The System is Abstract, Luckily, So Am I

Chapter 176 : Hacking, Hacking, Hacking for My Bro

"Come on, follow me to the bathroom. I'll let you know whether I have erectile dysfunction or not." Lin Li sneered, reaching out to grab Bai Bufan and drag him outside.

"Ah? No need, bro, that's really not necessary," Bai Bufan waved his hands, then clenched his fists to cheer him on. "I support you! I also hate cheaters the most in my life. There really aren't many people left like me, who can still completely rely on themselves even when faced with the temptation of a new phone.

"If there were more people like me in the world, it would definitely be a better place."

"That's because you're sitting in the fucking front row," Lin Li pointed at Bai Bufan's exam seat and smiled disdainfully.

The first seat in the second-to-last row—arguably the most insecure seat in the room.

"It has nothing to do with being in the front row. Even if I sat in the second row, I wouldn't cheat," Bai Bufan was very disappointed that Lin Li viewed him this way.

"What if it was the third row?" Lin Li asked.

Bai Bufan stopped answering.

"I'm asking you a question," Lin Li sneered.

"We'll cross that bridge when we come to it," Bai Bufan chuckled.

Confirming that Lin Li didn't actually have any emotional issues, he returned to his seat and continued reading the Cthulhu novel, Physics.

Meanwhile, Feng Kai, who had been scratching his head and cheeks nervously, finally found an opportunity. He immediately said "Hey, hey" a few times to attract Lin Li's attention, then asked, "Bro, were you serious about what you just said?"

"Just joking, I lied to you," Lin Li answered.

"Phew—" Feng Kai let out a long sigh of relief, wearing an 'I knew it' expression. "Bro, you scared me to death. By the way, how are your Math and Physics grades? Want to exchange answers later?"

"You might have misunderstood me. When I said 'I lied to you' just now, I meant that the phrase 'just joking' was a lie—I wasn't joking. If I see you cheating, I will report you," Lin Li explained with a gentle smile.

Feng Kai: "..."

Playing me twice in one sentence? That's too beastly.

Feng Kai's expression became a bit more serious, and he began to reason with him: "Bro, there's no need for this, right? I understand you're angry about getting destroyed by a hacker, and you need to vent your bad mood, but you have to find the right channel. There's no need to take your anger out on others."

Lin Li couldn't be bothered to respond. He propped his head on one hand, spinning his pen with the other, waiting for the exam to start.

Feng Kai grew even more anxious. He stood up and slammed his palm on his desk: "Bro, what you're doing is a betrayal to all of us students! It's disloyal, unfilial, inhumane, unjust, impolite, unwise, and untrustworthy!"

"You're right."

Seeing that he had finally persuaded him, Feng Kai's suspended heart finally settled down.

But Lin Li hadn't finished speaking: "I am indeed disloyal, un... what was it again? Anyway, I am exactly the kind of person you described. So you either cheat without letting me catch you, or wait to be reported by me."

Slacking off feels good for a moment, slacking off all the time feels good all the time.

Why care about potential rumors in the school?

Feng Kai was a bit angry now. He slammed the desk again: "Have you thought about whether others will retaliate against you?"

"But I'm not cheating on this monthly exam, so I'm temporarily invincible," Lin Li remained unmoved.

"But have you thought about your classmates and friends? When your class is targeted by the whole school because of you, what will you do?" Feng Kai chattered endlessly.

Lin Li sighed, stood up, took a step to Feng Kai's side, and pointed at Bai Bufan in the front row in the distance: "There, see him? That's my best bro. Whatever retaliation there is, direct it all at him. I'll accept it on his behalf."

Feng Kai: "..."

"No, bro, what I mean is..."

Before Feng Kai could finish, Lin Li interrupted him. Lin Li looked at him somewhat indifferently: "I don't care what you mean. What I mean is, stop yapping, it's annoying. You're just unlucky to have run into me during this monthly exam, it's that simple. You're cheating, and you're trying to take the moral high ground?

"Me reporting cheating is going to make my class targeted by the whole school? Can you represent the whole school, or can you rally the whole school? Give it a rest, bro."

Lin Li returned to his seat and continued spinning his pen, and Feng Kai didn't say anything else.

Lin Li, this old geezer, was already among the tallest in the first year. When his face suddenly turned cold, an oppressive aura instantly surged forth, and Feng Kai was intimidated.

Lin Li turned his head away: Hehe.

...

During the Math and Physics exams in the morning, perhaps because there was no point in cheating, Lin Li didn't see anyone cheat.

After taking these two exams, Lin Li felt pretty good.

For Math, Lin Li only left the third sub-question of the final problem blank; he filled out everything else. The only thing he was unsure about was the final fill-in-the-blank question. He had done a similar example for the final multiple-choice question before, so he should have calculated the correct answer.

He filled out the entire Physics exam. As for whether it was correct, it was hard to say, because Physics is a subject where a single mistake in a formula or calculation can easily lead to the entire problem being wrong.

