GRMFBS CH6

After ending the call, Zhan Yan logged into the Chaofan Forum.

Data interfaced and information connected, like the most precise gears meshing together, driving each other to rotate, probing and contacting. The forum’s data chased after every person who logged in.

Chaofan Forum detection began at this step, simultaneously serving as a simple data collection process. Ordinary people without any extraordinary abilities would only see a junk advertisement page.

A dim gray star cast a misty gray light over Zhan Yan, shrouding all information in a hazy fog.

Zhan Yan attempted to delve deeper into the forum’s information. Beyond the intricate layers of surface data, he encountered a barrier as solid as a mountain.

As expected, the Chaofan Forum had its own protections. Zhan Yan withdrew and did not continue probing.

Registration was simple—just input a username and password.

After some thought, Zhan Yan typed four characters into the username field: “Approach Science.”

Upon entering the forum, Zhan Yan first skimmed through its layout.

The forum was divided into three sections: Task Zone, Trading Zone, and Chatter Zone. The divisions were straightforward.

After entering the forum, Zhan Yan clicked into the Chatter Zone first.

People are always most relaxed when chatting and gossiping. Without involving serious matters, this is the quickest way to understand the forum’s atmosphere.

The Chatter Zone had a “Featured Posts” section, mostly filled with task experiences and general knowledge posts kindly written by veteran users. After reading a few, Zhan Yan struggled to pull himself out of the ocean of knowledge, deciding to return later to dive back in.

Returning to the non-featured section, posts here refreshed the fastest. Half of them were complaining about the new “Teen Mode,” while the other half were losing their minds over fanfiction—mainly about the banned user “No CP, No Happiness,” who had created a new account to post again:

{Which forum rule says fanfiction isn’t allowed?!!}

OP “What’s Wrong with Shipping CP?”:
@Admin Lingyu, come out! Why ban my account? Why delete my post? Show me the forum rules!

OP:
Is this forum yours? Don’t you have to follow the rules? Special privileges?

OP:
What, did my fanfiction hit a nerve? Are you secretly in love with the Tianshi but unrequited, or did you try to pursue the Chongming Demon King and got rejected?

3L:
OP, calm down, or this account will get banned too.

4L:
Wow, OP is bold. Everyone knows this forum is probably backed by a few major forces.

5L:
The Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance don’t get along. You writing CP about their leaders? No wonder you got banned.

8L:
The main reason is probably that OP’s fanfiction is out-of-character (OOC), right?

Dominant Tianshi and his gorgeous beauty? Tsk tsk tsk.

OP:
If I get banned, I’ll just make another account.

OP:
Stop with the shady practices! Stick to the rules!

If the forum isn’t free, who the hell would still post here? Might as well suck up to the admins.

OP:
What, just because those two factions don’t get along, the whole world has to take sides?

OP:
How is it OOC? Tianshi’s thunder magic isn’t dominant? And while no one’s seen the Chongming Demon King’s human form, isn’t the Chongming Bird’s true form dazzling? Shouldn’t his human form be a stunning beauty?

2oL:
It’s dominant, all right. Dominantly got your account banned.

23L:
Writing those two as CP is OOC in itself, okay? With the Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau and the Wan Yao Alliance’s relationship, it’d be a miracle if Tianshi and the Chongming Demon King didn’t fight on sight.

26L:
Wow, OP is really losing it.

27L:
OP didn’t just get banned; their post is gone too.

I read it before—it was over 100,000 words. If they didn’t save a copy…

Rip.

30L:
Poor OP. Sending love.

32L “Craftsman No. 3”:
Love my ass! Have you even read what they wrote?

33L “Craftsman No. 3”:
What did they turn Tianshi into? Of course they deserved to be banned!

We can’t let heroic figures be slandered like this!

35L:
Craftsman, this is your third account, huh?

OP Replies to “Craftsman No. 3”:
Explain to me what you mean by slander!

I’ll admit it if you say my writing isn’t good enough. But what do you mean by “slander”?

OP Replies to “Craftsman No. 3”:
Are you just a fake fan pretending to be brain-dead?

39L “Craftsman No. 3”:
You can judge for yourself if it’s slander. Let me quote a part for everyone:

“Tianshi grabbed the Chongming Demon King’s chin: ‘Run. Where else can you run? In this world, there’s no place for you except by my side.’”

40L:
…

41L:
…

42L:
…

43L:
Well… OP’s smut is actually pretty good.

OP, have you considered switching to another platform?

*

Zhan Yan: …

This Chaofan Forum… is it even serious?

Exiting the fanfiction chaos, Zhan Yan clicked on another stormy thread:

{What’s there to argue about a fanfiction? Is no one paying attention to the new “Teen Mode”?}

OP “Don’t Want to Work”:
The Chaofan Forum is implementing real-name verification? @Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau @Wan Yao Alliance @Chao Fushan, really impressive.

OP:
No verification, no access? Collecting all superhumans’ information—what are you planning?

2L:
Exactly! And calling it Teen Mode.

I thought it was for elementary school kids taking online classes [sarcasm]

3L “Youth No. 1”:
After all these years, I just found out our forum is a youth forum.

Was the fanfiction shut down because of this? [hehe]

5L:
They should shut down the Task Zone first. All that fighting and killing isn’t very harmonious. Delete the abnormal images too; youth can’t see that.

9L:
Might as well shut the whole forum down.

*

This thread had far more comments than the fanfiction one, and the sentiment was overwhelmingly negative. No one supported real-name verification.

For superhumans, keeping their abilities and identities secret was crucial. If their weaknesses were exposed, they could easily be exploited.

