The wind was still blowing outside the container, swirling up scraps of paper and plastic bags from the ground. Scott sat on the tarpaulin, clutching the black simulator in his hand, his knuckles white, his eyes fixed on Ye Mo's back.
Ye Mo leaned against the door frame, his head tilted slightly back, as if listening to the sounds of the night, or as if he didn't care about the matter at all. His words from earlier, "Don't ask 'why' anymore, learn 'how' first," still hung in the air, like a taut string that would snap at the slightest pull.
"So..." Scott finally spoke, his voice a little dry, "You mean, I have to make a name for myself before I'm even qualified to know who you are?"
Ye Mo didn't turn around, but simply raised one hand and slowly waved it. "It's not about whether you're qualified or not, it's that the question you asked was too stupid."
"Stupid?" Scott's eyebrows twitched. "I graduated with a degree in electrical engineering, and you're telling me the system can make me shrink or grow out of thin air, without even explaining the principle? If that's not a stupid question, what is?"
Ye Mo then turned around, his face expressionless, but his eyes held a hint of a smile, as if he were looking at a student who insisted on writing poetry in a math exam.
"Then tell me," he suddenly bent down, picked up a piece of rusty iron from the ground, and weighed it in his hand, "How heavy is this thing?"
Scott was taken aback. "Huh?"
"A piece of iron," Ye Mo waved his hand, "How heavy is it?"
"I don't know... how many ounces? Half a catty? Why are you asking?"
"Look, you can't even say how much a piece of iron weighs, yet you insist on figuring out how to Wall Phasing and shrink into an ant?" Ye Mo tossed the piece of iron far away, where it crashed onto the wreckage of an abandoned car. "Does anyone think everything through before taking action? People usually do it first and then discover that it actually works."
Scott opened his mouth, wanting to retort, but swallowed the words back. He looked down at the simulator in his hand; fingerprints had worn onto the edges of the buttons.
"But something still feels off," he said in a low voice. "You said the system only tells you what you can do, so how does it know what you can do? Was it designed in advance? Or... have you actually tried it countless times already, but just didn't want to tell me?"
Ye Mo sighed, then suddenly grinned. "You guessed half right."
Scott's eyes lit up. "Which half?"
"I've tried countless times," Ye Mo shrugged. "The first time I used the Wall Phasing, I got stuck in the wall for three hours and was almost poured into the foundation by the construction team, mistaken for a steel bar. The second time, my Steel Bone activated, and my entire arm turned into a lump of iron; I had to use my teeth to bite down on the key to open the door. The third time—"
"Wait!" Scott interrupted, "You're changing the subject!"
"I didn't transfer anything." Ye Mo shrugged. "I'm just telling you the truth—nobody knew what was going on from the start. You think I understood everything? I was even more confused than you back then, constantly calling out 'System Bro' to the air, begging it for an instruction manual."
Scott's lips twitched. "Are you serious?"
"Why would I lie to you?" Ye Mo plopped down, crossed his legs, took off his glasses and wiped them. "I thought I had a brain tumor and was hallucinating. I was afraid to sleep for three days straight, afraid that if I closed my eyes I would be transported to an alien planet. Later I found out that as long as I didn't ask too many questions and followed the instructions, I actually survived."
Scott was silent for a few seconds, then suddenly laughed, "You're making this sound like a mental illness recovery diary."
"More or less." Ye Mo put his glasses back on, the lenses reflecting the city lights outside. "Now you understand, right? It's not that I don't want to tell you, it's just that I really can't explain it in a single sentence. It's like you're holding this controller right now. I can tell you which button to press to shrink, but I can't tell you what 'shrinking feels like' unless you try it yourself."
Scott looked down, his fingers unconsciously tracing the edges of the simulator. He knew Ye Mo was right, but the cloud of doubt still wouldn't dissipate. Who exactly was this person? Why was he chosen? Could those abilities really be explained by some kind of "system"?
But he had to admit—this guy in front of him had indeed saved him.
"Alright." He took a deep breath, stood up, and said, "I won't ask anymore."
Ye Mo looked up at him.
"At least I won't ask now." Scott stuffed the simulator into his pocket and cracked his knuckles. "You're right. Instead of getting hung up on whether you're human or a ghost, we should figure out how to train ourselves first."
Ye Mo nodded without saying anything, but took out a pair of headphones from his pocket and slowly put them on.
Scott glanced at him, then turned and walked towards the open space at the other end of the container—the training area they had marked out earlier. A circle was drawn on the ground with chalk, and several water bottles lay nearby, knocked over by him when he lost control last time.
He pressed the controller.
My body immediately began to contract, my field of vision rapidly increased, and the surrounding objects seemed to be magnified and pulled further away. But just as I was halfway in, my right leg suddenly stopped, as if it had been stuck by something. Then I lost my balance and fell directly into the pile of waterproof sheets.
"Damn it!" he cursed, struggling to crawl out, his size still not back to normal.
Ye Mo sat there, listening to music, without even lifting his eyelids.
Scott gritted his teeth and pressed the button again.
This time it went more smoothly, but he slipped when he landed and almost twisted his ankle. He took a breath and stared at his hand—his fingertips were still trembling slightly.
"Calm down," Ye Mo suddenly spoke, his eyes still closed. "You're too hasty. Zooming in and out isn't like pressing a switch; it's like breathing. It's done with each inhale and exhale, not by brute force."
Scott ignored him and tried a third time.
This time, he tried to slow down, taking a deep breath before pressing the button. His body slowly shrank, the compression of his muscles and bones like a spring being slowly tightened, but he didn't resist; instead, he sank down with that force.
Upon landing, he stood steadily within an area the size of a bottle cap.
He looked up, in Ye Mo's direction.
Ye Mo finally took off one earphone, glanced at him, and said, "Not bad."
Scott didn't say anything, but simply pressed the button again, restoring the original state. This time it was also stable.
He stretched his limbs, then suddenly leaped onto the top of the container, grabbed the edge with both hands, and flipped himself up. Standing on that high place, for the first time, he felt like a real warrior, not a thief hiding in an alley, afraid of being caught by the police.
The night breeze brushed against his face, and city lights flickered in the distance. He looked down at Ye Mo, his voice soft but clear. "What I want to ask now is no longer 'What is a system?' but 'Can I do it?'"
Ye Mo sat below, looking up at him, a slight smile playing on her lips, "This is the right start."
Scott didn't say anything more, but just gripped the controller in his pocket tighter. He knew that some answers wouldn't come from others; he had to walk through them step by step and uncover them himself.
He crouched down and pressed the button again.
My body shrank, my steps became lighter, and I ran along the edge of the container roof. Each step was more stable than before, and each landing was more precise.
Ye Mo put his headphones back on, leaned against the wall, and closed his eyes.
His fingers tapped lightly on his knees, as if counting Scott's footsteps.
The wind was still blowing outside the container.
Scott finished running a lap, stopped, stood on the edge, and looked down at the quiet figure below.
He suddenly realized that perhaps this person would never tell him the whole truth.
But it's okay.
All he wants now is to become stronger.
He took a deep breath, preparing for the fifth scaling training session.
My finger just touched the controller button--
Ye Mo suddenly opened his eyes.