A winnable match had been forcibly reset. What a tragedy.
I never should have gotten greedy.
After fighting all afternoon, I ended up becoming Aha's entertainment...
It was all my own fault.
Even if he got another chance, Lin Nai would never choose that damn Mask of the Fool!
Never!
Withdrawing his gaze, Lin Nai stopped paying attention to the so-called Mask of the Fool and turned to leave.
Even if it seemed suspicious, there was nothing he could do about it.
Perhaps he should visit the laboratory that had created the dream-entry machine and see whether they had a solution?
Since they could make that kind of machine,
that meant they must have possessed a deep understanding of dreams and conducted extensive research into them.
Asta's condition was probably a coma.
Combined with the strange dream Abraham had mentioned that morning,
he did not know whether it counted as a clue, but he could only treat a dead horse as if it were alive.
Even if there was only the slightest hope, the faintest clue, he had to try.
But before that,
he still had to deal with the work Asta had not finished.
Several hours later,
Lin Nai, having helped Asta finish today's work, arrived at a laboratory.
The researchers inside looked rather energetic.
They were nothing like the people outside, who were drowsy, listless, and looked as though they had been drugged too hard.
That made Lin Nai breathe a sigh of relief. At the very least, he would not have to figure out how to search for research materials himself later.
"Isn't this Lin Nai? Why did you suddenly come here?"
A white-haired old man approached with a cheerful smile.
He was the person in charge of this laboratory.
He seemed like quite a kind old man, and this experimental project appeared to have been led by him as well.
"I wanted to ask whether there are any materials here about dreams. I heard someone mention it when I was in the medical bay."
"Oh, did that little so-and-so from someone's family tell you?"
"That little so-and-so from someone's family?"
"I'm old, so I forgot his name. Cut an old man some slack."
The lead researcher smiled helplessly.
Lin Nai glanced at the man's employee badge. He felt that the name the supervisor had forgotten probably had nothing to do with old age.
Chadao Zigong.
Well...
The universe was huge. It was normal for some people to have strange names, right?
It sounded strange when spoken aloud.
It looked even stranger written down.
"So, Lin Nai, why did you suddenly become interested in dreams?"
the lead researcher asked kindly.
"I'm just curious. I wanted to learn a little about them."
"Then that's great! Come, come, let me show you our latest achievement!"
"Our latest achievement?"
Seeing the lead researcher become even more enthusiastic, Lin Nai did not think much of it.
He was simply curious.
If he remembered correctly, Chadao had said before... at the current stage, they could not conduct experiments within dreams, but reviewing old knowledge and the like should not be a problem.
So what about the new stage?
They arrived before a machine, and the lead researcher introduced it enthusiastically. "This is our new achievement!"
"This is a... coffin?"
"What coffin?! How can you say that, kid?! This is called a Sleep Pod!" The lead researcher slapped Lin Nai's shoulder in displeasure.
Why did he have to put it so unpleasantly?
Lin Nai wanted to say something, then stopped. How should he put it? No matter how he looked at it, that thing resembled a coffin.
But if he kept talking, Lin Nai was afraid the old man might collapse and demand compensation.
Then he would be forced to sponsor him.
He did not have much spending money to begin with. Wouldn't that make things even worse?
"In the new version, we uploaded a huge number of books into this machine, which then influences our brainwaves."
The lead researcher introduced the machine's brand-new functions. "That way, we can learn new knowledge while asleep without having to worry about physical fatigue."
Ah...
Wouldn't that make things even more competitive?!
Lin Nai felt that if this thing were heavily promoted, it might sell like crazy.
Especially on the Space Station.
Or among parents who wanted to arrange tutoring for their children.
Supply might not even keep up with demand.
"Wow... So, how do you use it?"
Lin Nai blinked curiously.
Sure enough.
He still wanted to know whether reading dirty books counted as studying.
"Want to try it out?"
"Can I?"
"Of course! Don't worry, it's very safe. The testing has already been completed!"
The lead researcher opened the coffin... no, opened the Sleep Pod and had Lin Nai lie down.
Lin Nai did as instructed and cooperatively put on a helmet.
It gave him the illusion that he was about to enter a virtual online game.
Hmm...
Would he have to say something like, "Lynx, big head," later? Would that be more fitting?
"So what happens next?"
"Just sleep. Here, drink this. It'll calm your nerves."
The lead researcher handed him a tube of medicine.
Lin Nai checked it with the system. Once he confirmed that it would not harm him, he drank it.
Right after that,
he began to feel drowsy, and the moment he closed his eyes, he fell asleep.
As for the researchers, aside from those monitoring Lin Nai's physical data to see whether anything went wrong,
the rest went back to their own work.
They had tested this machine over and over again, so an accident was highly unlikely.
Still, just in case, someone needed to keep watch.
"Phew..."
Opening his eyes, Lin Nai found himself in a place much like a library.
There were all kinds of categories above him.
Science fiction, history, literature, medicine, and so on.
Lin Nai surveyed the space around him with great interest.
A massive library.
It was rather interesting.
It was obvious that this was the so-called major improvement.
After all, his mind did not contain things like "Internal Medicine" or "Infectious Diseases."
Nor did it contain piles of formulas he could not understand at all.
If it were knowledge from his own mind...
"Five Years of College Entrance Exams, Three Years of Mock Tests," along with heaps of exam papers and textbooks, might have filled the entire space.
"So, back to the same question... does reading dirty books count as studying?"
Following the principle that practice was the sole criterion of truth,
Lin Nai reached out and began searching through his memories.
He needed to think about it with a critical, learning-oriented mindset...
If that was the case...
"There it is!" Lin Nai held the book and flipped through it twice. "So the answer is already obvious."
He did not know whether it was because he was in a dream or because he truly approached it with a critical and studious mindset.
He had absolutely no worldly desires right now. He was calmer than after post-nut clarity.
So...
There was no point in looking at this either.
Thinking that, Lin Nai tossed away what he was holding.
Bzzzt—
"Hmm?"
Lin Nai paused, faintly furrowing his brow. "Has the surrounding environment become blurry?"
Bzzzt—
The strange sound of electric currents rang out again.
Very quickly,
Lin Nai discovered that everything around him was becoming indistinct and beginning to disappear one by one.
And then...
As he stared at the baby-faced sun rising into the sky, the universe flashed through Lin Nai's mind.
Before you continue