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

Alina nodded as if she understood, looking rather shaken.

Talulah wanted to say something, but unlike Su Rui, she had no way to use electronic devices to make sound and could only watch.

Fortunately, Su Rui did not take up much time and quickly returned the body to Talulah.

Seeing the person before her change from someone casual with an inexplicable charm into a thoroughly imposing Talulah, Alina realized something and cautiously asked, "Miss Talulah?"

"Mm." Talulah glanced at Alina, nodded, and said,

"This is a secret between Su Rui and me."

"I won't tell anyone." Alina nodded obediently, while Su Rui did not seem to care. "Even if others suspect something, they have no proof."

"I know. It's just to be safe." Talulah smiled and nodded. Besides, she did not want others to know that she had Su Rui.

Su Rui had said that he had a previous host. What if that previous host appeared again?

After dinner, Talulah watched Alina clean the dishes. After thinking for a moment, she said,

"We'll probably need five or six days for the round trip. We'll come pick you up then. Is that alright?"

As she spoke, Su Rui displayed the Scanning Vision and map for Talulah.

The Snowfield Guerrilla Team happened to be moving in this direction. Considering Talulah's travel speed while using Originium Arts, they should be able to find them in less than two days.

After all, Talulah was traveling light. Everything was stored in Su Rui's System Space, so it was only natural that she could move faster.

However, Talulah noticed something: Su Rui seemed to have gone quiet for a while.

What was wrong? Su Rui was normally quite lively. Aside from when they had first met, when Su Rui had seemed to be in a bad mood.

Thinking this, Talulah asked Su Rui in her mind, Did you run into some problem?

"Of course not. I was just thinking that Alina should have a tail too, but it seems this little tail is hidden under her clothes."

As Su Rui spoke, he brought up a picture he had just taken of Alina from behind in Talulah's vision and drew a red circle where her tail was.

...Her tail isn't as pretty as mine. You can touch mine.

Talulah was a little unhappy, and her voice carried a trace of displeasure, but Su Rui did not notice. He merely answered casually,

"I want to, but I can't."

Couldn't you control my body when you were eating? Why can't you just touch my tail while you're at it?

Talulah was puzzled. Although Su Rui had said it was only the Taste Function, judging from what she had seen, Su Rui had completely taken over her body. Why could he not touch her tail?

"Because of that old hag from the Upper System!"

Su Rui gritted his teeth. "She said the Taste Function is only for tasting and won't let me do anything besides eat. If I want a module to take over the body, the host has to purchase the corresponding module. Otherwise, she'll just cancel this module outright."

Talulah froze for a moment, then contacted the Upper System. Sure enough, she saw the list it provided.

Body Proxy Module: Costs 100% System Materialization Progress.

...Talulah looked at the number before her, then at her System Materialization Progress, which was still at negative ten percent, and silently asked, Can I buy on credit?

[The purchase function will only be unlocked after system materialization.]

It seemed Su Rui had a reason to be dissatisfied with the Upper System. Talulah silently nodded.

Alina: Come Back Soon

The next morning: "Woohoo!"

Accompanied by a cheer that only Talulah could hear, she had no choice but to open the door and face the frigid world outside.

"Miss Talulah, have a safe trip. And Su Rui, be careful too~"

Alina stood at the doorway, saying goodbye to Talulah, who had already stepped outside.

"Mm."

Talulah nodded expressionlessly. One day together had been enough for her to see that Alina was a gentle girl.

But she was being far too familiar. She was Miss Talulah, so why did Su Rui not get an honorific? Her relationship with Su Rui was not that good.

Still, Talulah did not say it aloud. She merely sighed inwardly that Su Rui had already started charming people despite not even having a physical form.

Meanwhile, Su Rui was urging her on in her ear.

"Let's go, let's go! I found a great ski slope. Run to the top, then ski down. You'll run into those Snowfield Guerrilla Team units along the way!"

"Didn't you say we still needed at least two days to meet them?"

Talulah was somewhat doubtful, but she still began traveling along the route Su Rui had given her, moving forward at the standard speed he had provided.

"It'll take you about one morning to reach the summit. Then, with an afternoon and another hour or two of traveling at night, you'll reach the Guerrillas."

As Su Rui spoke, he directly marked out the route he had arranged for Talulah and the Guerrillas' route for her to see.

"After reaching the summit, you can use all the remaining time for a skiing descent, so you'll be faster than traveling normally. And at night, I can use Scanning Vision to provide you with a correct and safe route."

As Su Rui spoke, Talulah's vision suddenly went dark. Then she saw the night vision he had provided.

In the pitch-black night, white lines marked every route ahead of her. She only needed to follow them.

This method was not only efficient, but safer as well.

Talulah could not help finding it interesting, and she nodded. More importantly, Su Rui's perspective made her feel as though it were very cool, though she could not quite explain why.

"In short, moving at night like this feels incredibly high-tech. The only problem is that after meeting the Guerrillas, you'll probably have to stay up late negotiating with them."

Su Rui explained with a trace of apology, but Talulah did not mind. "It's fine. It's only staying up late. It's nothing."

Then Talulah headed toward the summit, while Su Rui was not in a hurry.

"You don't need to run that fast. As long as you stay above the minimum speed I marked, you can keep pace with the Guerrillas. If you run too fast, you might have to spend time waiting for them."

"It's fine. Arriving early won't cause any problems."

As Talulah spoke, she followed the method Su Rui had taught her and used flames as propulsion to increase her speed once more. It took her only a few hours to reach the summit.

"Have you ever heard of a palm strike descending from the heavens?"

"What? Is that Yan martial arts?"

"I think you could pull it off. You reached the summit so quickly that, if not for those few steps where you touched the ground, it would have looked like you were flying just above it."

