Master of the Stars

Naturally, it was impossible to proceed with the practical training within the Simulator. After dealing with Yuan Fei in a simple manner, He Yueyin led Luo Nan out of the Psychic Wave Network to go back to the plane of reality.

Luo Nan opened his eyes, but all he saw was a sheet of darkness. An enclosed helmet, which had underwent special modifications, was covering his head; the immersion boot up hadn’t started yet. Luo Nan just gazed into the darkness as emotions flowed around in his mind.

Yuan Fei had come from HQ as part of the Incident Investigation Team. He came to Xia City without understanding the situation around Luo Nan and saw Luo Nan enter the fourth communication layer for a hands-on attempt at the Simulator. Yuan Fei felt that failure was normal for Luo Nan; success would have been abnormal. He merely chuckled at the matter with zero concern.

But Luo Nan was well aware of the imbalance between his own body and soul. He had enough of the stress and pain from the uncontrollable growth of his soul strength. The sudden issue with his lack of interference ability was quite a contradicting phenomenon. It was so contradicting that anyone who knew his situation would be baffled for a time.

He was unable to ponder for too long on this matter, for Bai Xinyan spoke with an exceptionally gentle voice, "How did the out-of-body state feel within the Psychic Wave Network?"

Luo Nan remained frustrated with his interference ability issue. He wasn’t in the mood to answer Bai Xinyan, and he ignored the key elements in her words.

Bai Xinyan just took his actions to be a silent agreement. She let out something like a laugh and a sigh. "My silly old man seems to be quite enlightened, but truthfully, he’s old-fashioned. He only believed that you had the ability of soul-attachment. But now, the past two days have caused his face to become swollen from all the shame. He doesn’t dare to show himself..."

Luo Nan only realized now what Bai Xinyan was saying. So it turned out that the misunderstanding regarding his out-of-body ability being a soul-attachment ability was corrected?

Indeed, Mr. Bai didn’t show his face these days. From what He Yueyin was saying, it seemed that Mr. Bai was asked to teach Luo Nan but had declined. Everyone knew quite well that his reasons didn’t have much to do with Luo Nan. The element of Luo Nan only accounted for a small percentage of his decision.

Luo Nan was disinclined to get involved in the dispute between the father and daughter pair. In any case, seeing how such an unforgiving woman would treat her good-natured old man raised Luo Nan’s mental vigilance.

Luo Nan’s moment of silence lasted too long, leading Bai Xinyan to misunderstand his thoughts. "You’re not the only kid who gives half-truths, who keeps cards hidden in his hand. There’s nothing to be embarrassed about. It’s just that you’re a bit reckless from a doctor’s perspective... Hello, Sister He. I was just talking with your boss. Oh?"

He Yueyin’s call was only for Bai Xinyan. Bai Xinyan uttered a questioning tone and sunk into silence. Several seconds passed and the enclosed helmet lit up without warning. The guide process specifically targeting ability users had begun.

Bai Xinyan’s last sentence came cutting in: "Tonight’s homework has begun. I hope you don’t go goofing off."

"Hey!?"

Luo Nan didn’t want to speak with Bai Xinyan before, but now he couldn’t help opening his mouth. Even an idiot would know that the topic He Yueyin and Bai Xinyan were discussing was Luo Nan’s insufficient interference ability. He was the person in question; why the heck did they isolate him from the discussion?

He felt like he was in the hospital, and that he was just like a patient diagnosed with a terminal illness. The world knew he was done for, save himself... Hold on. The content of the pessimistic dialogue between the two last time, was it about this?

Luo Nan forgot to accept the guiding process for a time. He remained in a daze. The protection of his external neuron and the buffer of the Hollow Depository were not enough to stop his chaotic thoughts and emotions during times like these.

...

Luo Nan was completely out of it during his second day at school. The symptom of a lowered interference ability and its corresponding ominous signs had disturbed his mind from morning to night.

As far as he was aware, He Yueyin and Bai Xinyan had engaged in a long discussion after the matter was discovered, but they never came to a definitive answer. They were going to make another major overhaul to Luo Nan’s daily schedule, which had underwent a revision already. Luo Nan was left waiting for news until the new revision could be completed.

The greater part of the day passed by in a blur, and Luo Nan had yet to receive his new daily schedule.

Halfway through the afternoon, the time for the school society activities began. The other students got up in a hurry, and this included Xie Junping, who stuck by Luo Nan’s side for two days straight; Xie Junping had a meeting to run in the Student Council. As for Luo Nan, he was the only living member of the Order Club. He wasn’t in the mood, and there weren’t any activities for him to do.

Luo Nan was really in a bad mood. He came back to the tree house of the Withered Tree Sandbar and sat in the resting room. He looked at the faint lighting in a daze.

In the beginning, he carefully mulled over the issue with his interference ability, but his train of thought rammed against knowledge barriers one after another to the point of bleeding from his head. He would always encounter special cases involving Formatting Theory. He wanted to ask someone with a better understanding, but there was no one who could help him.

In the end, his ruminations gave him a more terrible mood. He did some self-analysis in his helpless situation. He tried to interpret his negative emotions.

He Yueyin had mentioned that normally there were only around eight hundred people online globally in the Simulator at any given time. Luo Nan had felt a bit nervous, yet he also felt a bit of superiority. However, this sense of superiority was nipped in the bud. There weren’t any other emotions that could fill the gap, and the empty sense of loss had naturally begun to breed.

This was not just due to his change in status; it involved a more fundamental problem. The issue that popped up a few days ago had appeared suddenly, but had yet to be resolved. It remained this way up until tonight, like an endless shadow noiselessly creeping upon him.

Luo Nan was alone within the shadows with nothing to support him. There were only his numerous and chaotic emotions entwining his mind, layer upon layer. They pushed him to ask himself: Did his grandfather’s Formatting Theory truly possess flaws that were near irresolvable?

For instance, the uncontrollable growth of soul strength?

In another instance, the lack of interference ability in the material plane?

Were there other flaws besides these? Was there an end to them?

Luo Nan leaned against the inner wall of the tree hollow. It seemed that all his energy had been devoured bit by bit by this cruel problem, while time passed unknowingly in his daze. This lasted until he felt a faint vibration within his ear. Someone was contacting him through the HexaEar. Luo Nan was a bit surprised when he saw the contact name.

"Hello, Boss Luo. Is now a good time?"

Luo Nan rushed out from the tree house, made his way through the underwater passageway and high-speed elevator, and arrived at the main entrance of Gear. Not long after Luo Nan got there, a thirty-year-old young man appeared from a footpath on the outside of the building.

It was now late autumn. The jungle wetland was densely woven with vegetation, blocking the sun early in the day. It was a lot duskier than normal. The young man plodded his way over, walking rather wearily. He made his way to the front of the Gear building and under its lights. His lips split into a grin, and beads of sweat could be seen on his chubby face.

"Boss Luo. It wasn’t easy to find you here... This place is quite nice."

"Mr. Papercut." Luo Nan walked down the stairs and welcomed him.