Chapter 108 Our Village Has an Idol! [VIP]
In a short period of time, it is obviously unrealistic to expect the bangs and dead fish eyes to quickly complete the second stage and fast forward to the third stage.
Then I looked at my shabby task panel... No, I need to speed up! The progress of picking up trash is too slow!
A spirit of not giving up (and the desire for the "Silver Barracuda") rekindled the players' fighting spirit.
In the following days, Lin Chen's efficiency in picking up garbage soared.
She was like a tireless shredder, madly "cultivating" the remaining garbage.
【Scan】Start!
【Analysis】Start!
[Reconstruction] Start!
——Start, start, start all!
The efficiency was so high that both Geto Suguru and Nozomi felt pressured.
There will be rewards only if you work hard.
As another massive server array transformed into neat bundles of metal ingots and cables in the player's hands, the player looked at his panel with satisfaction:
[Reconstruction] Level increased to Lv.2!
[Scan] Level increased to Lv.2!
[Analysis] Level increased to Lv.2!
Skill unlocked: [Invasion] Lv.1!
Yay! The players haven't fallen behind at all and have entered the second stage!
Lin Chen paused, shaking his aching wrist. His eyes swept across the newly lit [Invasion] icon, then looked at the Silver Barracuda, which was clearing the space.
The ship's core encryption is still strong. But... she can practice elsewhere!
Level 1 [Invasion] can't deal with ships, but it could be used against something else, right? Maybe "visit" the "university database" mentioned by the Rabbit Workshop? Or maybe sneak into a private server with lax security and "borrow" some information?
Staying at the garbage station to pick up trash is too slow.
She needs more and more advanced experience packs.
Having made up her mind, Lin Chen dusted off the dust on her hands. The system's automatic cleaning made them spotless in the next second, as if nothing had happened.
Lin Chen walked around in circles, inspecting himself, then turned and walked towards the exit leading to the outside of Gear Alley, his steps clear and purposeful, with a brisk pace.
"Hey, Lin Chen!" Weird Liu Hai's voice came from behind. He and Dead Fish Eyes were sorting through the newly sorted parts. "Where are you going?"
The player didn't stop walking, didn't even turn around, and said in a crisp voice: "Get out."
"Going out?" Dead Fish Eyes put down the sensor he had just cleaned. "Where are you going?"
"Practice skills." Lin Chen paused and pointed to the ether cartridge on his wrist. "Maybe I'll use [Invasion] to look for information or something."
Geto Suguru and Nozomi looked at each other and saw the helplessness of "As expected" and "It's about to start again" in each other's eyes.
He opened his mouth, the words "It's dangerous outside" rolled on the tip of his tongue, but he finally swallowed it back.
Telling Player that it's dangerous? It seems a bit redundant.
In the end, he just said dryly: "...Come back early."
"I know." The player nodded in understanding. It seemed that the side quest was not in vain. Now the favorability of the two NPCs should be at least 60, right?
Thinking of this, Lin Chen rarely said a few more words: "I will be careful."
Well, although the "be careful" she means may be different from what others understand.
Dead Fish Eyes came over and said nothing. He reached out and naturally straightened her collar, which had been tilted from digging through the garbage, and brushed off the putty on her shoulders. He said in a flat tone, "Don't roll into the pit again or get lured away by strange things. We don't want to post missing person notices all over the city."
Lin Chen blinked, a little puzzled by Glass's "considerate" behavior, but he stood still, tilted his head and thought for a moment, then answered seriously: "It won't be taken away by anything else. The boat is still here."
It refers to the Silver Barracuda that bothered her.
Geto Suguru: "..." Okay, at least the goal is clear.
Seeing that she had finished tidying up (mainly due to Glass), and was about to rush out again, Xia Yujie couldn't help but say, "Lin Chen!"
The player patiently braked with his foot and looked back at him with clear and inquiring eyes.
