Chapter 54 – Align the Granularity, Form a One-Two Punch

“Ling?” Zheng Mo rose from her seat. “Didn’t you say you were busy today?”

Then Zheng Mo began introducing the newly arrived girl to the three people present.

“Her name is Qin Ling-“

“Stop!” Qin Ling cut in. “Mo, what is with that utterly lifeless introduction?”

“I’ll do it myself!”

She turned energetically to Lin Xi and the others. “Hi, everyone!”

“My name is Qin Ling!”

“I’m Mo’s classmate.”

“And I’m a fox girl.”

A foxgirl? Lin Xi was startled. Another fellow countrywoman from the Dark Realm?

From the looks of it, had Zheng Mo recruited this foxgirl into the organization?

“I’m a virtual idol streamer!”

“As a virtual idol streamer, I’d say I’m pretty famous. Have any of you watched my streams?”

“My channel is called The Annoying Little Fox.”

“Ah!” Lin Xi cried out and shot to her feet. “You’re The Annoying Little Fox?!”

Qin Ling was delighted by Lin Xi’s reaction. “You know me?”

“Mm!” Lin Xi nodded.

She more than knew her.

On the Cuddle Witch’s Last Wish List, there was an item for The Annoying Little Fox.

Lin Xi had been wondering before what kind of person would pick a name like that.

So it turned out to be her streamer name.

In other words, the Cuddle Witch had once stumbled across Qin Ling’s stream online, fallen for The Annoying Little Fox, and wanted to cuddle with her?

Damn!

The Cuddle Witch’s scope of business was seriously broad!

Was she really going with “I cuddle, therefore I am”?

Naturally, Lin Xi couldn’t tell Qin Ling that the Cuddle Witch wanted to cuddle with her, so she said instead, “I’ve watched your streams. Your virtual avatar is amazing, and your content is super fun!”

In reality, Lin Xi had not watched Qin Ling’s streams yet.

But hey, when in doubt, just praise.

Complimenting a virtual idol was just a matter of saying her virtual avatar was well made, her streams were interesting, her voice was cute, and so on…

Lin Xi’s praise instantly won Qin Ling over. “Really? I coded that virtual avatar myself, you know.”

“Besides being a virtual idol, I’m also an online hacker.”

“My hacker alias is Darkened Fox.”

“Ah!” This time it was Shi Yu’s turn to cry out and shoot to her feet. “The Super Genius Hacker, Darkened Fox?”

“Huh? You’ve heard of me?”

Shi Yu nodded. “I’ve seen posts about you on the forums. You’ve got plenty of ‘glorious achievements’ to your name. Honestly, in my head, Darkened Fox was a gloomy tech nerd with glasses…”

“Haha.” Qin Ling laughed. “Don’t stereotype tech nerds like that.”

To Zheng Mo’s surprise, Lin Xi and Shi Yu had both already learned about Qin Ling online before meeting her.

Just as Lin Xi had guessed, Qin Ling had indeed been recruited by Zheng Mo and had become a member of ZERO.

Zheng Mo had arranged for Qin Ling to come over today so they could hold a Welcome Party for her and Lin Xi, but Qin Ling had said she had something to do and couldn’t make it.

Yet now, she had suddenly shown up anyway.

Zheng Mo wasn’t angry. She knew very well that Qin Ling simply had that kind of quirky, unpredictable personality…

“Hello, Qin Ling. My name is Lin Xi,” Lin Xi introduced herself. “I’m the Blazing Blast Witch.”

“Wow! Amazing! You’re a Special-Grade Disaster, right?!” Qin Ling happily ran over to Lin Xi’s side. “I came all this way specifically to meet you.”

“Huh?!” Lin Xi was very surprised. Qin Ling was standing extremely close, almost close enough to press against her.

Zheng Mo went on to recount Lin Xi’s glorious deed in the Dark Domain, where she’d “sent” the Super Disaster Kun a “Super Rocket.” Qin Ling’s admiration for Lin Xi soared even higher.

