stonecrandall Page 96
Page 96
“Never mind… the most baffling thing is—” She looked at a string of complex runes on the screen, “After this person hacked into the system, their main purpose didn’t seem to be stealing information or resources from the void, but rather trying to… scan your cerebral cortex?!”
She quickly turned around, cupped Yuecunze's face in her hands, and examined him closely with concern: "Do you feel anything strange right now? Headache? Dizziness? Nausea?"
"Wait... what are you doing, senior—" Koshimura Sawa was startled by her sudden action and quickly pushed her hand away. "I feel fine now, there's nothing wrong with me."
Rinrinko stared at him for a few more seconds.
"How many is this?" She held up one finger.
"1."
"Then how many is this?"
"It's still 1...you just replaced your index finger with your middle finger."
After confirming that he was fully conscious, Rinrin breathed a sigh of relief: "Thank goodness you forced me to log out."
Koshimura looked at her, puzzled.
"If it had been 30 seconds later, that well-hidden scanning program would have officially started," Rinrinko said with lingering fear.
What would happen then?
"The glasses used to simulate the void only have the function of extracting consciousness fluctuations and do not support high-precision cerebral cortex scans at all. In order to force the scanning program to be executed, the operating power of the glasses will be forcibly overloaded to an extremely high level... In other words, by the time the scan is finished, your brain will probably be about 70% cooked."
Koshimura suddenly felt a chill down his back.
They also have grilled pig brains, which are pretty good.
"Koshimura—" Shiina Tatsuki walked to the door of the training room, looking at the open door with some confusion, and was about to ask what had happened.
“If it had been 30 seconds later, you might have really died in the simulation.” Rinrinko sighed and continued, “Alert mode, forced offline... if you hadn’t forced quit, it would have been flawless.”
Shiina Tatsuki suddenly stopped at the door and ducked behind it.
“Is that so…it seems that Lixi saved my life…” Yuecunze’s voice came out intermittently from the simulation room.
“Speaking of which,” Rinrinko looked at him curiously, “how did you come up with the idea of a forced exit? Xiaolixi is a RiNG employee, shouldn’t she know that after triggering the alert mode, she should stop her activities and wait for staff to come and handle it?”
"Well..." Koshimura Sawa scratched his face, his eyes drifting to the side, "Well, there are reasons why I had to withdraw... Anyway, senpai, please don't delve into it for now."
"Alright." Seeing this, Rinrinko stopped asking questions and her fingers flew across the virtual keyboard again before she finally shook her head helplessly. "No, the other party's anti-tracking measures are very thorough. The IP address goes through multiple layers of redirection and encryption, making it impossible to trace the source."
She closed the interface, turned to look at Koshimura Sawa, and said earnestly, "Anyway, Sawa, you must be extra careful lately..."
"Don't use simulated voids until you figure out who is targeting you and what their purpose is."
"Hmm." Koshimura nodded helplessly.
Standing behind the door, Shiina Riki unconsciously clenched her fists.
The fingernails dug deep into the palm, causing a sharp pain.
Could it be because—
Chapter Eighteen: Your U-Love-Me
"Sawarin, are you alright—huh?"
Chihaya Aine rushed down the stairs and immediately saw Koshimura Sawa and Shiina Tatsuki sitting side by side at the table, their shoulders almost touching. She was a little confused.
"Wait, wait, wait, what happened?" Her internal alarm clock went off instantly, and she hurried over. "I remember you guys were almost arguing before I went upstairs, weren't you? How come now..."
Koshimura Sawa calmly capped his pen, put away the densely written notebook on the table, and then pointed to the huge display screen hanging in the center of the hall.
"See for yourself."
Chihaya Aine looked in the direction he was pointing and saw that the screen clearly displayed:
[Underworld (Simulation - Low Level) Lord Kill Log:]
[NO.1 "Cursed Blade" & "Echo" 19.31s (New!)]
[NO.2 "Wolf" 68.44s]
"Huh?" Chihaya Aine froze, blinking. "Wait—this 'cursed blade'...it's not you, is it?"
Koshimura nodded.
"Could that 'echo' be—?"
Koshimura nodded again, confirming her guess.
