Rebirth: The Universe's Hidden Heiress-Chapter 26: Calculation

Yuka returned to Central Square, only to find the Alliance Army had already left.

With the blockade lifted, she found a five-star hotel, booked a suite, and then dove into the soft bedding of her room. Comfortably sighing, Yuka casually picked up her opticomputer.

A new message notification was on the opticomputer. Yuka opened it and found it was from Black One.

Black One: "Got some new info, you want it?"

Yuka replied: "Yes, cut the chatter."

Black One glanced at the woman behind him, who nodded. He continued messaging Yuka: "The Oniyon you gave me isn’t enough for the info you want."

Yuka: "? Price hike on the spot?"

Black One: "Pneyon’s out now, making Oniyon much less valuable."

"Isn’t Pneyon just a product of Oniyon?" Yuka retorted, "I won’t accept a price hike. Let’s call off the deal."

Black One, reading Yuka’s message, carefully observed his boss’s expression.

The woman, appearing carefree, chuckled, "Quite the temper."

"Tell her," the woman instructed Black One, "we won’t raise the price. Don’t sour relations too much. Oh, and when you send the file, remember to include the enhanced virus."

Black One, gauging the woman’s intent, replied to Yuka: "No, no, no price hike. We in the black market honor our agreements and reputation. Just kidding before."

Yuka emotionlessly responded: "The new info?"

Black One promptly sent the file.

The butler emerged from his match-3 game, complaining to Yuka: "Master, they’ve dumped garbage in it again!"

Yuka’s finger hovered over the screen, not clicking. She asked the butler, "Can you counter-infect them?"

The butler twisted his body: "It’s possible, but a righteous AI shouldn’t do such things..."

"First, clean out the garbage." Yuka ordered, "Then, return the favor."

Excited, the butler, dragging a trash can, approached the file, pulled out the murky garbage, and tossed it into the bin.

Yuka opened the now safe file, finding it scant as before.

The file contained a brief notice, a blurry image, roughly discernible as a dismissal notice.

Seeing the file received, Black One told Yuka, "Today’s incident at the Alliance Science Academy inspired us. So, we looked up old dismissal notices from the academy. You’ll find the person you’re searching for, Konda Nori, in there."

Yuka enlarged the dispatched image of the notification, observing Nori’s mosaic-blurred face. Despite the blur, she could sense the annoying vibe emanating from it. It was indeed him. Her gaze shifted to the explanation, reading that Nori was expelled for:

"[After verification, Konda Nori violated the Academy’s principle, maliciously tampered with observation records, and showed no remorse. He is hereby expelled. This is to warn everyone.

——Stardate 209, the Alliance Science Academy.]"

Yuka raised an eyebrow. Stardate 209? She recalled that in the ’restricted section’ of the school library, Nori’s book on insectoid history was written in the year 209. This couldn’t be a coincidence.

Yuka fell into deep thought. Today, the current dean of the Alliance Science Academy mentioned that the former vice-dean had only stolen part of the Queen Insectoid’s cells, implying the Academy still had some and was continuing experiments. Nori must have been one of the record keepers. If his records were true, the Academy might have successfully revived the Queen.

However, why they expelled Nori remained mysterious.

Yuka smiled. ’How intriguing! Was it a witch hunt, or was there something more?’

The butler whispered, "Master, I’ve hidden the virus in the chat box. Just send any message, and the recipient will be infected."

Yuka tapped the butler’s hat on the screen, praising, "Well done." After pondering, she replied, "Here’s what you deserve for the good job."

Meanwhile, Black One was speaking to the woman: "Boss, she seems to have intercepted our virus again."

The woman, about to respond, was interrupted as the door burst open. A man in a black suit, panting, exclaimed, "Ma’am, our systems are under attack!"

The woman stood up sharply, asking sternly, "What’s going on?"

"All our transaction systems, online and offline, are down," the man in black suit anxiously reported, "Our clients are unhappy, many demanding refunds, and our reputation is plummeting!"

The woman, trembling, took a drag of her cigarette, "Tell the clients we’ll compensate. Calm them down, go now!"

The man hurried off. Black One couldn’t help but ask, "Ma’am, our system has the strongest firewall, how could it be... could it be the other party’s doing?"

