Hoshino Shiori looked at Yuanye in front of her in confusion.
Yuanye silently ate the cream stew brought by the girl. If someone else hadn't taken the initiative to start the conversation, he didn't really like chatting with others while eating. He would eat and sleep without talking. This was the education he received before time travel. , this traditional imprint still powerfully affects his behavior even after traveling through time.
Yuan Ye hates publicity, hates blustering guys, hates lively environments, hates taking pictures with others, but he still longs to be recognized and approved by others. He is such a twisted existence.
In a sense, Yuanye is still an "ancient person" up to now. He stubbornly resists any influence that the world of 2077 has on him, and struggles to swim against the current of the rushing society.
And this is exactly why Hoshino Shiori focuses his attention on Genya.
As childhood sweethearts who grew up together, before this period of time, Hoshino Shiori did not have any feelings for the person in front of her that were more than an "ordinary friend". To her, although the boy in front of her had a pretty good face, He has a good face, but his personality is too bad. He is the kind of noisy guy who makes noises.
It's the kind of virtual work with campus Yakuza themes that comes standard with a "four-person group" - that is, a boss, a think tank, a stupid guy who works, and a person who is not very clear-headed so he has a suspicion of Yakuza. An unrealistic fantasy, a blathering and rude boy who thinks he is respected by the boss but in fact the boss doesn't like him, a reckless boy who has no real ability at all.
The former Yuan Ye belonged to the last category.
But something is different about Genya recently. After being ostracized by his former boss, the former president of the Kendo Club, Tanaka, he seems to have become a different person and has become quieter, unlike a student like Hoshino Shiori. The shadowy characters on the fringes of the group are no different.
Originally, Hoshino Shiori thought it was because Genya became depressed after being "campus bullied" and that he would return to his original state in two days. It was no big deal.
In Hoshino Shiori's memory, when he was in elementary school, Genya was bullied by another high-achieving classmate with the same "top class" surname in the same class because of his last name and his lowest test scores. Although Yuan Ye was depressed for several weeks, he finally returned to his whimpering state.
Therefore, Hoshino Shiori did not take this matter to heart. After all, being bullied was a "marginal person" in the class circle like her, especially since she had a prosthetic implant implanted in private. In the eyes of others, she was "apostate and deviant". For people who don't fit in, it's a common occurrence.
For Yuanye, who wants to squeeze into the school's "inner circle", that is, the main member of various sports clubs, the degree of bullying is more serious than hers. Go too far.
After all, although a negative character like Hoshino Shiori will lead to more serious bullying when she resists being bullied, she can still avoid it after all. However, if you want to enter the inner circle, being bullied in the circle will be regarded as a kind of bullying. "Test", there is no chance to escape. If you really escape, you will be regarded as a "clown" type character by the entire social circle on campus.
People on the margins can still escape, but the clown has to stand in the center of the spotlight. He cannot escape even if he wants to. He will only become a prop for others to make fun of.
Hoshino Shiori, who was well aware of these abnormal social rules on campus, naturally didn't think this was such a serious problem, but when she casually chatted with Genya, she realized that she was wrong, very wrong.
The sinister aura revealed in the words and deeds of the young man in front of him was so natural, it was as if he was born with such a personality.
After just a few simple exchanges with the current Genya, Hoshino Shiori discovered that this person was definitely the kind of character who acted based on self-denial.
Because Hoshino Shiori herself has this kind of character, but her long life as a marginalized person has made her very good at hiding herself. She looked at Yuanye as if she were looking into a mirror, so how could she not see clearly?
If it weren't for the fact that Yuan Ye still had a decent face and there were no abnormalities in various identity authentications, she would have doubted whether the person in front of her was a completely different existence.
But doubts will not disappear so easily. Biotechnology in 2077 has already developed to a level unimaginable by ordinary people. Face-changing and plastic surgery have long been as easy as eating and drinking. Disguising or deceiving biological features such as iris, fingerprint, and voiceprint are even more difficult. It's not a problem. Even if it's genetic information, there's no way to change it.
Even those large upper-class families have to face the problem of how to confirm the true identity of their members. There are many examples of biotechnology being used by business competitors or hostile families to replace the prince, which ultimately caused serious losses. .
The most troublesome and simplest method is to spend a huge amount of resources to create a body that is exactly the same at the biological level, even with the same genetic sequence, and then transplant someone else's brain into it. In this way, in addition to directly opening the skull to test the brain, or analyzing telomeres Apart from the level of consumption, there is almost no way to determine the authenticity of his identity.
But craniotomy and brain examination is an extremely dangerous behavior. It’s not that there are many medical risks. It’s just that with the level of technology in 2077, a lot of things can be done by directly contacting a person’s brain, even if it is turned into something. Personal slaves are no problem.
Therefore, it is absolutely unacceptable for those members of the big family to directly expose their brains to others. After all, no one knows what they will do. Even if they are watched by trustworthy people, they cannot guarantee absolute safety. This is also This is why similar pieces of real and fake identities emerge one after another.
But even if the previous Genya was really replaced by someone else, Hoshino Shiori would not be sad. After all, she had never had any feelings for the previous Genya. She was just curious, why was Genya the one who was replaced?
With this doubt in mind, Hoshino Shiori began to try to delve deeper into Genya, something she would never do in the past.
The more he learned about it, the more curious Hoshino Shiori became.
Yuan Ye - Let's just continue to call him Yuan Ye. While maintaining self-denial, he has a high level of execution that is unmatched by ordinary people. This person seems to know exactly what he should do at what time, and once he makes a decision, After setting the goal, he will vigorously and resolutely complete the goal he set. He is completely like a living elite, which is completely inconsistent with his current status as a poor student.
But sometimes, the hesitant character brought about by the absolute denial of oneself deep in the heart will show up again, making some of Yuan Ye's behaviors seem abnormal.
It was this kind of contradictory personality that was difficult to appear in ordinary times, which made Hoshino Shiori couldn't help but have a strong desire for knowledge. She wanted to know where this twisted feeling in Yuanye came from.
This desire for knowledge made Hoshino Shiori unconsciously cooperate with Yuanye's actions. Otherwise, how could anyone go out with an "ordinary friend" in the middle of the night?
And when Hoshino Shiori came back to her senses, she discovered...
"I've finished eating." Genya put down his spoon and interrupted Hoshino Shiori's thoughts.