"How could this be..." Chihaya Aine puffed out her cheeks, her tone filled with disappointment and a hint of grievance, "Even I haven't gone down the simulated void with Sawarin yet..."
"Simulated voids are not something to be taken lightly or played with, you know?"
A cold voice suddenly came from behind her. Chihaya Aine turned around and found that Shiina Tatsuki had been standing behind her at some point, his hand on her shoulder with a blank expression.
"Eek!" Chihaya Aine was startled and quickly dodged backward, almost losing her balance.
"If we approach the exploration of the Void with this attitude, we will definitely learn a painful lesson," Koshimura Sawa added helplessly as he reached out to support her.
“I know…” Chihaya Aine steadied herself and muttered softly, then asked curiously, “So… what happened? Rinrin-senpai told me in a hurry that you were in danger, so I rushed down here.”
“There are bad guys in the simulated void.” Yuecun Ze sighed and briefly recounted the events to her.
Of course, there's no need to go into some trivial details.
[Not insignificant]
"How could this be!" Chihaya Aine frowned with worry after hearing this. "Is there really no way to find out who the bad guy is?"
“It’s a bit difficult.” Koshimura Sawa picked up his coffee and took a sip. “However, Rinrin-senpai has already reported it to the association and opened an investigation. Hopefully, we can find a way to trace the other party back to them.”
He put down his cup, glanced at Shiina Tatsuki, and then looked at Chihaya Aine: "But you guys had better be careful lately... Although the other side's target may only be me for now, I can't guarantee that you won't get involved."
"Mmm." Shiina Riki crossed her arms and simply responded softly before looking away.
But her tightly pursed lips betrayed her inner worry.
Chihaya Aine instinctively shrank her shoulders and whispered, "I'll be careful, Sawarin, you be careful too..."
“However, we can’t be sure what their purpose is right now, so there’s no need to worry too much…” Yuecun Ze nodded, then subconsciously picked up his cup and took a sip.
The intense bitterness instantly spread in his mouth, causing him to unconsciously furrow his brow.
Wait a minute, I remember adding several pieces of sugar.
To put it bluntly, coffee is actually just soy milk. Koshimura never argues with the manager of the ditch about flavor; he just does whatever makes it comfortable to drink.
"Um... what you're holding looks like my cup." Shiina Tatsuki blinked, staring blankly at him, and reminded him.
"Ah, I'm sorry." Koshimura Sawa put down the mug expressionlessly, pushed it in front of her, thought for a moment, and turned the mug at an angle. "Maybe I just misread it."
"Huh?!" Shiina Ritsuki couldn't help but raise her voice, pointing to another cup of coffee on the table, its surface a bright red like molten lava, with bubbles constantly swirling around it. "Tell me, how could you be so mistaken?"
Koshimura Sawa, is there something wrong with your play this time?
"Haha..." Yuecun Ze chuckled dryly, trying to get away with it, "I just wanted to taste what yours tasted like, besides, you haven't even had a sip yet, have you?"
He quickly picked up the cup that looked like molten lava and took a sip.
Although he wasn't really keen on spending money on this trendy little junk with its fancy name, his curiosity eventually won out, and he ordered a relatively inexpensive "Flaming Special".
It had a rich, full-bodied flavor with a strong chocolate taste... It was probably dark roasted, and seemed to be mixed with various spices and a bunch of other random things he couldn't taste.
Surprisingly, it tastes pretty good... There's definitely a reason why it's expensive?
However, this style is indeed more suitable for winter. It would be nice to have a cup when it snows.
Chihaya Aine's gaze shifted suspiciously between Koshimura Sawa, who was savoring the drink with his eyes closed, and Shiina Tatsuki, who was staring at the black mug that Koshimura Sawa had drunk from with a look of disgust. After hesitating for a moment, she finally picked it up and took a sip.
It's a bit hard to tell... I'll mark it for now and keep observing.
“Um, Rikki.” Chihaya Aine raised her hand.
Shiina Tatsuki seemed startled and quickly straightened up, saying somewhat flusteredly, "W-what's wrong?"
[The young woman working odd jobs, sit up straight!]
"I'd like a cup of slime fruit tea, please~" Chihaya Aine said with a smile, resting her chin on her hand.
