An Ordinary Unordinary

From 11:30 PM on September 11th to 6:30 PM on September 18th, a total of 163 hours, Lin needs to find out the "abnormality".

Hearing time fall from the cliff, crashing to the ground—

"Smack—"

The greasy plate shattered on the floor covered with high heels and leather shoes.

"Excuse me."

"Fine..."

Lin shifted his gaze from that insignificant interlude to Elysia's face, which was filled with confusion.

"What's wrong?" Elysia blinked and asked.

"No..." Lin shook his head, trying to shake off the slight sense of incongruity. "What did you just say?"

"I said those two kids really want to see you."

Elysia was annoyed by his absent-mindedness and snorted, "He's supposed to be a senior, taking care of juniors is our duty."

There's no rule in the Firefly Clan that seniors must take care of juniors; the old guard training newcomers is just a matter of convention.

He had already lingered at the ball for too long today; his main purpose wasn't to attend the ball and socialize, so there seemed to be no need for him to see the two newcomers.

And...

There's no need to let Elysia have her way. She did something outrageous today, and if he keeps giving in to her, she'll definitely take advantage of him.

"I have other things to do."

So, coldly uttering those words, Lin turned and left without hesitation.

"Huh? Huh!"

Unexpectedly, Elysia, who was so decisive, was left standing there dumbfounded.

Dance, men and women, lights, red wine...

Lin neither likes nor dislikes colorful parties. Entering one place from a place with completely different decibels, temperature and atmosphere can make one feel as if they have stepped into another world.

Stepping out of that room filled with the smell of alcohol and hormones, it felt as if the air itself was fresher.

Although he couldn't smell it.

"Oh my, isn't this our life winner, Lin? Did you leave so early because someone was waiting for you inside?"

To be honest, Lin had considered many possibilities, and someone waiting for him at the door was one of them, but this person still surprised him a little.

Qianqi.

The hacker girl, as always, was wearing her trendy jacket and hot pants, idly chewing gum and blowing bubbles in the deserted corridor. When she saw Lin, she flicked her gray ponytail, raised an eyebrow, and gave a malicious smile.

Lin and Qianqi barely communicated. After he and Ying brought her back, they, who had no similar positions, became complete strangers.

Of course, given this hacker's malicious nature, it's easy to imagine that she's planning to take revenge on Lin.

"... Hey, you're not thinking I'm waiting for you here on purpose, are you?" Qianqi puffed out her right cheek, chewing gum happily, and said with dead fish eyes, "Not everyone is as blind as those girls to like you."

So, this was an accident?

"Yes, it was an unpleasant accident. I just came out for some fresh air and happened to bump into you. If I could, I really wish I would never have seen you in my entire life."

Qianqi's lazy demeanor lacked the refined air of a member of the Firemoth. Are all hackers like this? Or is she just an exception? Perhaps Vill-V could get along with her.

"But since we've already run into each other, why don't you chat with me for a while? I don't know anyone here, and nobody even responds when I talk about The Matrix with these people." Qianqi sighed, seemingly very worried about her interpersonal relationships at headquarters.

It's truly a sad thing, so Lin... um? Where's Lin?

In the blink of an eye, Lin disappeared. Qianqi looked around in confusion and saw only a nimble figure disappear around the corner in the distance.

Lin walked steadily towards his room. He had to go to Mobius's lab tomorrow, so it was best to get himself ready today...

Footsteps approached from behind, and Qianqi's exasperated voice rang out. "That wretched helmeted man! Stop right there!"

"You're the one who dragged me into this mess, aren't you? If it weren't for you guys still wielding influence online, you wouldn't feel ashamed at all for ruining my life like this."

Lin stared expressionlessly at the hacker who was about the size of a bean sprout in front of him and kept babbling on and on.

Ashamed? From the moment she hacked into the internal network of the Fire Moth, she should have known she would be caught. This was all her own doing.

"Instead of apologizing, can't you tell I'm planning to have a chat with someone?" Qianqi put her hands on her hips, glaring fiercely at Lin, looking like she wanted to bite him off. "What? You can't be bothered with any girl who doesn't like you?"

"I..."

Lin wanted to explain that they and he were not in that kind of relationship.

Qianqi waited for his explanation with a cold smile.

Lin opened his mouth, but didn't say a word.

"..."

Why are you not talking again?

I don't think it's necessary to explain to you.

They weren't familiar with each other.

It was clear that Qianqi's distorted expression suggested she wanted to tear Lin's mouth, which was full of malice, apart.

"I really don't understand what's so great about you. Every time you walk into a ball, women follow you around."

"You said you weren't waiting for me on purpose."

"..."

Qianqi looked at her with a "What strange things are you saying?" expression. She probably didn't understand the connection between what she said and Lin's reply.

However, after a while, Qianqi realized what was going on when she saw Lin Na remain silent.

His point was that since she wasn't waiting for him, he didn't need to contact her, and she could simply wait for the next person to approach her.

To put it more bluntly... leave me alone.

"Fine, fine! Just pretend I was waiting for you, okay!" Qianqi yelled at Lin, grabbing her hair in frustration. "You're so awkward! Is this how you usually interact with others?!"

Afterwards, the two went to Qianqi's room. The reason they didn't go to other places or to Rin's room was that Qianqi said she didn't want to go too far or that going to Rin's room was too dangerous.

She seemed not to understand that, in a confined space, if Lin really had malicious intentions, her room and Lin's room were actually just as dangerous.

"Please make yourself at home. Would you like something to eat or drink?"

