Chapter 10
[Name: Qin Su Photo: ID photo.jpg Height: 190. Identity ID: QS Gender: ? Background: ?]
"???"
"!!!"
"..."
The data they had been dying to see was finally before them, but instead of getting excited, they were all struck dumb. The silence was deafening.
Could someone tell them what those question marks meant? This was the first time they had learned that question marks could appear in enrollment data. Wasn't that completely ridiculous???
In the suffocating silence, quite a few freshmen who couldn't believe the data scanned it over and over again.
But no matter how they looked at it, Raymond's Optical Brain display remained what could only be called "clean."
The freshmen's uncertain gazes wandered between the data and Raymond. They wanted to speak, but held back.
Raymond was questioning his life and had no attention to spare for the way the others looked at him. He could hardly believe that what he had gone to such lengths to obtain was...
A set of data that might as well have told him nothing at all?!
But he finally understood why his uncle had looked at him that way earlier, and why his uncle had given him the data without the slightest difficulty.
Because even after giving it to him, there was practically no difference from not giving it to him at all.
In the ID photo, the black-haired Alpha's eyes held no emotion as they watched everything with equal indifference and coldness. They seemed to mock the ridiculous "result" of their grand efforts to dig into his background.
The mockery was at full blast.
"Uh... q-question marks?"
"Is this real?"
"...I don't know why, but I think I understand something from this data that's shorter than my own limited knowledge. Just like the impression he gives, it has the exact same chill that seeps into your bones."
"Ahem... Raymond, is it possible... you're joking with us?" an Alpha asked cautiously.
A joke?
Raymond's expression visibly darkened. He took a deep breath and looked solemnly at his friends, his tone certain. "Everyone, this is the truth. I'm not joking with you. As for..." Raymond's gaze fell on the name "Qin Su" in the data. "All the data the Fourth Military Academy has on Qin Su is in there."
"..." Everyone looked at one another, at a loss for words.
After another stretch of silence, someone tried to lighten the mood. "Everyone, don't be so down. Cheer up. At least... we know his name is Qin Su, right?"
"..."
That counted? Everyone was speechless.
"...Claire, don't you think you sound ridiculous saying that?" Raymond's mouth twitched as he voiced what everyone was thinking. "Since when was knowing someone's name something to be happy about?"
Their whole group had gathered with such fanfare, only to be happy about an "open secret" they had a ninety-nine percent chance of learning just by asking. Really... anyone who saw them would diss them for sinking so low.
Although... they didn't dare ask, they would find out sooner or later when their classmates formally met and introduced themselves. Thinking of it that way made them... even more ridiculous.
"..."
Raymond's words left the group awed by Qin Su's mystery and unfathomable background.
Under normal circumstances, the more detailed the data, the more the various "titles" in it made its owner's status appear distinguished. The less data there was, the more it meant that the person was too dull and unremarkable to have anything worth mentioning, a random passerby who could be ignored.
Under unusual circumstances, however, when everything except the "name," "Identity ID," and "ID photo required for enrollment," which everyone would learn sooner or later, was a question mark, it instead proved all the more that the owner of the data was no ordinary person, more elusive than someone with a long list of titles and very likely more distinguished.
At that moment, several of them realized with absolute clarity that Qin Su was someone they should respect from a distance.
"Let's disperse." Raymond closed his Optical Brain with a headache.
The others laughed awkwardly a few times and went their separate ways.
At noon the next day, a post on the Fourth Military School forum had become a trending topic less than half an hour after it was published.
In the comic world—or rather, half an hour after returning to the comic world from the real world—Qin Su was carefully memorizing the data the system had given him on the freshmen in his class when he saw the "favorability points" on his skin surge.
Qin Su: "?"
"System, what's going on?"
The "climax" he had deliberately created at the freshman entrance ceremony had temporarily come to an end. During the ebb, the natives' favorability points would only increase intermittently. Although the current increase was nowhere near the surge at the entrance ceremony, it was considerably higher than during the "ebb" of the previous dozen or so hours. Qin Su, who habitually plotted the rate of increase in his mind, easily noticed the anomaly.
[Someone started a thread on the forum twenty-three minutes ago. It's very popular.]
The forum?
