Night Hacker

Hungry birds are perched on the tangled cables. This old apartment building’s bottom level is packed with stores. The neon signs read “Ramen Restaurant,” “Open 24 Hours,” and “Ankang Medicine Bureau.” Some dilapidated vending machines line the street.

Usually, it is very busy here, but now this area has been blocked and it looks deserted.

The family sent someone, and a motorcade arrived downstairs less than an hour after Elizabeth finished calling.

The remaining items were brought back by the maids when she packed her carry-on luggage.

She was soon resting comfortably in the back seat of a Gasboyne VIP sedan as the driver took her to the Acropolis District.

“Did they say anything?” she asked to the side, only she and her granny were in the back seat.

The elderly granny has always looked like this: she wears a black and white nun’s habit every day, with an electric cross around her neck, her entire demeanour is serious and taciturn, and her face is badly wrinkled.

Even if plastic surgery may easily make you look younger, the wrinkles on her aged face have altered much over the years, neither deep nor shallow, and have always kept the same ageing aspect.

The elderly lady is likewise an extraordinary individual. She was Elizabeth’s former instructor and knew exactly what she wanted to ask.

“Sir and Madam hope you don’t think so much, take a break first, and then go to Eden Lake University to finish your studies.”

“Oh.” The so-called rest, Elizabeth mumbled, meant being grounded.

The car had come to a halt at the crossroads due to the red light. Since it was her, the driver obeyed the traffic rules honestly.

How many blocks were blocked? Elizabeth gazed out the vehicle window at the vacant street and thought it was monotonous, and she was even more bored when she realised she would be away from the extraordinary for a long when she got home.

She began her extraordinary program “Retrospective” quietly.

Her brain nerves instantly sped up, her blue eyes enlarged, and blood shots emerged.

“Retrospective”, can allow one to experience the remnants of past real events in an area.

At this intersection, her mind entered a past illusion in a matter of seconds.

The environment around her had altered. She was still in a moving car, not a halted Gasboyne VIP car, but a yellow roadster speeding through the dark rain, lighten up by the car’s lights.

She is the driver in the driver’s seat, grasping the steering wheel, listening to loud rock music and occasionally smoking a psychedelic cigarette.

A group of crows took flight from the roadside wires, their flapping wings making an awful sound.

She was caught in the ecstasy of the psychedelic smoke, and she felt herself soaring, gliding into the night rain…

The red light at the intersection was as crimson as blood, and numerous pedestrians were crossing the street. Their surprised, unresponsive faces looked up.

Thumpt Thumpt! With a loud muffled sound, the roadster paused and continued to drive away at high speed.

Blood and stumps flitted around, turning the yellow hood moist and the ground covered with scarlet.

She was already terrified, but she couldn’t apply the brakes in time…

A mangled human head shot through the air, landing exactly in front of the steering wheel, and the nerves that had not died caused the eyes and lips of the head to quiver. The damaged eyes stared at her, slowly turning to ash.

Power poles wobbled, sports cars swayed around, wipers crunching blood on the windshield. Even the rain from the skies couldn’t wipe away the flesh and blood that splattered everywhere in the car.

Elizabeth screamed silently, trying to struggle, but she felt that she was falling into the abyss.

“Miss Elizabeth?” The solemn voice of the old lady pulled her out of the vision.

The surrounding scene changed back to the back seat of the VIP car, and Elizabeth pressed her hands on her aching forehead, her face turning pale.

Affected by this tragic phenomenon just now, her nerves, spirit, and personality were all shaking erratically.

“At this intersection, there was a serious car accident not long ago.”

Her originally clear voice also became hoarse, “Someone ran a red light and killed at least three people… The perpetrator didn’t stop or call the police, so he must be caught…”

“I will notify the police, but I told you not just once.”

The old granny’s wrinkled old face was a little stern, “Miss Elizabeth, don’t use Retrospective lightly or even casually! Especially when you are alone. It will drag you into the abyss at any time, and you will never be able to get out.”

“I know. A lot of times, not being able to see is not ignorance, but luck.” Elizabeth repeated the old mama’s teaching.

She was upset over the vehicle accident once more, and she remembered being brought by the old granny when she first entered the supernatural, and some past events returned to memory.

At that time, she was still a willful and ignorant little girl.

……

“It is stated that long ago, every magician was required to learn the Wizarding Code to gain magical power.”

Acropolis District is a luxury villa on top of the mountain, from which you can observe the dazzling night view of Liuguang City’s centre area.

Elizabeth was ecstatic as she sat in an exquisite study room at the villa, listening to the elderly lady’s instructions.

