Fourfold Deception: The Thirteenth-Floor Secret Room

In 2035, as smart homes become commonplace, Nebula Apartments stands in the heart of the city. This 32-story high-tech complex has an independent smart system in every unit, while the 13th floor is “hidden” from the electronic displays.

Lin Mo, a former criminal police officer now working as a smart-system auditor, left the force three years ago after failing to solve a locked-room murder. His fiancée, Chen Yu, died in a sealed room at Nebula Apartments. The security footage showed her committing suicide, but Lin Mo was convinced she had been murdered.

Three years later, another locked-room murder takes place at Nebula Apartments. The victim, 27-year-old Li Xue, died of mechanical asphyxiation. The smart lock was bolted from the inside, surveillance footage stopped the moment she entered the room, and every alibi was impeccable.

The police call in Lin Mo to examine the scene in his capacity as a system auditor. He discovers that the case bears a striking resemblance to the death of his fiancée, Chen Yu, three years earlier. The access logs, surveillance footage, and smart-system records all point to one conclusion: this is an impossible crime.

But Lin Mo doesn’t believe in “impossible.” As he investigates further, he discovers that this seemingly flawless smart apartment hides a secret on the 13th floor. The secret is closely connected to his fiancée Chen Yu’s death three years ago, and to a mysterious project known as “Project Phoenix.”

As the investigation deepens, Lin Mo discovers that every case has one goal in common: uploading consciousness. Someone is exploiting vulnerabilities in the smart systems to collect human consciousness data and create “digital immortality.”

And the killer may be Lin Mo himself.