But during the first exam in the afternoon, Politics, some people immediately started getting restless.

Lin Li had actually been trying very hard to avoid seeing other people cheat, but just now, the Politics teacher was going from exam room to exam room to announce a printing error on the test paper, so he had to look up.

After the Politics teacher left, Lin Li sighed and spoke in a voice loud enough for the whole classroom to hear:

"Teacher, the student in the fourth row of the fourth group seems to be looking at a cheat sheet in his drawer. Oh, now he seems to have dropped it on the floor and stepped on it with his shoe..."

Feng Kai looked at Lin Li, who was doing a live verbal broadcast of the cheating, and behaved himself.

Seeing is believing.

This guy is playing for real. I'd better keep the cheat sheet I brought in my pocket sealed away.

Hearing this, the invigilator naturally couldn't ignore it. After going over to confirm, he confiscated the cheat sheet. It was actually pretty nice of him; at least he let the reported guy continue taking the exam. Some stricter teachers would immediately take the exam paper and tell the student they didn't need to take the exam anymore.

...

"You motherfucker, you really reported me, huh? Fuck!" As soon as the exam ended and the invigilator walked out of the classroom, Zhang Wei walked toward Lin Li with red eyes.

Hearing this, Bai Bufan immediately stood up. Before he was even seen, his voice arrived first: "The one being reported is a cheating dog like you, what about it? Lin Li, I'm coming to help you! If you touch my bro, I'll hack you to death!"

Lin Li was moved—Bai Bufan actually stood up for him immediately.

Wait.

Lin Li looked at Bai Bufan, who had already walked to the door and was about to leave the classroom: "Where the fuck are you going to help me from?"

"I'm going back to the dorm to get my phone and help you hack a price on Pinduoduo."

(Translator's Note: Pinduoduo is a shopping app where users can get discounts by having friends "hack" or click a link for them).

Lin Li gave a thumbs up.

I hope you're a new user.

"Keep it up. As long as you hack off five hundred bucks, my ashes can be stored in a Hive Box locker for ten years. That's way cheaper than buying a cemetery plot."

"A little business genius!" Bai Bufan's eyes lit up.

Seeing these two idiots chatting, Zhang Wei got even angrier. He quickly walked up to Lin Li. Just as he was about to slam his fist on Lin Li's desk, he saw Lin Li's right hand press down on his head and rub it, accompanied by a benevolent smile that could reform all things:

"Don't be angry. It's just a small matter, what's there to be angry about?"

His left hand poked the mouth of the "Flask of Hidden Passions" out of his pocket.

"That makes sense," Zhang Wei nodded, feeling he wasn't that angry anymore. It was indeed his fault first, and he was just lashing out from embarrassment. Plus, Lin Li really didn't look like someone to be messed with.

But just walking away like this didn't seem right either. He felt he still needed to leave a harsh word to give himself an out:

"I'll forgive you this time, just don't report anyone later. Be sensible."

"That won't do. If I see it, I still have to report it. You should be the sensible one," Lin Li shook his head.

"Don't refuse face when it's given..." The other party's face turned angry again. He reached out to grab Lin Li's collar, but his hand was pressed down by Lin Li's hand.

"Forget it. If you don't want face, I don't want it either. Whoever wants it can have it," Zhang Wei changed his tune.

After saying that, he pulled his hand back and left the classroom.

The crowd who wanted to watch the drama were all stunned, especially Feng Kai, who had been exceptionally looking forward to seeing blood flow like a river.

Wait, that's it?

Bai Bufan, who had been preparing to go out and gather people to back Lin Li up, also walked back. He looked at Lin Li's hand with a surprised expression and asked in confusion, "No, Lin Li, what did you just do?"

"I reformed him with love," Lin Li smiled unpretentiously. "I'm actually Nangong Wenya. Whoever I touch turns stupid."

(Translator's Note: Nangong Wenya is a character from the Chinese animation "Shenbing Xiaojiang" who has the power to purify corrupted beasts).

Bai Bufan suddenly looked a bit shy: "When I was a kid, I committed a sin against Wenya..."

"Shut the fuck up. I don't know you. Disgusting. Get lost," Lin Li's face darkened.

"Just joking, just joking. The ones I committed sins against were Dongfang Tiexin and Beiming Xue," Bai Bufan corrected himself.

"That's human nature then. I actually committed a sin too, but my target was Ximen Xiao," Lin Li breathed a sigh of relief.

"...You are the true master," Bai Bufan conceded.

The two joked around for a while.

Then Lin Li sat back down, took out his Technology textbook, and looked toward the door with amusement.

During the second round, he hadn't had time to absorb the anger.

He had wasted a [Charge].

...

Heading to the bathroom, Zhang Wei looked back. After confirming no one from the classroom had followed him out, he violently shook his right hand.

"Hiss—hah—"

"Fuck, bro, if you had martial virtue, you should have fucking said so earlier!"

"Wouldn't I have behaved myself earlier then?!"

(End of Chapter)