Revive Rome: Wait! Why not make the empress fall in love with me first?
Chapter 188 - 92: Time Travel or Brainstem Catheterization?

Chapter 188: Chapter 92: Time Travel or Brainstem Catheterization?

So, Aske is from Dragon Country?

Medea felt immensely curious.

She had not failed to investigate Aske. As early as when she was in Constantinople, she knew Aske was born into the Achilles family, and this family had intricate ties with the distant Dragon Country.

Yet Medea had never imagined that Aske actually possessed memories of living in Dragon Country.

That is to say, did his family move to Constantinople later on? To seek out the Achilles family?

Such speculation swirled in her mind, luring Medea to probe deeper.

Soon, she uncovered a shocking truth.

Aske was not really Aske; the original "Aske" had died, and the body now housed a transmigrator from the Otherworld.

A consciousness that had crossed over from a world highly similar to Dragon Country.

In that world, there were also records about this world, where people referred to this world as "SNF".

SteelAndFire, that is, "Iron and Fire" or "Steel and Fire", was an online game...

It took Medea some time to grasp what an online game was — mainly because Aske’s memories were almost exclusively of playing games after college, leaving her no choice but to understand.

So that’s how it is.

Medea smirked, resting her chin in one hand as she gazed at Aske’s face, beginning to feel an increasingly peculiar sense of sweetness.

It was as if she was a wife sneaking peeks at her husband’s diary, experiencing a sense of intimacy that seemed to bring them closer together.

Although it was regrettable that she couldn’t take advantage of the situation, at least she had learned of his deepest secret.

And I’m the only one who knows...

Lost in contemplation, with her cheek in her palm, the whimsical Medea continued her investigation.

Then she was astonished to find that Aske had never intended to keep this as a secret; he had even told Nora — on the very night that Nora had confessed her feelings to him.

Really! How could you casually reveal something as crucial as being a transmigrator?

Medea felt somewhat angered. Such matters... shouldn’t they only be disclosed to the person closest to you? Like me, me!

What if Nora had malicious intentions? Wouldn’t you be unnecessarily putting yourself in danger?

What annoyed Medea even more was that Aske had chosen to tell Nora because he believed she would keep his secret and would not harm him.

Equally infuriating was Medea’s thorough understanding of Nora; she indeed would not — her heart was entirely invested in Aske, not only would she keep secrets, but remaining chaste would also not be an issue.

Dammit, why are you both so familiar with each other? Just how many secrets have you exchanged!

Medea resolved to keep a closer eye on Nora with mind reading in the future; if ever the girl harbored other intentions, Medea was determined to silence her immediately, regardless of whether Aske would scold her.

I am doing this for your own good! Do you understand? she thought, gazing at Aske’s face with resolute determination.

Continuing her search, Medea was lucky enough to find the most recent memory, which was exactly when Aske had selflessly leapt down the snowy slope to save her.

So, what were you thinking?

After a thorough search, disappointment washed over Medea’s face.

As it turned out, Aske’s reason for rushing down to save her was not due to any special feelings — his memory showed that at the time, he had simply made a quick judgment.

Judging that he could save her, so he went ahead and did it.

In Aske’s world, many things seemed to be quantifiable.

For example, a Level 5 hit point could be measured, able to withstand her Flames for over 10 seconds, plus a single fall impact; he had calculated that such actions would not result in death before he took the plunge to save her, and it was not the "life-risking rescue" that Medea had initially imagined.

However, Medea then saw another bit of mental activity.

"Given the physical attributes of her and me at the moment, if I go save her, I might be seriously injured; if I don’t, she will definitely die."

Risking serious injury to save me? Hmph, I knew I was special to you.

Could Nora do that?

With this satisfying thought, Medea stared at the closed-eyed face of Aske, sensing her jealousy rapidly dissipating.

"You’ve passed."

At that moment, Medea had nothing else to do but wait for Aske’s slow self-healing process, so she continued to explore his memory.

Deeper in his memories, Medea saw his past, including the tragic family matters he and Nora had talked about.

Medea couldn’t help but sigh; she too had once enjoyed the warmth of a family before she tragically lost it all, so she could deeply empathize with Aske’s past.

Then, Medea saw him entering society, starting work at a gaming company.

From there, he began to understand the gaming industry ecosystem and encountered "Iron and Fire," a holographic game.

