Locked in an Instant Dungeon (Part-2)

Birth: Han Jiyeon

Legal Name: Shimizu Noa

Age: 27

Ethnicity: Korean/Japanese

Arcane Path: Mage

Ability: Memory Extraction.

Ability Rank: A

Mana Reserves: Tier-5 (Max: Tier-4)

Memory Extraction: Able to extract any core memory from a corpse, humans/monsters.

[Ability has side effects, detrimental to the user's body. Not recommended for extraction.]

*

Tianzhu couldn't help but blink in surprise. This is the first time the system has ever given him a warning not to extract that ability.

"Hello." He greeted her with a nod.

"Don't mind me. Your time is ticking." The woman spoke, pointing at the timer on the screen. Tianzhu nodded, going back to the phone. He made the same move as she suggested earlier.

As the Bot responded with a check, forking both the King and the knight, the woman instantly spoke to him again. "Now, don't move Bishop, and instead move away the King and sacrifice the Knight."

Tianzhu glanced at her again, feeling slightly annoyed by her interruption, but then again, he already thought of that move anyway. He followed the move and sacrificed the knight.

Once the Queen of that D-column, Tianzhu took over the control in a few more moves, and the Bot resigned the game when the probability of its winning chances dipped below 5%.

Once the game was over, Tianzhu finally turned to face her. She smiled, tilting her head slightly. "You are welcome."

Tianzhu glanced at the digital board overhead. There are still more than ten minutes left. He looked back at her, offering a handshake. "Qin Tianzhu."

She didn't take his hand. Instead, she smiled again, introducing herself. "Noa."

Tianzhu pulled his hand back, switching to Japanese. "Are you a local or a tourist?"

Noa blinked in surprise. "You know Japanese?"

Tianzhu shrugged indifferently, continuing to speak in Japanese. "I work as a legal consultant. I meet all kinds of people. So, I had to learn a few languages."

In reality, Tianzhu, as the official leader of Pavel, back in his past life, often had meetings with almost all the country leaders. The Quantum AI had often translated for him every time, and when he did this for more than 15 years, he ended up learning some languages.

Tianzhu then spoke again. "So, a tourist?"

Noa answered with a nod. "More or less, I guess. I'm here for work, actually. It's a two-day trip. What about you? I'm guessing that you are a tourist from St. Petersburg."

Tianzhu blinked in genuine surprise this time. "You know me?"

Noa chuckled, shaking her head. "No, I don't. I just have good observation skills." She pointed at his smartphone. "That's the Aota brand, which you cannot see anywhere outside St. Petersburg. That gave it away."

"Hmm… I'm intrigued." Tianzhu said, facing her. Intending to pass the remaining ten minutes in a piece of conversation with this beautiful young lady, he continued. "Ok, let's put your observation skills to the test, then. What else can you tell about me?"

Noa hesitated, but then her gaze sharpened as she observed him again. "The girl beside you has the same almond-shaped eyes as you; both of you had matching attire, and even the phone straps. But she looks like a teenager, neither an adult nor a kid. And you look too young to be her father and too old to be her brother. Hmm, perhaps, an uncle?" She paused, her eyes flicking to his exposed wrist due to the fact that he had rolled his sleeves earlier. "You are wearing expensive brands from top to bottom, but the watch was an analog watch with almost a worn-out strap. Therefore, it has a high sentimental value to you. Someone very important must have given you that watch, and judging by how you still treasure it, you were missing that person, and that means it's been years since you last met that person, or the person might have passed away. I apologize for that remark."

Tianzhu raised an eyebrow, impressed by her analysis. "Go on."

Noa continued by pointing at his left hand. "The difference in color on your ring finger clearly showed that you were married for a while and recently removed it. The absence of a ring either states that you don't like to wear it often or it you were divorced."

Tianzhu didn't react to it. He simply nodded, letting her continue.

