Du Lang, You Truly are Scum!

Pretend that the boring television drilled into the wall and the droning screeches of the advertisements and news forecasts didn't exist. Ignore the existence of the patient seated to the right the entire day and do nothing but stare into the ceiling and daydream amidst a painful hell. Or argue with the person slammed onto the bed on the right all day long regarding the cost of raising a daughter.

That was the entire sum of his daily activity for the past week since the incident at the western sector of the city. Boring, mundane, and increasingly irritating due to the tendencies of forty-odd year old soon-to-be-retired police officers to vivaciously snore day in, day out. The sun was long since dangling from the heavens and the partially damaged clock placed on the bedside table read a healthy three in the afternoon, and the glorious, patriotic, and respectable Senior Officer Tang was spending his invigorating day banging on his lungs with a powerful mallet.

When he breathed in, the intensive care ward shivered at the bellows of a powerful beast trapped in a deep sleep. When the senior officer chanced upon an opportunistic exhale, an artillery barrage hammered at Du Lang's ears until his eyes watered due to sheer stress.

"Configure a cyclical process that creates a constantly-updated simulation of the environment, centered around my body. Let's make it… five meters, to limit memory overflow and leakage. Then… oh, shut up, shut up, shut up, please, senior Tang, for the love of all things in life!"

RUMBLE!!!

"F*ck!"

The streaming lines of code in Du Lang's vision quivered and distorted as the bed supporting his body quaked and nearly fell apart at the rhinoceros bellow from his right. When the sensation of tinnitus receded and his vision finally returned to normal, his heart broke at the sight of a clean IDE devoid of any code. The blazing urge to deliver a powerful blow to the back of Tang Yuan's head arose in his mind numerous times, and it required several breaths of calm meditation and furtive peeks at the glistening lens of the security camera before the murderous thoughts planted their heads into the sand.

Whenever Senior Officer Tang snored, his mind was thrown into such disarray that not even Sibyl's noise suppression could compensate, and as such, cleared all of his efforts. That was the routine for every day, and soon, Du Lang's eye bags were drooping from exhaustion.

"Fortunately, that bastard only does this once every fifteen minutes. Okay, back to the start."

Fifteen minutes of precious, heavenly peace required that from start to finish, Du Lang had to complete the curse model. If he hesitated for even a single breath and fell susceptible to Tang Yuan's immense breathing, then he had to start from scratch. But at the least, he gained experience in creating a curse model – or so it seemed.

"All of the curse models that purely involve spiritual interaction or mystical effect, I can assume Wraith to have already generated. I can only create curse models that affect the physical properties of my physique without adding or removing physical matter – since that requires a sacrifice," Du Lang reorganized his thoughts.

"So, I can work with enhancing my body through supernatural means – and can't delve in permanent enhancement, at least for now. Maybe… recompile some of Wraith's curse models and incorporate some form of physical movement?"

Sibyl only cared that the curse models created were unique, and didn't make comment or prevent him if he attempted to create a curse model that served absolutely no purpose whatsoever. In that case, couldn't he just paste the custom activation… 'keybind'… into the core mechanism of the curse model and create a unique variant?

If push came to shove, he could give the excuse of repurposing previously existing content as 'shellcode'… there were many software engineers that had prepared such excuse before.

"Then, perhaps I can start with the concept for now, since it's going to be impossible to complete while the bastard is asleep…"

Du Lang massaged his neck and once Tang Yuan's vocal rampage ceased, chanced upon the short delay to begin working. The 'totally original' and definitely not repurposed visual editing environment manifested before his eyes, and through short commands to Sibyl, he began his experiments.

The goal was to create a close quarters combat assistant tool, but for real life circumstances. The goal and process was simple, but since he didn't know much about programming – much less Java, of all things – Du Lang quickly stumbled into problem after problem.

He couldn't simply grab and analyze 'pixels' from a categorized display; attempting to simulate the visual perception of his surroundings was a feat that could only be achieved by the subconscious of the human brain, and trying to replicate that on the primary consciousness was simply suicide. The physics incorporated into the easy and daily motion of climbing stairs by a human body was sufficient to burn out any modern CPU, and Du Lang's conscious thoughts were nowhere capable to modern computing power.

And… for some reason, Sibyl really enjoyed forcing him to strategize new methods to increase the efficiency of the compiled curse models. And regardless of his efforts, Du Lang was still at a healthy record of a single curse model to his name.

"It promised that regardless of the quality, as long as it successfully compiled, it would count towards my advancement. Now that offer's gone, and I'm pretty certain that the offer about background computation was a lie as well," Du Lang seethed, and tapped his finger on the metal bedframe.

"Visual analysis would be impossible; then, how about sound? Pressure waves are sensitive to changes in mass and density – optical illusions wouldn't deceive it then…"

Constantly emit a radial pressure wave with his position as the origin, and record the differences in the rebounding wave. Disruptions in the otherwise stable radial pair would reveal the presence of any activity within the defined area of interest. Within that space, he could save memory by discarding all motions whose trajectories and positions didn't have a curvature aimed towards his direction.

