Chapter 149
by Need_More_SleepChapter 149: You’ll Eat It, Even If You Don’t Want To
Having the small robot lightly touch the unconscious Crow Man to immobilize him, Sister Hermit could finally focus on studying the device.
Not having to travel far was a relief. The last time she went on a long trip, she encountered the Easter attack, followed by the Little Demon King. Escaping alive had been nothing short of a miracle.
“This is a highly advanced system, but all the high-level computations stem from Easter’s programs. This electronic ghost only left behind a game world server—there’s no way to find a method for people to enter it.”
Sister Hermit rubbed her temples in frustration while absentmindedly stroking Mi Xiaoliu, who was lying on her lap. She played with the girl’s hair and pinched her cheeks.
Since it was already 2:00 a.m. and Mi Xiaoliu was a good kid who kept an early bedtime, she had long since succumbed to exhaustion and was now sound asleep on Sister Hermit’s lap, breathing softly.
Is that no-name electronic ghost an idiot? With such powerful capabilities, it didn’t even set up an automatic player-pulling system. Every time a player fell asleep, it had to manually drag their consciousness in. Now that it’s gone, the server’s left in shambles.
The real headache was that she didn’t have the ability to pull people into the server either.
She glanced down at the girl on her lap. Even with her facial muscles completely relaxed in sleep, she was still unbearably cute. Who knows which brat—who must’ve saved the world in a past life—will get to have her in the future?
Assuming we even live long enough for that to happen.
What should I do? If I tell the little princess about this, will she give me those pitiful, disappointed puppy-dog eyes?
For some reason, I’m kind of looking forward to that expression…
The door opened as Wei Shi walked back in after disposing of the Crow Man. She glanced at Mi Xiaoliu. “Done?”
“Nope. The developer of this server was a total dumbass,” Sister Hermit grumbled, completely abandoning any pretense of ladylike demeanor. “But it’s not completely hopeless. I’ll try to turn this robot into a helmet—like those full-dive VR helmets in anime. It’ll take some time, though. Pain in the ass.”
The difficulty wasn’t in the crafting process. Every team needed a tech geek, an intelligence specialist, and a medic. Sister Hermit covered all three roles—and while her medical skills were only passable, she was top-tier in the other two. Talent like hers was highly sought-after anywhere.
Though true full-dive VR games didn’t exist yet, this server had already built everything. All it lacked was an entry point, and Sister Hermit was confident she could create one.
The real issue was time. This was something nearly every organization was hunting for. If she could find it, others might too. There was no telling when they’d come to scatter her ashes to the wind.
The original plan was to stash it in Mi Xiaoliu’s storage space, but since it needed modifications, that wasn’t an option now. Following the usual tropes, there was a good chance she’d be killed tomorrow, and the device would be stolen.
Sister Hermit dismantled the small robot’s shell, crushed its remains into dust, and tossed it into the public trash bin outside. Unless someone had omniscient-level tracking abilities on par with hers, there was no way they’d find it.
The next concern was the Red Prince. His ability was akin to Father Pucci’s “strong luck.” There was no guarantee the server wouldn’t just gravitate toward him on its own.
“How long will it take?” Wei Shi asked.
“Not sure. I’ve never made something like this before. There are tons of components involved—swapping materials, setting up brainwave interfaces, installing safety protocols and logout systems, preventing detection, filtering out hazardous data…” Sister Hermit pondered for a long moment. “At the very least, I’ll need to pull an all-nighter or two.”
“…”
That estimate was both absurd and unreasonable.
Wei Shi bent down slightly and nudged Mi Xiaoliu.
No response. Still asleep.
“Go home if you want to sleep. Don’t crowd us here.” Wei Shi pushed her again, mercilessly.
There were only two single beds here, separated by a curtain, and more importantly, the place was far from Mi Xiaoliu’s school.
Mi Xiaoliu stirred, gripping Sister Hermit’s clothes, unwilling to wake up.
“Tch.”
Grumbling under her breath, Wei Shi carried her home on his back and handed her over to Heli.
Heli had decided on a whim to conduct a midnight room check. Not finding the girl in bed, she’d been sitting there waiting, legs crossed and face scowling.
For an inspector, missing the target once meant the kid’s never in bed when she should be.
Taking Mi Xiaoliu from Wei Shi, Heli confirmed the “goods” were intact but still didn’t give him a pleasant look, shutting the door immediately. Still, she knew some things were beyond her control, so she didn’t say anything.
