Cold.
The chilling cold pierced through Rong Yi’s senses, waking her up abruptly. Opening her eyes, all she could see was a sea of white snow. If not for the distinct presence of ice and snow beneath her, she might have thought she was back in a hospital room.
“Put this on.” Fan Xingze had already woken up before her, clad in professional snow mountaineering gear. He tossed over a pair of goggles, saying, “Even in a virtual scenario, staring at the snow for too long can cause snow blindness. We are now in the second level setting, where the brain perceives reality more keenly than the previous level. Be careful not to get injured.”
“Imagine yourself dressed in the most professional gear: moisture-wicking base layers, down insulation, windproof and waterproof outer shell, quick-dry pants, gloves, warm hats, ice claws, ice axes, climbing harness.”
Having participated in similar extreme outdoor activities before, Rong Yi quickly suited up with the full set of gear in her mind, effectively regulating her rapidly dropping body temperature.
“So convenient.” She examined her warm red windproof gloves, saying, “If all soldiers enter this system and can have whatever they want, where’s the challenge?”
“I’ve granted us administrator privileges, which are different from the soldiers participating in virtual training. They can only access the system-provided equipment. Now, the teacher and I are experimenting with controlling the amount of information entering the participants’ minds, such as simulating amnesia, capture, interrogation, and other extreme scenarios to ensure maximum immersive training.”
“You will succeed.” Rong Yi said.
Not only will they succeed, but this technology will also be applied to her experiences in cyberpunk and cruise ship replicas.
Interconnected, she stood at the beginning of everything.
With the wind and snow howling, icy air rushed into her throat with each breath. Rong Yi fell silent and followed Fan Xingze as they climbed diagonally upwards.
In the distance, she saw a group of people trekking through the snow. Compared to them, who could barely bend their elbows due to the heavy gear, these people seemed almost ethereal, unaffected by the high-altitude UV rays or the sub-zero cutting wind and snow. Some were in suits, some in casual attire, and one lady was even wearing a super short skirt—
Wait, that super short skirt looks so familiar.
Focusing her gaze, Rong Yi realized it was none other than herself from the cyber replica!
She heard X’s voice from afar, “We’re almost off the snowy mountain… Don’t know when we can come back again.”
Elena, in her initial super short skirt outfit, remarked, “There’s a saying among humans, isn’t it? Rare experiences nearing their end can serve as a ‘souvenir.'”
X praised her, “You’re learning quickly. Becoming more and more adept at pretending to be human.”
Pointing at the conquered snow mountain, he suggested, “You can mimic a movie scene and shout at the mountain, ‘Little Ai! How are you? I’m doing great!’ That’s a kind of memento.”
Fan Xingze stopped, watching them chat and laugh as they progressed, “This is what I saw in my dream. I’ve always regretted not realizing Elena’s feelings at that moment. If I had, there could have been more time to spend with her.”
“She was such a rational and resolute person, and I realized I didn’t like—just then—I didn’t like her and immediately chose an overseas mission. After that, I rarely saw her in my dreams.”
Curious, Rong Yi asked, “How far did you and Elena develop in your dreams?” She wanted to see if his dreams were continuous or fragmented without logic.
“We haven’t progressed to any stage,” Fan Xingze’s voice was low, “After coming down from the snowy mountains, it’s all fragmented memories that I can’t understand, battles, work and such… very boring.”
“…Have you seen any familiar figures in your dreams?” Like that person named Rong Rong, who looks exactly like her android counterpart?
Fan Xingze shook his head, “It’s a completely unrealistic dream, no one familiar to me has appeared.”
They continued walking with X and the group. Despite feeling like a long time had passed, due to scene constraints, the sun never set.
“Is it okay for us to stay here for so long?” Rong Yi felt like forty minutes had already passed.
Fan Xingze, entranced, looked at Elena and said casually, “This is the second scene, time flows much faster than perception. Haven’t you seen ‘Inception’? Refer to that.”
They heard X call Elena “Little Ai,” then heard Little Ai mumbling about dreaming of searching for someone named Little Ai, saying she was seeking her true self.
“…Is it possible that she’s not seeking her true self, but just searching for someone named Little Ai? Just a coincidence that they share the same name?” Rong Yi couldn’t help but say to Fan Xingze, but then she noticed—
He looked utterly shocked, tears glistening in his eyes.
