Ark Simulator, Aren't I Without a Physical Body? Chapter 8

"Mm, I just thought of some funny jokes." Ren Dong kept a straight face as she searched for an excuse for suddenly laughing for no reason.

The assistant hurriedly nodded. "Rest assured, I understand. I get like that often too."

That was good. Ren Dong couldn't help letting out a sigh of relief. She opened the car door again and stepped outside, looked at the children who had been scolded by their parents so thoroughly they couldn't raise their heads, and cleared her throat.

Under the gazes of the parents and little punks, Ren Dong spoke according to Su Rui's suggestion:

"For now, I'll keep what they did confidential and won't publicize it. In return, you must ensure they won't offend again, and that they compensate the people they harmed for their losses. Understood?"

"Understood, understood. Please rest assured, we'll go apologize to the victims our children caused trouble for right away~."

The parents nervously and eagerly assured Ren Dong, then dragged their little delinquents away.

"Wait, you haven't said one more thing. I don't think this is oppressive enough." Su Rui still felt this level of urgency wasn't enough to ensure they completely followed Ren Dong's demands.

This was already enough, but at Su Rui's firm insistence, Ren Dong watched their retreating backs and added:

"If you don't keep the promises you've made, these matters will be publicized by the newspapers. Remember that."

"Please rest assured, we absolutely won't let these little brats make another mistake!"

This time, the parents grew even more anxious. Their departure changed from long strides into something close to running.

How was that? Satisfied now? They're so anxious they're running around like ants on a hot pan.

"That'll do. They failed to take proper care of their own children in the first place. What's wrong with making the punishment a little harsher?"

Su Rui didn't feel guilty about the consequences of his actions. To him, it was only natural.

Ren Dong didn't dwell on it either. She merely smiled and returned to her car.

"Let's go back."

"Okay."

The assistant nodded, started the engine, and drove Ren Dong, who was seated in the back, toward the Venice Family.

Ren Dong sat in the back seat with her eyes closed, apparently resting, but she was actually speaking with Su Rui in her mind.

Do you think they'll really turn over a new leaf?

"Why ask about something that's already certain? They might not be good people, but after this lesson, they at least won't dare do bad things openly. I think their parents will keep a close eye on them too."

After thinking for a moment, Su Rui added, "So they should become a fairly decent group of people. At the very least, they won't be punks anymore."

Education shouldn't be nothing but threats. Maybe you should learn to guide your own children with a good character.

"Why are you telling me that? I don't even have a physical body. Where would I get children?"

What if you did? How would you raise them if you had children?

The corners of Ren Dong's lips curled into a smile. She discreetly glanced at the system's materialization progress. Ten percent already. She hadn't expected it to increase so quickly.

"If I had children... I definitely wouldn't raise them freely like those parents. I'd nurture them properly, make sure they grew up well-mannered, and teach them to protect themselves. When facing rude people or bad guys, they'd need to be able to punch them to death."

Ren Dong had agreed with Su Rui's earlier words, but the more she heard the latter part, the more wrong it sounded. She quickly interrupted him:

"Wait. I understand wanting children to have the ability to protect themselves, but that training plan is a little too extreme. Besides manners, children may have hobbies and interests of their own. I don't think directly teaching them to eliminate every bad person is appropriate."

"I was just saying. Besides, I probably won't really have children, right?"

Su Rui casually added, "But if I really did have children, I probably wouldn't have the heart to make them train so hard. I'd definitely be capable of protecting them, right?"

Of course. You're very reliable.

Ren Dong couldn't help sighing in relief. If Su Rui couldn't bear to let children work too hard, then she could take the initiative in their education. At least she wouldn't let them turn into someone like Su Rui, whose mind was filled with nothing but killing.

"Come to think of it, you're pretty interesting. Seeing those parents raise children made you think about yourself? I think that kind of thing is still far off for you. You're not allowed to get married before you die."

Do you hear yourself?

Su Rui's unreasonable, domineering words made Ren Dong laugh instead. They were so unreasonable that they became amusing.

