Chapter 729

If one only looks at the text on Taloran's phone, one might mistakenly think that the two got along much better during this stage.

One might even treat these two as some kind of bad friends.

But.

The audience followed the lens and witnessed Taloran clearing the files of 'SCP-3999' time and time again, witnessing the world resetting time and time again, returning to the morning he was notified of his transfer.

Watching this Foundation employee struggling bitterly in an endless cycle, maintaining his sanity on the verge of collapse.

In the attempt to end himself time and time again, he deceived himself and persuaded himself to live on.

"If it were me, it would be completely impossible to survive the memory erasure part."

"Restarting time and time again has made me tired of watching... is there anyone who can spoil how Taloran and 3999 perished together in the end?"

"Let me spoil it: Taloran realized the true meaning of narrative in the repeated world restarts, ascended instantly, entered the same narrative level as 'SCP-3999', and finally died in the fight with 3999."

"...... There are too many points to complain about, I don't know where to start."

"In the final analysis, wanting a character in a book to walk out of the book and perish with the person writing the story is itself a fantasy."

"Actually... I have always had a few doubts: why does 3999 never directly arrange Taloran's actions? Why can Taloran modify the story?... You know, if everything is really as 3999 said, it would be very simple for it to handle Taloran, and it wouldn't need to borrow so many external forces at all."

"Now that you mention it, it seems to be the case; could it be that Taloran actually has the same power as 3999? It's just that he didn't realize it at all? And when he realized this, he immediately exploded with 3999."

"Then Taloran is a bit too kind... if it were me, I'd have to turn 3999 into a catgirl and let her experience the dangers of the world."

"Brother, you've seen the portrait of 3999, can your XP not be so weird?"

……

Amidst the audience's discussion, the content in the picture changed again.

This time, Taloran was in a strange office, with a doctor named Dr. ██ sitting opposite him.

With the help of the paper documents spread on the table and the recording pen placed on the side.

Taloran judged that this was an interview, and he was the interviewee.

Although he didn't know why 【There is a profound connection between Researcher Taloran and 'SCP-3999'】 would lead to the current situation.

But as long as there is a change, it is a good thing, which means he may find a way to defeat 3999.

"So who exactly are you?" The doctor sat quietly behind the table, fingers crossed, with a hint of vigilance under his calm gaze.

"I am Researcher Taloran, one of the researchers of 'SCP-3999'."

The doctor shook his head: "But we have no records here."

"I'm telling you," Taloran took a deep breath.

Thank God, the doctor in front of him was not a puppet controlled by 3999.

"Some ridiculous things happened to me! But I can't describe them, it's like a dream, the connection between all things has been broken."

"Broken?"

"Things have come to this, it's hard for me to concentrate." Taloran breathed a sigh of relief, raised his hand to rub his eyebrows, and then rubbed his temples.

"I feel very uneasy, as if reality is no longer so... real... I can only describe it like this."

He recalled the countless world restarts he had experienced shortly after entering Site-118, as well as the countless nightmarish encounters.

——Until now, he was more inclined to believe that those were just terrible dreams, not the reality he had experienced.

Otherwise, it would be too unbelievable.

And, to him, it was too dark, too desperate; he was simply a character in a game, regarded as an object for fun by players outside the game.

The key is that the players outside the game also like to watch him suffer, watch his spirit full of cracks but never shatter, watch him resist time and time again but be easily resolved.

Once upon a time, he also liked to play with enemies in games like this; opponents who were too smooth had no sense of achievement when conquered, opponents who were too powerful only brought frustration, and moderate opponents were the best punching bags.

"But we have no records of you here."

The doctor repeated.

Taloran was a bit impatient:

"...... You just said that."

"So who exactly are you?" The doctor asked relentlessly.

Taloran was full of confusion, the sense of dissonance in his heart becoming stronger and stronger, so strong that it warned him—this was still just a part of the dream.

"Wait, what's going on here? Which site is this? Please say your name again, Doctor?"

"Dr. █████████████."

Suddenly, a voice that didn't belong to the two sounded, like a narration, and like the heart sound of a bystander:

"This is not a name, just a burst of noise from your mouth."

"Why would I think of deletion? How could a word be deleted in a normal conversation?"

Taloran stood up in terror, looking around, wanting to find clues.

But he found that the doctor, who was the interviewer, was still sitting quietly in his original seat, hearing nothing, like a programmed robot, executing the program on his own.

He said: "This interview is over."

As the voice fell, reality seemed to withdraw from under Taloran's feet, and conventional physical laws no longer existed.

The floor suddenly disappeared, like an illusion in a dream.

Taloran felt himself falling into darkness, the surrounding space seemed to be swallowed, and all light avoided this area.

At the same time, the walls and ceiling of the room began to melt, colors flowing, mixing, twisting, turning into a pool of amorphous matter, swallowing the doctor.

【Researcher Taloran needs to live with his mother until the situation subsides.】

【Researcher Taloran】

【……】

……

Herta could not find any way to break the situation from Taloran's encounter.

3999 was initially unable to block Taloran's interference with reality.

This fake interview had already proven that it could construct a completely fake world, letting Taloran sink into it, as gentle as a lamb.

Even after being tortured and witnessing the execution of his loved ones, Taloran only resisted 3999 on a small scale, still hoping to escape in his heart, still expecting external help.

And undoubtedly, 3999 used its own way.

To smash the last piece of land Taloran had reserved for himself deep in his heart.

——The whole world was under the influence of 3999, and the escape Taloran prayed for was just a farce newly arranged by 3999.

Herta felt a trace of sadness; compared to Elio, who called himself the 'Slave of Destiny', Taloran was more like a true slave.

Everything people can think of can be torn off, stripped, and chopped up like a slave, without any dignity.

No... slaves can at least choose to die.

Taloran didn't even have this last option.

Even the option of dying with dignity disappeared with the appearance of 3999.

……

At the same time, the 'Luo Fu' Xianzhou.

Bai Xuan and others had arrived at 'Cloudford'.