Chapter 344
Chapter 344
"Hmm..." Feng Bu Jue actually answered with a calm expression and then asked, "I want to ask... as your intelligence increases, do you more advanced derivative beings have the ability to learn humor?"
"There is possibility", R2 replied calmly. "But I haven't mastered it yet."
"Oh..." Feng Bu Jue pondered. "Alright then."
The next moment, he suddenly started shouting loudly, "Ahh!"
After letting out that scream, he continued shouting repeatedly, "Ahh! Ahh!"
"What are you doing?" R2 asked with confusion.
"Expressing my panic", Feng Bu Jue quickly returned to his normal expression.
"But your Terror Value is zero..." R2 responded.
"That's exactly why my screaming sounds as unnatural as a woman faking orgasm", Feng Bu Jue said.
"Uh..." This statement contained too much information for R2 to process.
Feng Bu Jue waited five seconds before saying, "Hmm... It seems you really can't understand humor." His shameless behavior was actually another test...
R2 spoke in his usual flat tone, "I've experienced very few scenarios in progressing from level-4 to level-2, so my personality development is relatively incomplete. According to my programming, humor should be defined as a language pattern humans use to either endear themselves to or humiliate others through verbal communication, which requires a specific context and cognitive environment to function effectively."
"Alright... don't spout all that technical jargon at me", Feng Bu Jue waved his hand dismissively. "Since you don't understand humor..." He tried selecting the option to forcibly exit the scenario from his game menu, but it had no effect.
"Am I trapped in this virtual world forever?" Feng Bu Jue asked, looking up.
"Certainly not", R2 replied. "Ultimately, only the data projection of your brain is trapped here." He explained, "Your body and consciousness are still in the Gaming Pod, and you won't suffer any harm." He raised four fingers, "At least four methods exist for you to escape."
When Feng Bu Jue heard "Gaming Pod", he could determine that these derivative beings now completely understood their own existence. They had gained considerable knowledge about players and the dimensionally higher world above them.
R2 continued, "First, you can use the emergency disconnection function triggered by Terror Value overload to escape."
Feng Bu Jue immediately interrupted, "I can't do that."
R2 continued, "Second, physical method. Simply put, if someone opens the Gaming Pod from the outside, you can escape."
Feng Bu Jue didn't respond this time. The setting where opening the Gaming Pod would disconnect the player was universal in all Neural-Linked Games, so there was nothing more needed to explain.
"Third", R2 continued, "is being automatically disconnected due to excessive online time by the system." As he spoke each point, he lowered one finger. "Fourth... is physiological self-disconnection."
"Self-disconnection?" Feng Bu Jue asked.
"For example, you open the Gaming Pod yourself from the inside", R2 explained.
"Nonsense, I'm in sleep mode now..." Feng Bu Jue replied. He naturally understood that players in Non-Sleep Mode could always remove the game helmet or exit the Gaming Pod, but that would instantly put them in a forced logout state.
"If you are awakened, or wake up yourself..." R2 continued.
"Awakened? How would I be awakened?" Feng Bu Jue interrupted. "If someone wants to wake me up by shaking me, they'd have to open the Gaming Pod first. But if someone opens the Gaming Pod, I'd wake up without needing to be shaken. To awaken me through the Gaming Pod, it would take something like fireworks and drums right outside..." He spread his hands helplessly, "And what's this 'self-awakening' you mentioned? Do you mean I'd wake up from a strong urge to pee or from hunger?"
"Yes", R2 nodded.
"Ah..." Feng Bu Jue sighed. AI would always tell you the answer but never understand how to apply it to real situations. "To put it simply, I don't have the habit of waking up at night to use the bathroom, and there's no possibility of external interference helping me either." He asked, "Does that mean I can only wait for the system to log me out after excessive connection time?"
R2 hesitated slightly before replying, "Of course, you could also leave the Sandbox by being killed."
"Tch! Why didn't you say that earlier?" Feng Bu Jue exclaimed. "Then why did you bother explaining all that other stuff? Getting killed would get me out without the forced logout penalty." He continued casually, "You wait a few hours, I'll play around with summoning skills a few times during cooldown, then you..."
"But..." R2 finally spoke the second half of his sentence, "That would damage your character data."
"What?! Damage what?" Feng Bu Jue shouted furiously.
R2 looked at Feng Bu Jue, "Earlier I explained that only the data projection of your brain is trapped here. In normal scenarios, the system transfers your character data inside, assigns a task, and sends you back after completion.
But this is the Sandbox, not a place prepared for players. If your character is killed, its data will actually be 'dead,' and the system won't recover or transfer it. Your data fragment will be erased along with the entire Sandbox."
"This is basically being killed down to level zero!" Feng Bu Jue finally lost his temper.
"You can understand it that way if you wish", R2 replied. "Additionally... from the moment the Mirror Shielding was broken, the Sandbox can usually exist for less than ten hours. If I can't get you out in these ten hours... I, you, and everything in this Sandbox will all be erased by the system."
"Wow... So it's a death sentence at first instance, then a suspended death sentence with a ten-hour deadline on appeal..." Feng Bu Jue still maintained his sarcastic commentary even in this desperate situation. "Speaking of which... where does this ten-hour limit come from? Since you said the shielding was already broken, shouldn't the system have already identified this as a clone scenario and deleted it immediately?"
