Recap
At the same time, Chu Shici, who was tolerating the male protagonist, heard the system prompt.
[The vitality value is reduced by 5 points, and the current vitality value is 73/100.]
Zhe-ge was over there thinking wildly, and his vitality was draining away quickly. The male protagonist here pokes the small speaker again and asks him to tell him a story.
Chu Shici: …
As expected, he is only suitable for 1v1.
It’s really tiring to coax two men at the same time.
___
The fat steward didn’t come to the door again, which meant that Zhe-ge successfully dealt with him without revealing any flaws.
Chu Shici knew that his husband is the best.
After spending a peaceful night with the male protagonist, Chu Shici got up on time the next morning. He was just trying to listen to the five o’clock morning news as usual. When he turned his head, he found that the male protagonist was not awake.
He was playing the role of a mentally retarded speaker. No one asked him to play the news, and he couldn’t take the initiative to play it on his own. His soul entered the space, holding the system and eavesdropping on the news on his own.
There is nothing special in today’s news, they are all the same old news. The only thing new is the mention of a “Artificial Human Research Association” that was recently formed.
They are committed to studying whether artificial people are humans and whether they are real life forms, trying to find ways for humans and artificial people to live together, and asking the government to protect artificial people from being harmed by players.
When reporters conducted interviews on the streets, the passers-by they interviewed called the people in the association “Saints.”
These are all news stories from the past. The current situation is that the government is already prepared to erase all data.
It shows that the research association’s protest failed and artificial people have not been recognized by the world. They will eventually face the fate of being collectively erased.
Chu Shici could understand the country’s decision. In his eyes, there was actually no difference between artificial humans, clones and modified humans.
He has seen them all and knows their final fate.
In the minds of many people, a ‘human’ without flesh and blood are not real human beings. Artificial humans and humans are destined to be unable to coexist side by side, and being cleaned up is an inevitable result.
Chu Shici was not a person who cared about the world. He only cared about the people around him and whether they were happy or not.
The male protagonist didn’t get up from bed until someone came to deliver breakfast.
Contrary to what Chu Shici thought, he didn’t seem to need to ascertain the time through the news.
After breakfast, Chu Shici saw him pull out a piece of paper from the bottom of the lunch box. He fumbled with his hidden pencil to write on it.
Chu Shici poked his head and took a peek.
[He has changed positions. There are no black boxes in the utility room and in Room 10. Investigate the other floors and don’t let him find anything unusual. He did not destroy the black box, proving that he does not have the resolve. Don’t provoke him or he will jump over the wall.]
That ‘him’ refers to the fat steward Brother Liu.
Chu Shici remembered that the male protagonist mentioned in the recording that he had long collected evidence of collusion inside and outside the virtual prison by using the evidence from the usage of holographic cabins to imprison living people.
He didn’t understand the principle behind it. But, it seemed that evidence from both the virtual and real worlds needed to be found so as to complete this task.
With the help of Imagine Life technicians, the male protagonist stored the evidence in the black box. When he was about to be taken out, Brother Liu rebelled.
Combined with Brother Liu’s various antics, Chu Shici felt that he should be in a neutral position.
He wanted to use the prison to make money, but he didn’t want to be punished by law, yet he didn’t dare to offend Dr. Sun’s camp.
So he snatched the black box and used it as a life-saving trump card.
If the data was destroyed and Dr. Sun and others could not find any other evidence. He will dispose of the black box, pocket the money and leave.
If Dr. Sun and the others are able to find other evidence, or threaten to kill him directly in the real world and pull him out of the holographic cabin, then he will hand over the black box, which would be regarded as submitting important evidence; making amends and striving for leniency.
If Shen Xiuzhe and those who knew about it had an ‘accident’ and never wakes up. He can also go with the flow and cloak himself as an undercover agent hiding in the darkness, turning from a traitor to a tragic hero.
Brother Liu is very cautious in doing things. It has been so long since Chu Shici came into this world, but he has never seen Brother Liu participate in abusing a living person from beginning to end. He will also not let his men touch Shen Xiuzhe.
The first reason could be thought of as every chicken has a boss and cannot be touched casually. Then the second will be to commit fewer crimes and leave a way out for himself.
Brother Liu hopes that the prison will win from the bottom of his heart. He will definitely try his best to delay time and hide the black box until the end.
Chu Shici fell into deep thought. He was wondering where that smart Brother Liu could hide the black box.
