My Hacking System

Hacking System Activated

[Ding!!!]

[System activated!]

Suddenly, a sound rang in Adrian’s head, and a translucent black screen appeared in front of him, floating in the air. Fonts and edges glowing with faint golden light.

Hearing a sound so close, he stumbled backward on instinct. His shoulder slammed into someone walking behind him.

“Watch where you're going, asshole!” The man shouted.

“S-Sorry.” Adrian apologized and stepped aside immediately. His eyes never leaving the floating panel.

“Deepshit” The man muttered and walked away.

Adrian's breathing had become heavy. His heartbeat beating faster.

A—am I… hallucinating?

[Hacking System]

[Host: Adrian Miles]

[System level: 1]

— — — — —

[Skills:]

[Hacking level: Beginner]

The interface suddenly shifted from landscape to portrait, and lines of text were scrolling downward.

“How the hell does this thing know my name?” Adrian stared in disbelief.

He raised his hand to touch the panel. But before he could touch it, the black panel expanded and a series of golden lines appeared on the screen.

[System initialization complete.]

[Basic knowledge package available.]

[Transferring...]

Adrian's eyes widened and a strange sensation suddenly filled his mind. He felt the hacking knowledge transfer from the system to his brain.

The sensation lasted only a few seconds, and then it stopped.

Adrian remained frozen on the sidewalk, breathing heavily. He slowly lowered his hands and calmed himself down to understand the situation.

A system… A real system…

A grin spread across his face. His eyes brightened.

Close.

Adrian thought, and the translucent panel disappeared.

Hacking System

The system reappeared in front of him.

"So this thing is real.”

He started walking home, unable to stop thinking about the panel floating beside him.

About twenty minutes later, Adrian turned into the narrow alley leading to his apartment building.

He lived in a small shared apartment that had two bedrooms, one bathroom, and one tiny kitchenette.

At the door, he picked up a bunch of envelopes. The envelopes he had picked up are notices for some of his final notices, late payments, past dues, and unpaid bills.

After unlocking the front door, he stepped inside and locked it behind him.

“Hey, dear.”

Adrian looked toward the living room.

Maria leaned against the couch with an easy smile. She worked as a fitness trainer and was in her thirties.

Her figure looked like something straight out of a fashion magazine. Even wearing an oversized t-shirt that barely covered the tops of her thighs, paired with tight athletic red shorts underneath, her toned figure stood out immediately. Perfect ten out of ten.

Adrian's eyes wandered on instinct. Long legs, slim waist—his imagination started to run wild.

Then she looked up, and the spell broke instantly.

Unfortunately, God had been unbelievably unfair to her face. One can’t even give one out of ten to her face.

"H—hey, roommate.” Adrian cleared his throat.

She rolled her eyes dramatically.

“I have told you a hundred times, I have a name. Stop calling me roommate. You can call me sweetheart... babe... gorgeous… Just not that.” A mischievous grin spread across her face, and she finished it with an exaggerated wink.

“I think I'll stick with Maria.” Adrian let out a small chuckle.

“Anyway, can you take a look at my laptop? It suddenly locked me out. It keeps asking for some recovery key.” 

“Recovery key?” Adrian frowned.

“Yeah, let me grab my laptop.” She nodded.

A locked laptop… Perfect opportunity to test this knowledge.

“Alright, I will be in my room.” He said and headed toward his bedroom.

After entering his room, Adrian put the envelopes onto his nightstand and sat on the edge of his bed.

A moment later, Maria knocked once before pushing the door open with her laptop tucked under one arm.

“I have never seen this screen before. I didn’t change anything.” She sat beside him.

She was so close that their shoulders were touching slightly. His throat went dry as soon as he caught a faint scent of vanilla from her shampoo.

His eyes instinctively dropped to the long, toned legs peeking out beneath her oversized T-shirt. Adrian swallowed.

Damn...

He caught himself almost immediately.

Focus.

“Let me take a look.” He took the laptop from her and flipped open the screen.

[BitLocker Recovery

Enter the recovery key to continue…]

“Did you save the recovery key to your Microsoft account?” His eyebrows rose.

"My what?" Maria blinked.

"The Microsoft account you use to sign into Windows."

"Oh… I honestly don't know." She scratched her head.

Adrian nodded.

"That's fine. let’s check." Adrian nodded.

He set her laptop aside and grabbed his own from the nightstand and booted up his laptop.

It was a cheap, low-end model. It had been his cousin's first. His cousin had used it for nearly five years. Then his aunt had handed it down to Adrian for his seventeenth birthday.

By the time it reached Adrian, it struggled to boot, the battery barely held a charge, and the fan sounded like it was trying to escape the laptop.

After a while his laptop finally finished booting. He pressed some buttons on the keyboard.

Suddenly a familiar black panel appeared beside his laptop screen.

[Target:]

[Maria’s laptop: BitLocker]

[Security rating: ★★★★★]

[Estimated success rate: 14%]

What the hell?

Adrian's fingers stopped. He kept his expression neutral and looked sideways. Maria was still staring anxiously at his laptop.

So… Only I can see it…

His eyes returned to the floating panel.

Fourteen percent? Shit! With my current skill, BitLocker is not happening.

Adrian shook his head and decided to change his approach.

A few commands later, the panel updated.

[Target:]

[Maria’s laptop: Microsoft account]

[Security rating: ★★]

[Estimated success rate: 67%]

Much better. Let's try this approach.

He began to press on his keyboard.

The knowledge the system had implanted flowed naturally through his mind. Each step felt strangely familiar, like he practiced it hundreds of times before. His fingers almost moved on their own.

After about thirty minutes, Adrian leaned back and popped his cramping fingers, as his fingers were aching from pressing the keys for thirty minutes continuously.