Results Settlement

"Congratulations on completing the Dream Realm Device's 'Doomsday Survival' mission and successfully surviving for one hundred and eighty days. This dream's difficulty level was zero. Your results are now being calculated."

"Calculation complete. You have earned 50 Points in this dream. Keep up the good work and achieve even better results in your next dream."

"Congratulations on completing a full dream for the first time. Your reward has been issued to your Personal Backpack. Please check it."

"The next dream will begin in one month. Please look forward to it."

Chen Xu asked, "What are Points?"

"Points are rewards obtained after completing a dream, based on a comprehensive evaluation of your performance. Before a dream begins, you may use Points to exchange for certain auxiliary items."

After hearing that, Chen Xu was a little disappointed. It seemed they could only be exchanged for things used within the dream world. They could not be used in reality.

As a result, he no longer had much expectation for the reward he had received.

He opened his Personal Backpack and saw a card. Strange patterns covered its back, immediately drawing his gaze. "Open it."

The card flipped over, revealing a bare-chested man holding something like a javelin, poised to throw it.

"Congratulations on obtaining the Talent Card—Throwing Precision. Would you like to use it?"

Chen Xu had no way of judging the card's value. He only felt that this was starting to look like a game.

But then again, that made sense. This was a single-player virtual game. He had just cleared a dungeon and received Gold Coins—Points—as well as a Skill Book—a Talent Card.

Nothing wrong with that.

He said, "Use it."

The card lit up, and the javelin in the man's hand turned into a meteor that flew toward him.

The light was so dazzling that he could not open his eyes. Then, a rough voice sounded in his ears. "No matter how powerful a talent is, it will still go to waste without diligent training."

A few seconds later, everything returned to normal.

He was somewhat surprised. "The effects are pretty flashy. Maybe this talent really is quite powerful. Well, I can give it a proper try in the next dream."

All right, everything was taken care of. It was time to wake up.

Chen Xu felt as though he had awakened from a long dream. His mind was a little muddled, and it took several minutes of lying there before he fully regained his senses.

He walked to the window, opened it, and watched the pedestrians downstairs while listening to all kinds of sounds drifting in from outside. In the past, he had always found the noise outside too loud and irritating.

But now, even the noise sounded so pleasant.

"Sure enough, you only learn to cherish something after losing it."

He sighed. Only after spending so long in that empty, deserted world of the dream did he realize how hard-won the conveniences of modern life were.

He stood by the window for several minutes before suddenly sensing that something was off.

He had just experienced separation and death in the dream, so why did he not feel sad at all? Why was he still in the mood to leisurely admire the view? Once he thought about it, he discovered something even stranger. His memories of the dream had become extremely vague. He still remembered the general events, but none of the details clearly.

"What exactly is going on?"

He was a little shocked. If he woke up and could not remember the contents of the dream, then what was the point of such a Virtual Dream? "Please rest assured. This is the device's anti-addiction mechanism, designed to prevent the contents of dreams from causing users excessive psychological impact. For a period after waking, memories of the dream will become blurred. As time passes, those memories will gradually return."

Chen Xu was somewhat surprised. The Dream Realm Device had actually taken the initiative to answer him. Before this, no matter how he called for it, it had never responded.

Could it be that gaining Points had raised his authority level?

The thought only flashed through his mind before he asked a more practical question. "How long will it take to remember everything completely?"

"One month."

One month was not long.

Come to think of it, he felt that this anti-addiction mechanism was necessary. Otherwise, it would have an enormous impact on real life.

With a month as a buffer, the shock would not be so intense.

"Maybe I should find an opportunity to resign."

The thought suddenly surfaced in his mind. Although he could not remember the details, he still knew what had happened in the dream.

In the dream, he had lived with Luo Xiyun, and they had slept together.

But in reality, he and Luo Xiyun were strangers. It would probably be awkward if they met. Besides, she had a boyfriend. Just thinking about it made him feel awful.

Once his memories of the dream fully returned, it would probably hurt even more.

"I never considered how I would face her after the dream ended." He felt rather depressed. This was simply making trouble for himself.

Still, it was too late for regrets. He should find a new job instead.

With that thought, he stared blankly at a high-rise building in the distance. As he thought, an idea surfaced in his mind, and he could not help asking, "Do you think it's possible that the real Luo Xiyun somehow resonated with the one in the dream and awakened her memories of it?"

"The possibility is zero. Characters in dreams are Artificial Intelligence based on real people. The possibility you described cannot occur."

Chen Xu naturally knew that it was impossible, and he sighed.

"Warning, warning. System data error detected. Entering self-diagnostic mode..."

Suddenly, a piercing warning rang out in Chen Xu's mind, startling him. Streams of data flickered constantly across his vision.

What was going on? He was stunned.

He had finally obtained a Golden Finger and thought he was about to reach the peak of his life. Yet after his very first dream ended, his Golden Finger was already about to break?

He could not be this unlucky, could he? He groaned inwardly, but could only stand there and worry helplessly.

More than ten minutes later, the jumping streams of data before his eyes finally vanished, returning to the original interface.

"Is it done?"

He cautiously switched through the interface several times. It seemed there was no problem.

However, no matter how he called for it, that voice did not appear again.

"Could my authority have dropped again?" He could not help but smile bitterly.

No matter what, he was already extremely grateful that the Dream Realm Device could still be used.

In a luxurious apartment somewhere in the city, Luo Xiyun jolted awake from her sleep. Touching her face, she found it covered in tears. "What's wrong with me?"

She sat up and pressed a hand to her forehead, feeling that her mind was somewhat muddled. She felt as though she had had an incomparably long dream.

Suddenly, she remembered something. She hurriedly picked up her phone and dialed a number. She was so nervous that her knuckles had turned white.

"Hello—"

When an aged voice sounded from the other end of the call, she burst into tears.