Noa then leaned forward slightly, studying his eyes this time. "And umm… You were wearing typical dark brown contact lenses. Seeing that you look like a Chinese without any mixed features, either you wear them instead of glasses or… Hmm…" The woman slightly leaned forward and observed his left eye. Her brows furrowed. "What's that…"

Tianzhu wondered whether she could see a bionic eye under the lens, which is impossible for ordinary awakeners unless they have heightened vision, but then Noa said. "It's quite faint, but I can see marks just around the left eye. You had an eye operation a long time ago. Or is it transplantation?"

Tianzhu regarded her for a moment and then nodded in approval. "You are good."

"So, how many things have I got right?" Noa asked curiously with a smug expression on her face.

Tianzhu replied with a shrug. "Except for one."

"And where did I go wrong?" Noa enquired, raising her eyebrow.

Tianzhu replied, pointing his finger to the side. "She's not my niece. She's my daughter."

"Wait. What?" Noa's voice was louder than she intended, catching the attention of a few nearby people for a moment. "Sorry," She awkwardly smiled and bowed to them in apology before shifting her attention back to Tianzhu. "Tianzhu-ssi, may I ask how old you are?"

"Hmm… about 6 years older than you…" Tianzhu replied casually.

"6?" Noa blinked, clearly taken aback. She couldn't help but point at herself. "How old do you think I am?"

"27," replied Tianzhu right away.

Noa blinked. "Really?" She crossed her arms with a smirk. "You said that too quickly. Aren't you worried that you might offend me by giving me a higher age number?"

"Nope." He leaned back slightly, staring at her. "That's because I'm confident about my guesses."

"Oh?" She raised an eyebrow. "Confident and lucky, then."

Tianzhu tilted his head, widening his smile. "Not luck, just experience. You see, people always notice beautiful things, and when they find some additional quality to those things, it leaves quite a big impression on them."

That comment caught her off guard. She blinked a couple of times and let out a laugh, cheeks visibly coloring into a pale pink blush. "Wow. You really just said that."

"I did," Tianzhu said without missing a beat, his voice smooth and calm. He further added. "And I don't say it often. So… congratulations."

Noa looked away, pretending to brush imaginary dust off her sleeve as she calmed herself down. She's a 27-year-old single with little social life because of her busy work life. She couldn't help but feel these little butterflies in her stomach as Tianzhu flirted with her.

After calming herself down, she asked, glancing at him again. "So, what is that additional quality in me?"

"Intelligence," Tianzhu replied. "And keen observation, of course. A beauty who is smart enough to spot a brilliant move in the chess game against a 3000 Elo opponent, and still observant enough to notice that a watch also has high sentimental value to the man? That's rare—even among the top 5%."

"Oh, Sh*t, this guy is so charming. Those in the 30s indeed very mature…" Noa's cheeks flushed even more as she thought; she had to cover them with her hands. "Ugh… No, Noa… The guy is married. He has a kid. Noa, don't be so stupid. And remember where you are."

After a pause, she slowly mouthed. "Thanks." Then, a brief silence filled between them.

Intending to talk further, he said. "By the way, there's something else I forgot to mention, the thing you missed."

"Hmm?"

"The boy sitting beside my daughter is my son. They are twins. It was quite easy to see the resemblance. You missed it." Tianzhu gave off a chuckle. To which, Noa seemed taken aback. "Eh? What boy?"

"What do you mean, what boy? The boy who was sitting…" Tianzhu suddenly snapped his head to look at Theo, only to see him missing. "This damn brat…" Tianzhu's expression changed instantly. He swiftly stood up and looked around. He was looking for his subordinates, but instead, he saw that Theo was talking to some hunter stationed there to protect everyone in the atrium.

Tianzhu collapsed to the floor again, and his heartbeat was going at a crazy rate.

"What happened?" Noa asked. Tianzhu sighed, shaking his head. "Nothing. My son was talking to someone. I thought he ran off to fight those monsters or something. He is a bit in a rebellious phase."

Right then, another alarm has been rung all over the mall, both of them turned their heads to look at the timer on the screens at the same time.

01:56

01:55

01:54