Chapter 49: Déjà Vu
Melliflower spent more than ten minutes storing the 22 gigabytes of data into her brain, then pretended to study diligently. Yuki caught sight of Melliflower’s subtle maneuver and had no intention of letting this mobile database go—whenever she encountered a problem, she seized the opportunity to ask.
Figure it out herself? Sorry, there was no time for that.
When everyone took out their exam schedules and times to see if any of them could pair up for exams on the same day, Yuki was stunned—likely because her registration was the earliest, her exam was scheduled the earliest as well.
It was just ten days away.
Everyone cast sympathetic glances at Yuki, whose face turned pale and ashen, as if all her energy had been drained.
Incidentally, Soya Takashi’s exam was in fourteen days, President Sasaki’s in sixteen, and Melliflower’s was the latest—twenty-two days later. Everyone’s exam dates and locations were different, widely dispersed.
Comparing the registration times, they realized the exam dates matched the order of their registrations. Moreover, the registrations were only a few hours apart, yet the exams spanned over more than ten days. Just how many people had signed up for this exam?
Though this was called an open recruitment, aimed at society at large, it still used application forms and a recommendation system, meaning the so-called “open recruitment” was still limited to insiders.
How many people could there really be?
No—were there really that many?
Suddenly, everyone felt immense pressure.
President Sasaki’s swelling enthusiasm was doused in an instant. With so many competitors, her advantage as a former police officer was negligible; if she failed the exam, she’d have no choice but to continue running Aegis.
Yuki desperately wished she could travel back in time to stop herself from impulsively scanning the registration code that day.
At this point, only rote learning would do.
No need to fully understand; just memorize and practice endlessly, utilizing every available resource.
Melliflower made full use of her strengths, circling through past exam question banks from the Foreign Affairs Unknown Division’s previous years of recruitment, then scouring interview question banks from various industries, extracting key points in reverse and matching them to the 22 gigabytes of study materials at hand.
In the end, these 22 gigabytes were condensed by this super AI to just 400 megabytes of highlighted content.
Though Melliflower repeatedly stressed she couldn’t guarantee the 400 megabytes would cover all exam questions, at least it was focused on the most likely topics; compared to the overwhelming despair of tackling the 22 gigabytes, 400 megabytes at least seemed manageable.
By the time Yuki gathered her review materials and prepared to leave the “study room,” dusk had fallen.
Of course, that didn’t mean her study session was over for the day; she simply needed to buy a bento now—any later and the convenience store would be picked clean. She’d have to continue reading and memorizing once she got home.
After bidding farewell to the others, Yuki pulled open the door to leave, only to find a woman standing at the entrance, hand raised to push the door. Seeing it open on its own, she was momentarily startled.
“Ah, hello?”
The would-be client glanced into the room, and what met her eyes was clearly an extracurricular tutoring session—whiteboards filled with all kinds of notes, covering basic mathematics, physics, and natural geography, while the tables were piled with homework and draft papers.
She turned to Yuki, a bit uncertain, and asked, “This is Aegis Security Company, isn’t it?”
“Yes, it is,” Yuki nodded.
Hearing the conversation at the door, the three still hard at work in the room looked up. President Sasaki rose to welcome the guest inside.
The president had originally planned to close up shop for good, but after the group’s analysis, it became clear the recruitment exam was likely a single-log bridge for thousands of contenders, and everyone felt a trace of apprehension.
After all, they were all adults, members of society, and needed to prepare fallback plans in case they failed. Sasaki postponed shutting down Aegis, deciding to wait for the exam results—also a way to ensure her three children had a backup.
As the president welcomed the guest inside, Soya Takashi and Melliflower hurriedly gathered the scattered study materials, pushed the whiteboard to the wall, stacked it neatly, and followed the standard procedure by offering the client a service form and tea.
Yuki set down her bag and joined the others in the reception room to listen to the client’s story.
President Sasaki flipped through the registration form and asked, “Strange noises?”
The client nodded and explained, “It started last Wednesday—comes intermittently, even in the dead of night. The neighbors heard it too; it disrupts our rest.”
“Did you call the police?”
“Yes, but they just had us fill out a form. That was last week, and since then, no investigation, probably because aside from the noises, nothing else unusual has happened, and there’s been no actual loss.”
So the residents nearby, suffering from sleepless nights that impacted their studies, work, and daily lives—who was accountable for their losses?
Thus, the local residents sought another solution, hiring a commercial investigation company. Sometimes, the efficiency of such companies, driven by commission fees, far surpassed that of official agencies funded by taxes.
The lady paid the deposit, registered her contact details and address, then departed. Yuki picked up the registration form, glanced at the address, and found it familiar.
“It seems I pass by there after work,” Yuki mused. “I’ll take a look on my way and get in touch if anything comes up.”
Soya Takashi nodded halfway, then glared at Yuki, “If something happens, don’t go alone—notify me so we can act together.”
“Alright,” Yuki agreed, picked up her bag again, and bid farewell.
Walking under the fading sunset, Yuki pondered, feeling a strange sense of déjà vu. The familiarity crystallized as he reached a small garden in the city center.