Likewise, out of curiosity, Ren Dong asked Su Rui, What if the person was you? Would you still be willing?

"Of course. You were mine to begin with, so naturally you have to marry me... Too bad I don't have a physical body."

Maybe you will someday?

"How could that be? I probably only became a system after I died. It's impossible."

Su Rui's certainty made Ren Dong happy instead. That way, she could figure out a way to give Su Rui a surprise later.

While Ren Dong was "resting with her eyes closed," the assistant in the driver's seat occasionally stole glances at her boss through the rearview mirror. She had wanted to say something to Ren Dong, but after noticing Ren Dong's reaction, she temporarily gave up.

However, Ren Dong was very sensitive to people's gazes. Sensing that the atmosphere inside the car was a little strange, she opened her eyes and met the driver's gaze.

"What is it?"

"N-Nothing!"

Their sudden eye contact made the assistant shudder. She nearly lost her grip on the steering wheel, and the car swayed on the road, making Ren Dong in the back seat sway along with it.

"I-I'm sorry. I didn't mean to."

Faced with Ren Dong's icy gaze, the assistant was so anxious she was almost in tears. Even Su Rui couldn't help complaining in Ren Dong's mind:

"Try looking a little gentler. If you scare the driver again, I'm afraid one twitch of her hand will send you straight into a crowd."

My gaze is perfectly ordinary, isn't it? Ren Dong looked at herself in the rearview mirror with some confusion. I'm only looking at her normally. I'm not dissatisfied, just checking what happened.

"But in her eyes, you look like you're staring at a dead person."

After all, not every Lineage member receives this kind of training. Only those who are relatively important...

Open the Microphone and Communicate

"So that means you're important? Forget it, that's not important."

Su Rui spoke casually, then changed the subject. "I suggest you be a little gentler and soften your tone. Otherwise, your driver is really going to drive into a crowd."

I know. Ren Dong nodded, then softly comforted the driver. "Calm down. Drive slowly. I'm not blaming you."

"Th-Thank you, Miss Ren Dong."

Only then did the driver come back to her senses. She took a deep breath, steadying her trembling hands somewhat, and the car became stable again.

Ren Dong closed her eyes again and spoke with Su Rui. She's my assistant. Can't you remember her name? Why do you call her that?

"Because I really don't want to remember those complicated and meaningless names. A codename is enough... And honestly, your names are too hard to pronounce."

As Su Rui spoke, he directly marked the driver's full name in Ren Dong's vision, then added a suffix: "Driver."

...You can directly see their names?

"Yeah, their full names. Something this trivial is nothing to me."

Then why can't you just address them by their names?

"Because I don't want to waste energy on the names of small fry."

I've been a little curious. What's small fry? Is fry some kind of creature from somewhere?

"Simply put, fry are scales here. Anyway, just understand that I mean minor lackeys. Calling them small fry sounds more interesting."

"Oh, and since she's your driver now, just leave that job to her from now on. I'll keep calling her Miss Driver."

For one little hobby of yours? You're so willful. Ren Dong did intend to follow Su Rui's request, but verbally, she still had to be stubborn about it.

Su Rui and Ren Dong continued talking, but the driver, who had slowed down from nervousness, thought she had found an opportunity and looked at Ren Dong.

"Miss Ren Dong, I'm actually a little curious..."

"What is it? Just say it. You don't need to be nervous."

Ren Dong opened her eyes and met the driver's gaze again through the rearview mirror.

"Um, I mean, are you the type of person who has an imaginary friend?"

Ren Dong's emotionless gaze startled the driver, but she still gathered her courage and asked.

"Imaginary friend?" Ren Dong froze for a moment.

But the driver became excited instead and began explaining to Ren Dong:

"It means a friend you can't touch in reality, one who only exists in your mind. They understand you completely, make plans with you, comfort and encourage you. Imaginary friends are amazing! Looking at your expression, Miss Ren Dong, it has to be because of an imaginary friend, right?"

