Ark Simulator, Aren't I Supposed to Have No Physical Body?

Bai Xue was kneeling and wiping the blade when she heard this, her fingertips trembled. She hadn't told anyone that she had practiced Su Rui's wrist-swinging technique for two hours in the courtyard last night—although her right hand was now sore and trembling.

[Too much force.] The person involved commented sharply.

"Shut up!" she retorted inwardly, but couldn't help adjusting her grip.

The crisis struck on a stormy night.

As Bai Xue tracked down the Reunion Movement's secret stronghold, three poisoned crossbow bolts grazed her ears, causing Su Rui's consciousness to explode.

The instant her vision turned red, she felt a metallic scraping sound emanating from her bones. Three shuriken spun in her palm, forming a silver vortex of death, each blade flashing with an unfamiliar precision.

"Remember," her voice boomed with a metallic resonance, "it was—"

[Bai Xue.]

Su Rui's will extinguished her boiling killing intent like cold water. In the end, the enemy who fell was only knocked unconscious by the back of the blade, while Bai Xue knelt on one knee in the torrential rain, hearing a barely audible sigh from the depths of her mind.

Don't follow my example.

As the morning light shone through the paper door, Bai Xue noticed a pale golden triangular mark on her palm. She gently closed her fingers and heard the long-lost heartbeat that belonged only to her.

On the table lay the gifts sent by Lady Wenyue —three-colored dumplings in a lacquered box, their sweet fragrance filling the entire room. Bai Xue poked the pink dumpling on top and suddenly smiled.

"Next time," she said to the air, "I'll teach you how to cut dumplings with a shuriken?"

The wind chimes on the eaves tinkled softly, and in the unseen depths of consciousness, a sleeping being turned over.

Bai Xue knelt in the tea room of Wenyue Estate, her fingertips gently toying with the three-colored dumplings on the table. The pink, white, and green glutinous rice dumplings were neatly arranged in a lacquered box, gleaming in the morning light. She picked up a bamboo skewer, but her wrist suddenly froze—a clear sneer echoed in her mind.

[To cut with a shuriken? Showy but impractical.] Su Rui's voice was as indifferent as ever.

Bai Xue's lips curled slightly upwards, and she twirled the bamboo skewer between her fingers. "What, even Blacksteel's ace sniper is afraid of this kind of delicate work?"

[Wasting weapons.]

"This is called the pinnacle of skill." Bai Xue put down the bamboo skewer and took out a delicate triangular shuriken from her sleeve. The blade was only the size of a palm, but it was polished to a cold, sharp gleam. She tossed it gently, and the shuriken drew a bright silver arc in the air, landing steadily on the edge of the lacquer box, perfectly cleaving the pink dumpling at the top in two—the cut was so smooth that it reflected a person's image.

Su Rui was silent for a moment. Bai Xue could sense that his consciousness lingered on the small, cut-open ball of dough for a moment, as if he were assessing some tactical parameters.

... excessive sugar content.

"Pfft." Bai Xue couldn't help but laugh out loud, lightly tapping the other two intact dumplings with her finger. "What about these two?"

[Green matcha contains caffeine, which affects a sniper's performance. White... barely acceptable.]

Volume 15, Chapter 813: Don't Play Around

Bai Xue raised an eyebrow and deliberately poked the white dumpling with a bamboo skewer. "So, the elite of Blacksteel is actually a picky eater?"

A subtle ripple suddenly stirred in her Sea of Consciousness, like a cat whose tail had been stepped on. Bai Xue's right hand suddenly rose uncontrollably, precisely grasping the white ball of dough—

Then she stuffed it into her own mouth.

"Mmm!" Bai Xue's eyes widened as the sweet aroma of glutinous rice filled her mouth. She instinctively tried to resist, but found that she had regained control of her body.

[Replenish energy.] Su Rui's voice carried a hint of triumph. [Don't play with food before the next mission.]

Bai Xue slowly chewed the dumpling, then suddenly revealed a sly smile, "What if I insist on cutting the dumpling with a shuriken?"

[... what ever.]

"Teach me." She put down the bamboo skewers, her gaze falling on the training field outside the window, "Just like you taught Jessica how to use a sniper rifle."

Suddenly, her Sea of Consciousness went quiet. Bai Xue could sense that Su Rui's emotions, like a sensitive plant that had been touched, curled up slightly for a moment. She waited patiently, her fingers unconsciously stroking the blade of her shuriken.

