Chapter 86: Freshness

The Special Affairs Bureau clerk who called herself "Ren Wenwen" has left.

Erin leaned out the window, watching the other party walk away, then turned her head to look at Yu Sheng, who seemed a bit dazed, and asked with great curiosity: "What is that 'Blizzard Mystery Case' she mentioned?"

Yu Sheng's expression was strange: "... It's a novel I wrote, serialized on a media account."

"Then who is this 'Lin Qi' she talked about?"

"The male protagonist in the book."

"And what about 'Night Blade'?" Erin blinked her eyes, but before Yu Sheng could answer, she assumed an enlightened look: "Oh, I get it, she's the female protagonist, right?"

Yu Sheng fell silent, lifting his head to gaze at the ceiling.

Seeing this situation, Erin seemed to guess something, her tone suddenly becoming cautious: "... Don't tell me it's another male protagonist?"

Yu Sheng sat in his chair, leaning back: "If it were just another male protagonist, I could understand that."

Erin: "... Then, a male antagonist? Although I don't remember many things, I seem to vaguely recall that such a pairing exists in the world..."

Yu Sheng silently glanced at this puppet, thinking to himself whether her already stretched-thin memory could save some space for useful things, then let out a long sigh: "It's the male protagonist's motorcycle."

Erin: "..."

The little puppet was profoundly shocked, even more shocked than when she had first seen a giant eyeball covering the sky.

She jumped straight down from the windowsill, stood on the floor, and pointed a finger at Yu Sheng: "You actually write such bizarre stuff!"

"I damn well didn't write that in my book!" Yu Sheng was completely thrown off, "Could it be that people working at the Special Affairs Bureau are under so much pressure that their worldviews and perceptions are a bit off?"

That Ren Wenwen had already left by now; if she were still here, Yu Sheng would truly want to sigh in front of her face—Miss, your fetishes have narrowed too much!

Huli had been standing nearby listening for a long time, and finally could not restrain her curiosity as she hurried over: "Benefactor, Erin, what are you talking about?"

"Good children shouldn't listen—this is something even bad children aren't allowed to hear." Yu Sheng, mentally and physically exhausted, waved his hand, his gaze falling once again on the laptop nearby.

His grand plan to rush his manuscript hadn't even begun yet, but at this moment, he simply could not write any further no matter what.

"You're not writing today, are you?" Erin looked eagerly at Yu Sheng's computer and asked curiously.

"Let's talk about it tomorrow," Yu Sheng sighed, then immediately noticed the look in Erin's eyes, "What do you want to do?"

"Can I play with this for a while?" Erin pointed at Yu Sheng's computer, "Watching TV every day is quite boring."

Yu Sheng did not speak for a moment, so the little puppet quickly added: "I won't look at your browser history!"

"I'm not worried about that!" Yu Sheng instantly widened his eyes, "I'm afraid you'll break it for me—do you know how to use it?"

"Of course I do!" Erin replied with perfect justification.

"... Where did you learn that?"

"I don't know, I just know how to use it; I can even type!"

Yu Sheng looked suspiciously at this puppet twice, hesitated repeatedly, and finally waved his hand: "Suit yourself, just don't break it; I'm going to study this new phone first."

Having said that, he paid no more attention to Erin, but sat aside and took out the new phone Ren Wenwen had handed to him.

A "gift" given in the personal name of Baili Qing, the Director of the Special Affairs Bureau.

Yu Sheng observed it carefully and found that this thing looked no different from an ordinary phone on the outside, except that it felt slightly heavier in the hand; he didn't know whether it contained a larger battery or some different functions inside. When Ren Wenwen handed this thing to him, she hadn't included any special instructions for use, only saying that its activation method was the same as an ordinary phone, and that the specific "guidance" for "special individuals" was all integrated into the system.

After studying the exterior for a while, he unlocked the phone screen.

A large red diamond-shaped emblem appeared in the center of the screen, looking like a vertical, vigilant single eye; that was probably the symbol of the Special Affairs Bureau. Then the emblem faded, and a concise desktop appeared on the screen—since it was a brand-new device, there were very few icons on the desktop, and the most prominent among them was "Border Communication," located at the very top position.

It also had a red emblem with a diamond-shaped logo; after clicking it, it started up very quickly with almost no loading process, and Yu Sheng saw its simple and clear user interface.

Communication tools, data queries, a series of preset public channels, news pushes, and even an emergency support option.

A strange sense of novelty surged in his heart; Yu Sheng curiously studied this "comprehensive platform," which was said to be built by the Special Affairs Bureau and specifically opened to all registered Spirit Realm Detectives and independent investigators in the Borderland. Soon, he discovered that this software was already in a logged-in state—the logged-in username was precisely "Yu Sheng."

The registration time was this morning.

Did that "Director" help set it up in advance? Or was this device pre-bound to the user, with the registration information already written in when handed over and unable to be changed? Many special devices with confidentiality functions seem to be like this...

While Yu Sheng was blindly pondering in his heart, he found the chat function of "Border Communication," suddenly had a thought, and typed "Little Red Riding Hood's" name into the search bar.

