Silver Wolf's hacking skills were honed from years of experience, using specialized tools like her homeworld's Aether Editor and all the knowledge she had accumulated over the years.
When it came to her match against Pei Guang, Silver Wolf held nothing back. She was curious to see just how far this "player" could go. However, after just a few moments of teaching him, she quickly realized what it meant to face someone who wasn't playing by the usual rules!
Pei Guang's approach to hacking felt like a video game. In his perspective, it was as if he was playing a bullet-hell game. He controlled a strange little orb that shot out "pew pew" blasts, taking down various obstacles and traps. Depending on the target, regular items could be destroyed in one to five hits, traps that fired projectiles took around five to ten hits, and moving enemies required over ten hits to defeat.
In addition to enemies and obstacles, there were white orbs scattered around—these represented pieces of information. If Pei Guang maneuvered his little orb close to these white orbs, he could "collect" the information: letters from Asta, conversations between station staff, personal data—anything and everything. After testing a couple of these information orbs, Pei Guang decided to back off from exploring further.
"This feels like a mash-up of NieR: Automata, Cyberpunk, and even Naughty Dog games? Oh wow, there's more? This is like a fusion of all kinds of stuff… no wonder it feels familiar," Pei Guang muttered to himself.
With Silver Wolf's guidance and Herta's permission, Pei Guang attempted to hack into the Herta Space Station. His little black orb blasted through the station's defenses like they were made of paper. The station's cybersecurity team detected the intrusion immediately, but every defense they threw up was easily obliterated.
To Pei Guang, it felt like a simple bullet-hell game, with tiny pixel characters firing projectiles to defend the system. They even switched from 2D to 3D in an attempt to outsmart him. But compared to the most basic level of Touhou, this was child's play, and Pei Guang dodged everything with ease. He even figured out how to unleash a full-screen "ultimate attack" to wipe out the defenses in one go.
"Hacking's pretty fun~" Pei Guang said with a grin.
Hearing this, Stelle, who was watching, tugged on his sleeve. "Teach me too, Pei Guang! I want to learn!"
Pei Guang chuckled. "You probably don't have enough intelligence points. Try leveling that up in the next dungeon, and you might pick it up. Honestly, this kind of hacking is just what I expected."
March 7th perked up. "Is it really that fun?"
Pei Guang: "Hmm, it's just like playing a bullet hell game, and not too hard~ It's just a pity that your class isn't intelligence-based, otherwise I think you could learn this hacking skill too."
At this moment, Herta's puppet and her real self both had a twisted expression. The main reason she allowed Pei Guang to hack into the space station was to observe how a 'player' would hack into real programs.
If it were a standard hacking method, the logic behind it could be figured out. But there was no logic here. In Herta's perspective, the space station's entire system was being invaded by a mysterious 'presence,' rapidly dismantling every firewall and launching destructive attacks on all defense mechanisms.
What was most curious was that when Herta tried to place some non-combat programs during Pei Guang's onslaught, his attacks ceased. In fact, he would extract critical information from those programs.
"Such an intriguing technique..."
Herta grew more interested. She couldn't fully comprehend Pei Guang's hacking method yet, but this ability to discern and selectively attack was beyond typical hackers' capabilities.
However, Herta also noticed one flaw in Pei Guang's hacking approach: it was fragile.
That's right. The little 'thing' Pei Guang was using to infiltrate was incredibly vulnerable. Whether through physical or virtual means, as long as it could be pinpointed and destroyed instantly, it would disrupt Pei Guang's hacking. Another flaw was that Pei Guang's method couldn't be executed by any specific program—it required his direct involvement. If you could locate him during the process and knock him out, the hack would end.
But there was also a significant advantage: stealth. This was Pei Guang's first attempt, and he chose a brute-force method. Otherwise, it might have been nearly impossible to detect!
Herta, being familiar with many gaming terminologies, realized that Pei Guang had just learned this hacking skill. She could only imagine what would happen if he mastered it. Would one 'wave' of his hand be enough to breach her entire space station?
Was it dangerous? Certainly. But Herta also found it incredibly fascinating. She couldn't understand this 'skill' yet, but she was confident that in the future, she would.
Pei Guang's hacking method also sparked a lot of inspiration in Herta. She decided that after all this was over, she'd consult with Screwllum to test a few things.
While Herta was deeply engrossed, Silver Wolf was left completely baffled. Sure, games had hacking mechanics, and often players controlled characters set up as hackers, where various simple methods represented the hacking process.
But what was blowing Silver Wolf's mind was why Pei Guang could do this in real life. Wait! He's a pure-blooded player, right? Oh, well, that explains it.
Then what's the point of competing?!
Silver Wolf had no visible reaction on her face, but internally she was ranting. She had assumed Pei Guang would learn hacking just like in a game—tap a skill button and voila, hacking proficiency. Then, they would have a fun little hacking duel.
In most modern games, when players hack devices, it's shown in a way that mirrors reality. But who would've thought Pei Guang wasn't playing a realism-based game but a player-based one?
"Whatever. Even like this, I still have a good chance of winning."
After testing Pei Guang's 'hacking skill,' Silver Wolf estimated she had about an 80% chance of beating him. Her excitement grew.
What could be more fun than dueling a player who's still developing their skills? Players might have all sorts of wild abilities, but that doesn't make them invincible.
From her experience, players just starting out with a skill would typically be at a beginner level. Even with some cheat-like items for boosting experience, they'd only reach intermediate or advanced levels. Judging by Pei Guang's current performance, she was confident she could win.