Chapter 746

"Very normal." Herta, sitting on the side, commented, "The more one lives in the virtual, the more prone one is to similar tendencies."

"Moreover, this kind of thinking should be called a classic among classics... Fatalists, mechanical materialists gather in places like this; there is a lot of this content."

"Oh, I see." Asta nodded.

Suddenly, she received a message from Bai Xuan, and her thoughts about whether the world was real and whether the story was written by an upper-narrative narrator dissipated in an instant.

In the air, a pink, sour smell immediately diffused; at least Herta felt it.

"What did that kid Bai Xuan say?" Herta was straightforward.

"Bai Xuan said he is helping to arrest Kafka on the 'Luo Fu' Xianzhou... no, it's not what you think." Asta hurriedly corrected herself.

Her eyes looked to the side unconsciously, and her cheeks quickly flushed, like a ripe apple.

"I understand, I understand."

Herta patted Asta on the shoulder, taking the opportunity to re-examine Asta's various data.

How exactly did she develop... her figure is not much different from "Stelle"... one by one, are they all natural?

At the same time, the "Foundation Grand Game" forum.

Posts about "SCP-3999", about Talloran, and about the upper-narrative narrator kept popping up.

"Simply understand the whole file: an anomaly that can bend reality is bound to Talloran, and then the two start fighting?"

"'3999 is everything', '3999 is pain', '3999 is death'... 'So, stop asking', 'Don't waste time here'... Looking at it from the other side, it feels like this file was compiled by 3999 itself."

"'Hateful self', 'lovable self'... I can't empathize; everyone has their own pain. But at least this 'Talloran' might not have to suffer anymore."

"To be cold in the midst of a fanatical song, to see the abyss in the sky, to see nothingness in all eyes, to be saved in the midst of no hope."

"So, the containment file of 'SCP-3999' should be the autobiography of this upper-narrative narrator? It feels like while creating, he is also complaining?"

"'SCP-3999' should be the manifestation of some mental illness; the battle between 3999 and Talloran is the manifestation of his battle with the illness."

"Is mental illness that painful?" someone left a message.

"Some are, others I'm not sure. Because of my profession, I have come into contact with many depression patients; they feel severe pain and even have a feeling of suffocation."

"Understanding it this way, maybe in the eyes of this upper-narrative narrator, because of mental illness, the world is like a ZK-class world apocalypse... So, 'I love myself, I hate myself'?"

While the audience was discussing.

The screen switched again, and the camera returned to the containment room of 3999, that deep shaft.

"... It's time to end, old buddy."

"In the past three million years, you have embodied all things, replacing all the reality I could perceive, just to make me collapse and submit to you."

"But I survived, and I also deeply understood this point."

Talloran revealed a tired smile, his eyelids slightly open, seemingly ready to close at any time, making people feel he would fall asleep at any moment.

"I also finally realized that it's not just you who possesses this power, but also me..."

"You have always been afraid that I could realize this,"

"Now, it's time to end all of this; let's lay our cards on the table."

"I will take away the bad part of you—the 'upper-narrative narrator', and let the 'upper-narrative narrator' be liberated from your oppression."

At this very moment, the world he was in finally returned to normal.

3999 could no longer rewrite reality at will, write scripts, and make the world a mess.

"Can you do it?" 3999 shouted arrogantly, "If you can do it, just try!"

"If you could do it, why would you have been tortured by me for the past three million years, played by me, for a full three million years! Three million!"

"Then how could the 'upper-narrative narrator' discard me? If he could discard me, how could I have been written into the story by him and manifested in this narrative layer?"

"No, he can do it... precisely because he can do it, I can also do it." Talloran took a deep breath and sat quietly on the bed.

"The difference is, I will die with you, and he will gain a new life."

"Are you joking? Hahaha!" 3999 laughed for a while, "You won't do that."

Talloran didn't say anything more; he raised his hand and created a family photo out of thin air—that was the happiest time of his life in his memory.

The next moment, a corner of the family photo began to disappear.

Along with it, the power he had just realized he possessed was rapidly canceling out and fading away with the power of "SCP-3999".

Along with his life.

"Damn it! You can't do this!" This time, it was finally "SCP-3999"'s turn to wail, scream, and scratch.

"Don't you want to live anymore? Don't you want to go on vacation with your family? Don't you want to see which brat marries your sister?..."

Talloran didn't tell 3999.

Not long ago, on a night he couldn't sleep, he went to another world and saw the upper-narrative narrator who "created" him, a man struggling bitterly.

3999 was precisely his nightmare, a shadow lingering around him, refusing to dissipate.

Soon, Talloran felt the family photo in his hand completely disintegrate, dissipating into the world, never to exist again.

"My story, it's over."

Talloran lay calmly on the bed in the containment room, his eyelids trembling, finally covering his pupils and closing completely.

At the last moment before his life ended, he saw the towering walls of the shaft, saw the Scranton Reality Anchors emitting sparks, and saw the pitch-black, lightless top of the shaft.

He saw a man in a black robe wearing a monocle waving at him.

The next moment, his body relaxed, his palms spread out, and the phone fell to the side.

The screen displayed two lines of text.

【 Item #: SCP-3999 】

【 Danger Level: Neutralized 】

Thus, the screen ended. ===== CHAPTER 748 =====