Crime / Weak

Lin had no intention of arguing.

If he remembers correctly...

He didn't wait long; in fact, he knew that Yan Luo would be among the first to leave the school.

"I went back and practiced hard yesterday, and today I'll redeem myself..."

"But yesterday I only used one hand to beat you, without even moving the joystick, and today I only used two hands..."

The two walked out chatting and laughing, just like any other students who were in a hurry to go shopping or play games. The only difference was that they were a boy and a girl, but they spoke as if they were a pair of buddies getting ready to play arcade games.

The two women had similar hair colors, almost snow-white, but the girl's hair appeared more translucent and silvery.

The boy's expression and words were very cheerful, while the girl's were somewhat indifferent.

Upon noticing the people standing at the school gate, the girl hesitated and stopped.

"What's wrong?"

"That person..." The girl saw the other person at the same time, and the other person also noticed her. She frowned and walked to the shadows. "I swiped his bus card for him at noon today, and he followed me all the way to school. He still hasn't left."

"Stalker?" The boy immediately realized, and looked at the man with ill intent. "That's right, it would be strange if you didn't have a stalker."

"... Don't talk nonsense."

The girl didn't agree with the stalker theory. She felt that the man had sharp eyes and an unusual demeanor, and he wasn't acting suspiciously.

He stood openly at the door, certain that she would come.

"...Walk."

After thinking it over, the girl led the boy up, while the man watched them approach with a leisurely air.

The boy stared at the man warily. "Who are you? What do you want with Lin?"

The boy's name was Kevin.

The girl was... Lin.

Chapter Sixty-Seven Crime

"Is there something you need from me?"

Yan Luo felt that there was something indescribable about this man. Although he looked like a student, his demeanor made him seem like a student at all.

"...I want to thank you." Lin spoke softly, spreading his hands as he said, "Thank you for today."

"No need, you've already thanked me."

Yan Luo didn't believe him, that he would wait for her all afternoon just because of such a small amount of money?

"If there's nothing else, we'll be going now." Kevin's thinking ability wasn't great, but his intuition was superhuman. He could also sense that Lin was different from ordinary people, and it was better for them, as students, not to get involved.

"Wait a moment."

Lin stepped forward, blocking the two of them. His indifferent gaze swept back and forth between them, making Kevin feel uneasy before he finally asked, "Do you have a girlfriend?"

He was asking Kevin.

Lin's feelings were somewhat complicated. He felt he needed to figure some things out, otherwise he might not be able to face Kevin when he got back.

Actually, when Lin was in school, he sometimes wondered if his relationship with Kevin was too close. For example, once at a hotel, Kevin awkwardly suggested putting up a barrier between the two beds. But at that time, he didn't think about it so deeply, nor did he think it was so... strange.

"Wait a minute, what do you want to do?" Kevin was so shocked when he heard this handsome man, whose gender was so good that it was hard to tell, ask him if he had a girlfriend. He took a step back in horror. "Of course I have a girlfriend. She's at school."

"... Okay." For some reason, Lin felt relieved.

"That's strange. Let's go, Lin."

The two men walked around him, and Yan Luo was still sizing him up before he left.

Lin thought for a moment and then quietly followed behind the two.

Yan Luo had actually given many hints, but Lin hadn't thought of them at first.

Since Parallel World on the Imaginary Tree can lead to different outcomes, it is also possible for the same person to be of different genders.

Moreover, the brief but memorable event that Lin had previously thought of was the ruined headquarters of the Fire Moth that he saw when his consciousness traveled to the Parallel World for the second time, as well as the bewildered black-haired woman.

Her identification tag had her number written on it.

CM-000.

Because the memory was too distant and the interval between the two meetings was long, Lin did not initially connect the two.

But now, looking back, the situation is quite clear. The number CM-000 is Lin's Flame-Chaser number. The black-haired woman at the time was actually Lin from Parallel World. The surgery was somewhat similar to Flame-Chaser surgery, but a long time had passed between when Lin received the number and when he completed the surgery. Therefore, it can be ruled out that the time was when the female Lin had just finished the surgery.