Room 10 next door is prepared for the participating clients. It is a project that was only available after the virtual prison was built.
There are fragments of shirts on the floor in the utility room, and the number ‘4’ on the wall, symbolizing the number of cycles.
This shows that Brother Liu previously hid the black box in a room that would not be affected by the main plot of the prison. In this way, the position of the black box will not change after the cycle starts again.
Chu Shici sorted through his thoughts.
Rooms that are only occupied by real people will not be affected by the cycle. There are real people in this prison, including staff, chickens, clients participating in the battle royale, and some rats that have been replaced.
Rats are at the bottom. They live together with other artificial rats. Those real people who are sneaked in by the note man live in rooms that are within the cycle.
Except for Shen Xiuzhe, the rest of the chickens don’t have such a strong fighting spirit. They all live on the fifth floor.
The participating audiences are not subjected to prison management, and live broadcasts will happen in the room at any time, which is an uncontrollable factor. If the black box is hidden in any of these rooms and the audience sees it, things will get completely out of control.
The staff lounge should have been searched by the note man a long time ago.
Looking at it this way, the scope is actually very narrow.
A room that only needs to be inspected, or an inconspicuous workspace similar to a utility room.
When Chu Shici thought of this, he was suddenly stunned.
Since the male protagonist can remember the cycles, why did he write the number ‘4’ on the wall of the utility room?
Before he could come up with any hypothesis, the male protagonist picked up the small speaker.
Looking at the face leaning in so close to his, Chu Shici leaned back to avoid any accidents.
“Classmate Ah Ci.”
“I am here.”
After hearing his response, the man was silent for a while, then suddenly chuckled, “You belong to me.”
Chu Shici:…?
System: [?!]
What nonsense is he talking about?
Chu Shici was startled when he suddenly said those words. He thought the man was going to do something to him.
But the male protagonist’s attitude towards him is no different from before. He still treats him as an inanimate object, unlike Shen Xiuzhe, who kisses and hugs the speaker.
His behavior was more like grabbing something from someone else. Since it felt pretty good to use, he simply claimed it as his own.
Chu Shici had a bad premonition.
He was afraid that when they met again, the hero will not return him to Zhe-ge.
Two grown men fighting over a speaker.
It was simply a scene from a world-famous painting, and Chu Shici didn’t even dare to think about it.
___
The longer Chu Shici stayed with the male protagonist, the more he felt that this man was not normal.
He is so possessive that it makes people tremble all over.
Once, he accidentally took out the eraser that Shen Xiuzhe had forgotten in the corner.
Under Chu Shici’s surprised gaze, he wiped the eraser clean and said to it, ‘It belongs to me now.’
No matter how small and fragmentary they are, all items that are unique to Shen Xiuzhe will be his own once he finds them.
The male protagonist gave himself a new name, Shen Chengan, and seemed eager to clear his relationship with his real identity as ‘Shen Xiuzhe’.
He would order a few piano pieces every day and sit quietly in the room alone in a daze. No one knows what he is thinking, his expression will suddenly become very distorted.
When Shen Chengan was taking a shower, Chu Shici saw scars on his body through the transparent glass. He will often scratch his body as if dealing with a life and death enemy.
If he can see Shen Chengan’s vitality value, his vitality value should be lower than 10.
Chu Shici felt that this man was quite pitiful.
But sympathy is sympathy, he was still not sure what the male protagonist was thinking. If the male protagonist really wants to harm Zhe-ge, then if he sympathizes with him and exposes himself, he will harm Zhe-ge.
Who is more important? Chu Shici can distinguish his priorities clearly.
He played the small speaker role conscientiously, and Shen Chengan didn’t notice anything unusual.
One person and one box get along very harmoniously. Chu Shici also learned many secrets during this time.
When no one is around, Shen Chengan likes to talk to himself. His voice was low and sounded like he was talking in his sleep. His words were often repeated and his logic was extremely confusing.
Chu Shici couldn’t even understand what he meant, but the sentence he repeated the most was, ‘Why? This isn’t fair.’
He would always sit up in the middle of his sleep without warning. Then, under Chu Shici’s horrified gaze, he covered his head and let out a crazed laugh.
The man was muttering, ‘This is a massacre. I know it, I know it all. Why? This isn’t fair.’
Chu Shici had observed that Shen Chengan was normal most of the time during the day. Cold, aloof, taciturn. Except for secretly communicating with the note man, he looks no different from Zhe-ge.