But the next morning, she made sure breakfast wasn’t to Mi Xiaoliu’s taste.
Staring at the plate of stir-fried green peppers and celery, Mi Xiaoliu quietly poked at it with her chopsticks, trying to dig up something else underneath.
“Finish it. It’s nutritious.” Heli expressionlessly tapped her chopsticks.
“Mmm.” Mi Xiaoliu obediently ate the food she disliked.
“What were you doing last night?” Heli asked casually.
“Not telling.” Mi Xiaoliu avoided her gaze.
“Mmm.” Heli nodded but didn’t flick her forehead. “Tonight’s dinner will be celery and green peppers again.”
“Don’t wanna eat it.” Mi Xiaoliu shook her head.
“You’ll eat it even if you don’t want to.” Heli patted her head.
“Mmm.”
Children couldn’t defy adults.
The first class in the morning was physical education. The schedule here didn’t follow the usual pattern of starting with core subjects, and P.E. was rarely hijacked by other teachers—because for them, physiology and P.E. were the most important subjects.
With the major physical exam approaching, everyone was scrambling to train their abilities and fitness at the last minute.
Of course, it wouldn’t do much good. Ever since that first kick to the groin from the little bitch in black, Yiwen had been diligently practicing her abilities. In two months, she’d only increased her spellcasting range by half a meter.
It was noticeable progress, but still far from her father’s Level 5.
P.E. was Mi Xiaoliu’s least favorite class. Even during free activity time, she never actually exercised, opting instead to sit in the shade and space out.
Or play little games with Yiwen.
“Come on, rock-paper-scissors.” Yiwen threw paper, beating Mi Xiaoliu’s scissors.
Mi Xiaoliu obediently held out her hand, then quickly pulled it back to dodge. Seeing Yiwen didn’t strike, she hesitantly offered it again.
Yiwen waited two seconds, then—smack!—slapped her when she least expected it.
Mi Xiaoliu rubbed her fair, tender little hand and continued playing.
This time, she won. She reached out to slap Yiwen, but Yiwen dodged immediately.
The pattern repeated—Mi Xiaoliu never managed to land a hit, while her own soft little hand turned bright red.
Rubbing her stinging palm, she turned away, refusing to play anymore.
Seeing Mi Xiaoliu upset, Yiwen quickly pulled her back. “One more round! This time, I’ll let you hit me, okay?”
“Mmm.”
They played again. Yiwen waited to see Mi Xiaoliu’s move before deliberately throwing the losing hand. “Aww, you got me!”
Why does this feel like she is coaxing a little girlfriend? Shouldn’t I be the one throwing a tantrum here?
This time, Yiwen didn’t dodge. She offered her right hand for Mi Xiaoliu to slap, secretly using her ability to soften the blow so it wouldn’t hurt.
The naive boy didn’t even notice anything was off, looking perfectly satisfied.
His (Her) face didn’t change, but somehow, Yiwen could tell he (she) was happy.
So easy to coax.
Wait, no—shouldn’t Mi Xiaoliu be coaxing me instead?
Yiwen patted her cheeks.
Whatever. She’s still young. By college, the dynamic will flip. Isn’t there always that trope in older-woman romances? The big-sister neighbor kisses the little boy, then years later, the grown-up boy kisses the big-sister neighbor.
The P.E. teacher blew his whistle, pointing at Mi Xiaoliu. “Hey, black-haired kid, stop sitting around. Isn’t it your turn to fetch the equipment today? Can’t you see everyone’s empty-handed?”
“Teacher, Xiaoliu can’t carry the equipment,” Yiwen said, rolling up Mi Xiaoliu’s sleeve to reveal an arm that looked even frailer than her own.
“Can’t carry it? Pathetic. All the more reason to train.” The P.E. teacher wasn’t having it. “Then you go with him.”
The equipment room at the ability-user academy was far more extravagant than a normal school’s—an entire building dedicated to sports gear. For them, this stuff was practically disposable, with plenty of it broken every week.
Yiwen and Mi Xiaoliu were headed to the third floor. Hauling things down from there was a hassle, which explained why nobody wanted the job.
No idea what the school was thinking, not putting the commonly used equipment on the first floor—or just building the storage horizontally instead of vertically.
The equipment room’s manager had been replaced at some point. Now, a white-haired middle-aged man stood there, polishing a camera lens.
When he noticed them, he offered a gentle smile.
How rare, in this increasingly impatient school staff.
[Translator’s Note: See the index page for this Novel if you want to see the Amazon Link for the eBooks.]
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