“Why are you crying?” Rong Yi gasped. “Did you remember something?”
Fan Xingze sniffed, “Yes, I also thought about that… it’s true what they say, outsiders see things clearer. She’s a self-aware android, shouldn’t have feelings of confusion like seeking oneself… then who is this Little Ai she’s looking for? Her beloved?”
He sobbed, “In my dream, I was X, thinking Elena loved me, but it seems not me… then what am I, a substitute?”
“Sob… where is the Little Ai she’s looking for? I’ve never seen him in my dreams… she still hasn’t found the one she truly loves?”
“Sob… we both love each other but can’t be together, why is it so tragic… sob… my Elena…”
Rong Yi watched speechlessly as Fan Xingze took off his goggles to wipe his tears and nose.
She had tried so hard to figure things out, yet he managed to confuse his love interest, misunderstand, get jealous, and torment himself.
Bro, impressive!
Seeing his heartfelt sadness, Rong Yi couldn’t bear it and urged, “Let’s move to the next scene. Maybe we’ll discover something new there.”
Fan Xingze nodded and led Rong Yi into an inconspicuous cave nearby, where a complete set of online equipment was placed.
Rong Yi was astonished, “You anticipated that we would enter the next scene here?”
“Impossible,” Fan Xingze went into one of the cabins, “You forgot, we have administrator privileges. As long as we understand mechanical structures enough, we can imagine anything existing in reality and reproduce it in the scene.”
Suddenly, Rong Yi realized that this skill was something she had seen before from Luo Huayue’s ‘Da Vinci Draws Eggs’! It seemed that players’ seemingly godly innate skills were actually fragments of administrator privileges, scattered to give them more enjoyment in the game.
It must be said, aside from the high death rate, the Lucky Carnival was truly a great invention.
The numbness this time was stronger than when transitioning from the small island to the snowy mountains. The next second, Rong Yi found herself engulfed by the salty sea water, without even a chance to call for help, as the surging waves swiftly swallowed her up!
Flooded and overwhelmed.jpg
Fortunately, Rong Yi knows how to swim, even though it’s just the simplest breaststroke. She entered the water for the first time without too much panic.
She held her breath, hugged her knees to her chest, allowing her back to float. Once this position stabilized, she turned her body over to let her face and head surface above the water.
The buoyancy of the seawater is high, and there are no significant waves at the moment, only a gentle current lifting and lowering her. She took a deep breath of fresh air, her body temperature not fully adjusted from the snowy mountains to the tropical sea water, feeling as if she were soaking in a hot spring.
Still wearing her heavy mountain climbing gear, the down jacket absorbed water and dragged her down. Rong Yi imagined herself in a swimsuit, and in the next second, her climbing gear turned into a snug one-piece swimsuit, her still slightly numb limbs directly touching the seawater—
Comfortable.
She closed her eyes, lying back in the water, relaxing her body, enjoying the warm sunshine and pleasant water temperature. Her blood circulated through her veins, causing a tingling sensation in her fingertips.
Suddenly, a soft, slippery something gently poked her cheek.
She startled, opened her eyes, and grabbed the wet tentacle. “Fan Xingze, you’re not human.”
Fan Xingze was indeed not human in a variety of ways. He was now a giant octopus.
Rong Yi also realized that his dream was a series of fragments they had experienced together before, unable to recall everything distinctly.
Except for a few especially vivid memories, like Elena, like turning into a giant octopus.
The transformed Fan Xingze, as a giant octopus, could still speak. His voice muffledly came from the seabed, “Aren’t you afraid?”
Afraid of what? Just an octopus, nothing I haven’t handled before.
Rong Yi touched the sticky mucus on the tentacle. “This isn’t the first time I’ve seen you in this form, what’s there to be afraid of.”
Fan Xingze bubbled out, “Are you lying to me? I didn’t see you in my dream.”
You’ve missed many things. Who knows what the game did to your brain, you saw everything but me.
Rong Yi snorted, “If I guess correctly, there should be a large cruise ship here as well.”
The bubbling stopped.
