Free Web NovelChapter 124: Not A Threat?
Originals was the term used for families who’ve long since passed down their powers through the generations, teaching their own kids from a young age. Because of this, the ability levels of Originals were usually at 8, as they were able to learn from the masters, and had their powers for far longer than anyone else.
So when Erin saw the level 8 on the mechanical figure’s watch, she was on high alert. The person she was dealing with was very likely an Original, one she did not know the full strength of.
’The watches only go up to level 8, but someone could easily have way more MC than what the watches could measure,’ Erin thought, contemplating her next move, ’Not every level 8 is the same.’
Erin jumped back, making sure to keep her distance.
"I retract my earlier statement about you two," The mechanical being commented with a robotized voice, "It appears that you have fists for brains."
Quinn’s eye twitched, hearing such a response, but he went to the system’s chat tab and began messaging Erin.
{Quinn} What should we do?
{Quinn} I don’t think I can take this guy in a fight on my own, but maybe if we work together, we could beat him.
{Erin} Distract him, and I’ll take him head on.
Right when Erin was about to do something, she heard machinery sounds surround them on all sides.
Stepping from the bushes were numerous robots with three limbs for legs, and large glowing blasters for heads.
"You’re not thinking of running away, are you? Because I have many questions for you, Erin Heley..." The mechanical figure stated in a low voice, slowly turning his head towards Erin.
’How does he know my full name?!’ Erin frantically thought.
Gritting his teeth, Quinn was clenching his fists in frustration, ’I knew it, he was a threat since the beginning. I should’ve done something about this sooner!’
"I need to know-" The mechanical being began to shout, and Quinn and Erin readied themselves for an intense fight.
"—how did you manage to break my game!?"
The two blinked. The response threw them for a loop.
"Your... game?" Erin asked, confused.
"I helped you out with your ability number, so you better answer!" The mechanical being pointed at the girl, threateningly.
"What game is he talking about?" Quinn called out to Erin.
Erin’s eyes widened, as she remembered that this person was most likely referring to Power Fighters, as it was the only video game she ever played recently.
"I could understand if you were able to hack into the game engine, or even interfere with the gaming pods, but I checked those myself, and they were unmodified, so tell me," The mechanical being raised his blaster arm, aiming at Erin, "How. Did. You. Do. It?"
"If you put that gun away, I might consider it," Erin spoke in a low voice, slowly pushing the blaster down with a finger.
"Fine," The being said, then his armor began to slowly break apart off of his body.
It was as if his power suit moved like a liquid, but Erin could tell that they were actually small miniature spiders that crawled off of his body. They then crawled into a bag on the person’s back, before it automatically closed once they were all inside.
As for the person himself, he was actually a pretty short person, which was hidden by his armor that made him look larger than he actually was. His skin was a sienna color, and had short dark green hair, which parted at the bangs, partially covering his bright eyes. Under them were deep dark eye bags, making him look perpetually tired.
"I am not in the mood for fighting, all I need to know is how you managed to hack my game," the boy said.
"I didn’t hack your game," Erin spat out, "I don’t even know what you’re talking about."
"How would you explain those red lines then?" Logan pointed out, "Don’t say it was your beast gear. I examined the code, and none of your weapons did that."
{Quinn} Were you using your vampire powers in a public video game?
{Erin} As if you wouldn’t do the same thing to level up.
{Erin} Besides, me leveling up and getting stronger saved your life, didn’t it?
"If you don’t want to answer me here, then you can go with me to my dorm room—" Logan began saying, before Erin interrupted him.
"I’m NOT going to a second location," Erin sternly spoke.
"Erin, at least let’s listen to what he has to say first, he did help you out," Quinn insisted.
Logan nodded, "As I was saying, if you want to stay silent, you two can go with me to my dorm room away from prying eyes."
Erin was about to make a retort that his words sounded even more suspicious, when Logan suddenly reached his hand out to grab her arm.
"Hands off!" Erin said as she smacked his hand away.
But as the two made physical contact, for a brief moment, all three of them were able to see a series of system messages.
[Ability detected]
[Alterations to the system are trying to be made]
[Alterations have been blocked]
In that second, everyone froze, processing what was happening.
"You’re a...?" Logan asked.
Before he could do anything, Erin lifted him up by the collar into the air.
"What. The. Hell. Did you do to me," Erin slowly spoke.
"If you saw the system messages, you would’ve seen I did nothing," Logan calmly replied, then glanced over towards Quinn before returning his gaze, "Either way, I never expected you to have a system. Are you a cyborg?"
’Does... does he know that I’m linked to Erin?’ Quinn thought, ’Wait, did he mention a cyborg?’
Logan’s eyes were now beaming with excitement, which confused Erin given the circumstances. He lifted a hand, which had somehow commanded the robots around them to lower their guns, except for one. That robot ran over and shifted into a stool under his feet, holding him up.
Erin let go, knowing that her grip wasn’t doing anything anymore. Looking at him, he almost looked like an excited kid about to give a whole spiel about a topic they just learned about. Not at all threatening, unless you didn’t particularly like learning about dinosaurs.
"You have to have a system, my ability confirmed it, and this was the first time I was rejected by a computer. Just now, I was thinking that you had to be a robot, but I recalled your Power Fighters history, and your records at the school. You were definitely human before, no doubt about it, so you must be a cyborg, a human with cybernetic enhancements."
Logan then tilted his head to get a better look at Erin, but as far as he could tell, there wasn’t anything that screamed "robot."
"The cybernetic enhancements must be created by someone with a powerful ability, stronger than mine. Did Richard Eno make your enhancements? That would explain how you could bypass my game, and why the watch would suddenly stop displaying your true MC count. If you have cybernetic skin, then the watches can’t properly detect your MC points."
Erin glanced over Logan’s shoulder to Quinn, and he shrugged, not sure what to do.
"Forget the game, you had your spider on my watch when I came back from the red portal planet," Erin brought up, "If I was apparently a threat to your game, then why did you help me then?"
Logan’s excitement dwindled, and he went back to his earlier calm demeanor, "When I first saw the Power Fighters forum posts that someone had managed to hack at my game, I looked into your game history, and times when you were active. Keep in mind that my ability is an Original ability, and I used it to code my game. If someone were to bypass it, then surely they were a potential threat to my family, one I would need to keep an eye on."
"I was able to deduce that you were a military student easily, as you were playing games on a server exclusive to the school’s. However, I noticed that despite you using a red lines ability, your account was registered as having an ice ability, one you were not using for some reason. While I cannot look into the other school registries, I was able to look at this school’s student registry, and you’re the only student here with an ice ability."
"I deduced it was most likely you, but I did not know for sure until your game activity stopped the moment an Erin Heley was reported missing," Logan concluded, "You were surprisingly easy to find."
Taking it all in, Erin had a scared thought about Logan. Despite being small, he was frightening in other ways. freewebnøvel.com
"When I got the alert that you were returning from Pioletic, I calculated the possibility that you would break your old watch to hide your secret, but it wouldn’t be enough, as they would simply hand you a new one. If they found out you lost your ability, there would be no doubt that you would get sent to the dungeon, so I had to intervene. I needed to know how someone like you managed to bypass my code."
"So all you want to learn is how I managed to hack your game?" Erin simply put.
"Indeed, and if we can propose an ally ship, then I promise to help you with the resources of the Green family," Logan said, raising a hand up for a handshake, "You clearly needed my help hiding your ability number after all."
