Ark Simulator, Don't I Have No Physical Form?

...So that was it. Ren Dong smiled and nodded. "All right, then we'll set out in the morning."

This system was a little too human-like. Ren Dong had encountered similar things before; supposedly, phone operating systems were the predecessors of systems like Su Rui. If they kept developing, the two would eventually reach the same destination.

Still, with a special system like Su Rui, Ren Dong always felt as though there really was someone operating behind the scenes.

And the [System Materialization Progress]: 0% in her vision also made her curious.

Wondering whether Su Rui could see it, Ren Dong thought for a moment before carefully asking:

Su Rui, can you see a progress bar?

"What progress bar? Did I miss something?"

Nothing. Maybe my eyes were playing tricks on me.

Ren Dong shook her head. Su Rui did not suspect anything. "Oh. Then let's get going already, or it'll be noon soon. When we come back tonight, it'll be hard to see."

There's still plenty of time. But why are you so insistent on going in during the day?

Ren Dong was curious. Did Su Rui have some kind of special restriction?

Although she felt fairly reassured by this system that seemed a little easy to fool, Ren Dong still decided to test him.

"Huh? No, it's just that acting during the day makes it easier for me to enjoy the sight of you slaughtering everyone."

I see.

Ren Dong nodded. This system named Su Rui probably was not much of a threat, but the Upper System he had mentioned before might be.

Volume One: The Killer Who Killed with Three Raw Fish

After confirming the target and method of action, Ren Dong drove to the outside of the Midal Mansion she had mentioned.

"I thought you'd get here some other way."

Seeing Ren Dong park her car on a street some distance from Midal Mansion, apparently intending to continue on foot, Su Rui could not help commenting in her mind.

So how do you think I should have gotten here?

Ren Dong was also curious what other method Su Rui had in mind.

"Walking or running, of course. Teleporting would be even better."

...Do you think I can teleport? And why would I run here when I have a vehicle?

"Because that's what I did in games. Vehicles feel awful to control, and they're a pain to handle. I'd rather control the character and run here step by step than drive."

Su Rui's complaint left Ren Dong speechless. But I'm not a character in a game. Driving is more convenient for me.

"All right, we're here. Hurry up and get ready. Stop talking nonsense."

Su Rui cut Ren Dong off, then activated Scanning Vision. Every detail and person within the mansion appeared clearly in Ren Dong's sight.

Weren't you the one who started talking nonsense?

Ren Dong felt helpless, but she did not argue with Su Rui. Using Scanning Vision, she found a gap in the patrols and camera coverage, then climbed over the wall.

"Oh, this is so plain and unadorned. Whenever I think about how even those cool assassins have to climb over low walls to get in for an assassination, I find it kind of funny."

I'm carrying out a mission. Don't talk nonsense.

Even Ren Dong could not help wanting to laugh at the things Su Rui blurted out from time to time. Many of them were nonsensical, but after hearing them often enough, she seemed to have genuinely understood some of what he meant.

Along the way, Ren Dong relied on Scanning Vision to avoid every patrol and camera. She moved with the ease of someone strolling through her own backyard.

Then she arrived in a room where no one would notice her for the time being and began planning the assassination.

"Midal is in the garden out back right now, with bodyguards beside him. I think we can just kill our way over there and take everyone out without anyone noticing."

No. It would be best if I only killed the target. That would be better for the family's reputation. Even a mafia family like ours needs to care about its reputation.

Ren Dong felt helpless over Su Rui's suggestion. He still seemed to view everything from a game's perspective, but reality involved far more considerations.

"...Fine. There are some bananas on the table beside you. I suggest taking a few."

Do you want to eat bananas? Ren Dong froze for a moment, unable to understand why Su Rui wanted her to do that.

"Of course not. I mean, you can throw bananas and knock people unconscious without killing them! Didn't you say you didn't want to kill too many innocent people? Though honestly, I don't think anyone in a so-called mafia family is innocent."