"Then, once I have their positions mapped, I can cross reference a precompiled record to determine the type of incoming attack, then incorporate the suitable counterattack strategy. Since the projected waves are three dimensional, there shouldn't be a problem for any changes in relative height…"

Then, a massive computing and data-crunching was to take place; to archive and analyze all possible attacks by the human body and their possible combinations, then attribute the most effective counterattack; that was an ordeal that only Sibyl could accomplish. The best Du Lang could achieve was to have the curse model remain on permanent idle, and toggle its activation to economize on his soul's meagre processing power.

That… Sibyl would have to accept it –

"Oh? Little Brother, so you didn't have the heart to tell your Elder Sister that you were injured?"

Just as Du Lang saved the project and closed his eyes to take a breather, the door to the ICU ward was pried open, and two figures charged. The lead figure displayed a beaming smile on her countenance as she rushed towards the immobile Du Lang, her fingers outstretched for his exposed forehead.

"Did Elder Sister not instruct you to inform her immediately whenever you got hurt? Are you planning to disobey your only Elder Sister?" Du Yuexin scolded and prodded Du Lang's forehead with her index finger.

"How lucky you are! They were armed with firearms, and all you had to deal with was a light cut on your right tendon… wait, how did you get your tendon cut? Surely not by a firearm?"

"I got caught up as collateral damage! And my phone's fried."

Du Lang seethed and shielded his face with the coarse pillow provided by the hospital. When he noticed that the slender figure cowering behind Du Yuexin's domineering silhouette was Mu Wuying, his heart immediately become inflamed with discomfort. The generous and ever-attentive Elder Sister curled her lips when she witnessed the distinct change in expression, and immediately latched onto Mu Wuying and dragged her to the front.

"Married to a charming and beautiful young girl as Yingying, and still not sleeping with her – Little Brother, you truly are heartless! Is it true that even after five days, you're still having her sleep alone in the guest room? How pitiful!" Du Yuexin trickled a finger and traced a few loose hairs swaying from the young girl's forehead.

"Do I need to get rid of the guest room for you to make your move? Or, perhaps… Little Brother, you are impotent?"

"I-I am perfectly capable! And it's only been five days since we just met – do you take me for an animal, Elder Sister!?"

Veins immediately popped with blood on his forehead, and Du Lang felt his lips distort in irritation as he fought to hide his discomfort. Held hostage by Du Yuexin and forced to listen to the quarreling brother and sister, the young girl's cheeks flooded with a permanent stain of scarlet.

"It's been five days – that's the problem! When your brother-in-law and I married, we slept together from the first night after the wedding and never separated ever since! I raised you to be better than your brother-in-law, so why are you dragging yourself behind in this regard? Or is Yingying not your type?"

"I was busy! Busy, Elder Sister! Matters like these take time!"

"Busy – that's rich coming from someone who retired from their employment. You have all the time in the world! I gave you a cute and beautiful niece already, so when are you going to return the favor and give me a niece or nephew to hold!?"

By the time Tang Yuan arose from his stupor and rubbed his eyes at the complete discord and cacophony erupting from his left, Mu Wuying had lowered her head into her arms and didn't dare glance at either Du Lang or Du Yuexin from embarrassment. The siblings dared to expose all of the other's secrets and bad history, and the young girl didn't dare participate from the fear of taking flak. The pair of arguing voices rose in pitch and intensity and soon, the police officer doomed to retire couldn't return to his plentiful dreams and enjoyable paradise.

"I am still twenty-four, and have plenty of time on my hands! Having a child a few years into the future isn't anything strange for people my age!"

"What not strange, what do you mean that you are so young? Du Lang, in Shanghai, Nanjing, and Beijing, many have a child by the time they are twenty-four in age! Elder Sister thinks that you are slacking in your duties as a husband to your wife!"

"Then what about you, Elder Sister? Your husband has to work all day to manage his company, and you frolic around in Jingdou, hundreds of kilometers away from your home! Who will take care of your daughter, and what if an accident happens – how will you return in time?"

"Who said I came here alone!? You think I just left Xiao Ling on her own? I already introduced Yingying to my husband and daughter, you have no means of escaping Little –"

"Oh, Elder Sister Du, you're here as well? And this beautiful young woman… who might she be?"

"Ah, Tang Yuan – you're up? This is Mu Wuying, my little brother's newly wedded wife," Du Yuexin curled her lips into a smile, exposing her teeth as she waved her hand at the flabbergasted officer.

"Ah – this was processed today morning. There's no escape anymore, my dear Little Brother."

As Tang Yuan's sluggish brain hung at the numerous streams of confusing information, Du Yuexin tossed a small red booklet at Du Lang's chest. When his seasoned eyes and reflexes caught onto the official government municipal seal embossed on the cover as well, the inauspicious title, then the flawless figure and demeanor of the young girl standing besides the chuckling woman, the retired officer's pupils shrunk in complete understanding. His finger trembled as he pointed at Du Lang's grimace, and a surging heat kindled his subdued heart into a furious roar.

"Du… Du Lang, you really weren't kidding about being married? And to this stunning young lady as well?" Tang Yuan pounded at his chest with his free arm, tears pouring from his eyes.

"You really managed to score a flower just before it fully captured its beauty, you really managed to score such a pure flower! Du Lang, you piece of scum! No, you truly are scum – Du Lang, not even giving others a chance! You old cow chomping on fresh grass! Enjoying such beautiful luxury to yourself, what a selfish man!!!"

Where could he get such a pampering Elder Sister, to be given a such a perfect wife!? Why couldn't he have one!?!?