MTLNOVEL Chapter 4: 4:Mandy
Being called out by name on the internet isn't a good thing. When someone can see through your online disguise, it gives you a shock that's hard to describe. Lin Nian didn't know who the "Kendo Enthusiast" on QQ was, but if they knew his name so easily, it had to be someone familiar, or maybe someone he knew.
"I am. Who are you?" Lin Nian thought for a moment and decided to see what the other person wanted. If it turned out to be trouble, he'd just block them.
"Finding you wasn't easy," the Kendo Enthusiast replied.
"You're looking for me? What do you want?"
"Nothing, just wanted to meet you."
"No time," Lin Nian replied, hovering the mouse over the "remove from friends" option. He always declined people who wanted to meet in real life right away.
"Don't be in a hurry to delete me, I really need something from you," the Kendo Enthusiast said.
Lin Nian paused for a moment, then instinctively moved the mouse away.
"You had a demonstration match this morning at the Kendo Hall in the Youth Palace, right? I was there, the one with the golden hair," the Kendo Enthusiast said.
Lin Nian thought back for a moment. He did recall seeing a blonde foreign girl in the crowd after the demonstration match, the only foreigner among the parents and children, so she left a strong impression.
"Remember now? I even took a photo of you," the Kendo Enthusiast added, sending over an image.
Lin Nian clicked the image and saw a photo of him and the coach from earlier in the day, both wearing protective gear, smiling with their masks on.
"Is that foreign girl you? Your Chinese is so good—are you studying here, or do you have someone helping you type?" Lin Nian asked in surprise, noticing the speed at which the person was typing.
"I'm studying at a university abroad. Chinese is a required subject there, and the 'Chinese Campus' program has been running for many years," the Kendo Enthusiast replied. "If you're interested in my university, I can recommend you."
"No interest. Just tell me what you want. You must've learned my name from the coach, right?" Lin Nian decided to skip over the university talk.
"The coach told me you're a Kendo genius. Got some free time? Want to spar sometime?" the Kendo Enthusiast asked.
Lin Nian paused and typed a reply, "No time. If you want to spar, go find the coach. His rank is higher than mine."
"But he still lost to you. Why not challenge the real expert instead of his defeated student?"
"Just to clarify, the coach didn't lose to me this morning. It was just a demonstration match," Lin Nian said. "If you don't have anything else, I'm logging off. I've been busy lately."
"Busy with hotpot or playing CS?" the Kendo Enthusiast suddenly asked.
Lin Nian's hand froze on the mouse. He looked around the internet cafe with a suspicious expression. He hadn't noticed anyone in the cafe who might be the person behind the screen.
"Don't bother looking. I'm not at your internet cafe; the environment there is too bad," the Kendo Enthusiast said, bringing Lin Nian's attention back.
"Did the photo you sent me have a virus?" Lin Nian asked.
"No."
"Then how do you know what I've been doing?"
"Take a guess."
Lin Nian suddenly felt uneasy. He stood up and glanced around. There was no sign of the blonde foreign girl in the internet cafe. Plus, if he remembered correctly, the girl he saw this morning was exceptionally beautiful, and if she had come into a small internet cafe like this, she would have attracted attention.
"Lin Nian, if I remember correctly, you should be in your second year of high school, right? Have you decided which university you want to apply to?" the Kendo Enthusiast asked, shifting the topic dramatically.
"Why are you asking this?" Lin Nian typed back. "What do you really want? If you don't tell me, I'll delete you and log off."
"Really, I don't want anything. I just want to meet you," the Kendo Enthusiast replied.
"I don't have time to meet strange people," Lin Nian typed firmly. He didn't think his life would ever involve a foreign girl like this, and after sending that, the Kendo Enthusiast replied with a crying emoji.
"This world is always full of strange things and strange people. You think if you ignore them, they'll just disappear?" the Kendo Enthusiast said indifferently.
Lin Nian was a bit taken aback. How could he get a sense of "indifference" through just text? He was puzzled for a moment, then typed back, "You want to meet me?"
"Yes, how about we arrange a time to meet?" the Kendo Enthusiast asked.
"Fine, but just a meeting. No Kendo sparring," Lin Nian replied. He had started to take an interest in this mysterious foreign net friend.
"Great!" the Kendo Enthusiast sent a big yellow grin emoji, clearly pleased with the progress. It seemed the sparring part was just an excuse, and the real intention was the meeting.
"When and where? I'll decide," Lin Nian thought for a moment, adding a safety clause. Over the years, he had made a few enemies, mostly young people. In today's world, it was always better to be cautious, especially with those who didn't understand boundaries.
"Not so fast, the time doesn't matter, but the location has to be up to me," the Kendo Enthusiast refused. Lin Nian was about to respond with a "no deal," but the Kendo Enthusiast sent the next message quickly: "I heard you guys have a dish called 'hotpot,' which is a local specialty. Isn't there a class gathering soon? How about we meet during that?"
Lin Nian was almost certain his computer had been infected with a virus. Somehow, the other person had been able to see his group chat messages, even though he hadn't opened the group page after accepting the friend request.
"What's your game? And why would you, a stranger, want to join our class gathering?" Lin Nian typed with a frown.
"I could pretend to be your girlfriend," the Kendo Enthusiast suggested. "It's not strange to bring your girlfriend to a class gathering, right?"
Lin Nian again hovered over the "remove from friends" option.
"Don't delete me. Let's talk this through. If not hotpot, how about we have coffee instead? I know a new café that's really nice. You set the time, and I'll pick up the tab," the Kendo Enthusiast said quickly.
Lin Nian was certain his computer was infected with a virus. He had no idea when it had happened, but it seemed like the other person could see everything he did on his computer.