Su Rui briefly replayed the process of Talulah using flames to propel herself all the way up the mountain.

"If your Originium Arts improve further, I think you could fly directly. When that happens, we'll try that palm strike descending from the heavens."

Talulah smiled and nodded. Although she found it absurd, she did not refute Su Rui.

With her current status, even if someone dared defy the majesty of the Immortal Black Snake, could there really be an opponent powerful enough to require her to use such a move?

"Alright, do you want to set off now? What a pity. If you leave now, there'll be no need for night skiing."

Su Rui regretted missing the high-tech feeling of the night-skiing view, but Talulah knew how to redirect his attention.

"If we solve this sooner, we can go back and eat sooner, right? Besides, don't you have plans that require Alina's cooperation?"

"That's true. Then shall we go faster? I have an even faster route. It's a little challenging, but your safety will still be guaranteed."

As Su Rui spoke, he showed Talulah another, much steeper ski route.

"...No. This one is better."

Talulah glanced at the route, whose first several hundred meters were nearly vertical, and the corner of her mouth twitched. Su Rui had clearly overestimated her a little too much.

"Alright, then we'll leave now... Do you want to eat something first?"

"No. I ate before leaving."

After saying that, Talulah leaped directly down from the summit. She was not wearing specialized ski equipment, because compared to such gear, her own Originium Arts allowed her to control her direction more effectively.

Besides, with Su Rui's Scanning Vision assisting her, there was no danger at all.

"Woohoo, this is awesome~ It's kind of like a real-life Ski Safari! Too bad there's no avalanche chasing us from behind~"

Watching the scenery race past around them, Su Rui could not help cheering. Then he said regretfully,

"How about trying a shout? Maybe you'll trigger an avalanche?"

"That would be far too dangerous. If you like games, you can play them after we get back."

Talulah was rather helpless, but fortunately, Su Rui was still providing travel assistance, allowing her to remain on the correct route at all times.

Using this method, Talulah actually reached the Guerrillas' route earlier than Su Rui had predicted. By the time she arrived at the point they were expected to pass through, the sun had only just dipped below the horizon, an hour earlier than Su Rui had estimated.

"That's normal. I predicted based on the minimum speed."

Su Rui did not care about such minor details. "Still, the Guerrillas are a large force, and they're carrying supplies. Though they can probably be considered utterly out of ammunition and food by now? Either way, you'll still need to wait an hour."

"I remember you saying their situation has always been rather bad?"

"What else would it be? They have no logistical supplies and rely entirely on raiding Ursus outposts and black mines. They have no sustainable income, so they're sustainably running out of ammunition and food."

Su Rui's strange description made Talulah want to laugh, yet it was also perfectly fitting.

"Alright, I'll let you know when they arrive. But they'll have an advance unit, handled by the Yeti Squad. You'll probably see them soon."

FrostNova? Let Me Touch Your Ears

Su Rui was right. Before long, Talulah heard his reminder.

"Members of the Yeti Squad scouting ahead have already noticed you. Don't dodge the first attack. It can't hit you. It's just a warning."

As soon as Su Rui finished speaking, Talulah saw figures hidden in the snow that he had marked in her vision, along with the crossbow bolt aimed at the ground in front of her.

A crossbow bolt struck heavily beside Talulah's feet, throwing up snow that even landed on her boots.

Were they trying to scare people away this way? It might work well on other passing travelers, but Talulah had come here specifically to wait for the Yeti Squad.

"How about showing them some strength? Give them a warning?"

Su Rui displayed an example image in Talulah's vision. Talulah used Originium Arts and swept the snowfield before her with flames. Of course, the flames only melted the snow, exposing the Yeti Squad members in their white coats.

"No. I came in peace."

Talulah shook her head, then looked at the snowfield before her and said to Su Rui, "Let's go directly to the Snowfield Guerrilla Team's leader."

"You mean..."

"Make me appear directly in front of him."

"You said before that you wanted to meet them normally. Honestly, disappearing in front of them is a little too arrogant."

Su Rui complained with dissatisfaction, but still activated High-Speed Mobile Camouflage according to Talulah's request.

Talulah's figure vanished instantly, leaving only a set of footprints behind. The Yeti Squad members searched around in shock.

One of them even tried to stand up and approach, only to be slapped back down into the snow by a companion.

"Won't they notice our footprints?"

As Talulah quickly left the Yeti Squad members observing her in Scanning Vision, she stopped at a somewhat safer spot and looked back with concern.

Then she discovered in surprise that she had not left any footprints at all. The snow remained a smooth, unbroken expanse.

"What's going on?"

"It's actually just a projection. The projection covers the footprints you leave behind. Move quickly, because these projections will lose their effect. At the fastest, projections that aren't near you will disappear in two hours."

Su Rui urged her anxiously, but Talulah relaxed instead. Two hours was enough for her to do many things.

But Su Rui clearly did not think so.

"Hurry up! You're like the protagonist in that game I played, the one who never seems to be in a hurry even while running. I spent half an hour looking for the route before even clearing a single run."

Su Rui sounded anxious. "Two hours will pass very quickly."

Was it possible that your gaming skills were simply too bad?

A smile rose at the corner of Talulah's lips as she used Su Rui's Scanning Vision to avoid those along the route and headed toward the Guerrillas.

She had seen that assassin game Su Rui had recreated from his memories.

From a gameplay perspective, the easiest mode Su Rui played was already very forgiving, but Su Rui always wandered around like a headless fly, which was why he took so long.

Talulah had even seen Su Rui get angry and activate one-hit kills. With a single shot, everyone in the entire level had died.

It was spectacular, but whenever Talulah imagined what expression Su Rui had worn while playing behind the scenes, she could not help wanting to laugh.