Memory Engraving

Lights.

Throughout the country, they were among the most important components of every major urban district.

The state had invested enormous funding and technology into the research and production of lights.

Especially lights installed in large hospitals like this one, which came with multiple layers of quality assurance and received professional maintenance every month. It was absolutely impossible for them to flicker abnormally like this.

Even the flickering of a single light was highly suspicious, let alone several lights across the current floors flickering at once.

Luo Di happened to be sitting on the landing between floors. To leave the stairwell, he would have to go either up or down for some distance.

Just as he was about to rush downstairs—

Tap!

The sound of a hard shoe sole stepping onto the smooth stairs suddenly rang out, exceptionally clear in the silent stairwell.

Strangely enough,

Luo Di could not tell whether the sound had come from above or below. He could only judge from its volume that the other person was just one floor away.

In other words, if Luo Di chose the wrong direction—up or down—he would run directly into them.

The person was very likely the source behind the flickering lights.

However,

upon hearing those footsteps, Luo Di became less tense. His body, which had just risen, sat back down again, as though he had already guessed something.

A pair of size forty-three leather shoes descended the stairs and soon arrived beside Luo Di.

The mysterious person spoke Mandarin with a slight foreign accent. "How did you guess it was me?"

"This is Jupiter City First Hospital, one of the core buildings in the entire city. And I just went through an Anomaly Event, so security throughout the hospital should have been raised even further.

If something abnormal could still happen under such circumstances, then the whole city was probably in danger.

Besides, I've been night running with Mr. Luo Fei for half a year. Even though the shoes are different, I could still barely hear the resemblance."

"Not bad. No wonder you were able to think of a solution under the immense pressure of the practical exercise spiraling out of control."

The visitor was none other than Luo Di's running companion, Frederick Luo Fei.

At that moment, the stairwell lights returned to normal and stopped flickering.

"Because I intervened in your incident, I spent the entire day helping deal with the aftermath. I only came over tonight to check on you.

Now it seems your physical condition really is good. Your recovery rate far exceeded expectations."

"Thank you."

"No need to thank me. A small favor like this let me sell a favor to the research unit, so it was quite a good deal. Besides, I was the one who volunteered to help you resolve the accident. I just didn't expect the accident to come so quickly.

You should have a lot of questions about this incident, right?"

Mr. Luo Fei sat down as well, patiently shifting into a mode of answering questions.

Luo Di had already arranged his questions in order and had been waiting for this moment. "I do have many questions. How was the Simulated Anomaly for the practical exercise created?"

"That question involves the core technology of the current research units, so I can't give you a complete answer. But I can tell you that the source of Simulated Anomalies is Pseudo-Humans themselves.

Some are made directly from the corpses of slain Pseudo-Humans.

Others are Pseudo-Humans who were discovered, captured, restrained, and contained, then reached some form of cooperative agreement with us and were willing to help.

The rest are purely research products."

"The Devil related to tongues, with the ability to possess people, that we encountered in the final accident—which category did it belong to?"

"The cooperative category. Its main body is imprisoned elsewhere, while a tongue cut from its body was sent to the Jupiter City research institute to create a Simulated Anomaly.

That tongue was one of the most difficult Simulated Anomalies among our local institute's projects, and you actually ran into it.

This already counts as a major error. The 'employee' who caused the accident is still being pursued, and the institute responsible for the practical exercise will probably undergo a massive restructuring and purge."

Luo Di did not care about the employee who had caused trouble. His thoughts were entirely focused on the true Devil-type anomaly and the Hell behind it.

"After I was possessed, my spirit—or rather, my consciousness—went to Hell. Was that place really Hell?"

Luo Fei was quite surprised by the question. "Oh? You actually opened your eyes and saw the scenery of Hell? Ordinary people can't even endure the most basic pain. They lose consciousness in a very short time."

"It was a rare opportunity. How could I not open my eyes and take a look?"

Luo Fei rubbed the stubble on his face, light glimmering in his eyes. "Very few people can maintain a complete sense of self when they first enter Hell, let alone open their eyes in such an extreme environment.

But your question isn't easy to answer.

I can only say that the Hell you entered truly exists on a spatial level.

But Hell's essence is still related to the Corner. It should be considered part of the Corner. Its nature is vastly different from the Hell depicted in literary works. It is an entirely different place, an extremely dangerous place."

"I roughly understand."

"From your tone, you seem quite interested in Hell."

"Yes... I saw a symbol in Hell."

Luo Di took a folded sheet of paper from his pocket. The strange symbol was drawn on it.

It consisted of three basic elements: a cross, spirals, and pentagrams. Odd characters also filled the spaces between the different spiral layers.

The overall design looked exceptionally complex.

That was why Luo Di had immediately asked the nurse for paper and a pen after waking up. No matter how good his memory was, even a slight delay could lead to deviations in the details he remembered.

Mr. Luo Fei stared at the symbol on the paper in confusion. Even with his knowledge, he had never seen it before.

"I've never seen it. After all, humanity's exploration of the Corner is still only in its early to middle stages.

But you should not record a symbol like this in this manner.

Writing it on paper could very well create resonance at a certain point in time or space, forcing you to fall into the Corner.

I'll deal with this for you. At your current level, if you fall into the Corner, you'll definitely die."

Luo Fei directly took out a lighter and ignited the paper in his hand.

Luo Di agreed with him and did not stop him. He merely watched the burning paper from the side.

But just as the symbol on the paper was about to be consumed by the flames, the patterns of the fire suddenly overlapped perfectly with the symbol in an instant, branding themselves directly into Luo Di's memory.

As the paper completely turned into black ash, Luo Di could recall every detail of the Hell Symbol with only the slightest effort.

"It should be fine if I only remember it in my brain, right?"

For some reason,

Luo Di was very interested in the symbol. Though it might contain hidden danger, perhaps an opportunity was concealed within it as well.

Luo Fei waved a hand. "If you can remember that many details, then go ahead and remember it. Things like magic circles and marks won't take effect unless they are physically drawn and the corresponding conditions are met."

"Mm. One final question: how different are simulated Anomaly Events from real Anomaly Events?"

"With current institute technology, the simulation restoration rate can probably reach around ten to thirty percent. Of course, real Anomaly Events are difficult to simulate completely, and they cannot be explained through a simple numerical comparison.

In short, for the next year, just stay in school, complete the relevant coursework and training, and focus on advancing to the next level.

Once you advance, you'll have the opportunity to formally come into contact with actual Anomaly Events."

"Alright."

"If there's nothing else you want to ask, I'll be leaving first... Oh, right."

As Mr. Luo Fei stood, he casually placed a hand on Luo Di's shoulder. "I'll tell you some good news in advance. This accidental experience of yours will be recorded in your personal files, and the Municipal Research Bureau has given you a very high personal evaluation.

As long as you complete next year's advancement assessment normally, even without my help, you'll be able to join our company as a 'talent.'

Because of competition, I can't tell you the company's specific name yet. You'll have to wait until you complete the advancement assessment before contacting me again."

"Mm."

"I look forward to your advancement assessment next year."