The Beginning of Lin

"Haha, don't lie to me. It's not good for a child to force themselves to be tough. I really like you. You're capable and honest. It's okay, you can talk to me anytime."

Zero didn't lie to his boss. Zero was working several jobs at the same time. His physical and mental abilities were sufficient to support him in doing a variety of jobs perfectly. He had no financial difficulties and his life was well-organized.

However, wishful thinking is a common habit among people.

"In this society, technology is becoming more and more advanced, and I'm starting to feel a bit out of touch with you young people." The boss started chatting with him while he was tidying up. He was a chatterbox, so the silent listener was his best companion. "But people are getting further and further apart, and there's more and more backstabbing. There weren't so many 'fake beggars' and 'extortionists' before. People have become smarter, but they've become worse."

"As someone who's been through this, let me give you, a young person who's still inexperienced, a word of advice: people are very complex. You'll suffer a lot if you always think of someone as simply good or bad."

"People tend to follow the crowd. Whether a person's good or bad side is revealed depends on their environment. Therefore, it is much more difficult to be a simple good person or a simple bad person than to be an ordinary person."

"It's okay for you to have some bad thoughts occasionally, but before you do something irreversible, I hope you can listen to the voice of your heart."

The shop owner chuckled, put down his drink, glanced at his watch, and hurriedly stood up. "Ah, it's so late! I can't chat anymore. My wife and daughter are waiting for me to come home for dinner. Remember to close the door, Lin."

"Good."

"Let's talk tomorrow. I still have a lot of life experience to share with you."

Good people and bad people?

Zero wouldn't actually use such a simple and crude method to differentiate people, but his boss did provide him with an idea, and the two noisy voices in his head finally quieted down a bit.

He often thinks about what he should do.

At this point, one of the consciousnesses will often tell him that he should love humanity unconditionally, that they are his fellow human beings, and that he should believe in the light deep within them. The other consciousness will not stop this consciousness, but will only emerge at certain times.

Having had a happy life and family before, there's no need for me to experience misery again.

But a voice deep inside him whispered, asking Zero, "Does he really know what humans are like?"

The prerequisite for loving something is knowing its essence.

Therefore, Zero also restrains himself from "loving" humanity, and being an observer may be the best choice.

"Ding-dong~"

It's time to get back to work.

Ling picked up his shoulder bag, didn't even look at the others, and walked out of the classroom. There aren't many stores willing to hire an underage person as an employee, and even though he had enough funds, he still had to be prepared to lose his job.

"Waaah—"

The piercing siren whistled past his ears, and Zero watched indifferently as the police car disappeared into the distance.

What happened?

The police car was heading in the same direction as the shop where he worked, which made Zero feel uneasy. He tried calling his boss, but no one answered.

He quickened his pace and hurried into the store.

He arrived quickly.

In a world that appears gray and gloomy, some things always stand out vividly, such as...

Fresh blood.

He stared expressionlessly at the dejected boss being forced into the car, the corpse on the ground, and the fruit knife stuck in the body.

"... What brings you here?"

The boss kept his head down, whether out of fear or reluctance to look at the child in front of him, it was unclear.

"As you can see, I killed someone. It's ridiculous, isn't it, to look like this." He grabbed his hair, then let it fall limply. "I just told you so many great principles, but I didn't expect to become a negative example so quickly... Heh, anyway, don't follow my example. Go back."

But beneath the mask, Zero showed no outward sign of distress, her expression refined and cold as she asked, "Boss, why did you kill him?"

"... Why? Because he's a bastard! He tried to take advantage of my daughter, and that day he tried to steal from my shop. When I caught him, he tried to stab me with a knife! I just accidentally stabbed him!"

This was the first time Zero had ever seen his boss so hysterical; he was supposed to be a very kind middle-aged man.

So... is he a bad person?

"He's definitely a bad guy. Am I a bad guy? I hired you, who had nowhere else to go, to work for me. I'm so nice to everyone. I even wanted to give that guy a chance to repent and let him put down the knife and leave. But what did I get in return?"

"That's why I told you, this society has changed! Why should I be locked up here just because I killed a bad guy? I have a daughter and a wife, so many people who love me, can you understand that?"

Zero shook his head in silence.

The person who loves him...?

Zero had always been alone, so he couldn't understand what his boss meant by "the people who love him."

He only knows one thing.

"But boss, you made a mistake."

"..."

"From the moment you killed the person, you were already a bad person. The fact that you were not judged as acting in self-defense or acting in excessive self-defense shows that you intended to kill the other person directly at that time, rather than 'accidentally' as you said."

"..."

The boss's eyes widened for a moment, then turned cold.

A coldness that Zero was familiar with, that he had seen in the eyes of countless people.

"Boss, you've become the 'bad guy' you're talking about... no, just an ordinary person, because you said that people can't be judged by good or bad..."

"Get out."

"..."

"Get out of here!"

Zero walked out of the detention center. He looked up and a raindrop fell on his head.

Chapter Sixty-Four: The Beginning of the Forest

"Bite--"

The coin traced a silver arc, reaching its highest point overhead, gleaming with the sunlight, before cutting through the wind and landing at its feet with a crisp clink.

The moment it touched the ground, Soul watched it bounce up again, its two sides rapidly changing before his eyes.

