Chapter 406: Triple-Layer Simulation (3)

My name is Chen Ran.

Just waking up in the morning, I saw a bowl of steaming noodles with a poached egg on the bedside cabinet. I picked up the bowl, ignoring the scorching heat coming from my palm, and just held it like that.

A wandering son returning home eating noodles is a custom in our area. Looking at this bowl of noodles...

A distant memory flashed in my mind.

…

Early morning.

At the age of eleven, I sat quietly under the tiled eaves, staring blankly at the villagers carrying hoes to work in the fields.

I was thinking, if I spent my whole life like them, facing the yellow earth with my back to the sky, how boring would this life be.

They hadn't seen the prosperity of the city, hadn't seen the bustling city nightlife, hadn't seen city folks dressing lavishly, hadn't seen the sensual pleasures...

I asked my father, and his answer was like brushing off a child:

【You'll know when you grow up】

At the time, I thought he didn't know the answer either, and I felt a bit strange in my heart. My omnipotent father, the father who could solve any matter and any problem...

Seemed to not be omnipotent after all.

Later, I grew up and encountered many problems, many things, and many setbacks.

When I returned to the countryside with my father to visit my grandfather again, sitting once more under the eaves of my childhood, seeing the villagers carrying hoes to the fields, I suddenly felt a kind of...

Indescribable envy!

A lifetime facing the yellow earth with your back to the sky, such a life didn't seem too bad either.

…

Looking at the noodles in the bowl, and then looking at the familiar room, the deceit and trickery in Hell couldn't help but surface in my mind. It seemed...

Here wasn't bad either.

I picked up a pinch of noodles and put them in my mouth. It was still the familiar taste.

One bite, two bites, three bites.

A bowl of noodles was quickly finished, not even leaving the soup. Placing the bowl on the bedside cabinet, I leaned back comfortably against the headboard and lit a cigarette. At this moment, I felt my entire soul had been redeemed.

But, I still didn't dare to speak.

Approaching noon.

I accompanied my mom to buy groceries. After coming back, I found my father arguing with someone. My mom hurriedly ran forward and joined the argument.

I watched quietly, or rather, I was stunned by this scene. It was very strange...

My astute father, my omnipotent father, my well-educated and reasonable mother, my mother who was always kind in everything.

They...

Right now were like... I didn't know how to describe it. Watching them argue, several idioms flashed through my mind.

Acting unreasonably.

Making trouble out of nothing.

Throwing a fit.

Were these still my parents?

I heard the whole process clearly just now; there were obviously better ways to handle it.

Suddenly, it was as if I thought of something.

That was a sunny afternoon.

Chen Yang and I were squatting on the side of the road smoking.

"Eldest Uncle and Eldest Aunt don't seem as astute and capable as before."

Normally, Chen Yang could give an immediate answer to my questions, but this time, he was silent for a long time before saying:

"It means I've grown up."

At the time, I couldn't quite understand what he meant by this sentence, but at this moment...

In this situation and setting.

I only just realized.

So what Chen Yang meant at the time was...

They had grown old.

Suddenly, I remembered many details from the past that I had overlooked.

"Little Ran, between these two, which one is the TV remote and which one is the set-top box remote?"

"Mom, how many times have I told you? The big one is for the TV, and the small one is for the set-top box. Press the power buttons on the front row and you can watch TV."

"Little Ran, help Dad see why the phone I just bought last month is so laggy. Did I buy a counterfeit or shoddy product?"

"No, Dad, why do you have so many useless Apps on your phone? Even a new phone can't handle you treating it so roughly."

"I never downloaded these things; they ran in on their own."

"Mom, Dad, how many times have I said it? What level of expertise can a county hospital have? You guys just wouldn't listen, and even secretly had the tumor removal surgery behind my back. Now look, the doctor says it wasn't removed cleanly and there's a possibility of relapse within five years. Are you satisfied now?"

A gentle breeze blew past, pulling me back from my memories, looking at my arguing parents.

I knew, I had also grown up.

I had grown up a long time ago, only I didn't realize it at the time.

But...

I am a robot; I cannot go forward.

I cannot help them scold people.

Nor can I, like other sons, pick up a wooden stick to protect them.

I can only watch quietly.

I clearly knew.

This is Shu Renjun's Instance. He wants to trick me into violating the rules so he can kill me.

I also clearly knew.

My Superego is affecting me. It wants me to stay and make up for what I owe my parents.

I also knew.

Anger is telling me that I should kill all of them. They are playing with my emotions and all deserve to die, must die, die immediately.

Superego, rationality, madness—three types of thinking were fighting in my mind. They constantly simulated what would happen next, what to do next, what the outcome would be next.

I also clearly knew.

I am in a Superego simulation. The real me should still be in the psychiatric hospital.

I knew everything.

For example, those two questions from the doctor.

If guns hadn't been invented yet, what was the Liar-Slayer belonging to the leader of the Liar-Slayer Alliance?

Time!

The time flow in life and in Hell must be different. For example, one thousand years in Hell might only be one or two hundred years in the Living World.

For example, the player's skill incantation. The 【Liar-Slayer / Ghost Whisperer】 in the skill incantation actually means discarding the attribute of lies. If you discard an ordinary lie, you start with Liar-Slayer; if you discard a Deceiver's Tongue, you start with Ghost Whisperer.

It doesn't have much to do with the Liar-Slayer Alliance and the Deceiver Alliance themselves.

I also knew.

There was a problem with that red pill. The doctor told me that when I felt I was about to have a relapse, I should take that pill. I am a robot, and for a robot, having a relapse means showing non-robot characteristics, namely, having emotions.

In other words.

As long as I took that pill, I could clear the stage and return to the Rule-based Weird Tale Instance.

Shu Renjun had already thrown the answers right in my face.

I marveled at his terrifying nature, at his dissection of human nature. This Instance was basically certain death for players who hadn't completed Superego Heart Cultivation.

It had already been well past 15 minutes.

I still hadn't died, which meant the time flow in this Instance was extremely, extremely slow.

He deliberately adjusted the Instance time flow to be very, very slow. 15 minutes here might be 15 years, or 150 years.

He gave me enough time to accompany my parents through this entire life, even though I knew my parents were fake, but it was no use.

Of course, Shu Renjun probably didn't know what emotions in the Superego could trap me. Therefore, even if this stage was passed, there were still two more stages.

Family affection, romantic love, friendship.

Rationality told me I could easily clear every stage.

The Superego told rationality: You won't be able to pass a single one of these three stages of family affection, romantic love, and friendship.

Therefore, what trapped me...

Was never this Instance.

But myself!

This was the easiest stage I had encountered.

And also the hardest stage.