Chapter Fourteen: The Game
Page (1/3)
[Discovered something interesting, so I’m reaching out ahead of time.]
[In the newest release of a certain mental simulation game, I found its system to be solid and unbreakable—so much so that some rather intriguing components actually burned out.]
[Therefore, I plan to invite you to meet once. Of course, this is quite a risky move for me. If you manage to successfully hack into its main server…]
[I believe this game will most likely end with your victory.]
[But the chances aren’t high. After all, if your skill level far exceeded mine, you would have already caught me long ago, wouldn’t you?]
[You have half a day to prepare. Tonight at 7:30, in public area number 13, I’ll stay for an hour. The password is the joint operation from three months ago.]
[Don’t disappoint me, SUN.]
[—Your ‘loyal’ partner, Black]
…
Yu Mu stared blankly at the decoded message before her, utterly bewildered beyond reason. She felt like she was on the verge of losing her composure!
To avoid having to rely on difficult, impromptu conflicts every time they needed to communicate, the duo known as Black Sun casually chose a low-tier phishing website as their message board. They agreed to update each other there at intervals, discussing everything except their attacks on each other.
Of course, if there was nothing urgent, a casual note like, “Nice weather today,” would do just fine.
So far, countless large-scale hacking operations by Black Sun had been coordinated through this ridiculously low-level platform.
While exchanging messages, they tried to make things difficult for one another by encoding their content in ciphers. The keybooks were usually recent articles, magazines, or gossip columns. Occasionally, references like the Bible, the New Chinese Dictionary, or famous novels would appear to raise the difficulty. But this time, Black’s message to Yu Mu was decoded with relative ease—a mere newspaper column from two days ago—clearly not wanting her to waste time on the cryptography.
Because the time left to her was already tight…
“Tonight at 7:30… public area number 13… the newest mental simulation game…” Yu Mu stared intently at her computer screen, pursing her lips softly as she whispered, “What on earth are you up to?! Are you deliberately trying to confuse me, or…”
She glanced back at the tracking program already halfway through, murmuring, “Or was I just wrong from the start? Or maybe it’s some kind of trap, damn it!”
Frustrated, Yu Mu rolled under her bed onto the soft carpet, rubbing her cute doll-like face vigorously. After a while, tousled hair and all, she got up, hacked into the backend of that phishing site, and left a message in pager format:
[Don’t be late. Also, spare me the idiotic hint like ‘newly released game’—that’s way too simplistic!!!]
“Phew~” After typing, Yu Mu crouched back into her chair, terminated the tracking program, and began playing her favorite new and old anime on the surrounding screens… well, except for the ‘forbidden’ ones.
While watching, she rapidly pieced together the whole matter in her mind. Her covert battle with Black had stretched over many years. Though she wasn’t sure if the other side had made progress, she herself had gained quite a lot, even zeroing in on some highly suspicious targets.
One of them was Mo Tan…
Despite only knowing what he looked like and considering the likelihood low, Yu Mu had placed him on her suspect list. It was simple—she found some oddities in his records; even basic information like his residence wasn’t registered online.
Though merely peculiar details, she remembered his face.
Even if he wasn’t Black, he was at least some kind of hacker, and spying on peers was one of Yu Mu’s hobbies.
Still, though suspicious, she hadn’t given it much thought. After all, her suspect list numbered in the thousands, spanning all races and genders worldwide, so she hadn’t paid it much mind.
Until…
She met Mo Tan in the realm of Innocence. For this seemingly unadorned priest, Shuangye immediately tested him.
First, logging off to set countless ‘bait’ traps, then subtly revealing her identity as Black Sun on their second meeting, while having her AI monitor network activity.
The result thrilled her: the fabricated data from the sixth temporary model was accessed over three million times within a day. As she rejoiced, preparing to verify further…
Black’s message abruptly arrived.
Even an invitation to meet in the public space of the Innocence realm, as if completely unaware she had already started playing the game, still believing himself the first to attempt breaching the Innocence company’s firewall.
What the hell?!
Despite complaining in her reply that his hints lacked technical substance, Yu Mu knew finding the game itself was easy. The real difficulty lay in acquiring a set of equipment within one afternoon to log into the Innocence realm precisely at 7:30 PM—a task impossible for her to achieve alone.
Two days after the game’s launch, it had already sparked a frenzy worldwide. Securing a gaming pod without reservation was nearly impossible. Just in her city, the online booking queue was already two days long, with similar situations elsewhere.
Page (1/3)
Page (2/3)
Black’s conditions were indeed extremely demanding.
But…
The girl turned to the corner of her room, where a ‘gaming pod’ made from a bathtub base, stuffed with numerous peripherals and cables, sat, making her speechless.
She had spent the entire day two days ago gathering data and building precisely that.
And she had certainly informed that so-called ‘Black Fan’ priest about it.
Yet Black seemed utterly clueless, even thinking he was increasing her difficulty…
“This is getting messier and messier~” Yu Mu pushed up her glasses, crossing her long, fair legs on the desk proportionally, pouting. “Whatever, I’ll know once we meet. Just go to the public space at 7:30 tonight… Hey!?”
Suddenly, she covered her mouth and exclaimed, “Wait! If it’s 7:30 tonight…”
…
Mo Tan was sitting leisurely at his computer, sipping instant coffee.
Just minutes ago, the massive targeted attacks and searches from SUN had completely ceased. The grand offensive had ended, but Mo Tan was not surprised. Receiving the reply, he was certain the girl named Shuangye in the game was SUN herself, likely slightly flustered now—exactly as he expected.
All that remained was to put on a ‘show.’
“Idiotic hint…” Mo Tan blinked at the message on his screen. “Without it, I’d probably give you even more clues.”