Qianqi's room was the most unusual one Lin had ever seen in the headquarters. It was covered with dense posters and sticky notes, the messy handwriting all jumbled together, making it dizzying to look at just one glance.

There are also countless Qianqi.

It's practically the epitome of overcrowding.

"No need." Lin sat in a proper spot, with models and dolls placed on either side of him, sandwiching him in the middle.

Qianqi tossed a piece of chewing gum at her. "I was just being polite. All I have is chewing gum and cola."

At that moment, the digital clock on the bed had just passed midnight.

Chapter 126 The Ordinary That Isn't Ordinary

"To be honest, I don't want to talk to you about my past at all, it's so embarrassing, so let's skip the heart-to-heart part."

"..."

With this as the opening line, Lin felt it was time to call it a day and everyone could go home.

It's unclear whether the hacker girl truly hated him from the bottom of her heart, but she hadn't said a single kind word to him since they met.

Of course, no matter how much she hated him, Qianqi, feeling stifled, wanted to find someone to talk to. After all, in Lin's mind, there were almost no people at headquarters who could get along with Qianqi's type.

He was naturally not one of them.

"Even though I had roughly looked through your profiles before joining, I realized I still underestimated you guys after actually meeting you," Qianqi said, opening a can of cola. "You guys are a collection of perverts."

"Just how twisted must an organization be to bring all of you together? Do you know how desperate I was when I found patients locked up together in what is now a mental hospital ward?"

"I'm a normal person, and the pressure of being with you guys is too much."

"... You're lying."

Lin abruptly exposed her lie.

As early as when he brought her to the Branch 19, she had already admitted that she had deliberately been captured and recruited into the Moth of Fire.

"Lying? No, no, no, you seem to have misunderstood something." Qianqi poured the cola into her mouth, gulped down a big mouthful, and the carbonation from the drink made her burp. "These are two different things. I originally planned to join the Moth Chaser, but not through that method. I had already created an identity for myself, ready to sneak in unnoticed."

Indeed, Qianqi's MSA-999 designation was created by herself.

Qianqi helplessly spread her hands and said, "After all, the best way to avoid being noticed is to be 'conspicuously ordinary'."

"Conspicuously ordinary?" This was the first time Lin had ever heard of this concept.

"When people come into contact with each other, they automatically label each other. This label is both a person's outstanding aspect and a person's mediocre aspect. Once you are labeled as ordinary, any slightly out-of-line behavior will be easily noticed. Therefore, I think that giving others a special impression from the beginning is actually a way to hide yourself."

"After I established my identity, I started to contact the people of the Fire Moth, showing everyone the labels I was willing to show them, and then blending into them without anyone noticing."

"But now I've been labeled as an 'intruder who was captured,' and any persona I try to create will vanish under this label. Others will only see me as a convict who harbors malice towards the moth that chases the flame."

Is this an explanation for why she's unpopular?

At this point, Qianqi was still just grumbling; she seemed to only want to vent to Lin, and it was not clear at the moment that she had any other meaning.

... But that only applies to other people.

"So what was your initial reason for wanting to integrate into the Moth of Flames?" Lin stared at Qianqi, who was listlessly shaking a can of cola. "And what was your reason for disguising yourself as 'ordinary'?"

"Hmm... I want to protect humanity?"

"... You're not that kind of person."

"You can't say it like that. To fool others, you first have to fool yourself. If someone who doesn't want to protect humanity can't join the Firemoth, then if I fool myself into wanting to protect humanity, can't I join?"

She was changing the subject.

Lin, who had initially intended to just give it a casual answer, gradually became serious.

Qianqi didn't notice the change in Lin's gaze through his helmet; he was as if kissing someone, his lips pressed against the opening of a soda can, enjoying the pleasure of carbohydrates.

"But unlike you rational guys, I'm more emotional. I'm quite curious to see what choices you would make if your rationality and sensibility were weighed on a scale."

"If someone could set aside their rationality for me, I would definitely be moved to tears."

"After all... humans are better at deceiving themselves than others."

For reasons unknown, Qianqi revealed a smile that Lin couldn't decipher.

Qianqi.

When investigating someone, Lin often starts with their name, and this name, full of Far East flavor, has already determined her birthplace.

The possibility of a pseudonym also exists. People have no limit to their mouths and must tell the truth. It's always good to be wary of a cunning and treacherous hacker, so the possibility of a pseudonym cannot be ruled out.

The reason he only started investigating Qianqi now is because of a series of unusual events tonight.

"..."

Lin couldn't describe the feeling; his senses were like a DVD player that had stuck, making him involuntarily start paying attention to everything abnormal around him.

It was as if someone was whispering in his ear, urging him to do something.

Since Qianqi was the person Mei decided to recruit, Mei should have investigated Qianqi's background long ago. However, even Mei is capable of making a mistake.

In the unlit database, Lin inserted his ID card into the card reader. After scanning his fingerprints and iris, he entered the world's largest and most comprehensive knowledge base. With his current access level, he could not view information above the captain level, but it was more than enough to investigate a hacker.

His fingers, leaving afterimages, moved across the touchscreen. He became increasingly adept at adapting to his body, believing that he would soon be able to fully return to normal.

He swept past countless dazzling files, his pupils like a camera lens quickly focusing on the parts he wanted. He opened and enlarged the files about MSA-999 and the "Unsigned Hacker," presenting them before his eyes.

However, to Lin's surprise, Qianqi's information was very comprehensive, even though she was mentally prepared.