The woman paused, looked down, and re-read Yuka’s message.

"Ha." After a long moment, the woman chuckled softly, "Seems we’ve met our match."

Showing a rare hint of fatigue, she spoke to Black One, "Tell that girl, we won’t charge any more money from her besides the Oniyon she had already given us. From now on, all information we provide her will be free. Ask her to spare our systems from further attacks."

Black One’s eyes widened in disbelief, "Her? Phyxier did this?"

As he calmed down, Black One realized it was, actually, possible. After all, Phyxier had intercepted their tracking viruses twice, evidently an opticomputer expert. Provoking someone like her was like pulling a tiger’s whiskers, and this time Phyxier had decided not to tolerate it, crashing their systems...

Quickly, Black One sent Yuka an 800-word apology essay, earnestly following the woman’s instructions to offer all future information for free and pleading for mercy.

Yuka, reading Black One’s message, was pleasantly surprised. She instructed the butler to halt the virus attack and simply replied, "Okay."

Shortly after Yuka’s response, the man in the black suit returned, confused, "Ma’am, our systems... they’re back up."

The woman extinguished her cigarette, sighing at the man and Black One, "Don’t bother her anymore."

They couldn’t afford to provoke her.

Meanwhile, Yuka, lying on her bed playing games to relax, was unaware of the terrifying legends the black market had concocted about her. Choosing a shooting game for a final struggle, she later stared at her zero score in silence.

Tossing her opticomputer aside, she let her mind wander. The butler quietly stayed by her side, as it had for over a decade.

"Hey, Orb," Yuka suddenly spoke softly, "have you ever felt like, since I turned eighteen... no, maybe even before that, I’ve been pushed forward by an invisible hand?"

The butler, perplexed, replied, "Ah?"

"Forget it, you wouldn’t understand," Yuka turned over, pulling the covers over her. The butler silently turned off the light.

In the darkness, Yuka’s thoughts were clearer than ever. She didn’t want to doubt Hideki, but Nori had been expelled from the Alliance Science Academy in Stardate 209. With Hideki’s status and wealth, it was unlikely he would hire someone like that to teach his daughter. Unless they knew each other before.

And her admission to UUA, why UUA? Or rather, why directly to university?

It was as if someone was determined to bring her to Capital Octoxis.

Yuka, with her eyes closed, considered further.

The incident of her destroying the pirate ship was definitely known to someone within the Alliance Army. Even though she wore a helmet and didn’t use her personal information to buy the ticket, the spaceport in Capital Octoxis had surveillance. With a thorough investigation, it was impossible for them not to find her.

Yuka despised the feeling of being controlled, yet she knew nothing of the other party’s motives and had no way to escape them.

She resolved that she just needed to play the role of a pretty but inactive figure at school, idling through four years before returning home. As long as she didn’t engage, whatever schemes they had would be in vain.

...

In the morning, breakfast was delivered to her hotel room. Yuka leisurely sipped her spicy soup, listening to the butler asking, "Master, are we going to the underground arena today?"

Yuka replied slowly, "No rush. With yesterday’s news, there will be a lot of newcomers at the arena today."

She intentionally delayed it until the afternoon, and she was right. Upon entering the lobby, she saw it crowded to the door with onlookers, some just stepping out of holographic pods, their faces showing either disappointment or excitement.

The betting booths were busier than usual. The bald man, watching the numbers in his account rise, was grinning ear to ear.

Yuka approached the bald man and casually asked, "How many competitors are there now?"

The man, still basking in his newfound wealth, replied absentmindedly, "Over a million... Oh, it’s you."

Seeing Yuka, his smile faded, "Thought you quit betting?"

"I did quit betting," Yuka nodded. "But I didn’t say I wouldn’t pay for information."

The bald man’s eyes darted around cautiously as he asked, "What do you want to know? I can’t reveal too much."

Yuka handed over her card, quickly transferring ten thousand astracredits. "Here’s your payment. I need to know the attack methods and characteristics of the top hundred competitors, as well as their previous match recordings. I know you have them."

