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Chapter 9 - Chapter 9After the Reboot1

04:30

System reboot: 100 %

The familiar blue glow turns warm white.

Pop-up:

「Congratulations—upgrade to 2.0 Beta」

「New feature: Emotion Blind Box」

「Rule: if heart-rate fluctuates ±20 bpm, hidden content drops at random」

No countdown, only a spinning wheel labeled "Draw."

05:00

South Bay Pier. Dawn fog tastes like milk.

She throws the glass shard into the sea.

Fei Ye leans against a container, half-empty whisky swinging.

"System's back?"

"With Easter eggs."

He tilts the bottle. "Who opens the first blind box tonight?"

She smiles. "We all do."

06:15

Qi Si appears at the far end of the pier, trench coat soaked.

He hands her a one-way ticket—

Destination: None. Refund: Impossible.

"Risk it?"

She tears the ticket in half, stuffs one piece back in his pocket.

"Split the risk."

07:30

Shen Yan's Maybach idles at the pier entrance.

Dashboard projects a news crawl:

"Anonymous portrait surfaces on dark-web auction—starting bid 1 BTC."

The photo: her masked profile from last night.

Shen Yan's voice is calm: "I'm the buyer. Seller—unknown."

She arches a brow. "So I'm the bonus gift?"

He slides a black domino across the console, back engraved "Queen."

"Casino. Midnight."

08:00

Blind box trigger #1:

Heart-rate spikes 144 bpm → wheel spins

Drop:

[Single-use Skill Card – Heart Sync]

Effect: force any target's heartbeat to match hers for 30 s.

She pockets the card, grinning. "Cheat-code upgraded."

09:10

Three tickets, one unmarked speedboat.

Captain hands out black eye-masks: "Route classified."

She pulls the mask on; fingertips trace a line carved into the rail:

「Game on. Boxes shipped.」

09:30

Masks off. All three are locked inside a cargo hold—

one round table, four sealed boxes.

Labels:

Shen Yan / Fei Ye / Qi Si / ???

044 displays:

「Choose opening order. Timer: 00:10:00」

09:40

Her finger hovers over the fourth box—no name, only a heartbeat symbol.

She tears the tape.

Inside: a mirror reflecting her own eyes.

Etched at the bottom in red:

「You are the biggest blind box.」

09:45

Cargo lights die. Engine cuts.

Darkness swallows everything—

even the sound of a heartbeat.

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