“Restricted-level Esper, Code 1002—‘Ji Minghuan’. Instructor is arriving. Prepare to be interrogated.”
The boy in the coded inmate uniform’s eyelids twitched slightly.
The noise echoing in the room bled into his dreams, like icicles lting atop a winter cave. With a sharp crack, a fracture ford, followed by a crashing fall—ice shards scattering with a cloud of frost.
Ji Minghuan forced his eyes open, staring motionlessly at the silver-white ceiling.
As the remnants of the dream faded, the trumpet-shaped intercom repeated its cold command before dissolving into faint static. Apart from the footsteps echoing in the corridor, there was nothing—deathly silence once again enveloped the detention room.
“The Instructor’s here…”
Ji Minghuan whispered, his nose twitching slightly. Sure enough, he caught the familiar scent of disinfectant.
Just as he was about to get up, a sharp, splitting pain shot through his brain—it was as if a nail had been hamred into his skull, boring a hole that made even his marrow tremble.
Right after, a deep, hoarse system notification echoed in his ears.
【You are now in “Full Split Mode.” You simultaneously possess the perspectives of your “main body” and all “ga characters.”】
【Tip: If unable to adapt to Full Split Mode, enter the system panel of any ga character and disable the toggle.】
Ji Minghuan took a light breath, steadying his heartbeat, and lay quietly on the bed.
At this mont, he was seeing two completely different images at once.
Gu Wenyu opened his eyes abruptly in a dim room in Lijing, China. Like an android, he stared blankly at the ceiling. The wall clock read 6:05 a.m.
anwhile, Ji Minghuan himself was calmly gazing at the do of the detention room. The cold lights, lined side by side, reflected in his ink-black pupils—harsh on the eyes, yet he didn’t blink once.
The dark ceiling and silver ceiling overlapped endlessly in his vision, like two mirrors facing each other, reflecting infinite layers until it seed to stretch to the ends of the world.
Thankfully, the pain in his skull hadn’t really affected him:
—He’d already set the ga’s “Pain Sensitivity” to its lowest level. Right now it felt no worse than soone flicking his forehead.
Ji Minghuan controlled Ga Character No.1 “Gu Wenyu” to close his eyes and go back to sleep.
Imdiately, the first ga character’s perspective turned into pitch-black darkness, freeing Ji Minghuan from any disorientation.
He temporarily withdrew his consciousness from the first character’s body and sat up from the bed in the detention room.
Instinctively, he touched the collar on his neck.
The indicator light cast a glow on the side of his index finger. He looked down—it was still blue, aning the collar hadn’t detected any Esper ability being used.
Ji Minghuan let out a breath and sat upright on the bed.
Turning his head, he saw the iron doors at the entrance swinging open one by one.
The Instructor, dressed as always in a white lab coat, strolled in with hands behind his back, coat hem brushing over the tal thresholds.
Ji Minghuan didn’t look at him. He asked without lifting his head, “Haven’t seen that officer uncle for days. You guys not letting him in anymore?”
“No, there’s no point anymore.” The Instructor shook his head.
Ji Minghuan stepped off the bed and walked barefoot to the table, dragging out a chair and sitting down.
“Tch… I kinda liked when he ca to rough
up now and then. Gave
a bit of exercise—otherwise I’d turn into a dried-up corpse lying here.”
He paused, eyes shifting with a sarcastic tone: “Besides, he never had the guts to actually do anything. All bark, no bite.”
The Instructor took a sip of tea, then looked at Ji Minghuan. “We plan to let you interact with the other children.”
“Other children?” Ji Minghuan blinked.
“The other kids locked up here. You might end up good friends.”
“Why?” Ji Minghuan raised a brow, unsure what trick the Instructor was up to now. “Aren’t you afraid we’ll team up and try to break out?”
He added in his mind: Or… maybe those kids are your plants too.
“That’s not a concern,” the Instructor smiled. “We know everything about each child here.” He paused. “…Except for you.”
Ji Minghuan found that perfectly reasonable. “I barely know myself. How could you?”
Resting his cheek in his palm, he tilted his head lazily. “Speaking of which, didn’t you promise yesterday to tell
about the other two Extraordinary Species?”
“Right, that’s exactly why I’m here today,” said the Instructor. “So of our people suspect you’re not an Esper, but an Anecdote Envoy—or even an Exorcist.”
He paused again. “Unfortunately, neither Esper genes, nor a Tianqu Power prototype, nor the Anecdote Codex has been detected in you… That’s what puzzles us most.”
“Exorcist, Anecdote Envoy?”
Ji Minghuan picked those two nas out of the conversation.
【Unlocked “Key Intel System”—The more intel you uncover about the ‘Extraordinary Species’ world setting, the higher the chances of creating an initial character with greater potential and stronger base stats.】
【Current world lore developnt progress: Esper Branch – 40%】
【Exorcist Branch – 5%】
【Anecdote Envoy Branch – 1%】
【Note: Progress increases based on the importance of the intel obtained.】
Looks like I was right not to jump into character creation. Otherwise, I’d have missed out on so much… I’ll extract everything I can from the Instructor first, and then build my next character—who knows, maybe I’ll roll a rare “Character File.”
Ji Minghuan thought calmly, his gaze sweeping the panel before carefully watching the Instructor’s expression.
The other man didn’t seem to notice anything off. He just twisted open his thermos and asked:
“Which one do you want to hear about first?”
“‘Anecdote Envoy’ sounds more interesting,” Ji Minghuan replied without hesitation.
The Instructor interlocked his fingers and began to speak in the tone of soone reading a bedti story to toddlers: “A long, long ti ago, there was a whale. And in its belly was hidden…”
Ji Minghuan frowned and cut him off: “Can you not? Just talk normally. What is this, a bedti tale for a three-year-old?”
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