The Revelation of Abilities
Before encountering those women at breakfast, Chu Tian had been convinced Yang Rong possessed some special power. Now, he knew the truth the anomaly was him.
But what kind of ability was this?
His hacking skills had manifested after Yang Rong called him an "expert hacker" post-virus removal. Did praise from others grant him corresponding abilities?
No.
He'd tested it - Yang Rong's deliberate compliments today triggered nothing.
And the chopstick incident? Those women hadn't even acknowledged his existence. Their gossip, wholly unrelated to him, had somehow catalyzed a physical adjustment.
Two triggers. Zero commonalities.
'What the hell are the rules here?!'
4:30 PM - Class Dismissal
After hours of fruitless analysis, Chu Tian gave up. The dismissal bell rang. Evening self-study wouldn't start until 7:30 PM, so he headed back to his off-campus apartment.
5:00 PM - Rental Apartment
Post-shower, Chu Tian booted up his laptop - and choked.
335,624 uses.
His hotel registry software had gained over 250,000 new queries since morning. The number dwarfed his wildest expectations - he'd hoped for hundreds, not hundreds of thousands.
His e-wallet balance?
16.78 million yuan. (~$2.41 million USD)
Chu Tian rubbed his eyes. A 50-yuan-per-query program had netted him eight figures in under 24 hours. The power of scale was terrifying.
Of course, demand drove this. Normally, only law enforcement could access hotel registries. His tool offered civilians a rare - and affordable - peek behind the curtain.
He also owed the middlemen reselling his service. They'd generated most of those 330k+ searches. A symbiotic relationship: he got the steak; they got the soup.
Wang Xiaofeng's Obsession
"Mn? This guy's STILL tracking me?!"
Chu Tian's brow furrowed. The Hacker Forum admin, Wang Xiaofeng, had been dogging him for 24 straight hours. Was the man trying to die at his keyboard?
He opened a command prompt and fired off a message:
[A Handsome Guy Who's Unwilling To Reveal His Identity] : "Bro, go sleep. At this rate, you'll corpse-drop at your desk."
Wang Xiaofeng's Side - Computer Lab
Bloodshot eyes glued to three monitors, Wang Xiaofeng clawed at his unwashed hair.
"HOW?!" he rasped. "Every IP trail loops to dead ends! What kind of fuckery is this defense?!"
Then - the black dialog box appeared.
[Wang Xiaofeng] : "Fine. You win. I've globetrotted from North America to South Africa chasing ghosts. How'd you do it?"
[A Handsome Guy Who's Unwilling To Reveal His Identity] : "QR code principles. Random IP generation. Told you - there's a small gap in our skills."
Wang Xiaofeng's laugh was hollow.
Small gap?
This was a grand canyon of difference. He knew QR theory, but applying it to IP spoofing? That was like an ant trying to comprehend elephant calculus.
[Wang Xiaofeng] : "You're not just better. You're playing a different game entirely."
Chapter 8
Here's the complete version with all original dialogue preserved and only non-dialogue text refined for better flow:
Wang Xiaofeng didn't want to admit his complete defeat in computer hacking, but reality gave him no choice. After lighting a cigarette and taking a deep puff, he began typing carefully: "I've never expected to encounter an expert like you, brother. I wholeheartedly accept my defeat. Oh, that's right, how shall I address you?"
A Handsome Guy Who's Unwilling To Reveal His Identity replied : "Shadow would do."
Shadow? Wang Xiaofeng thought about it for a moment, then shook his head. As both a hacker and the administrator of the Hacker's Forum, he was familiar with practically all the powerful hackers in the country - they were all part of the same circle. Yet he had never heard of anyone using the alias 'Shadow.' It seemed that in a country as vast as China, there truly were countless hidden experts.
Having reached this conclusion, Wang Xiaofeng continued typing : "Shadow bro, I've given up on tracking you. Apart from this, you should quickly delete your post before the people from the cyber police find out. At that time, they'll shut down our Hacker's Forum."
