Chapter 213: After All These Twists and Turns, Who’s Real?
Translator: Pluto Editor: Vermillion
The person who walked out from the elevator was Reno. He did not have any "X" mark on his hand.
From Lin Sanjiu's explanation, Rena learned how Lin Sanjiu distinguished the imposters from her brother and herself. When Reno walked out from the elevator, Rena immediately looked at his wrist. Seeing that there wasn't any mark, she suddenly called out to him a little emotionally, "Reno!"
Reno reacted with a slight astonishment. In a moment of rashness, Rena wanted to rush out, but the moment she took her first step, Lin Sanjiu immediately stretched her body into a two finger-like form and 'pinched' the corner of Rena's dress.
"Even if he doesn't have a mark, we should be cautious. After all, he just appeared all of a sudden. Let's hear what he has to say." Lin Sanjiu thought to herself.
When Reno saw his sister, he seemed flabbergasted. He switched his gaze from the floating brain to his sister and back again for a few times. Finally, he spoke, stammering. As he wanted to say too many things at once, his sentences ended up sounding somewhat jumbled, "Re-Rena, are you really here? I mean, no. I mean, you're Rena, right? You don't know this, but something was pretending to be you and it attacked me! And… Lin Sanjiu, you're faster than me…"
For a second, Lin Sanjiu found the situation difficult to manage. Since both siblings were accompanied by an imposter just moments before, it clearly created a problem. Both of them did not have the same experiences so they were on a different page.
When Reno 1, the imposter, told Rena about the 'fighting with a spirit which resembled her', the real Reno was still looking for his sister. Naturally, once he finally found his real sister, he definitely couldn't wait to share the incident with her again. Based on this logic, the Reno in front of them should be the real deal.
However, since the fake Reno took an early precaution and disappeared, he must have realized that he had let something slip by. If it knew it, removing a mark from his wrist wasn't something hard. "If he acted like this, was his first time seeing his sister after the event." Lin Sanjiu took a quick glimpse of Rena. Rena was frowning slightly and seemed to be thinking about the same thing.
In other words, when Lin Sanjiu found out about the imposter's identity, the fake Reno could have done the following: First, he came up to the 26th floor with Rena. Then, he disappeared from the 26th floor. He might have waited for Lin Sanjiu to meet with Rena before acting and appearing as the real Reno.
Lin Sanjiu couldn't even ask this Reno to use his ability to prove himself. For some reasons, the fake Reno had shown that he could use [Did you check your almanac before leaving your house today?].
According to this Reno, he was resting in the apartment unit after Lin Sanjiu rushed out to chase the spirit. After a while, 'Lin Sanjiu' returned and searched the entire building with him, trying to look for his sister. They saw the elevator going up before stopping at the 26th floor. While Reno took the elevator up, that fake 'Lin Sanjiu' flew out of the building to head upstairs and that was why he exclaimed that she was faster than him.
His explanation did match what was written in Lin Sanjiu's Diary Card. After Reno finished, Rena kept quiet for some time. She looked at Lin Sanjiu and at the teenage boy in front of her a few times and seemed uncertain if he was really her brother.
Lin Sanjiu felt clueless as she observed the teenage boy in front of her. "If the spirit successfully tricked the real Reno, why it released him? Won't those sly spirits be worried if the siblings left the building immediately after they found each other?" The only way they could confirm that this Reno was real was if Rena attacked him now.
Just when Lin Sanjiu wanted to spell out her suggestion, Rena's hands suddenly glowed faintly. After that, the girl quietly and stealthily stretched out her hands. Reno was facing her with his back, so before he noticed, she attacked his back. Apparently, the teenage girl thought of the same method. This time, she probably used her [Superstition is banned after the founding of our country!].
Reno was visibly startled by that sudden punch. It revealed his obvious lacking fighting experience. Lin Sanjiu couldn't help sighing. As a posthuman, it was quite pathetic that he couldn't dodge that attack which was so close to him. Even if he trusted his sister, that wasn't even a valid excuse. But, thanks to that punch, both Lin Sanjiu and Rena could finally let down their guard.
He was the real Reno!
"Why did you hit me?" Reno questioned with furrowed brows.
"Hehe. Don't blame me. I needed to be sure." Rena's expression quickly grew lively. Laughing and grinning, she stuffed her hands back into her pockets and explained, "We have to be super cautious in this place!"
Reno seemed doubtful for a moment, but his hot-blooded nature got the better of him. He was visibly upset. Yet, he couldn't hold back his temper. After a few seconds, he finally hit his sister a few times. Rena found it unfair that she was hit an additional two times. And just like that, the two siblings squabbled in the corridor for some time. Lin Sanjiu couldn't help slightly admiring their simple-mindedness.
"Stop! I'm not going to fight with you now." Reno, who had been scratched quite a few times by his sister, looked a little furious. "Since we are both alright, let's leave this place quickly!"
This time, he was not going to bring about the issue of training in this place.
"Scared?" Rena giggled as she pressed the elevator button. Then, she pushed him, "Coward!"
"Huh?"
Lin Sanjiu slowly turned around in midair. She glared at Rena.
The words "We don't have that word in Red Nautilus" echoed in Lin Sanjiu's head.
Reno froze. He didn't say a word for two whole seconds.
On a closer look, her eyes had somehow become unusually large. The inner corners of her eyes were almost touching. Slowly, she looked at Lin Sanjiu and Reno with her jet-black eyes. "Uh-oh," she laughed. "I always forget this."
When Reno roared angrily and rushed toward her. 'Rena' let out a shrill laugh and quickly ran into the left corridor. Lin Sanjiu and Reno chased closely behind her. However, she disappeared once she slipped into an apartment with a half-opened door.
They flew to the door and Reno kicked the door open. Their actions scared the person inside the apartment unit. It was Rena.
Or more accurately, another Rena. Her eyes were normal. When she walked around the table toward them, Lin Sanjiu could see that her white socks were dirty. After staring at them blankly for a moment, Rena sighed and placed her hands down. She looked at them wide-eyed as if she didn't know what had just happened, "Brother? You found Lin Sanjiu?"