After coming to a complete stop, is it a positive or negative outcome?

Soul stared intently at the coin, wanting to see the moment it hit the ground.

"Bang!"

The coin landed in someone's hand without them being able to tell whether it landed heads or tails.

Why are you so concerned about whether it's the front or the back?

Hun's half-closed eyes widened suddenly the moment he saw that person.

The azure blue viewing window calmly watched her; even though she couldn't see his eyes beneath the helmet, she could feel his gentle gaze.

"Lin... team member..."

Why is he here?

No... where am I...?

"Ding—" The man wearing a helmet looked up and tossed a coin into the sky.

Under the illusory sky, the silver coins vanished.

"Why do you care so much about whether it's the front or the back?" he repeated the question.

A person's life is like a clock; the beginning and the end are both meaningless, but no matter what point in time you are at, there is only one option: to move forward.

Many questions remain; life is unpredictable.

Zero sat on the edge of the rooftop, chewing on a piece of bread that was hard to swallow, looking down at the bustling Chienyu Academy below, filled with laughter and chatter.

Looking back on his short and not-so-clear life, he found it hard to describe it as "full of ups and downs." As a "time traveler," he had such a mundane life, with countless ordinary moments making up his life.

But Zero had no complaints.

He remembered his parents perishing in the fire, and he wanted to carry on their will to save more people, but he didn't know when or where to begin.

They don't even know who started it.

Along the way, Zero saved many people. He never really hurt a human. He was like an observer, that is, an observer who would not completely get involved, let humans solve their own problems, but often couldn't help but lend a helping hand.

He doesn't consider himself a human being.

He was a time traveler, not someone who lived in the same world as these people.

Then the reason for loving humanity should be explained...

How could someone who looks down on others not love creatures that are more vulnerable than themselves?

Zero didn't finish his bread; he put the rest into wrappers and tossed it downstairs.

"Smack."

The bread didn't even get a sliver of its own before being thrown into a trash can that looked smaller than an ant from upstairs.

Today was no different; he never felt that he was in the same world as everyone else.

Is anyone here?

Just as he was about to return to the classroom, the rooftop door was pushed open, and a timid female voice came from inside.

A seemingly ordinary girl with glasses and waist-length hair stood at the door, looking somewhat flustered after discovering that someone had visited her secret hideout.

"..." Zero pulled down his hood, said nothing, and walked straight past her and left.

There's no need to say anything; this was just a place he stumbled upon while looking for a random place to have lunch.

But after walking down the stairs, he suddenly remembered that the girl seemed to be his classmate and was sitting right in front of him.

Zero has a strong memory; he can read a book in less than a minute and extract the essential parts. Memory is a key aspect of information processing, so he can basically remember everything he sees.

There was no need for him to interact with others, but he still knew some basic information about her. For example, the girl's name was Mei, and she was a reclusive person just like him. She spent all day burying herself in writing something and was at the top of her class, but few people noticed her.

No wonder she went to the rooftop; it's quiet and spacious there, perfect for contemplation and reflection. She probably went there to think about academic issues.

After figuring out why she was there, Zero stopped caring, since they wouldn't have any further contact anyway.

However, he was invited the following day at noon.

Mei, who was sitting in front of him, invited him to have lunch on the rooftop.

"... What do you want from me?" Zero neither answered nor refused, but looked coldly at the timid girl.

"I think I took over your place yesterday..."

"No, the rooftop doesn't belong to anyone. I just happened to be eating there." Zero took out some bread. He had bought an extra bottle of milk today and planned to find another place to eat. "Don't come looking for me unless it's important."

Mei Jianling refused, so she changed her mind and asked, "May I ask you some questions?"

"..."

Zero met someone who was still persistent even after being rejected by her for the first time.

In the past, when he said similar things, other people would look offended, but he was just telling the truth.

He didn't even have the thought of offending anyone.

"If you have any questions, you can ask them here." Zero didn't chase Mei away. He opened the packaging bag and glanced at the situation in the classroom.

Nobody pays attention to them.

Neither Zero nor May are the type to attract attention. If you had to name a few people who would use the word "freak" to describe them, there would probably only be one.

"Your grades have always been excellent, on par with mine... Um, I'm not saying I'm amazing, nor am I saying I dislike you, I'm just saying you..."

"There are many people who get good grades." Ling tore off the packaging, bit into the bread that was as hard as a rock, and swallowed it in a few bites. "Find the corresponding knowledge in the book, learn the skills given by the teacher, and it's very easy to just want the numbers written on the test paper to look nice."

Ultimately, it's just about taking knowledge from a limited knowledge base and arranging it in different ways. As long as you want to and are willing to put in the effort, most people can easily get high scores.

Mei wanted to ask about study techniques. Wasn't she a top student herself?

"I know, that's what I do, but you're different from others. I've noticed that you read very quickly, and it doesn't seem like you're just flipping through the pages; you actually finish reading the whole book." Mei's initially shy tone gradually softened during the conversation, and she asked with some anticipation, "Reading isn't just about memorizing words; it's a combination of absorption and organization. So I think your information processing ability far surpasses that of ordinary people, and your learning ability is the application of this information processing ability, right?"

Mei is indeed different.