"...Go scan the code to order yourself." Shiina Tatsuki's tone immediately returned to normal. He put down his cup, stood up, and walked towards the bar.
Because she was walking very fast, no one noticed that the base of her ears seemed slightly red.
Koshimura's gaze followed her figure, looking towards the other end of the bar.
Yoro Nai was sitting on a high stool, swinging her legs, humming a song, and intently enjoying the matcha parfait she had earned through hard work and sweat.
It's better to be a cat, carefree and without worries.
Yoro was carefully scooping up the parfait in front of her, but her beautiful heterochromatic eyes kept glancing at another untouched matcha parfait on the table next to her.
Noticing the gaze directed at her by Koshimura Sawa, she quickly moved the matcha parfait closer to herself.
Ke Shan Siling (7) Er Yu Si `Gao Xuan Ai Nie.
So what if it's food-guarding? A real luxury cat doesn't hiss!
So, when Hakimi breathes, he's in his Spinosaurus form. So, when he's not breathing, he's in... his non-Spinosaurus form?
A cup of matcha parfait can turn Lena into someone with a non-spinal spine, that's terrifying.
"Hey, stray cat, eat less ice, or you'll get diarrhea." Shiina Riki walked out of the kitchen carrying a glass with blue and white layers and lemon slices stuck in the rim, and glanced at Kaname Rakuna.
Lenai remained silent, only focusing on making parfaits.
Shiina Tatsuki sighed helplessly, placed the fruit tea in front of Chihaya Aine, then picked up his own cup of black coffee and sat back down in the seat next to Koshimura Sawa.
So now the situation has changed again, with Koshimura Sawa and Shiina Tatsuki sitting on the same side, while Chihaya Aine is sitting alone on the opposite side.
No, you just sat back down there so naturally?!
Why do I feel like I'm the one who's being isolated now?
Chihaya Aine's mental radar started ticking again. She lowered her head, took a sip of her cold fruit tea, and then spat out the crushed straw.
No, we have to think of something!
What did Udagawa-senpai's dating guide say again...? Ah, I've got it.
"Ah..." she suddenly said, as if remembering something, "Oh no, I think I forgot I can't drink anything cold these days... What should I do..."
Are you also being pestered by your aunt, just like Yi Qi Lu Ying Wan w2 Emu 9 Er Qun/Liao He Xiangzi?
As Chihaya Aine spoke, her gaze naturally drifted to the steaming "Flaming Special" in front of Koshimura Sawa, and she leaned closer to him, revealing a sweet smile: "Oh? By the way, Sawarin, yours is RiNG's Flaming Special, right? I heard it has the function of nourishing the stomach and replenishing qi, so... shall we switch? You've only had one sip anyway."
Will it soothe my stomach? I definitely wouldn't dare drink it.
Koshimura Sawa paused for a moment, looking at her speechlessly.
Teacher Da Ai, you seem to be a bit too much like Ke Qing.
Who gave you this tea smell? Was it the Moon Forest Sign King?
Before Koshimura could respond, Shiina Riki, who was standing to the side, had already pushed his cup of black coffee in front of Chihaya Aine with a blank expression.
"Let's drink this," she said casually. "I haven't drunk much either, let's switch."
Chihaya Aine stared at the warm cup of black coffee in front of her, her expression stiffening for a moment, but she quickly smiled again: "I see, thank you then, Rikki~"
It's alright, it's alright. I already had this glass of sawarin, so it's basically the same as...
She had just picked up the glass and taken a small sip when she suddenly noticed something and looked down at the rim of the glass carefully—
There was a whole ring of very fresh, moist marks, clearly left by someone just now.
Saturation attack?!
Rikki, you're really using this indirect method... How despicable!
Glasses, clenched fist, clenched teeth.jpg
Chihaya Aine silently raised Shiina Tatsuki's threat level by one level in her mind.
Shiina Tatsuki, who had just wiped the rim of the cup with a wet wipe because of her germaphobia: ?
Seeing the atmosphere suddenly become tense, Koshimura quickly changed the subject and asked, "Aine, are you planning to go straight home later?"
"Yes, that's right." Chihaya Aine put down her cup and nodded.
"How about I take you home in a bit?" Yuecunze suggested. "It's getting dark, and it's not safe for you to walk alone."