Chapter 2836 - 1344: Dilemma

The Fenrir Team was both the first and last NPC partners Double Leaf had when she started playing "The Realm of Innocence." Admittedly, her social circle now isn’t small, but strictly speaking, her mentor Ana Ta Lasha’s role is more like an elder, the kind you can behave casually with; whereas Diana is a slightly absent-minded scholarly big sister, who in daily life actually needs Double Leaf, the ’apprentice,’ to take care of her.

As for the others, there’s no need to mention them. Diana’s brother, the Mist Moon Sage Kenneth A. Achizolti, is a sponsor, investor, and supporter, while the Prince Regent Xiu Bresen of the Violet Empire is a collaborator who shares the same goals at certain times.

In short, none of them can really be counted as partners.

Perhaps after several instances, Frank Hughes, who has gradually demonstrated his abilities and talents, is nearing that position, but in fact, he has never been excluded from Double Leaf’s range of suspicion, making him the hardest to access that domain.

Unlike Motan, who has a ’chaotic neutral’ personality, Double Leaf is ultimately more emotional. Although the two are evenly matched in intelligence and strategy, given Motan’s mental state, having shuffled around society from a young age, he is no stranger to ’interpersonal relationships’ and could even be considered an expert in that field.

For instance, if a bank robber were cornered by police in the lobby, holding a hostage at gunpoint, and Motan showed up as a ’negotiation expert,’ the following three scenarios are likely:

First, Motan might move the robber with feelings and reason, using his formidable personal charm to persuade the thief to surrender.

Second, Motan might empathize with the robber, lamenting the transient nature of life, the capriciousness of fate, and people’s lack of control over their lives, inducing the robber to let down his guard.

Third, Motan might stimulate the robber with blunt provocations, allowing both the hostage and the suspect to be freed, though it might land him in jail or a mental institution.

In any case, while he doesn’t always follow the usual playbook, it doesn’t mean Motan doesn’t understand or know how to play the game. In fact, in matters of interpersonal dynamics, he could be considered an authority. If one day he decided to create an online program like "Understanding Brother," he might accidentally become popular.

But in this regard, Double Leaf has almost zero practical experience. Though her online demeanor is lively to the point of being hyperactive, she’s nearly a pure theorist when it comes to interpersonal interactions. Unlike Motan, who with consistent obligatory education and even as an active university student, her ’homebody’ lifestyle has become almost irredeemably entrenched.

Staying indoors for ten days or half a month is a common occurrence. She covers aerobic exercise with a self-made treadmill (her daily step count never breaks four digits), her income primarily comes from hacking dirty money, all shopping relies on delivery, meals depend on takeout, and home cleanliness is managed by a Cleaning Robot Mod controlled by NAVI.

Unlike the concept of a stereotypical reclusive girl, Double Leaf’s quality of life has never actually been low. Firstly, she has relatively stable illegal income; secondly, she’s also a girl who likes cleanliness. This is evident by the fact that her home is filled with trash bags instead of scattered trash, making her residence a place of organized chaos, where everything prioritizes user comfort.

In summary, her face-to-face interactions with people are very few. Originally, she would at least open the door to receive a takeout delivery, but since developing NAVI, she no longer personally engages with couriers or delivery personnel.

Inevitably, despite her extensive theoretical knowledge and well-rounded emotional intelligence, Double Leaf still has many shortcomings in offline interpersonal interactions. At least in Motan’s eyes, these are undeniable ’deficiencies.’

Admittedly, everything in "The Realm of Innocence" is indeed ’online,’ but given the game’s insane level of realism, it’s actually no different from ’offline.’

Under this premise, Double Leaf, no matter how clever or composed she is, can never remain entirely calm when facing comrades with whom she once faced life and death.

Even the slightest ripple can lead to flaws and gaps, and under Motan’s meticulous setup, any negligence could spell disaster for Double Leaf.

It’s not that Motan underestimates Double Leaf, but that she has already proven this fact through her actions.

You must know that Double Leaf is not the type of person who would ’care for others’ by nature. Even with Diana, who she has spent months with, she only gently reminds her to ’watch out for scumbags,’ and her hostility towards Frank Hughes is fundamentally a deliberate probe. As for others, that’s all the more true.

However, when she encountered ’Hei Fan’ at Academy City, she subconsciously wanted to ’care about’ and ’guide’ this partner from her early days in the game with whom she had little interaction afterward. She even implicitly suspected that ’Hei Fan’ hadn’t moved on from the shadow of the team’s demise, and offered some subtle comfort.

To be honest, such a thing would be unremarkable for anyone else, but when it comes to Double Leaf, the nature of it becomes very serious...