Chapter 737: The existence of the upper-narrative narrator; what is

A small play with no discernible meaning or joy was being performed; Herta and Asta looked at each other, staring blankly, completely bewildered.

"What is this?"

Asta fell into silence.

She couldn't help but wonder if her understanding of "jokes" was skewed, or if the punchline in this little play was simply too high-level, beyond her comprehension.

The file for "SCP-3999" played on, leaving one deeply shocked; while admiring the golden spirit of Talloran,

one also felt a bit dizzy...

Fundamentally, Talloran had almost never been given a moment to breathe since the beginning; "SCP-3999" constantly devised new ways and methods, wanting to make him submit, collapse, and have his soul shattered.

Following Talloran's journey, Herta also felt a bit weary.

Endless torture, ceaseless reincarnation, day after day, with no end in sight, no hope to be seen, and not even the choice to die.

"Moreover, 'SCP-3999' can even briefly influence Talloran's mind, making him forget who he is and what he is doing for a certain period."

Herta did not consider this a good phenomenon.

Of course, there was another possibility.

That is, the cycles Talloran truly experienced had already reached an unfathomable number.

In this incredibly long time, Talloran's experiences from the first few decades had been diluted and worn away, to the point where he himself, unknowingly, could no longer remember them.

"So, how much time has passed? How many more hardships must Talloran endure?"

"How much time has passed? Eight hundred thousand years? Or nine hundred thousand?"

Talloran sat on the ground; the cold of the natural world seemed unable to affect him anymore.

"Can't this all just end? I've truly had enough; I don't want to live, but I must go on living..."

His leg was twisted unnaturally, clearly broken, but Talloran acted as if he had lost the sense of pain, his expression calm as he talked to himself.

"You and I have been torturing each other for so long, attempting to contain one another; now, what tricks do you have left that you haven't used?"

"Ha... do you know? Sometimes, I only remember that I still have family; they seem to be dead, but then again, they don't..."

"However, when I try to recall carefully, I suddenly find that I can only remember some hazy shadows, and then I can't continue..."

"But you shouldn't have similar troubles and pain, right? For you, does such a long time differ at all from a single instant?"

Talloran toyed with his phone as if shuffling playing cards.

How he first got tangled up with "SCP-3999"... he couldn't quite remember that either.

Never mind, once the new cycle begins, he'll find the answer; there's still plenty of time, it doesn't matter if he can't remember.

Besides, there's no exam... speaking of which, what was an "exam" again?

"I thought you had almost forgotten how to communicate with me." 3999's voice sounded. "The first million years are almost over; I didn't expect you to really be able to hold on."

"Do you need a little red flower as a prize?"

Talloran nodded, raised his hand, and watched a little red flower grow out from his flesh.

It hurt a little, but it also seemed not to hurt at all.

"What kind of existence are you, exactly?"

"An existence that transcends logic, space-time, and dimensions; a manifestation of a portion of the upper-narrative narrator within the lower narrative."

"Eh? You're actually not the upper-narrative narrator?"

This time, it was Talloran's turn to be shocked.

"Naturally not. If I were the upper-narrative narrator in the flesh, you would have to do whatever I wanted you to do." 3999 sighed.

In the final moments of this cycle, it gave Talloran a rough explanation of what a narrative layer is and what an upper-narrative narrator is.

A narrative layer is the level where a work resides, which is the meaning of a work itself.

When a character in one story writes another story, different narrative layers appear, and each sub-narrative layer is created and controlled by a higher-level narrative layer. ===== CHAPTER 739 =====