During that incident, Lin briefly lost her memory and met him. The ruins of the destroyed headquarters that Lin saw were the location where she was later chased by Yan Luo.

Of course, Nüti Lin may not necessarily be the Yan Luo will appear later; they could be two highly similar worlds. But it is very likely that Nüti Lin is the major event that Yan Luo experienced that changed her life.

Later, for reasons unknown, the female Lin caused the extinction of humanity and became Herrscher. In order to prevent similar tragedies from happening in other Parallel World, she began to hunt down Lin from different Parallel World.

Thus, he became known as "Abaddon Yama Demon".

Lin was unclear about the details of the process, but it was probably roughly as he imagined.

And Yan Luo is another "special Lin" whom she herself described as having already witnessed tragic endings.

What she hates and despises is actually herself.

She couldn't bring herself to be ruthless to others, but she could kill herself without hesitation for the sake of humanity.

Therefore, it is not difficult to understand where her hatred, loathing, and anger towards him came from. She was essentially watching her past self and saying the things she would have said in the past. Her empty and deprived emotions were filled with negative feelings, and she suffered because of these factors that led to the tragedy.

But deep in her heart, what she harbored was not the desire to continue killing, but rather the original wish to go back to the past and change everything.

She was just like Lin, whom she vehemently criticized—no... they were the same person, so it wasn't surprising that they shared the same desires.

Lin followed behind the two, watching them walk into the arcade. This scene was all too familiar, and it was the first time he had ever seen himself and Kevin from a third-person perspective.

He realized that he could actually smile back then, though not very much or frequently, but Lin could tell that Yan Luo's barely perceptible upturn of the corners of her mouth was a sign of her smiling.

At this moment, the two were playing an arcade fighting game in the spot that Lin and Kevin used to know best. Kevin's reflexes, which had not undergone the subsequent systematic training, could not keep up with Yan Luo. She was not joking when she said she could beat Kevin with one hand. She could operate the joystick and buttons at the same time with one hand, and she made Kevin retreat step by step.

However, they had a lot of fun, and even though Kevin was the one being tortured, you could tell that their atmosphere was great.

That's strange... Has so much time really passed?

Lin found a machine and sat down without realizing it, but then he suddenly remembered that he didn't have any money on him. So Lin started to use his "experience" of playing games with Kevin in the arcade.

At the time, the two were not short of money, but they stipulated that they could only spend a certain amount each time they went to the arcade, which indirectly restricted their spending and time on games.

Of course, they will abide by the rules they set, but they will also find loopholes in their rules. For example, they only set a spending limit, but did not specify the amount of game currency that can be used.

This means...

Lin lay on the ground, reached into the bottom of the game machine, pulled out a coin covered in dust, and then casually picked up a coin that hadn't been inserted into the slot.

This is an essential part of going to the arcade.

Lin sat down in front of the arcade machine, looked at the pixelated screen, inserted a coin, and used the joystick to select his character.

He hadn't played for a long time and was a little rusty, but he still easily defeated the most difficult AI opponent, which wasn't even a beginner's test for experts.

"Need an opponent?"

A person sat down next to him, inserted two game coins, and selected a character.

Lin didn't speak, and silently began.

Since everyone has different fighting game styles and habits, the first two players mainly tested each other. Lin quickly figured out the opponent's operating habits, seized the weakness, and defeated him in a flash.

It was clear that the opponent was an experienced player, but not a master. Lin used half of his three lives to defeat them all, and each time he used a different flashy combo.

"Wow, that's really amazing."

Lin shook his head and said nothing. He turned to look, but froze on the spot.

The gray-haired girl rubbed her hands awkwardly, seemingly feeling that it was presumptuous of her to challenge someone.

"Magnificent..."

Hua looked slightly puzzled. "Hmm? Do you know me?"

"Hua, you've arrived?"

