Chapter 98: I Wasn't Crying and Throwing a Tantrum
"Gone... all of them are gone... not a single one left... this is too much... way too much..."
The biting wind whipped across the rooftop of the towering skyscraper, but it was nothing compared to the chill in Silver Wolf's heart. She crouched miserably by the steel railing, her knuckles turning white as she clutched her gaming console like a lifeline. Her voice was a low, hollow mutter, leaking a grievance so deep it practically spilled over the edge of the building.
Wow. This was just too much. All her alt accounts... seventy-six in total... wiped from existence in one ruthless ban wave. Not even half a smurf account had survived the purge.
Her gamer soul was bleeding out on the concrete.
"Alright, stop crying and throwing a tantrum. You're not a child anymore."
Kafka stood a few paces away, the neon city lights reflecting off her dark coat. Her tone carried a distinct, helpless amusement. Following Elio's script, Blade had already departed for the Xianzhou Luofu, leaving Kafka to make a brief detour to check on their resident hacker.
"I wasn't crying and throwing a tantrum!"
Silver Wolf snapped her head up, her teeth grinding together audibly. Despite her fierce glare, the corners of her eyes were suspiciously red, and her voice hitched with a poorly concealed sob.
"Yes, yes..." Kafka humored her, though a fond smile danced in her eyes. She leaned casually against the railing. "So, what is the grand plan now? Find a nearby branch of the corporation to hack into and recover your precious data?"
"Sigh, one or two would be fine... but this time it was a total wipeout." Silver Wolf rubbed furiously at her eyes with the back of her sleeve. "A local branch definitely won't have enough security clearance. I need to take a trip to Pier Point."
She had made up her mind. To salvage her life's work, she would just have to storm the Interstellar Peace Corporation headquarters.
"The IPC headquarters. Just you alone?" Kafka shook her head gently, the faint click of her boots sounding against the roof.
"Just me... why, do you want to come along?" Silver Wolf shot her a sidelong glance, tossing out a casual party invite.
"I'm afraid not." Kafka offered a soft smile. "Did you forget? I have a part to play in Elio's next script."
"Oh, right... that storyline sounds like it wouldn't suit my playstyle anyway." Silver Wolf waved her hand listlessly, her enthusiasm flatlining. "Good luck to you guys on that."
Deep down, she wanted to point out that the so-called script had already devolved into a complete, chaotic mess thanks to a certain someone. But right now, she simply lacked the energy to dwell on it.
"I also wish you a fun time at Pier Point," Kafka replied warmly.
"Don't worry, I already have a strategy." Silver Wolf pushed herself off the ground and pointed toward the neon-drenched skyline. "Look over there. Two kilometers out, there's a place called the White Cloud Restaurant. A few temporary contractors from the Building Material Logistics Department just walked in. I'm going to go 'make friends' with them."
Knowing Kafka's gentle teasing was just her unique way of showing concern, the hacker offered up her actual game plan.
"Leaving already? I thought you would want to experience those game cartridges you have been longing for first," Kafka chuckled, adjusting her sunglasses.
"I said, I wasn't longing for them..." Silver Wolf enunciated every single syllable, glaring as if trying to physically nail the words into the older woman's brain. "Besides, I can just play while I'm in transit. Games are just for gaming, nothing more."
She turned to march toward the fire escape, but a sharp chime from her pocket froze her in her tracks.
Silver Wolf pulled out her phone. A new message from Leon. Attached was a video file.
Frowning, she swiped her thumb across the screen, projecting a crisp holographic display into the cool night air so Kafka could see it too.
The video began playing immediately.
[Silver Wolf (Before Ban):]
The projection showed a flawless, high-definition clip of herself. She stood with her arms crossed, exuding absolute cool.
"If I encounter a friend with ill intentions, Silver Wolf doesn't mind... deleting their account in the real world."
In the footage, her eyes were sharp, her tone dripping with arrogant confidence, looking like a master hacker who held the entire digital universe in the palm of her hand.
Then, the screen flashed with a harsh transition.
[Silver Wolf (After Ban):]
A crudely drawn, chibi-style Herta puppet popped onto the screen. The little doll planted her hands on her hips and threw her head back, laughing maniacally at the sky.
"Let this little girl cry her eyes out while clutching her electronic devices! Hahaha—!"
The scene abruptly shifted again.
A heavily stylized, teary-eyed chibi Silver Wolf was huddled in a dark corner, desperately biting her lip to hold back loud, pathetic sobs. Her animated face was flushed a deep, embarrassing red. A massive, bold text box floated directly above her head:
[Silver Wolf: I-am-not-crying-and-throwing-a-tantrum!]