“Lin Xi! You’re seriously amazing!”

Snuggle-

The instant Lin Xi pressed up against Qin Ling, her lifespan went ++.

Maybe the meaning of life was simply snuggling with cute girls… Lin Xi thought.

…

Once the introductions were over, everyone took their seats.

Qin Ling liked every member of the little group, and Lin Xi and the others were just as fond of this energetic fox-girl.

And so, the five of them raised their glasses together and toasted once more.

At the table, Qin Ling was the chattiest by far.

As expected of a streamer-she could talk, she was quick-witted, and she was funny.

Qin Ling said, “My combat power might not be great, and I’d probably be evaluated as a Fourth-Grade Disaster at best, but I’m clever, resourceful, and a Genius Hacker. Lin Xi is a Special-Grade Disaster. With Lin Xi and me joining forces, this is a powerhouse alliance. We’re definitely going to build this bigger and stronger!”

“So I’ll be our squad Captain. All in favor? Anyone opposed?”

Lin Xi: “…”

No, seriously? She’d only just joined and she was already trying to steal the Captain position?

What overwhelming dominance-

Zheng Mo had been the first of the five to join ZERO, so Zheng Mo was the Captain. Now that someone was openly challenging her position, Zheng Mo smiled and made her move:

She lightly flicked Qin Ling on the forehead.

“Oww-” Qin Ling puffed out her cheeks. “Mo, are you the Captain? You can’t hit me on the head! If you hit my head, I won’t grow taller!”

Qin Ling was very confident in how cute she was. Her only sorrow was her height.

She was already in high school, yet she still looked like a little girl who’d just started middle school…

Zheng Mo apologized first, then said, “You’re a newbie with zero accomplishments, and you already want to steal my Captain position?”

“Ehehe…” Qin Ling said confidently. “With my genius brain, getting results is a matter of minutes.”

“Come on, come on. Let’s eat and hold a meeting at the same time.”

Qin Ling was extremely enthusiastic about this “job.”

In stark contrast to Qin Ling, Lin Xi had been in slacker mode the entire time.

She had never thought about becoming Captain, nor had she ever thought about achieving any results.

After all, Shi Yu had tricked her into joining ZERO…

“A meeting? Sure,” Zheng Mo said, approving Qin Ling’s suggestion. She first asked Shi Yu, “About the last mission-“

“What?” Qin Ling cut in. “We already had a mission?”

“Yeah,” Zheng Mo said. “You don’t know yet, do you? The robbers from Jinrui Bank were the three of them.”

“Huh???!!!” Qin Ling was ecstatic. “A bank robbery? Subarashii1!-“

“If only I’d joined ZERO sooner, I could’ve taken part!”

Lin Xi, Shi Yu, and Lu Yi were all struck silent by Qin Ling’s comment.

Qin Ling couldn’t wait. “Quick, quick!-“

“Let’s align our granularity, form a combined punch, and pull off an even bigger job another day!”

“Align our granularity? Form a combined punch? What’s that supposed to mean?” Lin Xi asked.

Qin Ling explained, “It means both sides sync up their information so we can carry out the next phase of action together.”

“Oh-” Lin Xi said admiringly. “As expected of a streamer. You’ve got work experience.”

“Of course,” Qin Ling said without the slightest modesty. “Honestly, if Mo hadn’t recruited me into ZERO, I was planning to join a big internet company.”

“I would’ve out-hustled those 996 programmers to death!”

Lin Xi: “…”

Where did this overachiever come from?!

Humanity would never have imagined that a Dark Realm Disaster could carry out a “dimensionality reduction strike” in this particular way.

Footnote:

1. Subarashii(素晴らしい): A Japanese word meaning “wonderful,” “splendid,” or “amazing.” In this context, it is used as an enthusiastic exclamation, often associated with the dramatic tone of anime characters.