After such a lengthy wait, her nerves are now regarded as grown, and she will become an extraordinary person this night!

I, the overdrive gear and newly extraordinary will undoubtedly be the brightest member of the audience at the next coming-of-age party!

Elizabeth listened and interjected: “Just like every martial arts master, they practice martial arts through a book of secret books.”

“You can also say that.” The old lady looked at the computer, ultra-sensing helmets and other equipment on the desk, and said:

“In this new era, wizards and martial arts masters have all become extraordinaries; while the wizarding code and martial arts secrets are all extraordinary neural programs.

“Let’s talk about extraordinary classes first, it’s like different schools of wizards, there are many different extraordinary classes in the world.

“Each class sector is a field that includes some human-defined classes in the world. Just like the hero class sector, which is mainly based on police, firefighters, journalists and other occupations, the characteristic is that they are willing to sacrifice for the world, like a burning flame .”

The old lady stated a lot in one breath because Elizabeth has long known some extraordinary common sense.

“The hero class is Enkidu who battled for the people, Gilgamesh who sought after the elixir of life, and Prometheus who stole fire,” Elizabeth said triumphantly.

“Miss.” The elderly mom cut in, refusing to discuss such remote origin myths.

It is not the purpose of this evening to discuss the origin, history, and evolution of extraordinary classes or the past and present condition of diverse forces.

And there are a lot of secrets that granny doesn’t know much about, so this aspect will stop at the end and will not be extended.

After Elizabeth fell silent, the old lady spoke again:

“Each class sector has many different extraordinary programs.

“Each extraordinary program is a unique ability.

“A person’s neuron count and brain capability are determined. At each level, extraordinary individuals can and only install one extraordinary program. If you uninstall and reinstall, you will pay a large price and may become insane.

“So make the right choices right from the start, and what programs you install will determine who you are as an extraordinary: what abilities you have, what you’re after, what you’ll develop into.

“Each extraordinary person has one program per level, and a total of four programs can be installed in the first four levels.

“The first four levels are: J grade, Q grade, K grade, and A grade.

“This is also commonly referred to as: first-tier sequencer, second-tier sequencer, third-tier sequencer, fourth-tier sequencer

“Each major tier is divided into four stages, from low to high: Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced, and Mastered. The tiers represent an extraordinary person’s completeness and proficiency in the major program, which is usually equal to strength.

The old granny paused, “I’m a fourth-tier [EDUCATOR] sequencer in the intermediate stage.”

“Granny, you’re amazing.” Elizabeth nodded again and again, with pride in her blue eyes.

It is very rare for ordinary people to step into the extraordinary world and become a sequencer, let alone a fourth-tier sequencer!

“The Final tier is to determine if you are the ACE card or the JOKER card.”

The old granny continued to speak, “Ace or joker, the abilities, styles, and body transformation of the two are very different. You can simply understand that one is positive, one is negative, one is light and one is dark.

“The first four programs have a great impact on the judgment. If you don’t want to find yourself at a loss, you must start considering from the very first program.”

“Yeah!” Elizabeth knew that the old granny was en route to a joker tier [EDUCATOR].

Once you become a fifth-tier sequencer, you will be a powerhouse.

“Miss, are you sure you want to choose the [HERO] class?”

The elderly lady inquired gravely, today is not about the ace card and what happened following, but about Elizabeth’s first program.

“The Seth Group’s greatest asset is not the hero class, it also isn’t the era dominator, Mr. and Mrs. both want you to pick [VAMPIRE] the class sector that only the core members of the New World Bank can master……”

“I’m going to be an ace hero!” Elizabeth exclaimed angrily when she heard the vampire class.

She has said many times that she doesn’t want to be a vampire, so what if it’s the era dominator? Who decides?

What’s so great about the New World Bank, there are so many extraordinary classes, she is attracted to the hero class at a glance.

“Granny, don’t nag anymore!” Elizabeth pouted angrily, “Otherwise I’ll be a [DOLL]!”

In the doll class sector, the corresponding professions are cowherds, prostitutes, sex puppets and so on.

“It’s not even gonna be an ace doll, but a joker doll!” She added, and that’s not the future her family wants to see.

Ace hero, joker doll, the two are completely different.

Usually, the heroic ace hero fights the evil joker doll!

Sure enough, she saw the old granny nod and sighed: “Okay, but the road of heroes is never an easy one.

“The New World Bank has 27 types of J-level programs in the [HERO] class sector, Ace and Joker programs included. Seth has the highest sharing authority, and all J-level programs are available. Miss Elizabeth, which one do you want to choose??”

Elizabeth had already made up her mind, “I want the kind that can find out the truth and catch the bad guys, ace card!”