But at night, he became irritable and paced the room. When he gets extremely irritable, he will run over and take a shower repeatedly, digging his fingers into his thighs, waist and abdomen until there is blood everywhere.
The scene was very horrifying.
Chu Shici had seen Zhe-ge having a mental breakdown before, but the two men had different personalities, and the breakdown manifested itself in different ways.
Zhe-ge will become unresponsive to the outside world, just like a walking corpse. No hobbies, curiosity or thirst for knowledge.
He has a strong mentality, and he can endure pain that is unimaginable to ordinary people. However, if he completely collapses, he will be one to choose to take his own life, there will be no transition period of self-mutilation.
Shen Chengan seems to be quite energetic, he is also curious about the outside world and shows some preferences. For example, he likes to listen to piano music and he also likes to let the small speakers play various cat sounds.
But on some days, he would go crazy and self-mutilate, leaving scars all over his skin hidden under his clothes.
Chu Shici lived with him for more than half a month. Shen Chengan became less wary of the small speaker, and he also got to know this man somewhat.
Shen Chengan didn’t want to commit suicide at all, he had a very strong desire to live. He even hid some medicine secretly, and every time after a self-inflicted harm, he would carefully apply medicine to clean the wound.
What he does has nothing to do with depression or anxiety. He simply hates his body and hates himself as he is now.
Chu Shici had a vague guess.
At present, there are only two possibilities for Shen Chengan to become like this.
One, as he said, he really is a real person.
While being imprisoned, he was constantly belittled and humiliated. He gradually developed problems with his self-perception and developed a hatred for himself.
Second, Shen Chengan is lying. In fact, he is an artificial person.
It may be due to some bug, or it may be due to some accidents, but his memory will not be cleared with the cycle, but will always be retained.
He already knows the fact that he is an artificial person, but he cannot accept this reality. He hates this virtual world and hates his false self.
Based on the information revealed by Shen Chengan’s words and and surmised from his actions, Chu Shici felt that the possibility of him being the artificial person was at least 90%.
But what’s the point of hiding this? Could it be that by pretending to be a real person, he can become the real person?
His condition was very unstable, and Chu Shici was worried that he would do something extreme.
___
Shen Xiuzhe has been separated from the little speaker for a month.
At first, he would hide under the quilt and wipe his tears. Over time, he gradually adapted to the lonely environment.
The vitality value is slowly increasing, rising back to 78 points little by little.
The fat steward didn’t see anything unusual about him and regarded him as another ‘Shen Xiuzhe’, giving him tools and asking him to draw.
Shen Xiuzhe once again passes his days peacefully living a life of painting, sleeping, eating and waiting to die every day.
Maybe it’s because he thinks about it day by day and dreams about it at night. He’s been having nightmares lately.
In the dream, Ah Ci couldn’t tell the difference between the two of them and thought the man was him. Letting the person kiss his smooth shell and play adult games with him.
Sometimes, he will dream of Ah Ci turning into the blonde-haired beauty. Doing that kind of thing with another man in front of him.
For several mornings in a row, Shen Xiuzhe was woken up by anger. He was sulking alone, and the things he painted became more and more artistic.
Every time the fat steward came over to see the progress, he would face the canvas for a long time and fall into deep thought.
He really can’t appreciate it, maybe this really is art.
In Room 3 across the corridor, Chu Shici was still using the cover of a mentally retarded speaker to collect intelligence.
After more than two months of getting along with the male protagonist, he basically understood what was going on and he also had a sneak peek of Shen Chengan’s plan.
Currently, it is only the preparation period, and the people arranged by the male protagonist are still acting secretly, infiltrating the prison little by little.
Only when this cycle ends will they start to act.
At that time, the male protagonist will choose the right time to leave the room, their men will start the attack in batches on all fronts, releasing the most powerful dogs to disperse the manpower inside the prison.
If, by then, they are still not able to locate the black box, they will take the fat steward in for questioning by any means to reveal the location of the black box.
___
More than three months have passed, and the topics covered by the news have jumped several times.
One morning, Chu Shici heard on the news that the case of the corpse hidden in the trash can was successfully solved.
He realized that this was an important point in time, and in a few days, this cycle will end.
Chu Shici felt very uneasy.
Although after observation, he has determined that Zhe-ge is more likely to be a real person than Shen Chengan, he still felt anxious.