What about me? I'm from a mafia family too. What do you think of me?

Although Ren Dong found Su Rui's suggestion absurd, she still took a banana from the fruit bowl on the table and slipped it into the pocket where she kept her tools and weapons.

Like an adult humoring a child's unreasonable demand, there was no need to understand it or put it into practice. She only needed to satisfy the request, and the child would stop making a fuss.

Faced with Ren Dong's question, Su Rui fell silent for a moment before speaking.

"You're different. You're my partner, a righteous champion responsible for wiping out all evil with me... So hurry up and kill, kill, kill all the sinners with me!"

I shouldn't have asked you.

Ren Dong could not help feeling ashamed that his first few words had moved her. So it was still that simple, childlike worldview.

"All right, enough small talk. I've gathered a few clues. You can pick one."

Su Rui ended their idle chat and displayed several clues in Ren Dong's vision.

[Midal will meet with a female opera singer in his bedroom tonight. Perhaps you can disguise yourself as her assistant.]

[Someone in the family said Midal loves the Little Feather Beasts he raises. Every noon, he spends a long time alone with them. Even when he eats, the food is merely delivered by a chef.]

[Someone is dissatisfied with Midal's excessively arrogant attitude toward outsiders. Worried that he will provoke retaliation from the Venice Family, they want to replace him. Perhaps they can provide some help.]

"Choose. Which one do you think is better?"

Su Rui's voice rang out again, pulling Ren Dong from her thoughts. She swept her eyes over the three options, then sat in a chair and asked him in return:

Which one do you think is better? And don't say something like killing them all.

"Tch. Fine, I think we can choose the third one. Maybe we can support a leader who benefits your family, right?"

But I choose the second one. A mischievous smile tugged at Ren Dong's lips, immediately drawing Su Rui's dissatisfaction.

"Hey, are you messing with me? I thought you couldn't make up your mind and wanted to ask me! If I'd known, I would've just said to kill them all."

I only wanted to see what you would choose. Besides, I have my own reasons. If the third option can consider all this, then that person might be even shrewder than Midal. Someone like that might be harder to deal with than Midal, and would instead be more beneficial to the Venice Family.

"Is that so?" Su Rui fell into thought and temporarily went quiet, though he still helped Ren Dong select the guidance for the second clue.

Looking at the clues provided in her vision, Ren Dong inspected them carefully. After confirming there were no problems, she began to act. There was still some time before noon; because of Su Rui, she had arrived a little too early.

But Su Rui was not distracted by his thoughts for long. He soon came back to himself and suddenly spoke in Ren Dong's mind as she passed through a corridor.

"There's a raw scaled fish on the table behind that door."

You don't want me to stuff a raw fish into my pocket, do you? The smell is too strong. It would make moving around inconvenient.

This time, Ren Dong helplessly rejected Su Rui's suggestion outright, prompting his muttering in her mind.

"I used fish as fighting tools in games."

That was only in games.

Volume One: The Intimidating Power of a Gaze

She made her way to the kitchen with ease, encountering almost no obstruction. To avoid anyone noticing something was wrong after she knocked someone out, Ren Dong did not knock out a single person.

Besides, everyone's physique is different. We can't know how long someone will remain unconscious after being knocked out. Especially since I need to wait until noon, there are even more uncertainties. We need to avoid these unstable variables.

"Fine, I understand. By the way, there are pastries in the kitchen, the kind that keep for a long time. They aren't very moist, so they won't dirty your pocket. You can eat them if you get hungry."

I'm carrying out a mission. Being a little hungry won't be a problem.

"But I specifically adjusted the route for this. At least take one. You can use it to tide yourself over if you get hungry."

Fine, but don't do this again. The mission must come first.

In the end, Ren Dong did not refuse Su Rui's request. She casually selected two pastries and placed them in a separate pocket, though she felt troubled inside.