Inside his rental apartment, Chu Tian read Wang Xiaofeng's message and narrowed his eyes. Delete the post? Nonsense! His program was still generating income. While keeping the post up had nothing to do with Wang Xiaofeng's wager, Chu Tian maintained it purely for financial gain.
Yet Wang Xiaofeng made a valid point. Checking hotel registry records without permission violated the law. Although Chu Tian was confident the cyber police couldn't trace or remove his post even if they discovered it, they certainly had the power to shut down the entire Hacker's Forum. If they took the forum's servers offline, no one would be able to access it - including his money-making post.
What should he do? Chu Tian absolutely refused to delete the post while it continued generating steady income. At the same time, he didn't want to see the Hacker's Forum shut down, as it was currently his only reliable source of income. Losing the forum would mean losing his financial pipeline.
Just as Chu Tian wrestled with this dilemma, another message from Wang Xiaofeng arrived : "Oh, that's right. Brother Shadow, are you interested in taking on jobs at the forum?"
Jobs? Chu Tian was confused. He responded : "What'd you mean?"
Wang Xiaofeng replied : "???" followed by : "Brother Shadow, could it be that you've never accepted a job before? Regarding jobs, they're the sort of business our Hacker's Forum is engaged in..."
As Chu Tian read Wang Xiaofeng's explanation, he grew increasingly stunned. During his three years frequenting the Hacker's Forum, he had always assumed it was simply a gathering place for enthusiasts and hobbyists to discuss computer knowledge, with occasional posts sharing interesting programs. Now he learned the forum actually facilitated major behind-the-scenes jobs - each potentially worth several hundred thousand or even millions of yuan.
These lucrative opportunities weren't advertised in the public forum posts. They were handled exclusively through private messages, available only to Wang Xiaofeng and other expert hackers with the necessary skills to complete them.
Wang Xiaofeng continued : "Brother Shadow, if you want to take on any jobs, we can work together. It just so happens that our forum doesn't have enough manpower. With your skills, there's absolutely no issue at all for you to join us."
Reading this, Chu Tian chuckled before typing his response : "That's fine with me. It just so happens that I am bored and idle lately. That said, do you have any jobs on hand?"
Wang Xiaofeng answered : "We do. That one's quite difficult. But, we can talk about it later. You should delete your post first. If the forum is forced to shut down, none of us will be able to make a living anymore. Those people all found us through the forum. I'll tell you about that job in detail after you delete your post."
Seeing this response, Chu Tian took a deep breath and reluctantly deleted his hotel registry software post. He had no other choice - while checking hotel registries provided income, it wasn't sustainable long-term. Sacrificing the golden goose that was the Hacker's Forum for short-term gains made no sense.
After deleting the post, Chu Tian messaged Wang Xiaofeng : "Done. I've deleted it. Go ahead and tell me about that problematic job of yours. The pay's good?"
Wang Xiaofeng replied : "The pay's absolutely good. Their offer is 30 million. That's the highest priced job I've encountered all my life. But, that job is not easy to handle. The request is too high. Me and the other bros on the forum are unable to take on that job at all. It might even be hard for brother shadow to take on that job."
[Note: 30 million RMB ≈ 4.3 million USD]
30 million? Chu Tian's eyes widened in shock at the figure. That much money? This couldn't be some operation to steal classified national documents, could he?
After considering for a moment, Chu Tian responded : "Tell me about it."
Wang Xiaofeng explained : "The client's a married woman. Her husband is extremely wealthy. He's one of our country's top 100 wealthy individuals. But, recently, that woman encountered a black man at a nightclub and ended up having an one night stand with him."
He continued : "Normally, that's not something of concern. But, the problem lies in the fact that the black man she met secretly recorded their encounter. Furthermore, he uploaded that video onto the internet."
"The video being uploaded online made that woman extremely worried, nearly driven insane. The reason for that was because she had signed a premarital agreement with her husband. If her husband discovers that video, he will most definitely divorce her, leaving her with nothing, not even a single cent."
Wang Xiaofeng concluded : "Because of that, she made an extremely high request. That is, her extramarital affair video must be deleted from the internet and not be allowed to be reuploaded onto the net."