Experts Gathered, Snatching Snow Ginseng

Wang Tianyi's Work Log.

July 6, 1973. Weather: Heard from others, it should be sunny.

I can't stay in this place any longer! I really have to find a way out. If I don't get out soon, I'm afraid I'll go crazy.

I checked my stats. My Sanity Value has dropped to 70. As a Deceased, I shouldn't feel too many negative emotions, like mania. But when the Sanity Value starts to drop, those feelings of anxiety, fear, and irritation that you thought were long gone begin to surge in waves.

Sanity Value is the measure of one's sanity. Before Sanity Value reaches 0, a person's mental state is considered normal. However, a significant drop in Sanity Value in a short period can lead to irregular bouts of madness and phobias. Reaching 0 Sanity Value means the person has fallen into permanent madness.

Of course, these explanations are only for the living.

Human emotions and mental states are, to put it bluntly, controlled by the brain (a living brain). A Deceased's Prosthetic Body can simulate some functions of a living brain, such as thinking and analyzing, which are beneficial for completing tasks. However, other "useless" functions are weakened.

A living person's body is like a top-spec computer with a powerful CPU and massive RAM, capable of gaming, writing documents, and sending emails. A Deceased's Prosthetic Body has less RAM and a weaker CPU, so it only retains functions like writing documents and sending emails. As for gaming, it can barely run, and it will lag.

Deceased individuals are usually not sensitive to emotions and sensory input, but certain stimuli are an exception. These stimuli can pose a threat to the Deceased. Therefore, it can be understood that Sanity Value is essentially a "Master Lu" detecting if the Deceased is overheating. When Sanity Value begins to drop, the Prosthetic Body will restore some "useless" functions to alert the Deceased that the situation is not right, that it is exceptionally dangerous here.

This causes the Deceased to experience more intense emotional fluctuations than usual, often negative emotions.

However, when Sanity Value reaches 0, the Deceased doesn't go permanently insane. Instead, they fall into endless negative emotions, rendering them unable to allocate more "memory" for analysis and thought—in simple terms, their system crashes. Even restarting is difficult; they need to return to the City of the Departed to have their system redone.

The day I became a Player, a kind Player warned me to pay attention to changes in my Sanity Value. Qi Zhi once told me she had seen Players whose memories were repeatedly erased, and in the end, they existed only by their regrets, mechanically completing tasks, lost, not even knowing pain.

These Players eventually lose all their sanity. As long as they can complete tasks, they will do anything, even daring to do things explicitly forbidden within the City of the Departed. These people are inevitably dealt with by those sent by the system in the end.

It's like an antivirus program clearing bugs.

I've digressed.

Let's talk about what happened last night and today.

The Glass Jar and I continued our question-and-answer session. I told it about some things in human society, and it occasionally offered its own insights, also sharing some profound knowledge that I didn't quite understand.

Sigh, I never used to do things like this. Forget discussing academic issues; I couldn't even sit still in a classroom for a minute listening to a teacher.

But I noticed it seemed to have developed a strong interest in human relationships.

"I've read many books, and I've found that many of them describe the emotions between people—love, suspicion, hatred, pity... In my opinion, these are useless. They can neither solve problems nor acquire knowledge."

"Uh..." I was speechless.

"Do you agree with my view? Are these emotions superfluous?"

"No, it's precisely because I love my family that I have the motivation to face each day and work hard," I said, not knowing how else to refute it, only able to voice my thoughts.

"But wouldn't abandoning all distractions allow for more focused effort? And what I've seen most of is suspicion and hatred between people. If this energy were redirected to work, wouldn't efficiency increase?"

"And these emotions cause people to engage in internal conflict. Shouldn't a race focus on collective development and exploring more knowledge together? If one person falls in love with or hates another, will they gain more knowledge?"

"..." I missed Tang Yuan terribly. If he were here, he would probably have something to say.

"Also, the fact that the same person can experience completely opposite emotions like love and hate is worth studying. You are also human; do you have someone you love or hate?"

"The person I loved most in this life was my daughter, but sadly, she is no longer here. So, no matter what happens, I will follow her last wish and strive to survive."

"The person I hate most in this life is myself."

"Incomprehensible, I can't understand what gives you such great energy." This topic was quickly dropped.

Later that evening, the man who first brought me in submitted his report.

He glanced at it and smiled slightly, "Well done. You've obtained very valuable data for us, and at the fastest speed possible. You've passed the test and are now officially one of us. Congratulations."

As a reward, I was allowed to leave the laboratory and move freely in other areas.

After gaining free movement, I discovered that this place was actually an underground facility.

There were many laboratories, all seemingly researching different subjects.

Most of the subjects were creatures I had never seen before: monsters that eat corpses, humanoid monsters that looked like mermaids... In addition to these, I saw some strange machines. These machines looked like they served no purpose, yet researchers would find "volunteers" from who-knows-where to use them.

After the machines were activated, nothing happened, and then these "volunteers" would be sent out again.

Why quote "volunteers"? Because almost all of these people were bound when they entered, wearing suspicious, identical clothing that looked remarkably like hospital gowns. Some of them resisted violently but were quickly injected with something and fell into a deep sleep.

After the machines finished their operation, these individuals would wake up, no longer resisting, and even seemed quite affectionate towards the researchers.

Aside from the monsters and perplexing human experiments, strange totems were drawn all over the institute, looking very much like the magic circle beneath the Glass Jar.

Then I tried to find an exit, but I failed.

This place strongly resembles a research institution or organization from a cult film, and perhaps it truly is.

And they are still conducting illegal human experiments.

I had previously heard the Glass Jar talk about the Great Race Is, and my suspicions grew deeper.

Then I asked the Glass Jar.

"Do you know what the humans who come here are doing? Why do they stop resisting after the experiments? Is it related to your Is Race?"

"Oh, you don't know? They are vessels helping my people come to this era. These people are volunteers who willingly help us. In exchange, we teach them some knowledge."

"You are also human?"

"No, no. I didn't choose a human body. To obtain more data, I chose a different kind of body."

Those people weren't there willingly at all; the people from the research institute used illegal means to force innocent individuals to participate in these matters.

"But that doesn't make sense. Based on what you've said, your status should be higher than the humans in the research institute. Why would they lock you up?" I asked, confused. If these humans worship the Great Race Is, why would they lock up Qi Zhi, who is part of the Is Race?

"Because our relationship is fundamentally equal. We locked her up to observe data and to see if this kind of body is suitable for us." A deep male voice came from behind me.

I turned my head. It was the man who had guided me from the beginning. He stood there expressionlessly, not like a living person.

Wait... you?

Looking at this man, I suddenly realized something terrifying.

"Alright, since you've also qualified, prepare for the exchange."

Here, besides me, there are no humans.