Player Reload
Chapter 482 - 445: Fear

Chapter 482: Chapter 445: Fear

"Ha~"

Gray Rain yawned sleepily, lifting the quilt, got up from the special steel wire bed theoretically supporting two tons, put on slippers in the dark, and walked towards the bathroom.

As a nanorobot, she only needs to touch the power switch and gnaw on batteries to replenish energy daily, and does not require sleep.

But sleeping does help clear the disk, optimize hard drive transfer efficiency, and system settings.

As for going to the bathroom...

Uh, actually, her stomach contains neither gastric juice nor stomach acid, only serving to grind and transform food into a paste-like chyme. She can even eat.

Earlier, she didn’t know from where she saw a short video saying that a lifetime of defecation amounts to a year and a half, and it should be utilized well,

Now, every time she goes to the bathroom, she brings a classic book inside, but each time, she quickly starts playing on her phone after barely starting the book, remaining on the title page for so long.

Squeak.

Gray Rain pushed open the bedroom door, just about to press the living room light switch, when she saw the bathroom heater was on, orange-yellow light leaking from the door crack.

Through the crack, she could see Li Cheng’s back.

He crouched in a twisted posture on the bathroom floor, with that large NAS network-attached storage beside him. Blood dripped from the hem of his clothes, flowing along the bathroom’s tiled floor into the drain.

Li Cheng fiddled with something in his hand, emitting a faint mechanical noise and continuous splattering of blood.

A nameless fear descended upon Gray Rain, like her throat was being choked, preventing any sound.

"You’re awake?"

Perhaps sensing Gray Rain’s footsteps, Li Cheng whispered, slowly turning his head.

He was covered in blood, his expression calm, holding a bloodstained bone saw, with most of his skull cut open, his entire brain exposed to the air, filled with data cables connected to the NAS.

As if he had stripped away the feeling of pain, he raised his fingers, calmly tracing the grooves of his brain, and spoke in a dangerously serene voice, "Remember how the Side of Truth classified the three types of Illusion Techniques during the day?"

One is created by the Caster, easily identifiable.

The second is fabricated by the recipient themselves.

The third is compiled by the surgeon’s brain, layered with the Power of Laws, infinitely extended, infinitely compiled, rendering escape nearly impossible.

We went to the Shabby Street Restaurant, exploring taste, touch, and smell to find any flaw. If it was an illusion, it could only be the highest third-grade Illusion Realm."

Li Cheng’s voice, as serene as lake water, carried a hint of thrill. Gray Rain took a deep breath, "Are you alright..."

"Just fine, or maybe too fine."

Li Cheng toyed with his skull cap, chuckling, "Inside the Inverted Pyramid Secret Realm, before I used Superlight Speed Elbow Strike to take down the hooded figure, I shot the Ape-man Degeneration Gun at my brain’s amygdala region,

preemptively blocking the fear emotion pathway, while also carrying the Vast Sea Soul-locking Bell.

Theoretically, it provides some resistance against the third-grade Illusion Realm.

Unless... I was already trapped in the Illusion Realm before I shot.

After shooting, from the first escape from the Secret Realm to the second escape, it’s all part of the illusion.

The evidence is this."

He patted the NAS at his feet, casually saying, "The hooded figure, an abnormal entity in the Secret Realm, is on par with the Black-clothed Woman H. Power level approximately Lv33.

No matter how he extends the fear illusion, there’s always a boundary. He can’t create an entire world.

Just like programmers coding a video game, often setting the game so only the area where the protagonist resides is perfected.

All scenery vividly alive, NPCs walking and interacting on paths, maximizing the player’s immersion.

Once the protagonist turns away or heads to the next area, all objects in the previous area fall into stillness, thus conserving computing power and optimizing game frame rates."

Gray Rain’s eyelids twitched, "So you’re..."

"Using Whale Song’s hacking program, I simultaneously hacked into fifty thousand computers worldwide. Some domestic, some international. Some personal, some corporate. And copied all their data, downloading it onto the NAS."

Li Cheng tapped his temple, saying, "Finally, through cables, directly loaded into my brain."

"Ah?!"

Gray Rain was shocked, "You’ll go insane!"

The NAS had a massive capacity of 5PB; such a huge amount of data, even Li Cheng’s enhanced brain couldn’t possibly absorb it.

"Yeah, but before I go insane, the Illusion Realm must reveal its flaw. For example..."

Li Cheng’s cerebral blood vessels overloaded and sprayed blood, and he slowly pulled out a tile from the ground, "Our bathroom floor tiles were never marble."

The next second, mutation erupted.

Wall tiles stripped away, lights went out, and the pair returned to the stone pillar forest.

The salty sea breeze, Binary Tree and others’ prolonged cries,

while the hooded figure sitting in Infinite Justice Mecha’s cockpit, with his arm’s angle turned slightly compared to before, silently narrated time’s passing.

Li Cheng’s cut-off skull cap restored its original form, he decisively gripped the Floating Engine, once again executing Superlight Speed Elbow Strike,

reducing the hooded figure and Infinite Justice Mecha to dust.

This scene had already occurred, Gray Rain froze briefly, hesitantly inserting her arm into her stomach.

Her intestines were empty, without any contents. It did not match the clear memory of dining at the restaurant during the day.

Gray Rain stayed in place, hesitantly speaking to Li Cheng walking back, "We..."

"Are still in the Illusion Realm."

Li Cheng used Assembled Puppet·Modified to remove the skull cap, pulling out a data cable from within.

He observed the data cable with newly grown eyes, and suddenly burst into laughter, "Hahaha! So, that’s it."

"What’s wrong?" Gray Rain quickly asked.

"This isn’t my fear realm, but yours."

Li Cheng wiped the tears from his laughter, relaxedly saying, "What you fear most deep inside isn’t death, but being abandoned by me."

"...What?"

"I’m a part of your thoughts. Or rather, I’m your subconscious."

Li Cheng regained composure and calm, mildly stating, "Because you harbor doubts, the first Illusion Realm had me accompany you to Red Star Orphanage to search for clues.

Because you harbor suspicion, the second Illusion Realm had me act alone, dismantling my skull cap in the bathroom to further test the environment.

And since you don’t want me to die, even if I loaded the entire 5PB of data into my brain, I remain alive.

Moreover, because the data load was too large, the previous Illusion Realm’s bug carried over to this one, leaving data cable residue in the brain."

Gray Rain’s pupils shook intensely, "Then in the real world..."

"The hooded figure is nearing success."

Li Cheng nodded, saying, "Time is running out, the hooded figure is already gouging out our eyes.

As long as you fear being abandoned by me, no matter how many times you escape the Illusion Realm, you can’t break free.

As for the only solution, you already know."

"No!" Gray Rain said as if electrocuted.

"You can."

Li Cheng smiled, "You’re smarter and stronger than you think. Able to detect flaws in the Illusion Realm.

It’s your subconscious refusal to yield that has supported you until now, preventing you from being overwhelmed like Card Emperor and becoming a puppet."

Li Cheng supported Gray Rain’s hand holding the Skull Shattering Power Hammer, pointing it at his own forehead, and shouted, "Remember! Everything that happened at Red Star Orphanage is real! Diverging Yù Jì is Cai Anjie!

Don’t be afraid, act now, save yourself, and save me!"

The faint sound of bells echoed from the end of the tunnel; Gray Rain took a deep breath, grasped the hammer tightly with both hands, and struck with all her might.

Thump!

The skull shattered.

Surroundings instantly transformed, revealing the hooded figure with his hand pressed against Li Cheng’s face in front of Gray Rain.