At this moment, Yan Luo's voice rang out. She walked behind Hua and greeted him, and then saw Lin next to Hua.

Her eyes immediately darkened, and she blocked Hua behind her.

"You've committed a crime..."

Chapter Sixty-Eight Dishes

"You're committing a crime..."

Even Yan Luo, the King of Hell, spoke with a hint of disdain.

"..." This is not hard to understand. At this time, Yan Luo and Kevin are in their first year of high school, while Hua is younger than Lin, which means she is currently a middle school student. In addition, given Lin's alleged stalker status, it seems to make sense to call it a crime...

But Lin didn't care about any of that. When he saw Hua, he already had some realizations.

Hua couldn't possibly be in Changkong City at this point in time. She was in Canghai City during high school and should have been in Shenzhou during junior high. Yet here she is, and she's friends with Yan Luo.

So, is this also Yan Luo's wish...?

This is her world.

However, the world will change again in 24 hours, so Lin is not in a hurry to do anything. He is more interested in knowing about Yan Luo.

"That's not right." Lin calmly put down the joystick, smoothed his sleeves, and his tone and expression were calm in the eyes of Yan Luo and Hua. "She was the one who challenged me, so why is it turning into accusations against me?"

"But why are you here?"

Is there a sign here saying I can't come in?

"You..." Yan Luo really couldn't find any problem. Even if this guy had really followed her all the way, he hadn't done anything out of line. But they both knew that meeting him in this arcade was no coincidence. They just couldn't find any logical problems with him.

"I had a friendly sparring session with this friend. She was no match for me and I defeated her. We exchanged techniques in a positive atmosphere. But you are framing me over some trivial matter. I feel I need to seek compensation for the damage to my reputation."

Lin rarely argued with anyone during his student days, including in the first few years after joining the Fire Moth. He was not good at arguing, especially since Elysia could leave him speechless with just a few words.

But now, after years of being influenced by Elysia and during his time in the sanatorium, Lin's eloquence has improved dramatically.

... It has to be said that Elysia's training of him in this area has been effective, but I wonder if she will be even more willing to tease him after she finds out.

Now, Yan Luo is just a student, and even if she stares at Lin with the sharpest gaze, she can't think of any way to refute him.

Normally, no one dared to make eye contact with her. Any argument or obstruction could be resolved with just a glance from her. But this person stared at her nonchalantly, and just as she had sensed before, there was something unusual about him.

"What compensation?"

Lin glanced at Kevin, who was still fighting against the AI, completely oblivious to what was happening here. He moved aside and said, "Let's have a match."

Yan Luo sat down without saying a word, while Hua looked at the two of them with some worry. Not knowing the cause and effect, she felt that this incident seemed to have started because of her.

Yan Luo wanted to end the game as soon as possible. She had defeated almost all the players in the vicinity, and no one could match her reaction speed, so winning should be easy.

After inserting coins, the two selected their characters. On the battle order screen, she was surprised to find that their selected characters and battle order were exactly the same.

This guy... was he doing this on purpose?

Lin stared indifferently at the screen, while Yan Luo paid him no heed.

Two minutes later, when the game ended, she stared blankly at the defeat screen, her mind still reeling.

The whole process was very short, and both of them had a very aggressive style, but the other person seemed to know her habits as if they could foresee the future and won easily.

Hua couldn't believe it either; she thought no one should be able to defeat Yan Luo...

Lin Mo sat silently in place. If it were him, winning or losing this round wouldn't matter, but if it were Yan Luo...

They weren't just two people of opposite genders; Lin saw, and knew, the Yan Luo...

"Let's play one more round."

As soon as he finished speaking, two game coins were inserted into the machine, and Yan Luo, with a tense expression, selected the same character lineup as in the previous game.

Lin didn't say anything and silently started the game.

"KO!"

This round ended even faster than the last one. Yan Luo lost before she could even eliminate her first character. Her face immediately darkened, and she dropped in coins without saying a word.

She had actually figured out Lin's operating habits in all aspects, but she just couldn't win.