Chapter 7: Let’s get started!

The night was late.

The world was quiet.

Inside the cramped rented room, the battle still raged.

“Come on, seriously?!”

The white-haired girl sat at her computer desk, eyes wide, hunched over like a shrimp.

“How could this shot miss?”

Before she could rage, her teammate’s icon lit up first:

“No way, healer, don’t leak info! I was almost there.”

Hearing her teammate deflect blame after missing his own shot, Su Yu’s temper immediately flared.

The temperature of her face soared close to the surface of the sun.

“You’ve been either slowly flanking or hiding in a corner the entire match! Your teammates are all dead, the bomb is planted, and you’re still slowly creeping around! What are you even creeping for?”

“So what? I was just… huh? You’re a girl?”

After a brief two seconds of silence, the teammate suddenly changed his tone, becoming excited:

“You’re really a girl?”

Su Yu, who was about to continue cursing his ancestors for eighteen generations, instantly froze.

The insults stuck in her throat.

She frowned, and a sense of foreboding crept into her heart.

“Sis, your voice is so nice. You got me good with that scolding. Can I call you Mommy?”

“Mommy, please scold me again, okay? Hello?”

Bang!

Su Yu threw a straight punch at the computer screen.

The fragile, old monitor instantly erupted into a brilliant shower of sparks, and with a crackling sound, it went completely black, dying on the spot.

“…”

“Sigh… The internet is too terrifying…”

This dark forest had all kinds of gods and monsters…

She took a deep breath, feeling her mental state starting to waver.

Tonight’s encounter would likely become a lingering nightmare.

It was in this moment that she truly understood how much damage words could do to a person…

She probably needed to quit her internet addiction for good…

Just as she was feeling disturbed, the bracelet on her wrist vibrated slightly, followed by a synthesized mechanical voice:

“You have a new message. Please check it soon.”

“…”

Su Yu could only try to forget what just happened.

She tapped lightly on the bracelet, and the message began playing automatically.

“Just now, the bracelet detected that your heart rate went through some pretty dramatic ups and downs in a short period of time. I think you should calm down and get some rest, or it will affect your health.”

“Oh, and my research here has made some new progress. Make sure you come tomorrow for testing. Sleep early. Don’t be late. I don’t want to have to come wake you up.”

After listening to the short message, Su Yu’s face showed disdain, and she muttered softly to herself:

“Does he really think he’s my mom? And anyway, isn’t he still awake at this hour? He has the nerve to tell me off.”

Still, despite her words, she couldn’t put off her duties.

Though she was reluctant verbally, she eventually trudged back to bed.

She hoped nothing bad would happen tomorrow…

Yeah, time to sleep…

—

The next day, early morning.

The laboratory door opened right on time, and a gasping girl ran in.

“Sorry, sorry, I’m late…”

Su Yu limped in, still panting heavily.

“Boss, you know this place is too remote. The commute isn’t convenient…”

Lin Mo’s brow immediately furrowed, his gaze sweeping over the girl repeatedly.

“I warned you not to be late… And, looking like this, you didn’t even wash your face before rushing out in a panic, did you?”

“That’s right.”

Su Yu nodded very seriously, admitting the fact without a trace of shame.

“…”

“Heh…”

Lin Mo laughed in exasperation.

In all his life, he had never seen such a casual person.

As a meticulous scientist, this was absolutely intolerable.

“I’m deducting ten percent of your salary for this month. Now, immediately, right this second, go to the living quarters and clean yourself up. Otherwise, don’t show up in my lab.”

Hearing about the pay cut, Su Yu’s face changed drastically.

With a tearful expression, she began to plead:

“I can accept anything except my salary…”

“If you still stand there without moving, I’ll deduct your entire month’s pay.”

Lin Mo ruthlessly cut off her plea, his voice calm and unyielding.

“Fine, fine, I’ll go, alright?”

Su Yu was truly out of options.

She could only slouch dejectedly towards the living quarters, like a lost little kitten.

Lin Mo watched the girl’s dispirited figure walking away and couldn’t help but sigh.

‘What a problem child…’

—

“Boss, this thing you mentioned… Can it really raise my Magic Energy Level?”

Back in the core area, Su Yu held the syringe in her hand and questioned nervously:

“I feel like… this thing… kind of looks like some kind of unknown slime?”

To be honest, she really didn’t have the courage to inject a liquid of unknown composition into her body, even though Lin Mo had given her plenty of reassurances.

“This is a product from my earlier experiments, called Type-A Enhancer. It can effectively help develop a person’s magical potential. However, it has certain side effects and its versatility is too low, so it was put on hold.”

“Just last night, I studied your blood and hair samples. I found that they can largely resist the side effects of Type-A Enhancer. So I want to apply it directly to you and see what happens.”

Su Yu stared at him in disbelief, her hand holding the syringe starting to tremble.

“Th-this isn’t right…”

“It’s still a half-finished product. How can you start human experimentation directly?”

What if something went wrong?

She didn’t have insurance.

Just as she was about to argue further, Lin Mo said very casually:

“Precisely because it’s a half-finished product, I need more data to improve it.”

“And without exaggeration, there’s a long line of people who want to inject this reagent to change their fate. Others have no way to become my test subject.”

“You get power and compensation, I get data. It’s a fair trade, isn’t it?”

Lin Mo’s words were full of temptation. If Su Yu weren’t more concerned about her own life, she would have agreed on the spot.

“That sounds nice, but…”

Su Yu hesitated, as if wanting to say something more.

Perhaps seeing the girl’s concerns, Lin Mo then explained:

“The reagent does have certain side effects, but only limited to ordinary physiques. You are naturally immune to magic, so you will experience much milder side effects, or even none at all. I’ve already preliminarily verified this.”

“How about this: for your safety, we’ll start this experiment with a lighter version of the reagent. The side effects will be smaller, and correspondingly, the power boost will be smaller. I believe you can handle it completely.”

“After all, you are my most precious sample. I don’t want anything to happen to you either.”

With that said, Su Yu knew it would be impolite to refuse again.

She took a deep breath and immediately agreed.

“Then it’s settled. Let’s do it quickly!”