B U G Arc
Exam God 01
After Shen Yun’s death, Xin Lan chose to log out.
Her mission was completed, and she didn’t want to linger any longer.
As for Qin Yuyan’s reaction when she found out… Xin Lan didn’t want to think about it anymore.
She exited the mission door, wanting to undergo emotional analysis once more.
But inexplicably, she was somewhat unwilling to forget some things.
Zero Nine noticed that Xin Lan didn’t seem to be in a good mood and understood that something had happened. Wisely, she didn’t speak up to disturb her.
The host had a rare moment of enlightenment, only for it to end abruptly.
Meanwhile, a certain commander who had just exited their mission door felt like banging their head against the wall.
“Are you an idiot? An absolute idiot!”
Wan Yan felt like reformatting herself, infuriated by her own actions.
Finally managed to get her attention! There are signs of progress! She even said it herself!
Everything was just fine!
Ugh!
She clearly meant to say, “The rest of my life will have you in it.”
This frustration made Wan Yan wish she could return to the mission world and pour all the nonsense out of her head.
She called Orange and gazed at her with a sigh.
“Back already? Judging by your expression, it doesn’t seem to have gone smoothly?”
Orange teased, and Wan Yan couldn’t hide her frustration.
Wan Yan briefly recounted the events, and Orange burst into laughter on the other end.
“What did I tell you? I advised you to be subtle, to be discreet. You’re all shy and still want a partner?”
Instead of offering comfort, her friend continued to rub salt in the wound. The little devil in Wan Yan’s heart had already gone to a corner, drawing mushrooms.
That sentence still echoed in her mind.
—”Is there anything else you want to say to me?”
Even though she couldn’t see the person’s face, she could imagine their expression.
Wan Yan rapidly calculated the probabilities. The chance of success in the first world was zero, but now it was fifty percent.
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“Come on, Wan Yan, I say go for it, confess your feelings, go for it!”
Orange encouraged, after all, humans didn’t have the same level of patience as they did, and missing an opportunity could mean losing it.
Wan Yan nodded, feeling it was worth a shot.
Even if she failed, it didn’t matter.
Orange saw Wan Yan nod and cheered her on.
She was about to leave, but at this moment, her communicator rang again. She thought it was Orange, perhaps with some unfinished words, but it turned out to be a message from headquarters.
“What? An anomaly in the mission world?”
“A bug?”
“Alright, I’ll go fix it.”
Wan Yan swiped open the holographic screen, her fingers tapping on it.
She pushed open the door, trying her best not to be nervous.
She had originally planned to confess, but then headquarters suddenly issued an order for her to fix a bug in another world. This made her feel even more compelled to confess now.
If the timing of entering the mission world was asynchronous, it would be impossible to appear in the same world at the same time.
So, from the very beginning, she and Xin Lan had a strong connection.
She didn’t have time to wait for Xin Lan at the usual coffee shop where she usually went back. As she had to wait for the bug to be fixed, she knocked on Xin Lan’s door instead.
Zero Nine had yet to finish the potato chips in her mouth when her identification system detected the approaching figure. Upon realizing it was a superior officer, she immediately swallowed the chips.
“Commander, is there something you need?”
“I’d like to inquire if your host is present.”
“The host is resting.”
Wan Yan remembered that Xin Lan had a serious case of morning grumpiness. She hesitated for a moment before standing in place.
“Commander? May I ask the purpose of your visit?”
Zero Nine noticed Wan Yan’s perplexed expression and inquired softly.
“I have a matter I’d like to discuss with your host.”
“Alright, I’ll go inquire for you.”
Zero Nine also knew that Xin Lan could be in a bad mood when waking up, but with the Commander’s visit, there must be something important to discuss. Risking entering to inquire shouldn’t be a problem.
Two minutes later, Xin Lan walked out with a grim expression on her face.
She squinted, recognizing the person standing at the door as somewhat familiar.
Wasn’t this the person she had encountered several times before at the coffee shop?
It turned out to be a system.
“Is there something you need?”
Xin Lan tried to maintain a polite tone, but her facial expression made it clear that she wasn’t in a good mood.
“I’m sorry for disturbing your sleep. Let me introduce myself. I’m Wan Yan, A05 system.”
“Wan Yan?”
Xin Lan muttered the name, fully awake now.
There was once a world, and there was someone with that name, and their appearance seemed somewhat similar.
In several worlds, there had been a person with a name or a nickname containing the word “ç…™,” which made her pay attention.
“I came to tell you that I have something else to say, and I also want to make afternoon tea for you again.”
Wan Yan gathered her courage, her eyes filled with anticipation, and she stared at Xin Lan without blinking.
The door slammed shut in front of her.
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Wan Yan wasn’t disheartened; she knew Xin Lan would be somewhat angry.
Xin Lan felt like she might not have fully woken up yet.
Wan Yan’s words and that familiar, irresistibly persuasive gaze.
Zero Nine was also quite bewildered. As someone in the know, she was well aware of what had just happened.
No way… Could it be…
“Didn’t you tell me that a system can’t act as a native in a world?”
Xin Lan looked at Zero Nine, who nodded.
“But there’s one exception to this rule, and that’s for advanced systems that have completed numerous missions and can unbind from their hosts. After upgrading, those systems can become Guardians or Advanced Commanders.”
However, even in such cases, they can only locate their host each time, obtaining coordinates.