[... the wrist angle is incorrect.] After a long silence, Su Rui finally spoke, his voice lower than usual, [The mechanical structure of the Triangular Blade is different from that of a firearm.]

Bai Xue's eyes lit up, and she immediately grabbed another dumpling and tossed it into the air. This time, she didn't rush to throw it, but instead adjusted the curve of her wrist according to Su Rui's instructions—

The shuriken spun as it flew out, tracing a perfect spiral trajectory in the air. The dumpling was precisely cut into four equal parts, each piece maintaining a perfect fan shape.

"Beautiful!" Bai Xue couldn't help but exclaim, but then she heard a soft hum in her mind.

[The cut surface is inclined at 0.3 degrees.]

"Nutritious." She pouted, but couldn't hide the upturned corners of her mouth. "Next time, I'll cut it into six equal parts for you to see."

[Waste of food.]

"Then it's your turn to demonstrate?"

Su Rui fell silent again. But Bai Xue could sense that his consciousness, like ice under the sun, was melting little by little. She picked up the last green dumpling and deliberately tossed it in her hand. "How about this—I'll teach you how to use shuriken, and you teach me sniping techniques?"

[... absurd.]

"Scared?"

A ripple suddenly surged in her Sea of Consciousness. Bai Xue's right hand was taken over again, but this time the movements were much gentler. Her fingers traced the blade of the shuriken, as if caressing some living thing.

[Watch closely.]

The next second, the shuriken flew out of her hand—not towards Dango, but in an incredible arc, precisely severing a cherry blossom petal falling outside the window. The petal split in two and slowly landed in her outstretched palm.

Bai Xue held her breath. The cut was as smooth as a mirror, and the veins of the petals were even visible.

"... Teach me," she said softly, her voice filled with an unprecedented seriousness.

Su Rui's consciousness rippled gently in her mind, like a sigh, or perhaps a compromise.

[Let's start with the grip.]

Sunlight streamed through the window, casting their shadows onto the tatami mats. The dumplings on the table had gone cold, but neither of them noticed. Outside the tea room, cherry blossoms continued to fall, each petal marked with an invisible shuriken's trajectory.

On this quiet morning, the sniper and the ninja reached a strange consensus—perhaps the ultimate skill should be used for the most ordinary things.

Bai Xue's discovery of Su Rui's secret was purely accidental.

It was a drizzly afternoon, and she was kneeling in the tea room of Wenyue Estate, organizing a mission report. The rain pattered outside the window, the stone lanterns in the courtyard were covered with a layer of mist, and the air was filled with the faint scent of earth and moss.

[The data on page 3 is incorrect.]

Su Rui's voice suddenly rang in her mind, and Bai Xue paused, her pen poised as she looked down to check the documents.

"Where?" she asked softly.

[Enemy numbers.] His tone carried a hint of barely perceptible smugness. [You underestimated one sentry.]

Bai Xue carefully checked it over and found that it was indeed the case. She clicked her tongue softly, picked up her pen to make the correction, but then heard a subtle hum in her Sea of Consciousness —like a child's smugness when winning a game.

She blinked, the pen hovering over the paper. "... Su Rui?"

There was no response.

But a subtle smile crept onto Bai Xue's lips.

Start with a glass of warm milk.

"Want some?" Bai Xue deliberately pushed the milk with three spoonfuls of honey to the center of her Sea of Consciousness. [A gift from Lady Wenyue.]

[... childish.]

"Oh?" She swirled the glass, the sweet aroma of honey filling the air. "Then I'll drink it myself—"

Suddenly, her right hand rose uncontrollably and caught the cup steadily. Bai Xue suppressed a laugh as she watched "herself" tilt her head back and drink it all in one gulp, her Adam's apple bobbing slightly faster than usual.

"... Too sweet," Su Rui's voice was muffled.

"Really?" Bai Xue shook the empty glass. "Then put in one less spoonful tomorrow?"

[... two spoonfuls.]

She finally couldn't help but laugh out loud, which elicited a wave of anger and embarrassment in her Sea of Consciousness.

The real breakthrough happened on the training field.

Bai Xue was practicing her newly learned Triangular Blade throwing technique. The shuriken drew a bright silver arc in the air, but she was always just a little off. She wiped the sweat from her forehead and suddenly had a flash of inspiration.