Since "Iron and Fire" eliminated the need for keyboard and mouse reliance, it no longer tested the so-called hand speed of its players, but emphasized experience and consciousness instead. This allowed him to excel in the game and rapidly climb to the peak of player rankings.

Later, as "Iron and Fire" entered the e-sports industry, he resigned from his job to become an e-sports player, not out of love for the game but purely to earn more money to support his family.

And then he transmigrated...

This idea of transmigration was a huge shock to Aske’s worldview, with one of the most typical examples being:

To this day, he’s still not clear whether he actually transmigrated or if he’s trapped in the game with tubes inserted into his brain, unable to exit.

The reason is simple: the original holographic game was already quite realistic. If players got hurt in the game, they’d feel pain (although their real bodies wouldn’t get hurt), and they’d get hungry if they didn’t eat for a long time (even if they ate in the game, their real bodies would still feel hunger).

In other words, it’s entirely possible that Aske is indeed kidnapped and immersed in a nutritional liquid tank with tubes inserted into his brain while his consciousness is engrossed in the server’s game world.

Theoretically speaking, the likelihood of being connected to tubes is even higher than that of transmigration because the former can be explained, whereas transmigration (soul transfer + partial physical transfer) is something science can’t explain at all.

Therefore, Aske is still uncertain (at least subconsciously uncertain) whether the girls around him are real people from another world, or virtual NPCs from some advanced holographic game.

Due to his father’s experiences, Aske himself is strongly averse to the idea of "falling in love with a virtual NPC," so to this day, he has not developed genuine feelings for any of the girls around him.

Even though they all meet or even exceed his own standards of appearance and personality.

To that, Medea only wanted to laugh. If Aske couldn’t figure it out, then wasn’t it obvious to her whether she was a real person or a realistic program?

Wait a minute, what if she was just a thinking program? Medea was struck speechless, contemplating a possibility even she found frightening.

After all, this world was identical to the game world in Aske’s memory! Such a coincidence seemed a bit too much!

"Programs are designed by people, and they are created to fulfill certain functions," Medusa coldly spoke in her mind. "Please tell me why would programmers design such a useless program as you? Full of whimsical thoughts that take up resources, and worse yet, you’re freaking multi-threaded!"

"That’s true," Medea hastily agreed. "And we argue with each other too! Such a program would be redundant and inefficient, it doesn’t make any sense!"

While she managed to convince herself, Medea became troubled again because she realized she couldn’t persuade Aske.

How could she prove to him that she was a living person and not a piece of software designed to simulate an advanced AI?

Or more importantly, how could she convince him that this world was the real world and not one constructed from programs and code, designed to deceive his senses with false inputs?

"There’s no way," Medusa said irritably. "It’s like trying to prove to someone that their thoughts are genuinely their own and not influenced by someone using mind power to plant ideas in his brain after brainwashing them."

"You just reminded me," Medea realized. "I might not be able to convince him, but I can brainwash him!"

"When my mind power reaches Level II, I’ll implant notions into him like ’this world is real,’ ’I am the person he loves the most,’ subtly transforming his desire to return."

"That’s not a good idea," Aske’s voice suddenly interrupted.

Medea: ......

"Ah, you’re awake now." Medea quickly rushed to his side, as if nothing had happened, and asked with concern, "How are you feeling? Are you alright? Is there anything uncomfortable?"

"What do you think?" Aske looked at her with dead-fish eyes. "Why don’t you try tumbling down a mountain in flames and crashing into a valley for a few hundred rolls?"

"Ah, speaking of that, I have some good news for you." Medea said cheerfully, stretching out a finger and lightly placing it on his lips.

"Did you cure your fear of men?" Aske asked in surprise.

"Not exactly," Medea replied. "I just don’t fear you anymore."

"So you’ve decided not to treat me as a male anymore?" Aske was completely at a loss for words.

"No, no, no," Medea chuckled. "I’ve just been touched by your heroic sacrifice and have revised my impression of you. While I still possess a loathing for those ordinary, ugly, rude male pigs, you’ve now ascended in my heart to embody a masculine, brave, and charming image."

"In other words, only you are special to me. How does that feel? Are you moved?"

"Stop talking," Aske said, looking up at the sky. "My whole body hurts."