Chapter 61: A Literary Plagiarist?

As late June gradually approached, Lin Yilin received some rather peculiar information through her intelligence network.

A pair of mysterious embroidered shoes had appeared in the areas surrounding Smiling Road.

The *Shixi Kexi Secret Report* also published descriptions of this incident by several residents of Shixi Kexi Street.

A gentleman living in the Joyful Residential Area on Smiling Road recounted that one night, after finishing overtime and walking home, he noticed a pair of brightly colored red embroidered shoes by the roadside. Their exquisite craftsmanship and immaculate condition did not look like discarded items at all, so he didn't pay much mind to them at first.

However, after walking past them, he discovered an identical pair of embroidered shoes in the alley right next to his house.

By this time, he felt a sliver of doubt, yet still didn't take it too seriously.

That was until he returned home, ready to wind down from an exhausting day. Intending merely to reward himself with a small drink before bed, he cast a casual glance out the window and nearly scared his soul right out of his body.

Down on the pathway outside, a pair of embroidered shoes was quietly "standing" directly beneath the streetlamp, facing his house.

Though no figure was visible, he had a vague, chilling sensation that something out there was watching him.

That entire night, the sound of footsteps echoed from outside every now and then, and something seemed to be tapping against his bedroom window, with indistinct shadows flashing past from time to time.

In the end, he curled up on the living room sofa in trembling terror, surviving the night in a half-asleep, half-awake daze.

When he woke up in the morning, everything had grown quiet. He cautiously crept into his bedroom to take a look. As he pulled back the curtains, he was horrified to find the glass covered in dense, blood-red shoe prints.

Frightened out of his wits, he immediately contacted an agency.

......

Multiple similar sightings of embroidered shoes occurred, varying in color and type, causing a certain degree of commotion.

This led informants at the Processing Bureau to suspect that the previous bait hallucinations hadn't been completely cleared away, or that some other dangerous phantasm was at play.

Yet, the operational results from several detective agencies left them even more baffled, as investigation revealed no signs of hallucinations whatsoever.

One detail worth noting was that toast crumbs had been discovered at every single scene. But what significance could this finding possibly hold? In the end, it was not given much weight.

Subsequently, these incidents drastically decreased until they vanished entirely, leaving the matter unresolved and swept under the rug.

This was hardly a rare occurrence.

Most of the time, events that initially seemed to portend something ominous ended up amounting to nothing—all thunder and no rain, or perhaps not even a rumble of thunder at all.

Ultimately, it could only be attributed to the Black World possibly drawing locally closer, perhaps related to the impending date of June 31st.

***

Mentioning this, personnel from the Processing Bureau and the agencies could only pull themselves away from such baffling trivialities and return to their preparations.

Meanwhile, Miss Lin Yilin, who knew the inside story behind the whole affair, lifted her head from the newspaper and cast her gaze toward the handsome, black-clad hallucination currently brewing coffee in front of her... and lowered her eyes just a bit further to look at his feet.

Beneath his stern, all-black attire, Zheng Fan's feet were clad in a dainty pair of red embroidered shoes.

"This pairing is truly an assault on the eyes," Lin Yilin remarked with a steady tone.

Zheng Fan raised one leg and wiggled his toes. "You think so? They're actually quite comfortable to wear, though of course I had Lu Lu Shoes adjust them first."

"Pranks should be kept in moderation. In the event that this actually draws serious attention, while they might not catch us, it won't be so easy to take them out to play casually once the alert level goes up," Lin Yilin cautioned.

"It's just that Lu Lu Shoes and Toast were overflowing with energy and kept clamoring for me to take them out, so I had to cater to the children's moods," Zheng Fan said with a smile, taking a sip of his coffee.

"I'm certain they didn't propose such a specific method of playing."

"At least they had a lot of fun," Zheng Fan shrugged. "On the other hand, the coffee maker has always been well-behaved, rarely ever speaking up or offering its own opinions."

"Should I feel grateful for that?" Lin Yilin pressed a hand to her forehead.

She picked up her phone and took a look. "The operations of Banmu's studio are showing a bit of success; they've basically achieved a balance between income and expenses, and a portion of the earnings has been transferred to the card you're holding. Use it prudently."