The bald man, who ran the largest betting operation in the underground arena, was keen to ensure his profit. He would guide the crowd to bet on the likely losers. To predict who would lose, he surely had comprehensive knowledge about these competitors.

After a pause, the bald man put on a smile, "I do have it, but the money..."

"Are you not interested in this deal?" Yuka feigned concern, pulling out her opticomputer. "Then I guess I’ll have to report a mistaken transfer to the bank and have them investigate your transactions. And perhaps pay a visit to the Alliance Security Department to report illegal gambling..."

"Wait, wait, wait!" The bald man was alarmed. "Lady, that’s hardly fair. Of course, I’ll do business with you. I’ll tell you everything right now!"

Yuka put away her opticomputer, looking expectantly at the bald man, ready to hear what he had to say.

The bald man, rubbing his shiny head, said, "Lady, your ranking must not be high, right? Those ahead of you are out of reach, so let me start by telling you about the one ranked 100th. After you beat him, we can talk about those ranked higher, deal?"

Yuka nodded. "Deal."

The man sighed in relief, "The one ranked 100th is a newcomer, arrived around April or May this year. His mecha is green, armed with a short cannon on the left arm and a melee weapon on the right. His skills are pretty balanced. He likes to play in map-based matches, a strategic player who often uses the terrain to his advantage. But in arena matches, his weaknesses become more evident. That’s why he’s been hovering around the 100th position."

He then pondered, "Come to think of it, lady, since there are fewer people in map matches, you might actually run into him if you’re not too lucky."

Yuka’s interest piqued: "Really?"

"And," the man suddenly became excited, "I forgot to tell you last time, the scoring rules for the top 100 are different from the regular ones."

"Once you’re in the top 100, matchmaking is random. Lower ranks can face higher ranks. If you defeat someone ranked higher than you, you immediately take their spot," he explained. "For example, if you’re ranked 89 and you beat the one ranked 32, you directly move up to 32."

He continued, "The same goes for regular players facing top 100 players. If a regular player defeats someone in the top 100, they immediately take their place. Exciting, isn’t it?"

"That’s why so many people dream of skyrocketing to the top, challenging those in the top 100 without any self-awareness, only to face a dreadful defeat," the man grew more animated. "It’s because of such challengers that my betting operation thrives and I make a fortune!"

Yuka tilted her head, asking, "But, do those top 100 players actually accept challenges from regular players?"

The bald man chuckled, "They don’t have a choice. Like I said, matchmaking in the top 100 is random."

Yuka nodded, waved to the bald man, and said, "Thanks for the information, goodbye."

The bald man watched Yuka’s retreating figure, puzzled by his own behavior. Every time he encountered her, he ended up spilling everything like an open book. Next time, he thought, he’d try to get more information from her, to see what her actual ranking was.

Meanwhile, Yuka had already entered her holographic pod. She lingered on the weapon selection screen but didn’t change her loadout, sticking with her short cannon and boomerang. She again chose the dense forest map.

Outside, Roukujou, who had been yawning, suddenly perked up and quickly opened his live stream, saying to his fans, "Wake up, everyone! No more napping, Pinky’s here!"

He glanced at the pink mecha, now accustomed to her unpredictable tactics: "Pinky’s chosen the forest map again, with no change in weapons or mecha color. She’s very visible in the woods, making it easy for her opponent to spot her..."

Mid-sentence, Roukujou paused, unsure. He asked his audience, who had quickly gathered in the live stream room, "Is Pinky’s opponent that guy who frequents map-based matches, ranked 100th, known as [GPS]?"

The chat was momentarily stunned, then responded: [Yes, that’s him!]

[Wow, Pinky’s luck is really terrible.]

[Newbie question: Why is this person nicknamed GPS?]

[To the newbie, it’s because he’s like GPS, able to pinpoint the opponent’s location.]

[Wait, aren’t opponents’ locations hidden in map matches?]

Roukujou, seeing these messages, explained: "That’s exactly why. His ability to accurately predict the opponent’s location and strike is what makes him so formidable! I’ve seen many of his matches, and the nickname GPS is well-deserved."

Roukujou added with concern, "Let’s watch Pinky’s performance, but don’t be too optimistic, everyone."

In the game, Yuka observed the swaying branches ahead, squinting her eyes.