Personal Brain

"Getting my hands on a Personal Brain would probably be harder than reaching heaven."

The boy tilted his head back and sighed.

Rumble...

A spherical object rolled to a stop beside his feet.

"???"

The boy looked down, stunned. "A Personal Brain?"

Then he slowly raised his head and looked in the direction the little sphere had rolled from.

A young man with dyed blond hair stood there.

He held a small, flying-saucer-shaped Personal Brain in his palm, grinning with unrestrained delight.

"Haha."

"I saved up for two years, and I finally bought a new-generation Personal Brain!"

"Now I can finally throw that old piece of junk away!"

"I couldn't even pick up a girl with that antique on me!"

At those words, the boy paused.

His body went slightly still, and then he slowly lowered his head.

A metal sphere the size of a tennis ball sat quietly beside his feet.

Its appearance, however, was a sorry sight.

Its surface was covered in scuff marks and had lost its shine. Some of its metal seams had even curled up, and a piece of the casing was missing from the bottom, exposing the circuitry inside, which was giving off tiny sparks.

A discarded... Personal Brain?

The boy stared, a little dazed.

Could I use it?

Qin Yiguan slowly bent down, his fingers just about to touch the metal sphere.

"Hey, buddy!"

The blond carefully placed the "little flying saucer" in his hand onto his shoulder.

The boy's fingers hung in midair. He paused briefly and looked at the blond. "What?"

A hint of mockery crossed the blond's face. "Nothing."

Was this dumb kid new here?

He wanted to pick up my trash and use it?

Didn't he know?

A Personal Brain had to be linked to its owner's digital ID.

And the one I threw away was completely wrecked. I hadn't even had time to unlink it.

Even if this idiot fixed it, he wouldn't have permission to wake it up!

The blond struggled to hold back his laughter.

Meanwhile, the boy had already cupped the battered little metal sphere in his hands.

He wiped it off and tapped it gently.

Then he widened his eyes and looked at the center of the sphere, where a small piece of glass resembled some sort of lens, or a little window.

The boy stared into it for a while but found no light inside.

Then he gently placed the sphere on his shoulder.

It was like a little sleeping sprite.

"Haha..."

"Is this kid a little slow?"

The blond finally burst out laughing. Then he waved a hand and swaggered away.

But there was something the blond never saw.

The little metal sphere on the boy's shoulder suddenly lit up with blue light, flashing rhythmically as though it were rebooting.

Then the sphere vibrated slightly and slowly floated into the air!

At the same time...

A blue canopy appeared in the boy's vision. Enormous words obscured the entire world, accompanied by grand, sweeping music in his ears.

The words spun across the sky before finally coming together again.

Reboot successful

Link successful

Device designation: God's Abandoned

Linked owner: Qin Yiguan

Analyzing owner data

Ability name: consciousness matrix

Abnormal brain region A89 [conscience-free syndrome]-development: 0%

Brain Hyperactivity Zone B05 [shadow syndrome]—development: 0%

Brain dark zone A06 [gestalt collapse]—temporary development: 1%. If the host's individual Fusion Rate does not increase, this progress will reset to zero within 48 hours.

Brain restricted zone A01 [cosmic phobia]-development: 0%

Individual Fusion Rate: 0%

Sharing smart watch data

Personal assets: 8020

The boy stared at the words floating before him, his body frozen.

He had seen this kind of chart before. Boss Meng had once shown him something similar.

But Qin Yiguan remembered that Boss Meng's ability category had been "reality enhancement," with "Geometric Analysis" listed under it, and there hadn't been such a long string of entries.

It had been completely different from his own.

What baffled the boy most was that the vast majority of his data consisted of his disorders!

Abnormal brain region, exceptional brain region, brain dark zone, brain restricted zone...

Fusion Rate, development, temporary development?!

What was all this?!

A moment later...

The boy looked at the little metal sphere above his shoulder.

Though it was still just as battered, blue light now shone all over it, making it look as though it were floating in mist and lending it an air of mystery.

Just then, a passerby walked past.

The little sphere above the passerby's shoulder seemed "curious." It turned slightly and scanned God's Abandoned above Qin Yiguan's shoulder, like two dogs meeting in a park.

"What are you looking at?"

"I'm your daddy."

A voice suddenly rang in Qin Yiguan's ear. It was a man's voice, its tone dripping with disdain.

"???"

The boy looked at the little sphere above his shoulder. "You can talk?"

"Why wouldn't I?"

The voice sounded in his ear again, still just as flippant.

Qin Yiguan stared blankly.

This thing wasn't some little sprite. It was more like a bitter, cynical loser.

At that moment...

The way Qin Yiguan saw other people changed dramatically too.

Every passerby hurrying along had a Personal Brain of their own above their shoulder, but now data floated above all of them.

ID: HIK-263. Request access?

ID: ORE-047. Request access?

ID...

A scene resurfaced in Qin Yiguan's mind.

When he had first met the beautiful secretary Rong Qian, she had asked him, "Mr. Qin, would you mind if I took a look at your information? If it's convenient, please grant me access."

"So that's what she meant."

The boy nodded instinctively.

Then he noticed something strange and asked the metal sphere, "Everyone else's Personal Brain has an ID. Their names are all letters and numbers. Why... are you called God's Abandoned?"

That disdainful voice sounded again. "Because I'm fucking awesome."