[I said, I-am-NOT-crying-and-throwing-a-tantrum!!]
The caricature was so ridiculously vivid and painfully adorable that Kafka's gaze softened entirely. A gentle, highly amused arc formed on her lips as she watched the tiny hacker throw a digital fit.
Silver Wolf, on the other hand, felt her scalp tingle with sheer, unadulterated mortification. Her face burned hot enough to fry an egg. She lunged forward, frantically swiping her hand to kill the projection.
"Wait, don't be in such a hurry. Let's finish watching first." Kafka easily caught her wrist, pinning it down with a graceful motion. With her free hand, she shook her own phone. "Leon has already sent this exact video to the Stellaron Hunters group chat."
Silver Wolf: "..."
That damnable Leon! This was too much! Why was he still coming after her?!
She ground her teeth together so hard her jaw ached.
The holographic video continued to play mercilessly.
A chibi version of Kafka appeared on screen, holding her cheeks in mock distress while little pink flowers floated around her head. A dramatic, exaggerated voiceover played in perfect sync:
"I still remember what Silver Wolf looked like back then..."
"She was expressionless and silent, yet she wouldn't stop pacing, running, and rolling around the room..."
"Her mouth kept muttering 'it's fine, it's fine,' but big fat tears kept falling."
"Oh, the poor child."
On the screen, the chibi Silver Wolf finally broke. She burst out the door, wailing toward the endless expanse of the star-sea like a toddler who had just dropped her ice cream cone.
"She kept crying and crying, until her tears ran dry and her voice went hoarse, before she finally stood up."
"I will never forget that moment, the vow she made toward the setting sun—"
The camera zoomed in on the chibi Silver Wolf. She clenched her tiny fist, massive anime tears shimmering in her eyes against a dramatic sunset backdrop.
"No matter the cost, I will definitely get my accounts back...!!"
The screen faded to black. The video ended.
Silver Wolf stared at the empty air.
Her hands trembled. That evil, absolute troll of a man. Leon. She swore to the Aeons right then and there that she would dig up his deepest, darkest weakness and mock him until he begged for mercy.
She had truly reached her breaking point. She hadn't even been this upset about the actual ban! After all, losing the accounts was just a temporary setback; she could always just storm the IPC headquarters and take them back by force.
Losing a hacking war to Herta was embarrassing, sure, but at least that was a private defeat. Barely anyone knew about it.
But Leon had actually taken the time to edit a high-quality meme video—a devastatingly mocking one at that—and dumped it straight into the Stellaron Hunters group chat.
Wait.
Her blood ran cold.
This was bad. He only sent it to the Stellaron Hunters group, right?
He should have!
He must have!
Panic overriding her gamer rage, Silver Wolf frantically tapped her screen, opening a private direct message with Leon.
[Silver Wolf: You bastard, you didn't send that video all over the place, did you?!]
[Leon: Of course not, I'm a person of principle. Without your consent, I only sent it to the Stellaron Hunters group~]
[Leon: If you agree, though, I think sending it to the Astral Express group chat would be pretty funny too. Or I could just post it publicly on my own social media account...]
[Leon: What do you think? Do you agree?]
[Silver Wolf: Like hell I'd agree!]
[Silver Wolf: Retract the video from the Stellaron Hunters group right now!]
[Leon: Oh...]
A split second later, a notification pinged from the main Stellaron Hunters group chat.
[Leon: @All Members, Silver Wolf doesn't want the video to spread, so I'll be deleting it in a bit.]
[Leon: Those who want to save or download it, do it now, but don't spread it around.]
Silver Wolf stared at the screen, her brain short-circuiting.
[Silver Wolf:!!!!!!!]
[Silver Wolf: You motherf—!]
She was completely speechless. Her fingers hovered over the keyboard, trembling with sheer, unadulterated fury. Before this, some of the Hunters might have been busy. They might not have checked the chat. They might have missed the video entirely.
But now? Now that Leon had deliberately tagged everyone? Anyone who hadn't seen it was absolutely watching it right this second.
The chat logs began to scroll rapidly.
[Firefly:...Sigh, Silver Wolf... you're so cute.]
[Firefly has sent an image: (Shy Firefly.jpg)]
[Leon: Right, right? This Silver Wolf emoji is super cute!]
[Leon has sent an image: (Silver Wolf: I wasn't crying and throwing a tantrum · holding back tears.jpg)]
[Blade:...]
[Elio:...]
[Leon: Waaaaah, little Silver Wolf's heart collapsed because Herta froze 76 of her accounts, and she's crying and throwing a tantrum! Waaaaah, so pitiful...]
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