https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-315-Invading-Brain-Cells-Fifteen-/13547743/
https://novelcool.info/chapter/Chapter-317-Invasion-of-the-Brain-Cells-17-/13547751/
Chapter 316: Invasion of the Brain Cells (16)
Chapter 316: Invasion of the Brain Cells (16)
As early as twenty years ago, during the era of the second-generation optical brain, nerve connection technology had already achieved the ability to read users' memories. Looking back... back then, various countries did witness movements advocating for privacy rights and resisting divine-link technology.
But eventually... people still compromised with technology. Because technology not only changes the world, but also reshapes human lifestyles and ideologies.
Society has always harbored suspicion and resistance toward new things, yet some innovations endure while others fade away.
The popularization of home telephones, the brief rise and fall of pagers, the emergence and decline of cell phones, the arrival of smartphones...
The personal computer entering every household, the rise of the internet, the dominance of functional software, the dawn of the e-commerce era...
Examples are endless. People are far more fickle and forgetful than they imagine, which is why the tide of the times never ceases.
Take recent years, for instance. We've gradually grown accustomed to spam text messages and scam calls, to pop-up web game ads and vulgar marketing tactics, and even to repeatedly filling out personal information on forms or posting it online...
Therefore, as a young man living in 2055, Feng Bu Jue found the current situation perfectly understandable. He naturally accepted this setup.
"Alright... memoryspace", Feng Bu Jue muttered. "What's the big deal? Like I'd be trapped in my own home or something."
He opened a cabinet and pulled out a large towel, drying his clothes as best as he could. While this wouldn't help the game, at least it made him feel physically more comfortable.
Suddenly, Feng Bu Jue thought of something. He quickly dropped the towel and went to the sink, opening the small wooden cabinet above it to retrieve a first-aid kit.
"Oh... it's really identical to my house", he remarked, opening the box. He scanned its contents through the game menu, hoping to find an item to relieve his fractured condition.
Unfortunately... there was none.
The first-aid kit in Feng Bu Jue's home contained only basic supplies: gauze, red antiseptic, alcohol, tweezers, scissors, etc. Treating a fracture would require plaster, or at the very least two wooden splints.
After rummaging through, Feng Bu Jue grumbled, "Turns out my emergency preparedness is this terrible. If I slipped in the bathtub and broke an arm or leg, I'd be helpless."
Helplessly, he picked up the towel again to dry himself. Once mostly dry, he used a hairdryer briefly, then roughly wrapped gauze around his left knee and calf.
"Alright... let's see what I've got here..." Feng Bu Jue muttered, emptying his pockets into his satchel and pulling them out again. Doing so restored the soaked items to their dry state.
"A matchstick, a folding knife, a Nokia cell phone... Huh, they still power on after getting soaked?" Seeing the phone screen light up, he quipped, "A small notebook, a ballpoint pen, a lighter, a flashlight with batteries... plus the satchel's original contents."
He laid everything on the floor, sitting on the bathtub's edge. Lowering his head, he supported his right elbow with his left hand, fingers resting on his forehead before slowly sliding down his nose bridge.
Completing this habitual thinking gesture, Feng Bu Jue mentally organized all known information. He snapped his fingers, smirking, "There's No Place Like Home..." Repeating the first message found in the test building, he mused, "Does this situation fit that phrase?"
"I see... the game's just beginning now." Feng Bu Jue packed everything away and drank a vitality value supplement. Combined with his automatic recovery, his vitality value barely climbed to 60%.
He stood, testing a few steps. The pain in his left leg had mostly vanished—minor discomfort remained only during large movements. He could walk with a limp.
Feng Bu Jue was particularly sensitive to doors in games. Instead of immediately exploring the bathroom, he first approached the door to check the lock.
The bathroom door naturally lacked a keyhole and key. From the outside, there was only a doorknob. Inside, however, there was a simple twist lock and a slide bolt below the knob.
In other words, the door could only be locked from within. There was no scenario where someone inside couldn't open it.
Feng Bu Jue reached out to turn the knob, but at that moment, a system prompt echoed in his ear: "A vicious grudge lingers outside the door. Confirm you wish to open it?"
"Huh?" Feng Bu Jue muttered, "Damn... this game's trying to give players psychological trauma? This is my own house, for crying out loud."
Still, he wouldn't suffer any psychological trauma...
"From the moment I entered the scenario, there were zero prompts. Now touching the doorknob gives me this line", Feng Bu Jue released the knob, pondering. "That's definitely an instant-death flag... opening the door means instant death." He stepped back, thinking, "Undoubtedly, there's a puzzle to solve in this bathroom..."
With that thought, he tightened the door's twist lock and engaged the slide bolt. Turning around, he focused on the bathroom interior.
Feng Bu Jue wasn't particularly messy, nor did he have obsessive cleanliness. His home... how to describe it? A "manly" space between disorder and tidiness—chaotic yet organized. He could recall where every item in each room belonged with minimal effort.
Thus, his search was highly efficient.
About five minutes later, Feng Bu Jue finished inspecting the bathroom, which mirrored his real one almost perfectly. Everything was in its proper place: soap, shampoo, toilet cleaner, comb, aspirin, plunger... All displayed as tools or consumables, no "Story item" clues present.
However... Feng Bu Jue did notice an anomaly.
Above the bathtub, the plastic shower curtain's pattern seemed slightly different from his memory...
(End of Chapter)
Chapter end
Report