Zheng Fan looked somewhat surprised. "Already? I haven't even been disguising myself as Cheng Fei to show my face there lately."

"Making money is largely a matter of connections and information gaps. It's nothing to be astonished about. Rather, if I couldn't even manage something like this, then I truly would be useless," Lin Yilin replied dismissively, treating it as if it were a trivial hobby.

To her, it didn't even qualify as a hobby.

On one hand, it was merely to acquire deep inside intelligence on Banmu, acting as a thorn planted within their ranks. Causing trouble for Banmu diverted the attention of certain individuals who viewed Lin Yilin as a thorn in their side—a strategy that had proven exceptionally effective thus far. Cheng Fei's underlings kept the lower and middle tiers in check, while colluding with Kiyono Koji to keep the upper echelons restrained. As a result, things had been much quieter on Lin Yilin's end lately.

Furthermore, during the previous incident involving the Lu Lu hallucination, cooperating with Falchion and even intervening in the Processing Bureau's operations had resulted in Banmu's recent predicament looking rather bleak. They had only themselves to blame, though one could only wonder how much Falchion had paid back then.

On the other hand, it was simply to earn some pocket money for Zheng Fan.

All in all, she had no personal interest in it, but it was necessary.

"By the way, what did Mr. Hallucination think of the proposal I mentioned last time?" Lin Yilin suddenly recalled something and asked.

"What proposal?"

"Cultural plagiarism." Lin Yilin lowered her head, shadows casting over half her face like an evil villain in a story.

"Oh, ghostwriting and plagiarizing other worlds," Zheng Fan remembered. Now *that* truly was quite an "evil" enterprise.

***

Ever since discovering that Zheng Fan could directly materialize works from his own knowledge through his property abilities, Lin Yilin had instantly recognized the business opportunity hidden within.

Compared to hazardous illicit ventures like red elixirs or mass-produced fantastical objects that easily attracted unwanted scrutiny, creative works offered a much more convenient route.

"The background settings might be a bit tricky to handle," Zheng Fan noted.

To this day, he still hadn't fully grasped the background of a place like Metropolis.

According to Lin Yilin, it was a comprehensive international metropolis with an extremely high degree of independence, yet the world outside Metropolis had very few descriptions. Certain traces showed numerous similarities to Zheng Fan's past world, but profound differences were equally abundant.

"It's fine. Otherworldly inspirations are nothing out of the ordinary in Metropolis."

"What does that mean?"

"It refers to story inspirations drawn by individuals from multiverse realms originating from other worlds. Those tales might be actual events that transpired in alternative realities, or they could be literary creations from other dimensions. In short, they are all collectively termed 'otherworldly inspirations' acquired by the people of Metropolis."

"How are copyrights and things like that handled?"

"Naturally, they belong to the thief—ah, the transporter. Even if a true original author exists, they have no way to sue for copyright infringement. People from other worlds aren't even considered citizens of Metropolis and do not enjoy local rights here. Everyone is already accustomed to this kind of thing. You don't even have to put up a pretense; you can just include the original author and leave your own signature at the end to let everyone know you did it," Lin Yilin expounded fluently.

"An undisguised criminal signature? Displaying it so brazenly gives one a rather shameful feeling," Zheng Fan felt a bit awkward.

"If you agree, we can already start making arrangements. The film industry is a bit troublesome, and since its main focus is over on the White World side, I can't reach that far, but literary creation is much easier to manage." Lin Yilin stroked the book she had just been reading on her desk.

Watching Lin Yilin's inexplicable eagerness, Zheng Fan felt a sense of strangeness, pondered for a moment, and then suddenly realized something.

"You're not implying that my storytelling is terrible, are you?"

"..." Lin Yilin froze, her lips twitching slightly.

"Answer me."

Lin Yilin averted her gaze.

"Don't look away!"

"Uh—it's just that once given a choice, I prefer direct reading and viewing. Plus, when Mr. Hallucination tells stories while occasionally transforming and acting them out in person, it's a bit noisy and the pacing gets messy... well, simply put, that's all." Lin Yilin turned her head back, though her eyes still drifted evasively while her fingers fidgeted restlessly on the desk.

"I quit!"