Games and Memes

The overhead Lights illuminated the corridor as brightly as day.

The cell phone, which Explosion for unknown reasons, was beyond repair, leaving a large charred mark on the ground and wall.

"... It's impossible for something this big to happen at the base so suddenly."

Looking at his destroyed phone, after a moment of silence, the Dead Zero spoke.

"Although Zhuge Yun is quite annoying, he is still quite capable. Although that voice sounds very similar to his, I don't think it's his voice."

"Voices can indeed be faked, but what else?"

Looking at the Young Girl in front of him, Bai Zhi raised an eyebrow slightly.

"There's nothing dangerous stored here."

The Dead Zero, raised his head and looked at him.

"With Large-scale Campaign Quest currently underway in Binhai City, the Inner World has enveloped the entire Binhai City. It's impossible for any outrageous supernatural Anomaly to appear here, let alone anything about the destruction of the world... Is this just a cruel joke?"

Looking back at the two ice sculptures inside, Dead Zero frowned deeply.

"But what if a so-called joke drags two innocent people into this..."

"Then let's use the process of elimination."

Bai Zhi shrugged slightly, his expression noncommittal.

"First, someone did die right in front of us, and the body underwent strange changes. Second, a voice resembling Zhuge Yun appeared on your phone, giving us a mission to prevent that thing inside the research institute from escaping... Wait, if that's the case..."

Suddenly, as if remembering something, Bai Zhi turned around and glanced behind him, his expression becoming slightly subtle.

What came to your mind?

Seeing the Bai Zi's movements, Dead Zero's heart couldn't help but stir.

"I have indeed thought of something... By the way, I have a question for you."

Bai Zhi snapped his fingers and looked at the Young Girl beside him.

"You brought me here today not only for these so-called Qualification Review, but also because you're interested in Walkthrough Game... Have you ever Walkthrough any of those Game before?"

"No Game..."

After thinking for a moment, the Dead Zero, shook his head.

"When I returned to this city, it coincided with the start of Large-scale Campaign Quest. At that time, the Game hadn't officially launched yet. Although I had some knowledge of the Game, it wasn't very deep. Due to the Special of my work, I hadn't been here many times."

"Yeah?"

Bai Zhi's lips twitched slightly, and he vaguely guessed what was going on. He then asked the Young Girl in front of him.

"So, the second question is, how many times have you beaten up that Zhuge Yun... or rather, how many times have you killed that guy?"

"I can't remember."

It seemed that he had actually tried to think about it, and after a moment, the Dead Zero shook his head.

"However, if you add up the number of times I've killed him, it's probably over a hundred. It's gotten to the point that it's become a conditioned reflex; whenever I see him appear in front of me, I instinctively draw my sword... What's wrong?"

"... It's nothing, it's just that we probably got tricked by that guy this time."

Rolling his eyes, Bai Zhi looked slightly speechless.

"Based on the information we have so far, we're probably in the [Game] you mentioned... probably after you killed the other person in the elevator, we entered the [Game]."

"Have we entered the [Game]?"

After hearing Bai Zhi's words, the Dead Zero was quite taken aback.

"Didn't you say before that as the person in charge of the Game, you can make certain changes to [the Game] itself? That's what that guy did."

Bai Zhi pursed his lips.

"To make sure we wouldn't suspect anything immediately, that guy changed the background textures, replaced the character models, and even did the voice acting... You're right, that guy really is annoying, he's just bored and has nothing better to do."

"..."

After remaining silent for a while, the Dead Zero had to admit that Bai Zhi's words did indeed make a lot of sense.

If they were indeed unknowingly pulled into the Game in the elevator from that moment on, then all the questions from that time until now have a completely reasonable answer.

"... There are only two ways to leave the Game: one is to die and naturally exit the Game, and the other is to completely Walkthrough the Game."

After a moment of silence, the Dead Zero began to speak.

"All the Perfect, detailed Walkthrough for this Game are kept in the Archives Room... With a complete Walkthrough, the Game takes two to four hours to complete. Without Walkthrough, the Game takes more than ten hours to complete."

"Ten hours? Don't worry, it won't take that long. Let's hurry and get it done in an hour."

With a slight shrug, Bai Zhi turned to look at the Archives Room behind him.

"Based on the information we have so far, the Game's plot is quite straightforward. A research institute storing highly dangerous Item suddenly goes out of control, and the institute's director, before dying, is forced to seal off the entire facility. Our task is to survive in this now dangerous institute and find a way to deal with the thing that escaped... I think that thing that escaped, supposedly capable of destroying the entire world, is probably [Meme]."

"... [Meme]?"

"That's right, this is something even more dangerous Anomaly. It has a very strong ability to spread. If that Eerie Thing were to escape from this research facility, destroying the world would be an easy and enjoyable task..."

Reaching out to touch his chin, Bai Zhi couldn't help but narrow his eyes.

Meme are somewhat similar to genes, both being effects governed by hereditary laws. However, genes pass on lineage, while Meme Transmission information.

The so-called information here is incredibly diverse; it could be a common cold, a single sentence, or even a supernatural phenomenon that defies the laws of physics.

For example, the meme "The Clown Is Me" that went viral online a while ago can actually be called a Meme, except that this kind of purely informational Meme is not harmful at all.

However, it is no exaggeration to say that a Meme that is harmful to humanity can easily destroy a world if it is not effectively contained and contained in its early stages.