Zhan Yan agreed wholeheartedly. That was why he had only logged into the forum after confirming the Gossip System could keep his personal information private.

So far, no administrators had explained the “Teen Mode.” Scanning the timestamps of various posts, Zhan Yan saw that this feature had only been introduced about two hours ago. The first batch of users kicked out of the forum had appeared just a few minutes ago, revealing this bizarre setting.

Exiting the Chatter Zone, Zhan Yan moved on to the other two sections.

The Task Zone allowed users to post and accept tasks, while the Trading Zone facilitated free transactions, all related to transcendence. Posting tasks required points, accepting tasks required levels, and trading required credit verification—none of which Zhan Yan currently had.

The Gossip System had no combat abilities, but that didn’t mean he was helpless. Whether it was eliminating anomalies or acquiring certain transcendental items, all of it relied on intelligence.

Zhan Yan could become the best intelligence dealer, but he still needed a few prerequisites: reputation and credibility.

Credibility needed to be built up, but reputation… it seemed like there was an opportunity right now.

Zhan Yan opened the Gossip System and entered the keywords: “Chaofan Forum,” “Teen Mode.”

After skipping over a bunch of forum users complaining about Teen Mode, Zhan Yan found what he was looking for in a post from just over two hours ago.

[B-class anomaly “Youth’s Grudge” affiliated with the Chaofan Forum, forcibly activated Teen Mode for the forum. “Tremble, arrogant adults! From now on, everyone is a teenager!”]

He knew this wasn’t something the Chaofan Forum had done. The forum’s creators were undoubtedly trying to collect user information, but they wouldn’t use such a simple and crude method. It had almost no chance of success and would provoke massive user backlash, leading to a drop in forum traffic and eventual failure.

Zhan Yan used the Gossip System to search for “Youth’s Grudge,” reviewed the information, and then returned to the forum to create a new post:

{Maybe some of you have noticed, but this “Teen Mode” is an anomaly that has infiltrated the forum?}

OP “Approaching Science”:
Anomaly Name: Youth’s Grudge
Level: B-class
Type: Information-based anomaly

Initially a C-class anomaly, it hid in the internet, absorbing the resentment of teenagers who were restricted to only two hours of gaming without real-name verification, as well as other grievances related to real-name verification and online restrictions, which allowed it to grow.

It had previously caused the creation of rules such as “requiring re-entry of passwords after 40 minutes of use,” “blocking words like ‘alcohol’ and ‘slim’,” and “no descriptions below the neck,” on platforms like “Quick Blog,” “Tremor Sound,” and “Jinjiang Literature City,” without being detected.

This post quickly caused a flurry of responses.

1L:
Are you serious, OP?

4L “Youth No. 2”:
OP doesn’t know who’s behind the forum, does he? This is hilarious. No place would let an anomaly infiltrate their forum.

5L:
Let me educate the OP.

There’s a big shot in the Abnormal Affairs Managmenet Bureau whose ability is called “Network Ghost.” I think the name speaks for itself.

The Wan Yao Alliance’s Gangming King has a divine power called “Immovable as a Mountain.” No one can shake her will barrier. This ability is the foundation of the forum’s construction. With “Immovable as a Mountain,” the forum can only collect basic superpower sensing data from logged-in users, and no one can breach the forum’s information protection unless they expose themselves. Everyone’s identity is safe. Without this foundation, no one would log into this forum.

The Ghost King of Chao Fushan is skilled in curses and placed a curse on the forum, so anyone who tries to attack or steal forum information will be cursed.

This is just the surface level. With these big shots around, do you really think a B-class anomaly could infiltrate the forum?

9L:
The person above is taking this too seriously. OP is probably just making a joke, right?

Seriously, other than an anomaly invasion, I can’t think of any reasonable explanation for the forum to introduce this “Teen Mode.”

10L:
I’ve wanted to complain about “8+1” on Tremor Sound and “Milk Bottles Hurt” on Jinjiang for a long time.

16L:
@Abnormal Affairs Management Bureau @Wan Yao Alliance @Chao Fushan, hurry up! Someone’s questioning your forum’s defense strength.

17L “Don’t Want to Work”:
Isn’t anyone paying attention? OP just mentioned that this anomaly grew from C-class to B-class.

22L:
“Approaching Science” doesn’t have any previous post history. This account is new.

24L:
Maybe it’s an old account that got banned and created a new one [sarcasm].

27L:
OP makes a good point! Are you really going to believe this is some dumb idea the forum came up with? [doge]

32L “Youth No. 3”:
OP is right! It’s an anomaly invasion! You people have no sense of caution!

But OP made a mistake—it’s not a B-class anomaly, it’s an A-class one! An A-class!

*

After posting, Zhan Yan didn’t reply again. He briefly skimmed the reactions. Half of the comments were mocking him, while the other half seemed to think he was joking and joined in on the fun.

No rush, he didn’t need to reply right now. Once the administrators reacted, it would be time for him to reap the rewards.

By then, “Approaching Science,” as the first person to suggest an anomaly invasion, would definitely spark discussions on the forum. That would give him the reputation he needed. This would be his first step toward becoming the most famous intelligence dealer in the anomaly forum.

Suddenly, Zhan Yan’s phone rang: “I have many little secrets, but I won’t tell you~”

He answered the phone.

Zhan Yunkai: [Yanyan, the lower compartment of the fridge has the dumplings and braised pork I made in advance. I forgot to mention it earlier. I won’t be home for the next few days, so make sure to eat if you’re hungry.]

The future most famous intelligence dealer, Zhan Yan: [Ah! Dad, I love you!]