“Name.”
“Cyrene.”
“Gender.”
“…Female.”
“Age.”
“Hmm…
Eighteen?”
The policeman’s pen paused.
He looked up, scrutinizing Cyrene with a sharp gaze.
“Why did you go to Hongda Chemical Plant?”
The air seemed to freeze for a few seconds.
Cyrene lowered her head, her fingers unconsciously twisting the hem of her shirt, as if organizing her thoughts.
After a moment, she spoke softly:
“I’m interested in those…
unusual things.”
She looked up, her eyes appearing somewhat innocent.
“The Xinhai Paranormal Forum posted a bounty for anomalies.
Someone described it so vividly, it didn’t seem like fiction, so I came out of curiosity.”
“The Xinhai Paranormal Forum?”
The policeman paused, clearly not expecting this answer.
He turned and began typing rapidly on the laptop keyboard beside him.
The blue glow from the screen flickered across his glasses as the page scrolled.
Soon, the typing stopped.
Without turning around, the policeman stared at the screen and asked, “Forum username.”
“This…”
Cyrene’s voice suddenly caught in her throat.
Her previously composed posture stiffened slightly.
“What’s wrong?”
The policeman keenly captured this abnormality, swiveling his chair to face her, his gaze questioning.
“N-nothing…”
Cyrene felt her cheeks flush, and the corner of her mouth twitched involuntarily.
She took a deep breath, as if steeling herself for something, and spoke in a voice as faint as a mosquito’s buzz:
“My forum username is…
Pink Puppy.”
The moment she uttered those two words, a cold wave of social death crawled up her spine.
When she’d first registered the account, she’d originally intended to call herself “Pink Fairy.”
But for some inexplicable reason, her mind had inexplicably flashed to Mem and that nickname: Pink Puppy.
Then, her finger slipped, and the username was set.
Who could have imagined that this embarrassing ID would one day be read aloud by a police officer?
“Mm-hmm, I see it.”
The officer clearly didn’t get the joke.
With a blank expression, he scrolled through the page with his mouse, quickly locating the pinned post.
“High Reward: Seeking Recent True Paranormal Events in Xinhai City?” he read aloud, enunciating each word carefully.
Then, he clicked on several replies, only to find their contents hidden and visible only to the original poster.
The officer closed the laptop, his gaze sharpening again.
“Could you please show me your forum profile page?”
“Okay,” Cyrene replied obediently.
The officer took the phone, swiping his thumb across the screen as he meticulously examined the account’s backend data.
The only sound in the room was the hum of the air conditioner.
After a moment, the police officer handed Cyrene her phone back.
He leaned forward, crossing his hands on the desk, an invisible pressure emanating from him.
“Ms.
Cyrene, some things don’t add up.”
He fixed his gaze on Cyrene’s azure eyes, his tone serious.
“I’ve reviewed your records.
Your parents tragically died in a car accident while traveling abroad.
Before that, there’s no indication you had any interest in the supernatural or paranormal.”
The officer paused, tapping his finger on the desk.
“Even this account was recently created, its level artificially boosted by buying Forum Coins.”
His voice deepened.
“Why did you suddenly post this thread?
And why did you appear so precisely at such a dangerous location?”
Gulp…
Cyrene shrank back, her throat bobbing as she swallowed audibly.
A clear sign of nervousness—or at least, that’s how it appeared.
She bit her lower lip, her gaze darting around, seemingly intimidated by the officer’s intensity.
“The reason…
I…
I…”
She stammered for a long time, finally clutching at the suggestion like a lifeline, cautiously asking:
“Could I talk to…
Sister An Ning?”
“You want to see her?”
The police officer’s brow furrowed slightly.
He scrutinized Cyrene for a few seconds, seemingly assessing the reasonableness of her request.
The tightly furrowed brow gradually relaxed.
“Alright, I’ll go get her now.”
The officer stood up and pushed his chair back.
“Please wait here for a moment.”
With a soft click, the door closed.
Footsteps faded into the distance.
“Phew…”
Cyrene’s tense shoulders instantly slumped, and she collapsed onto the table like a boneless creature.
Thank goodness, it seemed half of her suspicion had been temporarily cleared.
If they truly considered her a dangerous individual, her treatment would have been far less gentle.
Turning her head sideways, her cheek pressed against the cool tabletop, a flicker of contemplation passed through her azure pupils.
This world…
actually has people with Special Abilities?
In the future visions the System had shown her, the warriors fighting the monsters were all armed with firearms.
The pure firepower she had witnessed had led her to mistakenly believe this was a world without mana or magic.
But the girl named An Ning had just demonstrated through her actions that Special Abilities actually existed in this world, and that the government had even established a special organization called the Special Bureau to handle them.
Cyrene’s fingers lightly tapped the table.
A new plan gradually formed in her mind.
Rather than blindly searching the world for Xenos like a headless fly, she should infiltrate the government directly.
By disguising herself as a Special Ability user and joining the government, she could exploit their intelligence network to gather information.
Then, she could “leak” the most difficult and high-profile troubles to Phainon.
Letting him resolve them would not only accelerate her own growth but also help the government deal with anomalies.
It was a perfect win-win scenario!
Right, first I should check how many Memory Imprints I’ve earned.
With a mental command, the pale blue System Panel unfolded across her retina.
Name: Cyrene
Gender: Female
Race: Unknown
Abilities: Memory Imprinting
Memory Imprints: 30
Thirty points?
Looking at the number, Cyrene raised an eyebrow.
These “Memory Imprints” were acquired when she was being chased by monsters and rescued by An Ning.
Perhaps in those extremely dangerous situations, she left a deep impression on others?
Though the process was a bit messy, freebies always taste the sweetest.
Satisfied, Cyrene closed the System Panel, adjusted her posture, and resumed waiting for An Ning’s arrival.
Moments later, the doorknob turned.
An Ning pushed the door open and walked in.
She had changed out of her combat uniform into simple casual clothes, but her face remained pale.
This was a lingering side effect of overexerting her Special Ability.
An Ning pulled out a chair and sat down, taking a deep breath as she forced her face into a stern expression, trying to maintain the dignity of her role as “Officer.”
“I’ve already been briefed on the situation.”
She looked at Cyrene, her tone as gentle as possible.
“Just say what’s on your mind.”
Cyrene blinked, her hands twisting together tightly beneath the table.
A hesitant expression crept across her face.
After several seconds, as if having finally mustered the courage, she asked softly:
“Sister An Ning, that lightning you used back then…
was it a Special Ability, like in those novels?”
An Ning froze for a moment, startled.
She clearly hadn’t expected Cyrene, after hesitating for so long, to ask this question.
But it was a typical reaction for ordinary people suddenly confronted with supernatural forces.
An Ning nodded, her expression calm.
“That’s right.
Special Abilities exist in this world, and so do those monsters.”
Hearing this confirmation, Cyrene seemed to breathe a sigh of relief.
She looked up, meeting An Ning’s eyes directly.
Though her voice was soft, it carried clearly in the relatively small, enclosed room:
“The reason I suddenly started investigating paranormal phenomena and anomalies is because…”
Cyrene paused, reciting the carefully rehearsed words:
“Because I discovered…
I think I may have awakened a Special Ability recently as well.”