“You’ve guessed right,” Fan Xingze said, lifting her swiftly across the sea surface on his tentacle. Like in the simulation, Rong Yi lay comfortably on the tentacle, dipping her hand into the water, feeling the wondrous sensation of the water flowing over her skin.
Ever since leaving that simulation, she had missed this feeling.
Soon, the massive silhouette of the Dawn Goddess appeared before them. Fan Xingze lifted her onto the deck and gently set her down.
The deck was not empty. A swimming pool, barbecue grills, a luxurious food cart, and men and women in swimsuits reveling in festivities, the scene reproduced once again before her eyes.
But as she approached, Rong Yi realized that these people were just basic model mannequins, only capable of saying a few set phrases, unable to engage in conversation, following fixed walking routes without deviating from the programmed patterns.
Even the giant octopus perched on the ship’s hull, with eyes as big as portholes, continued its pre-set revelry, showing no surprise or fear.
Rong Yi inspected carefully and noticed the absence of not just herself but also Luo Huayue, Zhang Haiyang, and others. Everyone related to her had been erased.
“Your Elena isn’t here again,” Rong Yi taunted, “Is there some special favoritism for software animals?”
The giant octopus’s voice was low, and Fan Xingze’s voice came with some distortion, “…In my dream, I was constantly searching on the cruise ship, I didn’t know exactly what I was looking for… but it was indeed just these people on the ship, they have always been having pool parties. I’m really confused.”
Rong Yi sighed, “Can you shrink?”
“Shrink?” the tentacles scratched the smooth brain, “Why?”
“I said I’ve been in the place in your dream before, so I know what you’re looking for. Quickly, shrink.”
She grabbed one of the big tentacles, and Fan Xingze inexplicably shrank his body, becoming a small, cute orange octopus in her palm.
Rong Yi placed it on top of her head routinely.
“How about now, does it feel familiar?”
In the replica of the Dawn Goddess, the little octopus spent most of its time on her head. Although memories were erased, the body should still remember, right?
Indeed, Fan Xingze exclaimed, “Oh! That’s it! I used to nest on someone’s head! Help me try!”
“Try what?”
The little octopus pointed at all the character models present with a commanding gesture, “Try who among these people has the most comfortable head to nest in, that’s the person I’m looking for!”
Rong Yi said, “… Okay.”
Fortunately, the pool party seemed lively but counted only around twenty or thirty people. Rong Yi moved the small octopus from one person’s head to another, following its instructions to stay for short or long periods.
“… No… the hair is too hard, it’s poking… too soft, not fluffy… the color is ugly… he hasn’t washed his hair for a long time…”
The little octopus tried each one, finding fault with everyone present, still not finding the “most comfortable” head.
Rong Yi placed it back on her own head, helplessly asked, “So, young master, how does the testing feel?”
The little octopus thought with its small tentacles scratching its chin, “None of them are right. After comparing, none feel as comfortable as your head. Who exactly am I looking for in this setting…”
Rong Yi murmured, “… Yes, who indeed…”
The scene appeared boundless like the ocean, but in reality, the only place to explore was this cruise ship. The little octopus’s head-nesting action hit a snag, so they had to continue exploring to the next level.
On this level, the cockpit was hidden in the engine room where they took refuge, Rong Yi helped the small octopus attach the electrodes to the back of its brain and casually touched its soft little head.
The little octopus’s tentacles stood up as if electrified, it glared at her fiercely, “What are you doing! Ms. Rong, please behave!
Rong Yi’s heart was in a whirl, unable to decide if she was sad or amused, teasingly tapping the soft brain, “So what if I touched you? You have the guts to hit back?”
With that, she lay back into her cockpit, listening to the grumbling of the little octopus, waiting for the next level where it would resume being human and surely beat her senseless.
Rong Yi chuckled, pressing the online button.
A strong paralysis spread throughout her body, and she almost instantly fell unconscious.
“… Let’s now look at this problem, why choose option c? Ah, obviously it’s incorrect, eliminated; b…”
The sound of chalk tapping on the blackboard, the teacher prattling on about the math problems on the test paper, the hot summer wind blowing through the light blue curtains into the classroom.
Rong Yi opened her eyes, looking composed.
It seems that the third-level scene is a campus ghost story replica.
