he might have gotten her into trouble. He messages her on WeChat: [Are you okay?]

After a nail-biting thirty seconds, Omega replies: [Dude, who on earth did you tick off?]

Relieved that she's okay, Wenjay asks: [What did you find out? What's her deal?]

Omega sends an ominous ellipsis, followed by a zip file: [This is as far as I can help you. Don't tell anyone you know me. If you get into hot water, please, for the love of the two and a half years I've been your fan, don't rat me out!]

Wenjay sends back his own string of ellipsis. Omega replies: [I need to eat some watermelon to calm my nerves. Take your time looking through it, but delete it when you're done. Some of the stuff I pulled from places I shouldn't have. Don't leave any evidence on your computer.]

Wenjay solemnly promises: [Got it, thank you. Don't worry, I won't rat you out!]

Omega sends an exploding head emoji and goes offline.

Wenjay takes a deep breath and opens the zip file. Inside is a document titled "Read Me First." It's a patchwork resume, clearly pieced together from various sources, with mismatched fonts and colors.

Mandy Wu, female, 27 years old, born in a border town to a police family. At the age of 12, her family was brutally murdered by a criminal gang. Her parents were stabbed multiple times and bled to death, and her brother's throat was slit in the police academy's bathroom.

The gang had planned to kill her too, but Wu was on a class camping trip and got separated from her classmates. She managed to rejoin them in the early hours of the next morning, narrowly escaping the tragedy.

Overnight, Wu went from a pampered child with a loving family to a homeless orphan. Luckily, a close friend of her father took her in. The local police created a new identity for her, and she went to live with her foster father.

Everything went smoothly after that. Wu followed in her family's footsteps, attending the police academy and becoming an outstanding detective. Within three years of graduating, she was making a name for herself in the police force. In 2028, she volunteered to join the Criminal Investigation Department's Super Case Division as an assistant director, solving numerous high-profile cases and earning several commendations.

But then, her shining career came to an abrupt halt. The last line of her resume was the end of her life:

Mandy Wu died on April 12, 2031, in a special criminal case. Case classification: Top Secret.

April 12th... This particular date made Wenjay realize that Wu's death and Mingyoo's injury might be connected to the same case!

Considering the "Undercover Games" case mentioned on the forum happened around the same time, Wenjay couldn't help but wonder if Wu had gone rogue, attacked Mingyoo, and wreaked havoc on the Super Case Division?

Wenjay's curiosity was on fire as he clicked through the other files in the zip. Omega's hacking skills were impressive; she had even managed to get photos of Wu with her family before she changed her name, her police academy transcript, and even a list of people she had flings with in college!

Noticing that Mingyoo wasn't on the list, Wenjay felt oddly relieved.

After going through all the documents, Wenjay noticed something important – the Criminal Investigation Department didn't hold a memorial service for Wu.

Did this imply that her death was not honorable, or even that she was killed on the spot?

Why would she turn rogue? As a model police officer, why would she suddenly betray her values and become the sinister force that brought down the Super Case Division?

Wenjay spent the next half hour lost in thought, concocting a wild police drama in his head, only to realize that his curiosity was getting the better of him.

He didn't sleep well that night because of Wu. When his phone alarm blared the next morning, he could barely open his eyes.

The caller ID showed it was his buddy from the US. Wenjay answered with a yawn, and his friend's energetic voice boomed, "Happy birthday!"

Wenjay then remembered it was his birthday. He was 22!

His mood lifted instantly. He thanked his friend and opened the balcony door to find the rain had stopped and the sun was shining brightly.

As his friend rambled on, Wenjay half-listened until his friend asked about his crush, Belle. He laughed it off, "Got a new job in the mountains. I'll visit her when I get some time off."

"Still haven't confessed, huh? Man, you're such a wuss!" his friend teased mercilessly. "OMG! You're 22 and still a virgin? I'm gonna buy you a purity ring on eBay and send it to China!"

Wenjay rolled his eyes. He couldn't argue with his friend on this one, so he changed the subject: "Hey, when we went to Las Vegas, did we meet any Chinese people?"

"How would I know?" his friend replied. "I had to leave on the third day because my mom called me back for something. You were on your own for the rest of the trip. I wanted to ask if you had any crazy adventures, but you went straight back to school."

Wait, what? Wenjay was confused. He was alone the whole time? Then why did Mingyoo say, "You and your buddies tricked me"?

If his friend had gone home, who were these "buddies"?

Wenjay hung up and realized he'd been played by Mingyoo again. That guy couldn't tell the truth if his life depended on it!

But confronting him now seemed pointless. Mingyoo could probably spin seventeen different stories in the blink of an eye to confuse him further!

Wenjay brushed his teeth and washed his face with a gloomy expression, then changed clothes and went downstairs to make breakfast. Patton was fully healed and happily playing fetch in the yard. Wenjay noticed that it was Rommel who was tossing the ball with an evil grin. Every time Patton brought the ball back, Rommel would calmly swipe it with his paw, sending it rolling down the steps and bouncing into the yard, with Patton chasing after it like a goofball.

Feeling Wenjay's gaze, Rommel gave him a haughty look as if to say – What, never seen a fool before?

Wenjay backed away silently.

He heated up some milk, toasted bread, and spread butter on it. The rich aroma filled the dining room. Wenjay made some soft-boiled eggs, garnished the plate with blueberries and kiwi slices, and then went upstairs to invite the master of the house for breakfast.

Don't ask why he's serving a con artist. It's his duty as a fiancé and a dog dad!

"Mingyoo?" Wenjay knocked for a while with no answer. Just as he was wondering if Mingyoo had gone out, the doorbell rang.

Standing outside was a tall, imposing middle-aged man in his forties, with a stern expression. His appearance and demeanor reminded Wenjay of some sort of revered politician.

"You are...?"

"Wenjay?" The man sized Wenjay up and down, "Mingyoo's fiancé?"

Wenjay was slightly bewildered by the man's heavily accented Chinese.

Without another word, the man took out his phone, tapped it a few times, and shouted into the microphone, "Hey, loser! You still alive?"

Wenjay felt like his eyelashes were being blown away by the man's booming voice.

After waiting for five seconds, the man pocketed his phone and strode past Wenjay into the house, saying, "Follow me."

Wenjay, feeling disoriented, followed him and asked, "Who are you exactly?"

The man hurried upstairs and stood in front of Mingyoo's room, knocking loudly. He then turned to Wenjay and said, "I'm Gootin Sang , Mingyoo's boss... I mean, Deputy Director of the Criminal Investigation Department." He knocked again and muttered to himself, "Damn, that idiot's rubbing off on me."

Wenjay was speechless.

"Step aside." Sang took a step back, lifting his leg as if to kick the door down. Wenjay quickly grabbed him, "Wait! He might not be home!"

"Bullshit." Sang's voice was thunderous, even in Cantonese, "Thermal imaging shows he's lying on the bed right now!"

With that, he kicked the door open.