The driver's enthusiasm made Ren Dong a little awkward. She looked away, but Su Rui in her mind was delighted.

"This is killing me. By her definition, I really am your imaginary friend. What's it like having an imaginary friend? Little virgin, all for the sake of teasing, sweet pear—you've got quite a rich life~"

What are you saying? I can't understand any of that.

Ren Dong couldn't make sense of Su Rui's jokes mixed with homophones and was somewhat confused. But what she needed to deal with now was the driver, who was enthusiastically talking to her.

Even while driving, the driver was incredibly enthusiastic, even introducing her imaginary friend as though no one else were around.

"This is my imaginary friend, **&%, and she's sitting in the passenger seat right now, smiling as she listens to us chat..."

"Good grief, so she's the one with the truly wild imagination."

Su Rui couldn't help laughing. "You found yourself a treasure~ A driver this interesting isn't easy to find."

All right, Su Rui. You really are someone I can't touch, but you aren't my imagination.

Ren Dong sighed and silently added the prefix "for now" to the words "can't touch."

"True, I was just joking. But her inner life is so rich that it's actually pretty nice. At least she's happy. Whether her so-called imaginary friend can be touched or not, she's gained happiness from it."

There was a trace of wistfulness in Su Rui's tone, which instead caught Ren Dong's attention. Are you envious of her?

"I'm not envious. My life is good too."

Ren Dong didn't respond, but she felt that someone whose mind was filled with killing probably didn't have a very good life. Even if he was materially well-off, his mental state certainly couldn't be very healthy.

"You aren't talking bad about me, are you? If you've got the nerve, turn on the microphone and communicate! Talk to me directly!"

Su Rui noticed Ren Dong's silence and questioned her unhappily.

It's nothing. I was just thinking about how to respond to my driver.

Ren Dong casually found an excuse, diverting Su Rui's attention while asking him for advice.

Sure enough, Su Rui took the bait and immediately began analyzing it for her.

"I think you can share some of the things you and I have done. That'll help build rapport while letting her relax a little. Crashing into people would be pretty cool, but I'd still prefer that nothing happens to you."

Thank you. Ren Dong felt warmth bloom in her heart, then heard Su Rui's reply:

"Of course. If you died, where would I go to watch blood flow like a river?"

Always thinking about blood flowing like a river. Once you have a physical body, I'll show you what blood flowing like a river really means.

Ren Dong maintained a smile that wasn't a smile, with not a trace of amusement in her eyes.

However, so as not to frighten the driver, Ren Dong quickly composed herself and spoke according to Su Rui's suggestion:

"My imaginary friend and I are also very close. He even gives me advice when I'm carrying out missions. For example, with this incident, my friend gave me suggestions. I call him ￥...*"

Ren Dong froze. It seemed she had just said something strange, but the driver, who was driving, appeared not to notice at all and continued chatting away.

What's going on? Su Rui, just now I seemed to... Ren Dong then remembered that she couldn't recall the imaginary friend the driver had mentioned either. It was as if the other person's words had been muted.

"Oh, I muted the names you people use, and added a memetic effect that keeps you from being surprised by it. Simply put, I don't want to hear actual names."

Why?

"Because too many names take up the limited processing capacity my brain already has and affect the system's calculations."

You're a system. You wouldn't lack that tiny bit of processing capacity at all, would you?

"If I think it's taking it up, then it's taking it up."

Su Rui was being unreasonable again, and Ren Dong couldn't help rolling her eyes.

A Sharp Contrast

After resolving the little punks' farce, Ren Dong returned to the Venice Family. Nothing happened over the next few days, until one morning, when Su Rui suddenly woke her up.

"Assassin Ren Dong? Open your eyes, it's Su Rui!"

...Let me sleep a little longer.

It wasn't time to wake up yet. Upon hearing Su Rui's voice, Ren Dong instinctively rolled over. Her time spent with Su Rui had made her very accustomed to his occasional whims.