"Oh, by the way, were you asking about Cassell Academy earlier in your class group?" the Kendo Enthusiast asked.
"Yes," Lin Nian replied bluntly.
"Did you notice my profile picture?"
"Yeah, it's a tree."
"No, that's the school emblem," the Kendo Enthusiast corrected. "It's the Cassell Academy emblem. I'm one of the people you're asking about. We've been looking for you, Lin Nian."
Lin Nian's hand shook as he typed out some jumbled text, followed by a string of random English characters.
---
Later that evening, at the Regal Hotel, 8th floor executive suite.
The blonde girl sat cross-legged on the wool carpet, her posture resembling a Taoist monk, but she wasn't practicing immortality. Instead, she was holding a laptop with the QQ account "Kendo Enthusiast" logged in.
In her QQ friends list, there was only one contact, "Flying to the Blue Sky," though this contact was offline, the profile picture grayed out.
She switched screens, and a video window popped up. Inside was another computer screen showing the popular detective series, "Detective Dee." The girl grimaced and quickly closed the window, no longer watching the monitor in a small internet cafe across the city.
"Mandy, how did it go? Did he agree?" A short, old man rushed into the room, holding a large pile of documents.
"I'm afraid not, Professor Manstein. He's very cautious. I only managed to arrange a meeting with him for tomorrow," Mandy shook her head.
"You're telling me that I came all the way here with confidentiality agreements and prep documents, and you haven't even met him yet?" Professor Manstein's eyes widened with disbelief. "I'm busy. After this, I have to head back to school to handle the armory department. Goodrian told me some students stole several boxes of Frigga bullets! That's against school regulations!"
"Are they really going to play gun battles next semester?" Mandy's interest was piqued.
"I forgot you're one of those wild ones too," Professor Manstein gave Mandy a stern look, and she awkwardly stuck out her tongue.
After venting, Professor Manstein gave Mandy a strange glance and asked, "What are you doing? Practicing yoga?"
"No, this is a Chinese practice called 'cultivating immortality.' It's a seated posture called 'Five Hearts Facing Heaven,'" Mandy explained, adjusting her legs and hands.
"I'm starting to doubt if sending you on this mission was the right decision. Maybe I should've sent someone else. Anyone else would be more reliable," Professor Manstein said, looking at Mandy sitting cross-legged on the wool carpet. He took a deep breath, feeling a slight dizziness.
"Please, don't say that. This mission will earn me extra credits, and I need those for my scholarship," Mandy quickly straightened up, abandoning her meditative pose. "I haven't been idle these past few days. I've gathered information about him, observed his behavior in class, and even had Norma hack into his computer. Based on his speech and the background provided by the school, I've pretty much figured out his personality traits."
"Go on," Professor Manstein raised an eyebrow.
"Lack of affection. He's extremely starved for love," Mandy said. "This leads to subtle traits like suspicion, isolation, and insecurity. He doesn't trust anyone easily, except for his older sister, the one he grew up with in the orphanage."
"Another troubled kid. Do you think it's the Blood of Sorrow causing this, or is it more due to his background and experiences?" Professor Manstein stroked his chin, looking somewhat concerned.
"Probably a combination of both. The academy's first attempt to contact him was through the orphanage director, trying to get close using familiar faces. But his sister is very distant from the director and doesn't seem to trust our intention to recruit him," Mandy explained. "However, I've already casually revealed to him online that I'm from Cassell Academy. Hopefully, tomorrow's first meeting will go well. But to make real progress, we'll need to talk to his sister as well. Legally, she's his guardian here, and I'll need you to step in, Professor. As a student, I don't have the authority to represent the academy."
"We need to act fast. His bloodline is estimated to be A-grade. Even if he hasn't activated his bloodline, his unique traits are already showing in his daily life. For students like him, we need to make him understand the chaotic 'reality' of this world as soon as possible, or he'll cause a lot of trouble sooner or later," Professor Manstein said, frowning.
"He hasn't activated his bloodline yet?" Mandy suddenly said, surprised. "I thought he'd already activated it."
"Why did you think that? Have you met him?" Professor Manstein asked, looking at her with curiosity.
"I saw him this morning at the Youth Palace, but I didn't reveal my identity," Mandy replied, slightly taken aback. "When he was doing his Kendo demonstration, his reflexes and speed were extraordinary. Just now, I watched him play a game while Norma was monitoring him. I was going to ask Norma to assist me in playing with him, but after seeing his ridiculous reaction speed and hand-eye coordination, I decided to back off. I thought he was a hybrid whose bloodline had already been activated, which is why the academy was watching him!"
"No, he hasn't activated his bloodline yet. But once he does, those extraordinary traits will be amplified. That's why the principal predicted his bloodline to be A-grade. He's just too exceptional, with that kind of potential and talent!" Professor Manstein said confidently.
"The principal personally reviewed his file and estimated his bloodline?" Mandy was surprised again. "This guy won't end up like a new Caesar Gattuso, will he?"
"He could surpass Gattuso, because he'll be my student. My students are the elite of the elite. They're far superior to those flashy, spoiled types," Professor Manstein sneered, clearly displeased by Mandy's mention of Caesar Gattuso.
"I'm your student too, Professor Manstein. Why am I not the elite?" Mandy said with a pout, looking up at him with a somewhat melancholic expression.
"Well, that depends on the person," Professor Manstein replied, scanning her up and down. "You'll meet with him tomorrow. Also, invite his sister to come here for the pre-recruitment discussion. Don't mess this up, or the higher-ups will be furious."
"Mission accepted, Professor," Mandy said with a half-hearted salute, her face showing serious determination.
(End of Chapter)