Cleaning the grease stains from these pastries later is going to be a hassle.

"I thought families like yours had people specifically responsible for washing clothes."

There are people assigned to that, but for clothes I wear on missions like this, I still prefer to take care of them myself.

"Because you're worried other people will be clumsy?"

More or less.

Ren Dong arrived at the garden behind the mansion. It was spacious, and inside a birdcage in the center were many adorable birds of various shapes.

Even Su Rui, who had no interest in birds, could not help taking a few more looks.

"No one will be active here for now. There are patrols around the perimeter, but these guards apparently don't want to intrude on Midal's private space."

Su Rui spoke casually and marked a chair in Ren Dong's vision. "Why not sit there and rest for a bit? There's still some time before noon."

No. I have a safer method.

Ren Dong scanned the surroundings of the garden, then hid in a thick patch of grass, disappearing completely within it in a prone position.

"Aren't you worried about mosquitoes and things like that?"

Assassin training includes similar situations. I can endure it.

"Fine. And then?"

And then what? Next, we wait until Midal comes at noon.

"So we're doing nothing but waiting until noon?"

Yes. What's wrong?

Ren Dong could hear Su Rui's barely concealed disappointment, as though he had been expecting something.

"Nothing. Thinking about having to wait until noon with no entertainment is making me so bored I'm despairing."

Patience is a required lesson for assassins. But haven't you played similar games before? How did you wait?

Ren Dong could not help finding some amusement in Su Rui's dejection. The emotions this system in her mind displayed from time to time were quite interesting to her.

"Obviously, I'd look at my phone and play other games. But now I can only use Scanning Vision to watch all these boring people walk around the mansion!"

Su Rui complained boredly in Ren Dong's mind, then activated Scanning Vision and watched a group of three-dimensional little people walk back and forth with her.

"Sleepy? You can sleep for a while. I'll remind you when it's about time."

Su Rui noticed Ren Dong yawn and kindly reminded her.

Wouldn't you be bored if I fell asleep?

"You weren't talking to me just now either. Don't worry. Actually, I don't get bored when I'm spacing out by myself."

Su Rui said it casually, but Ren Dong changed her mind.

Do you space out alone often?

"Of course not. Most of the time I space out is when teachers are lecturing. I've already understood what they're saying, so I don't want to listen anymore, but I can't do anything else. All I can do is stare at the blackboard."

You should study hard, you know~.

"I know~ I've already graduated now. Do you think I still need to study?"

Instead, Su Rui and Ren Dong began chatting in the grass, exchanging stories of their childhoods and talking happily.

Even when noon arrived and Midal walked toward the huge birdcage in his garden to spend some warm time with his little pets, Ren Dong was still a little reluctant to stop.

"Midal has appeared, and there are no guards around him either. You haven't eaten the two pastries in your pocket, right? I suggest eating while making enough noise for him to notice you!"

Why should I do that?

Ren Dong did not understand Su Rui's thinking, but she had learned to ask directly about things that interested her—at least when it came to Su Rui.

"Because it makes you look completely at ease. You broke into his heavily guarded home without breaking a sweat, and you even have the mood to steal two pastries. Isn't that cool as hell?"

I don't think that's necessary.

Ren Dong said so, but she could not help being drawn in by Su Rui's description. She stood, hurriedly brushed grass clippings off herself in the bushes, then took out a pastry and deliberately waited until she reached the outside of the room before taking a light bite.

The crisp crunch of the pastry drew Midal's attention. He turned around and looked behind him warily, then noticed a golden-haired Wolper woman leaning against the entrance to the large cage, leisurely eating a pastry as she gazed at him with an ordinary, calm look.

"Who are you?" Midal asked warily, but Su Rui's voice in Ren Dong's mind drowned him out.

"Yes, just like that. A gaze without any ripples is more unsettling than one filled with pressure, because he can't tell what you're thinking. It's even cooler than looking murderous!"