A profile picture showing the back view of a figure draped in a red cloak appeared on the screen, displaying as online.

Yu Sheng thought for a moment and tried sending the other party his first message: "Are you there?"

Only two or three seconds passed before he saw that avatar suddenly flash, followed immediately by a string of symbols popping up on the screen: "???!"

"This is Yu Sheng; the Special Affairs Bureau just gave me a phone," Yu Sheng edited the message in the dialogue box, "I've seen you use this software, and now I have it too."

This time, Little Red Riding Hood's reply was delayed for quite a while before arriving: "You're actually serious about this?! I thought you were joking back then!"

Then, after another pause, she sent a second message: "I'm currently in class."

Yu Sheng: "Won't the teacher discover you?"

"No, I let my wolf carry the phone on the roof to send messages—using the wolf's eyes, claws, and sensory sharing. I'm sitting in the classroom myself, looking extremely attentive."

Looking at the message sent by Little Red Riding Hood, Yu Sheng stagnated slightly: "... You can do it like that?"

"I've practiced for over two years; at first, I could only simply reply with an emoji after receiving an urgent message, but now I can even team up for battlefield matches by sharing the wolf's senses," Little Red Riding Hood replied rapidly, her tone carrying a hint of pride, as if only at times like this did she in the chat regain a bit of the relaxed nature of a minor, "What about your side? Did you really come here to become a Spirit Realm Detective... then what about those two at your home? Did they register too?"

"I registered them too," Yu Sheng lifted his head to glance at Erin, who was typing away on the keyboard without knowing what she was doing, and at Huli, who was wandering around the room looking for food, "but there's only one phone..."

Speaking of this, he paused, then sent another message: "And even though they say we're registered, once the novelty wears off, I don't know what we'll be able to do at that point."

"Discuss it with that puppet, the one called Erin, right? She seems to know quite a lot about the supernatural realm."

"She would definitely suggest straight away that I go out on the streets posting small ads," Yu Sheng replied immediately, "Asking her is worse than asking you."

"... Actually, that really is a good line of thought," Little Red Riding Hood replied, but quickly changed the subject, "Of course, for now, you shouldn't be thinking about 'starting a great career' or anything like that; if you have time, read more of the materials. There are a large number of files shared by the Special Affairs Bureau with Spirit Realm Detectives and investigators there, including information on many special locations in the Borderland, as well as intelligence on some foreign realms that can be entered and exited stably. Or you can check the public channels for any new messages; some Spirit Realm Detectives and investigators will share intelligence they obtained when encountering recent incidents, which you might find very interesting. If you want to make money, you can also see if anyone has posted requests for assistance; if you're worried about being scammed or unsure about the price, you can ask me."

Little Red Riding Hood directly replied with a long paragraph, the content being patient and detailed.

Even through the phone screen, Yu Sheng could feel that the girl who was always together with a pack of wolves was sincerely offering help.

"Thank you, very useful advice." He thanked her very sincerely.

"It's nothing, just a simple suggestion. By the way, since you registered as a Spirit Realm Detective, you should have also registered a team, right? What's it called?"

"The Inn."

Yu Sheng typed this name very solemnly, then added another sentence: "But it probably can't be searched for yet; the materials were only taken away this morning."

"Sounds awesome," Little Red Riding Hood replied quickly, though it was hard to tell if she was sincere or just being polite. "Maybe soon it'll become a name that echoes loudly across the Lands Between?"

"Haha, thanks for the good wishes," Yu Sheng laughed, typing rapidly. "Then I won't keep you from your class; I'm going to study that database now."

"Okay, bye~"

After ending the communication with Little Red Riding Hood, Yu Sheng let out a soft breath, then immediately noticed the clatter-clatter of Eileen furiously typing away.

He finally couldn't resist going over: "What are you doing? Making such a racket... Don't break my keyboard."

"Playing a game; someone called me slow, so I'm cursing them back," Eileen said, looking puffed up with anger. She sat cross-legged in front of the keyboard, her whole body swaying along with her arms as she typed. "This keyboard is too big; it's such a hassle to use!"

Yu Sheng curiously glanced at the screen and was startled to discover Eileen single-handedly battling everyone with her words; from teammates to opponents, every single person had lost their parents—even the game developers and the advertisers placing ads on the battle map hadn't been able to save their families.

When she typed, she wasn't slow at all!

Yu Sheng was instantly awestruck.

The little doll's gaming skills were terrible, but her street-fighting cursing was truly awesome... Usually, Yu Sheng could rein her in when she cursed people, but online, she was truly off the leash!

However, she didn't get to act arrogant for long.

In just a few minutes, she got her account banned, kicked straight out of the match, and a huge temporary ban warning popped up in the middle of the screen.

"Serves you right for being arrogant," Yu Sheng burst out laughing as he saw Eileen jump up from the table in a furious huff. "Took a fall this time, didn't you?"

Eileen was right there, furiously venting and spewing profanities, when she suddenly froze upon hearing Yu Sheng's words; then she hesitantly turned her head: "... Uh, actually, this is your account."

Yu Sheng: "...?"

(End of Chapter)