At Qin Su's thought, the skin cosplaying as an "Optical Brain" displayed the Fourth Military School's student forum before him.
Using the system's keyword "very popular," Qin Su didn't need to search. He identified the thread directly from its posting time and popularity:
[...How should I put this? Everything you're curious about regarding that Alpha can be answered here... my ass!!! I'm burning with rage! (flips table) (smashes things) (furious)][1][2][3]...[26][27][28]...hot
Qin Su: "..."
From the title alone, Qin Su could deeply feel the poster's powerful resentment.
But clearly, since his favorability points were rising, the post wasn't criticizing him.
Having confirmed that he wouldn't be criticized, Qin Su curiously opened the thread to see what was going on.
[0F: Enough talk. See for yourselves: screenshot.jpg]
The blurred screenshot clearly showed the "personal enrollment data" page Qin Su had previously checked with the system.
Qin Su: "..."
Sure enough, just as he had thought, they really had dug up every last bit of his personal enrollment data.
[1F: Before I clicked in, I wanted to say, "Is that really necessary? Why so angry?" After seeing it, I immediately had to say: now there are two people burning with rage. This data is so short it looks fake. I could've accepted "?" for the background, but! Who made this up? Even the gender is "?"??? Look into my eyes!]
[2F: Great, now there are two people burning with rage... But then again, his name is Qin Su!!! Just thinking about that Alpha, even his name gives off a noble, cold, and ruthless vibe!]
[3F: I'm the fourth person burning with rage because the data is too short, but... Qin Su!!! Oh my heavens, I finally know his name! (leaves satisfied)]
[4F: Four... but... wonderful! Real or fake, I'm just saying, the name "Qin Su" sounds real!]
[5F: Five... but the identity ID that caused such a stir earlier matches exactly, so I'm inclined to believe this data is real. Which means... wonderful! His name is very likely Qin Su!!!]
[9F: ...Nine... Qin Su!!! (lies down peacefully)]
[10F: Humans really are repeaters at heart. (smile)]
[11F: The question marks in the screenshot have my brain full of "???" Is this data seriously real? It looks way too fake. It's shorter than my hair???]
[12F: Person above, sometimes when something is too outrageous, it turns out to be real.]
[13F: Nodding vigorously. When I first saw the screenshot, I thought, "This is killing me, who'd believe something so fake?" But then I remembered we're talking about that black-haired Alpha with the powerful, cold aura, and suddenly it felt more real than real gold.]
[14F: Exactly. The data of mysterious Alpha big shots is always like this. Looking at the words "B-rank male Alpha" in my gender field, I shed tears of envy, jealousy, and resentment. (just kidding)]
[99F: Genuine question: how did he manage to get even his gender marked as "?"?]
[100F: Let's analyze this rationally. As I see it, there are generally three possibilities.
The first is that the owner of the data is an Ancient Human, a once-in-a-millennium rarity who doesn't belong to our ABO system and exists only in rumors. I heard Ancient Humans had an average lifespan of less than a hundred years. People in their eighties and nineties were considered exceptionally old, and when someone lived past a hundred, local media would report on it and praise the place for producing such remarkable people. If centenarians appeared in clusters, it could be called a longevity village. Of course, they've long since become a thing of the past. Their genders didn't belong to any of our current six genders—male Alpha, female Alpha, male Omega, female Omega, male beta, or female beta—so naturally it would be "?";
Reading this, Qin Su: "..."
Nothing could have been more of an arrow to the knee.
The second possibility is that the owner's pheromone level is so extraordinary that it exceeds the Federation's current detection range;
The third is that his background is so powerful that his data is classified and cannot be disclosed.
So here's the question: which situation do you think applies to Qin Su?]
[101F: Damn, as expected, the hundredth floor brings out an analysis expert. The person above makes a solid case. First of all, anyone could rule out the first possibility with their eyes closed. Absolutely impossible! Ancient Humans are "extinct"!]
[102F: Agreed with the person above. Even a fool knows to rule out the first possibility.]
[103F: +identity ID]
More than thirty consecutive replies all ruled out "option one."
"..."
The corners of Qin Su's lips rose. Congratulations, classmates. The first thing you did was rule out the correct answer.
The truth was that he really was one of the "Ancient Humans" from the comic world's rumors, whose average lifespan was less than a hundred years.