If he guessed wrong, Zhe-ge is indeed an artificial person. When the cycle begins, Zhe-ge’s memory will also be erased. He will forget all his past with the little speaker, and they will have to start all over again.
If they get in touch too early, Zhe-ge’s vitality value is too high and he doesn’t need a small speaker to accompany him, he will be more difficult to get along with than before.
If they get in touch too late, or if Shen Chengan’s plan ends early, then he and Zhe-ge will not have much time to spend together.
Chu Shici was restless. When Shen Chengan talked to him, his reaction was much slower.
He probably thought that the small speaker was broken, so Shen Chengan held him and studied it for a long time.
Chu Shici replied wearily, “I’m here.”
Shen Chengan was relieved.
He had a piece of eraser in his pocket, a utility knife that had been turned over in his trouser pocket, and a small speaker he had snatched in his arms.
Shen Chengan touched each one one by one. These things that were originally Shen Xiuzhe’s now belonged to him.
Looking at the slightly satisfied expression on the face that was exactly the same as Zhe-ge’s, Chu Shici felt very complicated.
He felt that this man might be envious of Shen Xiuzhe, but Zhe-ge has nothing for him to be envious about.
As the real person who is controlled by his adoptive father and has no playmate, he grew up alone and was personally sent to prison by his only relative.
As an artificial person born in prison and have been trapped in a cycle since birth, they are in despair and have no freedom.
The male protagonist’s adoptive father has a strong desire to control, and both of them have no freedom of their own. Whether they are real or artificial people, they have nothing.
Chu Shici couldn’t tell which of them was more pitiable, but he saw his former self in Shen Chengan.
No one paid for his meals when he was in school. He had no pocket money and could only eat steamed buns every day. If someone in the class dropped a snack on the floor, he would wait until recess, pick it up secretly when no one was around, wipe the dust off and stuff it into his mouth.
Chu Shici decided that no matter whether the other party was friend or foe, he would try his best to help Shen Chengan without harming Zhe-ge.
Just think of it as helping the me of the past.
On Sunday night, Chu Shici found that Shen Chengan was very excited. He still didn’t have much expression, but his breathing was much faster, it seemed like something big was about to happen.
Chu Shici didn’t sleep that night either, so he stayed up late with him.
After staying up until about two o’clock in the morning, the originally silent prison suddenly became lively.
Through the thick metal door, Chu Shici heard noisy footsteps coming from the corridor.
Shen Xiuzhe, who was sleeping in the opposite room, was also awakened by these noises.
The noises were too messy and loud affected his judgment of the situation. He turned his head and tried to distinguish the movements outside, when the metal door that had been closed was suddenly pushed open.
He could feel several people rushing in. Shen Xiuzhe was about to stand up to defend himself when his arm was suddenly grabbed.
In my ears was the kind and reliable voice of a middle-aged man, “Don’t be afraid, comrades. We are the police! We are here to save you!”
After being imprisoned for too long, Shen Xiuzhe was stunned for a moment. He was supported by the police and ran a few steps, his mind gradually calmed down.
This is not reality, this is a virtual prison.
The police did rescue everyone back then, but ‘Shen Xiuzhe’ was sent in again.
The appearance of the police now means that the main plot of the prison has ended and a new cycle is about to begin.
Due to the main plot’s constraint, the prison staff are not present for the time being.
Shen Xiuzhe broke free from the policeman’s hand and turned towards the opposite Room 3.
The police officers automatically generated by data are not smart enough and will only follow the set route.
They didn’t seem to notice that the victim had left at all, and still kept moving forward while supporting air.
Shen Xiuzhe walked to Room 3, put his hands against the metal door, and rested his forehead against the door. There was an uncontrollable tremor in his voice when he spoke.
“Ah Ci, wait for me to come back.”
You are mine and no one can take you away. Not even if it’s my other self.
___
T/N: Hi everyone, chapters normally gets longer towards the end, lemme know if you would want me to split them up into parts, the updates will still be 1 chapter a day.
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Update: Tomorrow~
- After becoming enemies with the lord god
- Blog
- Completed
- Don't talk to me!
- Dropped
- Ghost Marriage
- Hunger Academy
- I opened a safe house in the Infinite Stream
- Notices
- Ongoing
- The Dragon Lord is Weak and Helpless but Has a Big Appetite [Interstellar]
- Want to ascend? Then fall in love.
- What can I do, I'm not human.
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