Xia Yujie thought about her fighting power that could disperse large machines with a single slap, and the words that wanted her to take care of herself rolled in his throat, and finally became: "...If you encounter any trouble, contact me through the communicator."
He flicked the communicator on his wrist.
Glass smiled softly, raised the communicator on her wrist, and waved it in front of her, "Remember to contact us."
Lin Chen looked at her, then at Xia Yujie: "Oh."
Then he turned around and walked towards the exit of Gear Alley leading to the neon city at a relatively "steady" but undiminished pace. His small figure quickly disappeared around the corner of the metal shadow.
Geto Suguru and Nozomi stood there, looking at the empty alley and then at the big wrecked ship.
"Can she really be 'careful'?" Glass's tone was full of doubt.
Geto Suguru sighed and bent down to pick up the parts. "Let's hope she's just going to 'borrow' some information, and not tearing down some node's firewall like it's trash."
Although he felt the latter was more likely.
Lin Chen strolled around the Metaverse, using his newly unlocked [key to access the scattered private databases and public data nodes, like a squirrel hoarding food.
Well, although I can't see things like "Pu" and "Evolution of Encryption Protocols" for the time being, the skill experience bar has increased a little, and things can also be thrown to NP
On the way back, she traveled through the never-ending neon forest of Punklord, occasionally using [Steal] to steal some Punklord specialties.
The huge, full-scale exterior walls are flowing and changing, promoting the latest virtual reality, energy drinks and... idols?
A billboard covering most of the building suddenly switched images, followed by a burst of sound and dazzling light effects: [Star Dream Shining 101! Searching for the brightest rising star in the ocean of data!]
A face flashed across the screen quickly, singing and dancing energetically.
Then, an extremely abrupt face flashed by like a frame.
His face was expressionless, his reddish-brown hair, his aho-mane hair stubbornly sticking up, his eyes calm as if he was watching a forensic autopsy instead of participating in an idol audition.
Oda Sakunosuke.
Lin Chen paused, tilting his head to stare at the billboard that was still showing other contestants' passionate dances, his blue eyes filled with pure confusion.
Eh? ...Oda? Being...an idol?
Although she guessed that everyone who was there at the time was caught up in this "Punk Lord Spirit", she never cared which corner they were thrown into. As long as E was not dead (even if she died, she could reload the game and resurrect. Besides, with her around, Punk Lord's death was not really dead), it didn't matter.
But having said that, she could not have imagined that the lives of her family members were so exciting!
So was it real or fake? Was the Oda on the screen the same Oda she knew? Or was it some kind of illusion unique to Punchlord? Damn it! When did the player get caught in it?
Lin Chen quickly slipped into the shadows, and with extremely fast speed, he threw [Space Folding], [Vector Manipulation], and [Fireball] around him.
Well... apart from the NPCs around screaming in fear "What is attacking me", it seems like there is nothing.
Okay, then we can confirm that this thing is not an illusion!
Lin Chen stared at the big screen and pondered for a moment.
[Hack] Go in and download the video and save it to your system. It's definitely fun! You can also play it on the big screen during the farm's movie time on weekends!
They did it right away. Soon the player [invaded] the backend, accurately found the video that had just been played, and downloaded it with one click.
Let’s look for Oda by the way, because it sounds really funny to want him to be an idol!
The player slightly moves his mind to call out the system panel, finds Oda Sakunosuke among the followers, and chooses to teleport to the follower's location.
A crack appeared silently in the space in front of him. The edge of the crack was not a regular geometric shape, but a dark red fleshy edge that kept wriggling and curling. Inside, there was an indescribable turbid light and shadow that seemed to be alive.
It is completely different from Punk Lord's cold data flow style, with an indescribable taste of the K-series.
Although in Lin Chen's eyes, this was just a portal with a rather... unique? special effect of the return scroll.
The player remained calm and stepped in.
The next second, she appeared in a brightly lit dormitory filled with bunk beds and smelling of disinfectant.
