The reason Chen Yan was able to enter the Imperial Customs and buy an apartment on Walker Street in Yharnam City relied on one thing:
[Employer Visa]
Anyone entering the Imperial Customs requires a visa issued by the Imperial authorities.
Work visas, tourist visas, student visas, employer visas...
Chen Yan's employer visa requires a company within the Empire to hire him for it to be valid.
Only while the visa is within its validity period can he remain on the Empire's soil.
If he loses his job, the visa will quickly become invalid.
Once the visa expires, if he doesn't leave the Empire, he will soon become an undocumented immigrant.
There are far too many undocumented Asian immigrants.
They hide in the Empire, unable to enjoy any imperial welfare.
They live in basements, stables, and brothels,
taking one-fifth of the salary of a normal Imperial citizen,
living a life where they can't even afford black bread.
Chen Yan thought of those people, and glanced again at the scribbled-out Offer of Employment.
[Before your shift, please enter the park exactly within XX minutes of your scheduled start time.]
Hmm...
If he was late on his first day of work...
Would he be fired immediately?
"Fuck!"
He cursed aloud, feeling depressed, completely throwing his previous fear to the back of his mind.
The offer of employment was scribbled out, and he didn't even have any remedial measures.
[If you fail to enter the park within XX minutes of your start time, immediately use your officially issued zoo phone to contact XXX (illegible).]
"Who the hell am I supposed to contact!"
Chen Yan felt entirely drained of strength, his eyes staring blankly as he fell back onto his bed, feeling that life had no meaning, entirely forgetting his previous fear.
He recalled the words on the third note.
[Crouch down and look to the northeast. There's a surprise.]
"Is this what you fucking call a surprise?"
He recalled all the efforts he had made to get this job.
Taking the steam bus before dawn every morning, enduring the unique body odor of the Imperial citizens, going downtown to practice with a speaking tutor all day.
To save money, he only ate mint gruel for lunch every day, almost forgetting the taste of pork over these past few weeks.
Returning every night to review 'Imperial Animal Medicine' until 2:00 AM, having no rest time other than sleeping.
...
And now, that killer spent perhaps less than half a minute to destroy all his efforts!
His eyes bloodshot, he looked at the note in his hand again.
[Crouch down and look to the northeast. There's a surprise.]
Unable to endure it any longer, he growled in a low voice to his surroundings:
"Fucking translate for me! What the fuck is a surprise?!"
After his voice dropped, a barrage of curses quickly came from next door; it was the neighbors awakened by him in the dead of night.
Those living on Walker Street were mostly laborers and small vendors. They worked hard all day, perhaps only closing their stalls and returning home at midnight. This was the time for deep sleep.
Being woken up by a shout, no one would have a good temper.
Knowing he was in the wrong, Chen Yan didn't dare to talk back even after being scolded.
He sniffled the snot brought on by the cold, holding the ruined offer of employment, wanting to cry but having no tears.
Suddenly,
A soft chuckle came from not far behind him.
That chuckle clearly carried sarcasm and the twisted delight of a successful scheme!
It's the killer!
Anger gave Chen Yan immense strength. The moment the chuckle sounded, he grabbed the fountain pen on the desk, spun around abruptly, and lunged fiercely towards the location of the chuckle!
The chuckle stopped abruptly.
Immediately after, under the dim night sky, a white figure flashed past on the other side of the bed.
The killer was too fast; Chen Yan couldn't catch him, only having time to throw the fountain pen in his hand at him.
"Ngh..."
A suppressed groan of pain sounded, and Chen Yan knew he had hit his mark!
The white figure wrapped in the curtains rushed toward the window, easily shattering the glass, and jumped down from the third floor!
Chen Yan held his breath, reaching the window in three strides.
The neighbor's roof in front of him was already covered in snow. Under the dim moonlight, there wasn't a single footprint on the thick layer of snow.
The ridges and chimneys further away were obscured by the heavy snow that had started falling at some unknown time, becoming a continuous dark shadow at the end of his vision.
Did the killer jump down from the third floor?
Chen Yan looked down, but couldn't see any suspicious shadows in the narrow dark alley.
His gaze followed the dark alley out to the main street.
But there was nothing abnormal on the main street either.
It was close to dawn, and there were no pedestrians on the street.
The flickering streetlights made this section of the street feel unsafe; no one would walk on the street at this time, not even the local Imperials.
The killer fled,
Vanished without a trace.
"Fuck!"
Chen Yan turned around and went to the desk, picked up the phone, and dialed the emergency number for the community police office.
"Hello, do you need any help?"
A gentle and friendly voice came from the phone.
"This is 33 Walker Street."
Chen Yan tried to make his tone sound calm.
Other than calling the police, he had no better way to deal with this.
"The killer just attempted an attack and failed, escaping through the window. I'm afraid it will cause a greater security issue. Can you dispatch officers to pursue the fugitive?"
The person on the phone heard his distinct Asian accent.
So the gentle and friendly voice disappeared.
"We're off duty."
The voice carried obvious disgust and warning.
"Please don't call after 10:00 PM; we cannot dispatch officers."
If you can't dispatch officers, why answer the phone!
Chen Yan's blood pressure spiked at the voice on the other end, but he had no choice.
Discrimination against Asians was ubiquitous. This reaction from the Walker Street community police office was considered good; at least they didn't set him up.
If it were a community with a clear anti-Asian inclination, they might have thrown dirty water on him.
By the time Chen Yan snapped out of his rage and realized these things, there was a brief, quiet conversation on the other end of the phone.
Then, a familiar voice appeared.
"Mr. Yan."
Chen Yan could hear the suppressed exhaustion in this voice, so he gave up correcting him.
"This is Klein Justus. You said you saw the killer?"
It was a serious tone.
Chen Yan answered him in a very serious tone as well:
"Yes, after you left, the killer was still in my apartment."
"Please continue."
"The killer seems to have some mental issues. He left three notes, each with a requirement.
I thought at the time, if I couldn't fulfill these requirements, he might attack me."
"That's outrageous."
"I know it's outrageous! But Geralt Sif's death was outrageous, wasn't it?
He died of heart failure; he was scared to death—this shows the killer must have a special method of murder—a murder method that can scare people to death!"
"Sounds somewhat reasonable."
"I hurt him with my fountain pen, but he destroyed my offer of employment!"
"Mr. Yan, if you expect us to pay for your employment issues, please abandon that idea right now."