He downed his coffee, shut the computer, and settled onto the sofa, closing his eyes with a playful smile.
There was still plenty of time, and some details needed polishing—details he had to be able to handle easily even under his alternate persona.
…
7:00 PM
[Detected your mental connection, synchronizing personal information…]
[Connection complete. Reading character information.]
[Welcome back, absolutely neutral Black Fan. Loading Innocence realm. Good evening.]
Mo Tan appeared in a corner of a military camp—not where he had logged off previously, but an empty, uninhabited area near the Fenrir squad’s location.
“Logging in near the closest spot unnoticed by NPCs…” he quietly repeated a phrase he had seen on a forum, nodding to himself, “That’s actually pretty convenient.”
It was just dawn in the game; most non-assigned personnel were resting, leaving the camp unusually quiet. But the Fenrir squad’s assembly time was approaching.
After orienting himself, Mo Tan walked briskly toward his quarters, soon spotting Ned and the others inspecting their weapons outside the barracks.
“You’re here?” sharp-eyed Silverna stuck several feathered arrows into her quiver and greeted Mo Tan loudly. “Hurry up! We’re about to set off.”
Ned shot her a glare. “Keep it down. People are resting, and this is a patrol, not a picnic.”
“Tch, lazy bones still sleeping at this hour have no right to complain about noise!” Silverna stuck out her tongue playfully. “And a routine patrol isn’t much different from a picnic anyway; it’s been pretty peaceful lately, hasn’t it?”
“If only that were true,” Ned shrugged. “You’re not the only one hoping to slack off here.”
He then turned to Mo Tan. “Need some weapons?”
Mo Tan smiled mysteriously and shook a twenty-copper Bible in his hand. “This will do. We’re not expecting a priest to charge head-on, are we?”
Krab, sharpening an axe nearby, looked up and tossed him a spiked hammer from a rack behind him, grinning. “Take it. It’s issued by the free troops. If you don’t like it, sell it later and buy me a drink.”
“That breaks regulations…” Ned mumbled weakly, then whispered to Mo Tan, “Unless you count me in when you’re drinking. There’s a weapons shop in the south of town that buys these things—you should know it.”
Mo Tan chuckled awkwardly, weighing the hammer, nodding. “I know, I know. By the way, where’s Shuangye? She’s not here yet?”
He hadn’t forgotten that others saw him as a property owner in Dieyan City. It would be odd if he didn’t know about a blacksmith shop in the south.
The problem now was: why hadn’t Shuangye arrived?!
[She wouldn’t be planning to ditch everyone just to meet me in the public space, would she? That’d be troublesome…]
Page (2/3)
Page (3/3)
“Not yet,” Ned shrugged. “Like you, she doesn’t live in the camp. It’s tough for a girl, especially a mage, to get up so early for assembly.”
Just then, a lazy voice sounded from behind them: “I just lingered over breakfast, don’t underestimate girls, okay~~”
Shuangye rubbed her eyes and strolled over slowly, pouting at Ned, “Besides, I don’t think I’m late, right, Captain?”
“No, you’re still a few minutes early.” Ned smiled awkwardly. “I’m definitely not badmouthing you behind your back.”
Shuangye tilted her head in non-denial, then tugged Mo Tan’s sleeve and whispered, “Come here…”
Pulling him aside.
“What’s up?” Mo Tan looked curiously at the suspicious-looking girl. “Why do you seem half-asleep?”
Shuangye stared at him for a moment before waving it off. “Work stuff. But before that, can you do me a favor?”
“A favor?” Mo Tan blinked. “If it’s within my ability, sure.”
“No problem.” Shuangye smiled sweetly. “I have some real-world work later. You’re good with words—can you talk to Ned and cover my shift?”
“Cover your shift?”
“I asked the captain about the patrol tasks yesterday.” Shuangye rattled off quickly. “You and the captain are supposed to inspect the wildlands near the southern mines; those two weirdos, Salacha and Krab, check the two tribes west of here; Silverna and I recharge the magical lamps on the northern main road.”
Mo Tan nodded. “And then?”
“Priests have mana too, right? Even if I’m not there, you should be able to recharge. So…” Shuangye looked at Mo Tan expectantly, “Can you ask for leave for me and take my place?”
[Smart!]
Mo Tan admired silently but kept a thoughtful expression. After a long pause, he nodded. “I think that should be fine.”
“Hehe~” Shuangye forced a smile. “By the way, why did you suddenly log off yesterday without a word?”
Mo Tan immediately showed an embarrassed expression and awkwardly looked away.
“What happened~” Shuangye didn’t let it go, pressing, “You weren’t caught up with that Black Tai thing, were you…”
“Actually,” Mo Tan smiled sheepishly, “I had a stomach ache…”
“….”
“What’s that look for?”
“Nothing, I just feel like an idiot.”
“Oh…”
Then Mo Tan and the socially awkward Shuangye asked Ned to grant her leave, using a simple excuse of family matters.
Ned, a fairly understanding guy, agreed without hesitation. After all, such small patrols weren’t critical, so no need to overthink it.
“Alright then,” he nodded. “Black Fan, you and Silverna handle the northern main road recharge. Our squad didn’t have this mission originally, but since we have a caster, Gatt asked us to do a routine recharge. I’ll handle the mines alone.”
Shuangye smiled sweetly. “Thanks, Captain~”
Then she ran off from the camp. Soon after, Mo Tan saw his friend’s logoff notification.
Minutes later, the Fenrir squad split into groups and set off. Just as they stepped out the north gate of Dieyan City, Mo Tan leaned toward humming Silverna…
“Hey, Silverna… can you use magic?”
Chapter 14: The End
Page (3/3)