And coordinates…
Ah ah ah ah ah!
Zero Nine remembered the things she had always provided, and she looked at Xin Lan with a tearless desire to cry.
How could the Commander do such a thing!
It was like an abuse of power!
Xin Lan was very unhappy, but there was a faint voice inside her expressing her joy.
Isn’t this good? You wanted her to be by your side, you left her behind, but she came back, and from the very beginning, she’s been with you.
Xin Lan opened the door, allowing Zero Nine to exit, and welcomed Wan Yan inside.
She sat on the sofa, lifted her chin slightly, indicating that Wan Yan could begin.
The system had an excellent memory, and anything one wished to remember would be stored in the database of its mind.
Wan Yan honestly recounted the entire process, including how she had developed emotions. This was the precision of a system!
“At that time, I was thinking, a cool girl like you is really attractive…”
“Stop.”
All these confessions were becoming too much for Xin Lan to listen to.
But for some reason, she couldn’t entirely suppress the smile in her heart.
Wan Yan looked at her with eager eyes, and Xin Lan couldn’t help but see a resemblance to Qin Yuyan.
After some careful consideration, agreeing was impossible, and refusing was something she didn’t want to do either.
“No need to feel conflicted.”
Xin Lan was somewhat surprised; Wan Yan was, after all, a system, but she could smile so gently and sweetly.
“What I want to say is that I’ll be very persistent. I didn’t tell you before that I’ve been following you all along, so I hope you won’t be upset.”
“Because, from now on, I still want to be with you.”
Wan Yan’s face expressed unwavering determination, completely unpretentious and sincere.
Occasionally, even the sultry can become openly expressive.
“This is your choice, and it’s not related to me.”
Xin Lan couldn’t bring herself to say anything positive.
Wan Yan understood Xin Lan’s slight stubbornness and knew what her attitude meant. She smiled, feeling especially pleased.
“I have something to tell you. In the ‘Ex-Girlfriend’ series of missions, there’s one world where a bug has occurred. All the mission participants failed, and the mission’s difficulty rapidly escalated, being judged as a variation. I’ve skimmed through the general content of that mission, and it suits you well. You’re very capable, so I hope you’ll consider it.”
“No problem.”
Xin Lan accepted without hesitation. She had an all-S rating in the Villain Division, and her only defeat was in the First Confrontation. Now, she would be mindful of her boundaries, especially since Wan Yan had expressed her liking.
“As a system that maintains order, I’ll also be there.”
“That’s your purpose, isn’t it?”
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“One of the purposes,” Wan Yan smiled. “This time, I’ll have memories.”
Under normal circumstances, systems lose their original memories when entering a world, but there are also special situations, like the one right now.
“Are we going right now?”
Xin Lan gestured toward the mission door.
“Yes, we should go as soon as possible. I’ll establish a mental connection with Zero Nine, so if there’s any danger, we can communicate through Zero Nine.”
Xin Lan made an ‘OK’ gesture.
Wan Yan opened the door, and Zero Nine, busy crunching on potato chips, had no idea she was about to become a messenger.
After establishing the mental connection, Wan Yan returned to her mission door, selected the mission world, followed the command prompts, and simultaneously sent the coordinates to Zero Nine.
“An SSS-level difficulty mission? Host, are you going there?”
“A 3S-level? It seems like a big deal.”
Seeing that the host didn’t seem to object and not knowing what consensus the two had reached, Zero Nine decided to follow the request directly. She accepted the mission and set the designated coordinates.
Xin Lan stood in the mission room and began to disconnect her consciousness.
Zero Nine: Host, this mission is truly special. First, receive the background and memories.
The original host was named Chen Xin, just an ordinary office worker, living a typical nine-to-five life. The only non-ordinary aspect was that she had a handsome and wealthy boyfriend.
Skipping some clichéd details, Xin Lan summarized it briefly, essentially a story of a girl being played by a scoundrel.
The only peculiar thing was the background of this mission world.
On January 1, 2930 AD, as the New Year’s bells rang, an unusual event occurred. On the first day of the new year, the sun did not rise as expected.
At precisely noon, a voice echoed in the minds of all people.
“The global selection examination is officially commencing. Non-participants are about to enter a state of slumber. Please prepare accordingly.”
The voice had a mechanical and peculiar quality, leaving people perplexed.
“All non-participants have entered a state of slumber. Please all examinees, get ready; the examination is about to begin.”
“The examination rules are as follows: Each examination room has a specific capacity limit, and participants are randomly assigned to rooms. There will be no replacements for deceased examinees. In total, there are nine examination rounds. Those who successfully submit their papers may proceed to the next examination room, while those who fail will be erased. Examinees who pass all the examinations will become new citizens and return to the present world.”
“Each examination has a different time limit, so please manage your time wisely.”
“The examination begins now.”
After this announcement, the original host found themselves in an unfamiliar place, holding a card in their hand.
“You are a police officer here to investigate a suicide case at a hotel. However, you suspect it may be a murder. The deceased is named ‘A,’ and the suspects are ‘BCD.’ Among these three individuals, one tells the truth, one tells lies, and one speaks half-truths. Please identify the murderer and submit your paper.”
Xin Lan: Why isn’t there any memory of how the original host died this time? And what about the scoundrel boyfriend?
Zero Nine: The scoundrel boyfriend is already dead.