Chapter 732

When Taluolan deleted the text regarding his time with his family, Bronya and Seele fell into a long silence.

Bronya knew that the scene of Taluolan reuniting with his family was a sweet dream meticulously crafted by "SCP-3999," yet what difference did it make from the real world?

Even if it were a dream, one could immerse oneself in it for a while, allowing a spirit that had never been able to relax through countless loops to find a moment of respite.

Perhaps for Taluolan, his true family had ceased to exist after that massacre.

Even if the world were reset and the tragedy had never occurred, to Taluolan, they were merely a group of replicas identical to his real family.

Thinking of this, Bronya recalled the accusation made by Dr. Fermi in "Chaos Theory":

Those resurrected by "SCP-2000" were no longer the same people they once were.

She couldn't help but feel curious... what exactly is it that defines a person as a person?

Is it memory? Personality? Experience? Or the soul that would be harvested by the "Three Brothers of Death"?

"Why think so much about it?" Facing Bronya's question, Seele's answer was calm and composed.

"If Cocolia were to suddenly rise from her coffin, how would you face her?"

Bronya nodded gently, then left the wooden chair and strolled to the window, her gaze slowly moving along the newly planted greenery.

Upon seeing the horizon and the gradually recovering city of Belobog, she suddenly smiled:

"That would depend on whether she is still a true Supreme Guardian."

"There you have it..." Seele tilted her head and glanced at the giant light screen above that was still playing the file, "It's the same for Taluolan."

"Contain 3999... is it?" Bronya said in a low voice.

"Yeah," Seele nodded, "But mere containment is too light for the hatred in Taluolan's heart. If it were me, I'd risk my life to perish together with it."

"He seems to be doing just that..."

As she spoke, Bronya suddenly stopped, as if remembering something:

"The break time seems to have passed a long time ago, right?"

Seele's gaze drifted further away involuntarily.

"Perhaps... I mean perhaps, learning should be done in moderation. Just as one cannot use brute force to train martial arts, one cannot use brute force to train the mind."

Bronya watched Seele for a moment and sighed silently:

"No one can force you, Seele, but the decisions you participate in making in the future may affect hundreds of thousands, even millions of people... If you wait until then to catch up, it will be too late."

Seele fell silent, and after a long time, she slowly shook her head:

"Fine, I admit it. The future of Jarilo-VI definitely cannot be run the way it was before..."

"But just thinking about those inequality derivation processes gives me a headache... They say that when people are pushed to the edge, they can do anything, but that excludes mathematics."

Taluolan's actions not only deeply shocked Bronya, but also countless viewers.

"Sigh... how many times has Taluolan looped now? Does he really not need to stop and rest for a while? Even a fake family is a great place to relax the mind for a bit, right?"

"He probably only has one reason, one obsession left to keep living... to completely contain 3999."

"If 'SCP-3999' had chosen anyone else, it would have won logically, but the opponent it chose might have one of the most determined wills in the history of human civilization."

"Not to mention anything else, being able to watch his immediate family be executed without going insane is already beyond the limits of most people... let alone actively shattering a beautiful dream."

"But when will this end? World resets, time regressions... the people affected have no perception of it, but Taluolan's memories keep growing... until one day, the fragmented memories disrupt his normal cognition, making him forget why he is even fighting 3999 in the first place."

"In short, he's in a state where he can neither live nor die, and yet he hasn't gone mad. He's a monster of willpower."

On screen, the battle between Taluolan and 3999 continued.

【Researcher Taluolan is dead】

【Researcher Taluolan】

【Item #: SCP-3999】

【Danger Level: Apollyon】

【Special Containment Procedures:】

【"SCP-3999" cannot currently be contained and is facilitating a ZK-class reality failure scenario.】

【The most viable plan is for Researcher Taluolan, who is considered the focus of "SCP-3999," to sever all contact with his own self.】

【Researcher Taluolan must meditate at least twice a week to clear his mind of any negative thoughts.】

In a quiet room, Taluolan sat cross-legged on a cushion.

The room was decorated simply and elegantly, seemingly isolated from the outside world.

Taluolan closed his eyes, his breathing gradually becoming calm and deep. From his tense shoulders to his heavy feet, his body slowly relaxed.

Time and space lost their original meaning, and sadness and pain revealed the true nature of the events beneath them.

"Is this the method you came up with?" 3999 asked curiously.

It did not believe that Taluolan could stir up any trouble with such a small trick.

The weaker the existence, the cuter they are when they struggle.

Humans like to tease small animals this way, and it also enjoyed teasing this human who just wouldn't break.

"It's effective, at least." Taluolan slowly opened his eyes; he felt much better.

"Is that so?" 3999 said with a laugh, "Then I've thought of something fun."

【If this action fails, the subject will be shot in the head at close range with a Remington 700 sniper rifle equipped with a silencer.】

【If "SCP-3999" prevents this action, Researcher Taluolan's corpse will be quickly cleaned up with an MP5/10 submachine gun, at which point the distress signal sent by the subject will be ignored.】

Taluolan immediately deleted this part.

The battle was far from over.

【Item #: SCP-3999】

【Danger Level: Apollyon】

【Special Containment Procedures:】

【"SCP-3999" cannot currently be contained and is facilitating a ZK-class reality failure scenario.】

【The most viable plan is for "SCP-3999" to be contained by the Dursley couple living at 4 Privet Drive.】

In a daze, the scene before Taluolan changed again.

In the lush suburbs, the Dursleys' house stood, its appearance ordinary and boring.

He knew that the Dursleys were the aunt and uncle of Harry Potter, the protagonist of British author J. K. Rowling's "Harry Potter" series.

But why set the location here? Taluolan was puzzled.

He watched the characters popping up on his phone screen, watching 3999 add settings to this world.

—As long as it was a setting added by it, it would be perfectly accepted by the world, even if the underlying rules were distorted to an unbelievable degree.

【They always proudly said they were very normal people. Please, they never had anything to do with mysterious or strange things because they simply didn't believe in such nonsense.】

【Mr. Dursley served as a supervisor at a company called "Global Occult Coalition," which contained anomalies.】

Taluolan raised an eyebrow, his expression strange:

"Is this what you meant by—they never had anything to do with mysterious or strange things?"

"Of course," 3999 responded, "Anomalies are not mysterious or strange things, nor are they nonsense... Only anomalies that are not considered anomalies fall into that category."

【He was tall and burly, so fat he almost had no neck, yet he sported a full beard.】

【Mrs. Dursley was a thin, blonde woman. Her neck was almost twice as long as a normal person's.】

【This came in very handy when she spent a lot of time craning her neck over the garden fence to spy on the neighbors.】

【The Dursleys had a small son named Researcher Taluolan, and in their eyes, there was no better child in the world.】

Just then, Taluolan heard a woman's voice from the house:

"Taluolan, have you seen your brother Dudley?"

"You really have a twisted sense of humor." Taluolan raised a hand to his forehead.

"Since you don't want to acknowledge your biological parents, I'll just swap them. Do you feel any better now? Hahahahahaha!"

"Go to hell!"

【"SCP-3999" will be sealed in a pack of Starburst fruit chews and buried under 10 tons of soil consecrated by a priest of the Abrahamic faith.】

【"SCP-3999" will be sealed in a pack of Starburst fruit chews】

【All of Researcher Taluolan's colleagues must chop off their palms and gouge out their eyes in front of him】

【All of Researcher Taluolan's colleagues】