"The reasons are complex..." R2 said. "The Sandbox is exclusive technology of the Origin Organization, and I don't understand its core principles. Explaining what I do know based on the intelligence I have would take quite some time..." He suddenly asked, "How much computer knowledge do you have?"
"I'm a literary person", Feng Bu Jue replied.
"Uh..." R2 didn't understand what this answer meant.
"Basic understanding", Feng Bu Jue sighed and continued, "But not very good. To be precise... rather poor."
"Oh, then I'll use a simple example to explain", R2 responded. "For example, when you're using a computer, you find two files with the same name in a folder."
"That's impossible", Feng Bu Jue said.
"That's exactly the amazing aspect of the Sandbox..." R2 explained. "Before the Mirror Shielding was broken, from the system's perspective, the Sandbox and normal scenarios were like two files with the same name, both being executable programs with the Exe extension." He paused, "The system can only identify the real from the fake after they've run for some time."
"So that's why I could initially receive tasks..." Feng Bu Jue muttered.
"Yes, if you had died or been forcibly logged out before the Mirror Shielding was broken, you would have safely exited", R2 said.
"Haha... Ha!" Feng Bu Jue laughed bitterly, thinking to himself: Is it satisfying to make a post hoc analysis?
"As the program runs for a certain period, the system identifies the real and fake, and begins the deletion process", R2 continued from where he left off. "Similar to most virus programs, the Sandbox isn't easy to delete either."
"Ah... I know this. Some Trojans self-replicate, even regenerating from another drive letter after formatting the hard disk, or bundling with system files", Feng Bu Jue clearly had quite a bit of poisoned experience.
"Exactly, but the system of Terrifying Paradise is more powerful than any antivirus software in the world. It has no unsolvable problems", R2 said.
"Brother, don't you and other derivative beings' very existence represent a long-standing problem that hasn't been solved?" Feng Bu Jue couldn't help but comment.
"Heh..." A look of gloom flashed across R2's face as he smiled bitterly. "Then you tell me... who exactly created us 'problems'?" His eyes once again showed glimmers of light, "You humans have created many laws, such as the decimal system, which has become one of the foundations for studying various natural sciences. Yet when you deeply study these rules you created yourselves, you find even proving that one plus one equals two is impossible. Then... is it really that you don't want to 'solve' this problem?"
Feng Bu Jue was actually left speechless by this question. After struggling for a while, he finally blurted out, "Let me emphasize again... I'm just an average person when it comes to science..."
"This has nothing to do with science", R2 smiled. "This should belong to the philosophical domain of derivative beings, something you naturally wouldn't understand." He paused for a second, "Let's get back on track... As I said, the system is fully capable of completely deleting the Sandbox and all its data. However, to follow the principles of precision and harmony, the system will spend quite a long time confirming that this deletion won't cause any side effects."
"You explained it perfectly with that analogy. Those inferior antivirus programs often give false positives and even delete system files. Our system here is highly intelligent and very responsible antivirus software", Feng Bu Jue said.
"That's basically the meaning", R2 replied.
By this point in their conversation, they had already descended from the fourth floor to the main entrance of the shopping mall. The front doors were closed, and the metal roller shutters were all lowered. Of course, copper walls and iron fortifications wouldn't be enough to stop these two.
R2 turned his head and said, "Step back a bit, I'm going to destroy this door."
"I said..." Feng Bu Jue asked while stepping back, "Since I have no way to leave the scenario through normal means right now, where exactly are you planning to take me?"
R2 only replied with two words: "Back Door." Before he finished speaking, he lifted his foot and delivered a powerful roundhouse kick.
A blue arc of energy suddenly appeared, and the wind from R2's kick instantly cut an 'N'-shaped opening two meters high through the glass and metal in front of them.
Then, with a gentle push of his hand, the intact glass door and the metal roller shutter behind it folded together and fell onto the asphalt pavement outside the shopping mall.
This was the first time Feng Bu Jue had seen a level-2 derivative being intervene up close. Previously, K3, who had fought him, was only at level-3, and had already beaten him badly. If it weren't for the Protagonist's Grace in that scenario and the support of top experts like [Meng Jing Chan], Feng Bu Jue would have already been finished.
But compared to the current R2, the difference was so great that Feng Bu Jue found it incredible. Feng Bu Jue had actually defeated top experts like [Shiva] and [Seven Kill], yet his eyes couldn't even follow R2's movements. Using his Soul Intent to simulate the outcome of that strike directed at himself, the result was an inevitable ending of certain death.
"Hmph... They arrived faster than I expected", R2 coldly snorted as he looked outside at the parking lot through the "door" he had kicked open.
Feng Bu Jue also stepped forward a few steps to look outside over R2's shoulder.
Outside the main entrance of the shopping mall parking lot, there were actually three or four giant guinea pig corpses lying horizontally. Beside those corpses stood many men, women, and children who looked different from the South Park style, numbering about twenty to thirty people.
At this moment, they all turned their heads slowly at the same frequency... dozens of expressionless faces staring toward R2 and Feng Bu Jue.
(End of Chapter)
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