“That’s the ace route of the police detective, reporter type.”

The old mama made a summary and then pondered: “Then I recommend you to choose from three programs.

“The first is called ‘retrospective’, which allows you to experience the lingering illusions of past events in an area.

“The second is ‘interrogation,’ which is the program to interrogate others, and the illusion of events that can be triggered from interrogation.

“The third is ‘touch’, which is the program to trigger event illusions by touching specific objects, such as evidence.”

Elizabeth clasped her fingers in excitement, wishing she could have all three J-level programs.

It’s a pity that even if she is an overdrive talent, only one of them can be installed.

“Granny, what do you recommend?” she asked, a little undecided.

“These three are good investigative programs, they are all combat abilities based on high-level programs, and they can also be effective in the spiritual network. I recommend you install ‘Touch’, it is the safest one of the three programs to contact illusions.

“Then granny, isn’t the most dangerous program ‘Retrospective’? Crime scenes are usually where most of the clues are located.”

“That’s right. ‘Retrospective’ is the most dangerous, the most nerve-wracking, and the hardest to master.”

The old lady frowned. She was very familiar with Miss Elizabeth’s temperament, and she knew that she had made a choice when she asked about the program. Just as a guide, the old lady will not deliberately mislead because of her inclination, and will only speak honest words.

“Miss, I know you won’t listen to my advice, but I still have to make it clear to you.

Many people who had chosen ‘retrospective’ as their program will regret it because it is the most dangerous and most unpractical program. ‘Investigation’ and ‘touch’ are merely surface area investigations, “I saw what happened here”, “The suspect said this happened here”; whilst ‘retrospective’ is “I experienced what happened here”, the key point being experienced. It will drag you into the abyss at any time, and you will never be able to get out.

Before the old lady could finish speaking, she was interrupted by a clear girl’s voice.

“Ace hero Elizabeth Sterling, first program, retrospective!”

Elizabeth raised her fists and shouted as if she was leaping high.

It’s the toughest and most powerful kind, that’s her style!

……

The red light at the intersection turned green, and the VIP car continued to drive forward.

When these past events turned back to her mind, Elizabeth covered her face unbearably. She was such a Chuunibyou,( >︹<) (1)

“Miss Elizabeth, with your overdrive talent, the progress of the program is a little slow.” The old granny said comfortingly.

A little slow? Elizabeth rolled her eyes, it’s record-breaking slow ok?

It’s been more than a year, with her talent, if she hadn’t run away from home, she should be a third-tier sequencer now, or at least a second-tier sequencer, how could she still be the first-tier sequencer not even at the Mastered stage?

But does she regret it? Not at all.

Although she is only a first-tier sequencer, she is still a hero class.

“You don’t have to worry, take a good rest for a while, and then catch up.” The old lady said, “You don’t need to investigate the organ truck incident in the Sludge Pond District. The Mystery Bureau has taken over the case, and it will be thoroughly investigated.”

“Got it…” Elizabeth said listlessly.

Every magician needs potions to increase his strength, and every martial artist requires treasures from heaven and earth.

These procedural extraordinaries rely on data packets made comprised of unique and unusual data. The extraordinaries permit their extraordinary programs to analyse and adapt by digesting data, allowing them to be upgraded and improved.

The reason why her progress is slow is that she hasn’t gotten many hero-type data packs over the past year.

Having lost both the support of her family and the connection on the street, people from all walks of life have almost kept her at a distance, and many of the people who accompany her are not even extraordinary.

She accumulates experience almost entirely by herself and then converts it into data, which of course is slow.

If she wanted to break through the Mastered level and promote to a second-tier sequencer, she will need a loaded hero data package.

By becoming a second-tier sequencer, she can install another program. With another program, she will get another ability which will increase her overall strength!

“Miss, don’t even think about it yet.” The old lady could tell what she was thinking and repeated, “Be a good child.”

Elizabeth pouted; she had expected this, but she did not count on getting a data package when she returned.

She, on the other hand, was not disheartened, and when she thought about it, her lips curved with delight.

Granny, do you pity me? See if you can stop me huhu. Master said he will send me a data package huhuhu..<(￣︶￣)> which put me at ease!

What kind of powerful packet will it be?

Elizabeth sat back in her chair, giddy with excitement and she has a secret that she can’t reveal to others.

The strength level of the master is beyond her cognition, but what kind of extraordinary class did the master have, she had several guesses…

She shifted her gaze and wondered whether the master might be a hero. Or perhaps an educator?

The more Elizabeth thought about it, the more she couldn’t help but sigh at the master’s expertise and mystery.

1. 中二https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ch%C5%ABniby%C5%8D