Legend of the Cyber Heroes
Chapter 437 - 81 Grading

Chapter 437: Chapter 81 Grading

If Yuki still had tear glands, he would probably be crying right now. The boy didn’t know why.

This must be the sort of feeling his master often described as "as if the prosthetic eye were malfunctioning."

"It’s so vast..." Yuki said, "although I knew it was big when I left, I didn’t realize it was big like this... this kind of vastness."

"Yeah." Xiang Shan nodded, "Take a good look. One day we will change this world again. By then, the real cities will look a hundred times better than this."

As the deleted files gradually restored and the uninstalled functions were replaced by other security software, Yuki felt the discomfort in his body slowly disappear.

Speaking, Xiang Shan sat down on the ground, then tapped the space directly in front of him with a long stick: "Next is the scoring segment. Come, sit down."

Yuki stood for a short while, calming his emotions, and then sat down opposite Xiang Shan.

"So, the first question," Xiang Shan said, "why didn’t you choose to uninstall the network card driver or some communication protocols? That should have been the most direct shortcut."

The prosthetic bodies given by the Protectors, and the most common schematics on the net, integrate the network card function into data processing hardware in a concealed manner, and its drivers and protocols are also hidden, not directly accessible.

But beginners of Inner Strength can still uninstall it.

At least simpler than Yuki’s current approach.

After taking the network card offline, no matter how much the prosthetic body’s internal alarms go off, the Protector would not be aware. Before re-installing the network card, resetting the system would solve most problems.

Yuki glanced at Xiang Shan, hesitating.

Xiang Shan said, "Speak honestly. Didn’t you think of it yourself?"

"It’s not that," Yuki answered honestly, "I did think about it... but I just wasn’t sure if that would earn me any points. After all, Teacher, you always say ’no points for skipping steps in an exam.’ You called it an ’exam,’ so it’s about testing the proficiency of skills. I wasn’t sure what exactly was being tested... If it was to test the progress in Inner Strength, such actions would hardly earn points."

"Also, I wanted to challenge myself head-on."

Xiang Shan nodded, "Do you have your master’s spirit from back then? Really want to score high?"

"...No, I feel that if I scored too low, I’d definitely be expelled from the apprenticeship."

"Hahaha." Xiang Shan laughed and patted Yuki on the shoulder, "Good, this judgment of yours is quite impressive. I see great potential in you."

Yuki’s smile stiffened, "Teacher... so..."

"You’re just one step away from being expelled from the apprenticeship," Xiang Shan’s tone was brisk but seemed to carry a hint of regret.

Yuki sighed, "I knew it."

"Next up, you have five minutes to explain in written form why you uninstalled certain files or retained others. Since it might be lengthy, you don’t need to say it aloud. Think it and output it as a document to send to me."

Yuki lowered his head. A moment later, he produced an answer.

Xiang Shan then read it quickly and annotated a few sentences.

"Hmm, it’s passable," Xiang Shan nodded, "Congratulations, you’ve passed."

Yuki let out a sigh of relief.

"And you scored quite high, too."

"Yay!"

Yuki clenched his fists.

"I think you could have scored seventy-five. If you had checked the installer I gave you at the beginning, you could have avoided a major deduction. After all, you shouldn’t have been so sure from the start that I was who I said I was. It could also have been an enemy, wearing your master’s prosthetic body, impersonating your master’s identity to get close to you. Had you checked and asked about the real question, you could have avoided most of the subsequent deductions."

"The remaining points were lost in your answer just now."

Yuki’s mouth turned downward.

"But, it’ll do," Xiang Shan sighed, "congratulations. If you managed to get sixty points in this test, you actually qualify to survive on your own. In this world, as long as you’re not being targeted, you can get by. And if you encounter an enemy passing by, you can escape successfully. You could possibly find resources and strengthen yourself..."

Yuki tightened his grip again, feeling he had what it takes.

But suddenly he turned his thoughts to the future and stared at Xiang Shan.

"Teacher,"

"Hmm?"

"You’re not going to say, ’Now that you have the ability, you can stand on your own. Our master-apprentice fate ends here,’ are you?"

"Now that you have the ability, you can stand on your own..." Xiang Shan tapped Yuki’s head lightly, "As if. Stand on your own? Pfft."

Actually, Yuki’s artificial heart had already sunk when Xiang Shan began the first half of that sentence.

Until his head was tapped.

"You’re way too early to think about graduating. You wouldn’t stand a chance against those two Green Forest murderers from Recycling Station Town three years ago."

Yuki’s Inner Strength was now somewhat stronger than Little Poison Insect back then. Thanks to guidance from a famous teacher, he could avoid many detours.

Martial Studies had been open-sourced by Heroes on the net, but a "Teacher’s" role hadn’t been rendered obsolete. Even with learning materials, one could still take detours in personal practice.

"Taking detours" doesn’t mean there’s no hope for that person. Some may just make small mistakes and can improve quickly with a little guidance; some geniuses may even find the right path on their own or carve out a new one.

But "avoiding detours" is like standing on the shoulders of giants.

It’s not surprising Yuki’s Inner Strength exceeded that of many in the Wilderness.

But such a level was insufficient for him to counter two Green Forest thugs in an instant like Xiang Shan did three years ago. If he focused on Inner Strength Battle, he could defeat Vigorous Kui briefly.

Yet Lev could have killed him many times over in that "brief" moment.

And if it came to external strength, he stood no chance against Lev from back then.

Yuki said resentfully, "If I were fully cyberized..."

"There’s no need for that yet. Cherish your current sense of smell and taste," Xiang Shan said. "The sense of touch has been mastered beyond. Pressure-sensitive materials can generate fine electrical signals based on pressure changes. Vision and hearing aren’t difficult either; it’s just converting light and sound waves. But olfactory and gustatory senses, which detect chemical molecules, are quite tricky. Not that it’s impossible, but either miniaturization is hard to achieve, or the price is steep. We can’t afford it for now. Cherish the senses you now possess."

"But..."

Xiang Shan’s hand pressed on Yuki’s shoulder, "After all, you’ve passed the test. So the day you say goodbye to these two senses isn’t far off. Maybe after victory, you’ll be able to taste again."

Yuki looked down, "But I don’t feel like I’ve ever eaten anything especially good. Especially compared to your memories."

"It’s better than nothing," Xiang Shan shrugged and asked, "By the way, the direction you were looking earlier is not far from your hometown. Interested in going back to have a look?"