"Su Rui," she deliberately drawled, "Isn't this angle a bit off?"

[Obvious.]

"Then—" she rotated her wrist, "Could you demonstrate?"

The Sea of Consciousness suddenly became suspiciously quiet. Bai Xue waited for three seconds, then suddenly realized. "... You don't actually know how to use shuriken, do you?"

[absurd.]

"That means you don't know how." Bai Xue smiled, her eyes crinkling into crescent moons. "The mighty Blacksteel Ace actually has a weapon you don't know how to use?"

The next second, her right hand was suddenly taken over. Three shuriken twirled between her fingers in dazzling arcs, but just as they were about to be released—

Clatter

They all fell to the ground.

Bai Xue was stunned.

Su Rui was also stunned.

[...]

"Pfft..." Bai Xue bit her lower lip tightly, her shoulders trembling like a leaf. "N-no, it's okay, beginners are all like this..."

A storm raged in her Sea of Consciousness, but this time it wasn't anger, but rather a kind of almost childish embarrassment. Bai Xue suddenly felt a softness in her chest, as if she had discovered a black cat with its fur standing on end.

"Want me to teach you?" she asked softly, bending down to pick up the shuriken. "In exchange, will you teach me sniping techniques?"

After a long silence, she felt a barely audible sound coming from her Sea of Consciousness—

[... Um.]

Our way of getting along has changed from this point on.

Bai Xue discovers that Su Rui has absolutely no resistance to sweets (especially honey muffins), and will secretly be happy when Suri completes a difficult throw (although she always criticizes her), and even occasionally—very occasionally—she will get upset when Suri praises Jessica (manifested by suddenly taking over her right hand and brewing the tea particularly bitter).

The most obvious evidence was a gift from Lady Wenyue: a box of exquisite wagashi (Japanese sweets). As soon Bai Xue opened the box, she felt a small, joyful ripple in her Sea of Consciousness.

"Which one do you want?" she asked deliberately, "Red bean filling?"

[...Matcha.]

"Oh?" Bai Xue poked the green dumpling. "I thought snipers all hated caffeine because it affected their performance."

[Occasionally.]

"Occasionally what?"

[... an exception may be made occasionally.]

Bai Xue smiled, divided the dumpling in half, put one half in her mouth, and placed the other half in the center of her Sea of Consciousness: "Deal."

Outside the window, the setting sun bathed the courtyard in gold. Inside the tea room, all that could be heard was the soft sound of a dumpling being bitten open, and a satisfied sigh from someone Sea of Consciousness.

Bai Xue suddenly felt that this way of getting along wasn't bad at all—a sniper who would sulk over sweets was much more lovable than a cold, hard war machine.

Volume 15, Chapter 814: A Secret Chat

Bai Xue stood behind Lady Wenyue, her eyes slightly lowered, maintaining the proper posture of a guard.

Today's meeting was long and dull, with several family representatives arguing endlessly about the taxation of border trade. Lady Wenyue sat in the main seat, her expression calm, occasionally taking a sip of tea, but Bai Xue knew that her patience was gradually wearing thin—because the lady's fingertips were silently tapping the table, the rhythm a little faster than usual.

Are you bored?

Su Rui's voice suddenly rang in her mind, tinged with a hint of mockery.

Bai Xue didn't answer, but simply blinked slightly—this was their unspoken understanding, indicating "I heard you, but it's not convenient to respond right now."

[Even more boring than yesterday's meeting.] Su Rui continued, [At least yesterday's group had some more creative arguments.]

Bai Xue almost burst out laughing, but quickly straightened her expression and pretended to adjust her cuffs.

"Speaking of which," Su Rui suddenly changed the subject, "Do you know why they were arguing so fiercely?"

Bai Xue raised an eyebrow slightly, signaling him to continue.

"Because the accounts of three of them have been tampered with." His tone held a hint of smugness. "I casually glanced through their databases last night."

Bai Xue: "...?"

She almost lost her composure.

After the meeting, Lady Wenyue returned to her study, while Bai Xue stood guard outside the door. Once she was sure no one was around, she finally couldn't help but ask in a low voice, "You hacked into their system?"

"[Strictly speaking, it's 'access'," Su Rui corrected. "[Their firewall is too weak.]"