Oda Sakunosuke was sitting on the lower bunk by the window, holding a copy of "Quick Guide to Idol Expression Management" with a serious expression, as if he were studying the movements of an assassination target. Next to him were "Introduction to Fan Psychology" and "Basics of Stage Movement."
"Lin Chen?" Oda Sakunosuke raised his head and saw her suddenly appear. His ahoge didn't even flutter, and his tone was calm as if he was asking "Have you eaten?"
"Yeah." Lin Chen responded, his eyes habitually sweeping over his head - besides his silly hair, there was also a clear task box floating on the ground:
[Oda Sakunosuke - Main Quest: Debut as the center in 'Star Dream Shining 101'!]
Mission Description: Pass the audition and enter the 'Star Dream Shining 101' training camp (1/1). Popularity points must reach 10,000.
"Pfft—hahahaha!" Lin Chen couldn't help but burst out laughing. The crisp laughter was particularly abrupt in the quiet dormitory.
A center-stage debut? Oda? The former assassin who wrote his campus observation diary more seriously than his mission reports? Letting him sing and dance on stage? The scene was too beautiful for her to even imagine...
"Your mission... is to become an idol? And debut as the center?" The player laughed so hard that his shoulders were shaking.
Oda Sakunosuke closed the book, his expression still blank, but his eyes revealed a hint of resignation, "I'm helpless too." "It was assigned by the system. I passed the preliminary auditions and entered the training camp. There will be another selection later. Popularity points... are difficult to accumulate."
He pointed to a light screen at the head of the bed, which displayed his real-time popularity value: [1327].
It is still far from the mission target of 10,000 points.
Lin Chen leaned over to take a look at the light screen, which had a voting channel, complex list rules, and real-time rankings.
She casually clicked on the preview of the list's background data stream, and then used the convenience of [Scan] lv.2, which allowed her to see more than ordinary people.
"Hmm..." She narrowed her eyes, a stream of data flashing rapidly in her sapphire pupils, "A lot of people are cheating."
The data flow behind the rankings was in chaos, with countless fake voting requests flooding the system like locusts. It was obvious that hackers hired by other contestants were causing trouble.
Oda Sakunosuke nodded and said, "The production team said this is the 'industry norm'. As long as we don't get caught in the act, it's fine." His tone was as flat as if he was saying, "The synthetic meat in the cafeteria tastes just average today."
"Is this a vote-rigging scheme?" Lin Chen's eyes lit up, his mind racing – isn't this a ready-made target for eliminating opponents and leveling up? It helps Oda, trains his [Invasion] skills, and combats those cheaters – it's like killing three birds with one stone!
"Let me help you get on the list!" She immediately announced happily, and sat down next to Oda Sakunosuke with great interest. The device on her wrist lit up with a faint light, and the data cable was directly connected to the light screen interface on his bedside.
Oda Sakunosuke watched her operate skillfully without any surprise or doubt. He just silently pushed the book "Quick Course in Idol Expression Management" aside to make room for her to operate, then picked up another book "Basics of Pop Arrangement" and quietly flipped through it.
He had long been accustomed to Lin Chen's style of doing things as she pleased, and he also fully trusted her abilities - although the goal this time was something strange like "making the charts".
Lin Chen's fingertips danced rapidly on the virtual keyboard, and his blue eyes reflected the codes refreshing like a waterfall.
With her [Invasion] skill fully activated, she sneaked into the backstage of the voting system silently like a nimble fish.
The goal is clear: to uncover the fake data sources used to manipulate votes, and by the way... to add some "real" traffic to Odasaku.
Um, Punklord’s “fan war”?
It sounds very interesting. Complete strangers on the Internet are like mortal enemies. There is no warmth or interests involved. It is the purest battle, which makes people feel warm inside.
Lin Chen hummed a song he had pieced together while immersed in his first confrontation with the hacker.
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