[136F: Then the answer can only be one of the last two possibilities. I choose the second. After all, at the freshman entrance ceremony, I clearly felt the powerful, cold pressure Qin Su released even while wearing a pheromone blocker patch. From that, we can conclude that his pheromone level must be so extraordinary that it can't be determined and is temporarily marked "?"]
[137F: I choose the third. I carefully examined everything he was wearing from head to toe. The quality was unquestionably expensive and luxurious. I compared it with luxury brands from several planets, and there was nothing even remotely similar!!! What does that mean? Everything he wears is one-of-a-kind and custom-made! Isn't that a sign of his "background"?]
The students of the Fourth Military Academy heatedly debated the last two possibilities in the analysis on the hundredth floor.
He Muzhi rubbed his chin. Based on everything he had felt during his two encounters with Qin Su, he gave the matter careful thought and cautiously replied:
[288F: If it's Qin Su, why can't both of the last two possibilities apply?]
Although he didn't know exactly why Qin Su had looked at the four of them that way on their first day at the Fourth Military School, Qin Su had not actually harmed any of them so far.
He would give his opinion fairly, without letting personal feelings influence him.
[289F: Whoa, that just made everything clear! A new angle has been born!!! Thanks, person above! I declare that you're right. (thumbs up)]
[290F: ! That's right. If it's Qin Su, then naturally the answer is "all of the above"!]
The new angle He Muzhi proposed prompted the netizens to build another tall stack of replies.
He Wenyuan wished he could chew up and swallow everything about He Muzhi, so naturally he had long since thoroughly investigated He Muzhi's forum account.
Seeing the account of He Muzhi, who had never replied to a forum thread before, suddenly join in with a reply speculating about Qin Su, He Wenyuan's pupils contracted.
He Muzhi... is paying attention to Qin Su.
An Alpha and an Alpha... It's not like I've never seen it before.
He Wenyuan unconsciously raised a hand and began anxiously biting his nails. His face dark, he posted a reply of his own:
[291F: Heh, why can't it be the first possibility?]
The person who had made the original post was clearly Raymond.
The good news was that they had data on the mysterious Alpha.
The bad news was that the Alpha was so outstanding in every respect that he had caught He Muzhi's attention.
For a moment, He Wenyuan felt a choking sensation, as though he had picked up a rock only to drop it on his own foot.
[292F: ? Is someone jealous?]
[293F: Be more confident. He's definitely jealous. I can smell the sourness through my Optical Brain.]
"...Fuck!"
The mocking replies made He Wenyuan's expression darken further, and he couldn't hold back a curse.
Qin Su: "..."
What is this? Is the truth... often held by the minority?
[502F: After seeing this screenshot and everyone's analyses, my feelings went from doubt to complete understanding: "As expected of him."]
[503F: All I can think now is, "If it's Qin Su, it's perfectly natural for his data to look like this"!]
[504F: Exactly!]
Although he hadn't finished reading the thread, Qin Su understood by this point why a post on the Fourth Military School forum had suddenly brought him a wave of favorability points.
In a sense, his "data" had fulfilled the natives' expectations of him in their imaginations.
He had also gained 720 minutes of life from it, bringing his life countdown to 2,280 minutes and 26 seconds.
In other words, he currently had a little over a day left to live. On the day his classmates formally met, he had to concoct "one-of-a-kind pheromones" and fulfill their expectations once again.
Having satisfied his curiosity, Qin Su closed the forum and returned to memorizing the data.
The time for the class members to formally meet was drawing closer, and he didn't have much time left to prepare.
Whether in the comic world or the real world, aside from the five hours of sleep he had forcibly squeezed out, Qin Su didn't dare slack off as he traveled between the two worlds, switching between memorizing data and concocting pheromones as he changed worlds.
Early morning in the comic world, the real world.
One moment, Qin Su had finished memorizing the data; the next, he was sent to the dormitory door. He pushed open the door, which hadn't been fully shut, and heard his roommate's shocked voice.
"Q-Qin Su???"
Jiang Lu had returned to the dormitory after his morning elective and taken out his tablet to catch up on a comic. When he saw the name of the mysterious Alpha, a new character in Interstellar Legend, his pupils shook.
That's right, I updated early again today! [cat head]