True and False (Part One)

Looking at Old Li's face, which seemed to say "I'm still a baby," Feng Xue had an urge to pull out her filter. After all, compared to seeing this old face trying to be cute, giving him a virtual avatar would at least be more comfortable to look at.

Of course, this was just a thought. After an awkward silence of a few seconds, he changed the subject:

"Then let's talk about other issues, such as why True Thing I brought back from other worlds turned into False Thing?"

"Oh? That's quite rare."

Upon hearing Feng Xue's words, Old Li's face immediately showed a hint of curiosity, and he promptly asked:

"Will it become False Thing in the Infinite City, or False Thing in the real world?"

"Although not all of them were inspected in Infinite City, considering that some were True Thing Infinite City, they must have become False Thing in the real world," Feng Xue said ambiguously. Old Li nodded in agreement.

"While this is relatively rare, it's still a fairly common occurrence. Well, to put it a bit convoluted, just be careful in the future. If a True Thing becomes False Thing after being brought to the Infinite City, it means that the connection between that world and the Infinite City has only recently begun, and the flow of rules between them is not yet perfect. Try to avoid using the powers of that world outside of your original world. Of course, you can use Phantom Object."

"So, according to you, the transformation of True Thing into False Thing in the real world is also due to imperfect rules governing circulation?" Feng Xue reacted quickly and immediately asked.

Upon hearing this, Old Li nodded in agreement.

"That's how it is. Although they're all called False Thing, there are some subtle classifications, but these classifications aren't really related to ordinary ghost Weird Tale, so while this term exists, it doesn't really have any practical significance."

Seeing that Feng Xue remained silent, Old Li immediately explained:

"False Thing can be broadly divided into two types: those that are False Thing from the beginning, and those that become False Thing later."

"How so?"

Feng Xue had some initial guesses about how False Thing were created, but upon hearing that there were even items that False Thing from the very beginning, she immediately became curious.

There are many, many worlds in this world, but they can be roughly divided into two categories: the Benchmark World and the Fantasy World. The Benchmark World is a world that evolves and arises on its own due to natural factors. As for how it evolves, no one knows. You can treat it as something like an axiom. Of course, some people say that the so-called Benchmark World is also someone else's Fantasy World, but this is like the brain in a vat. There is no possibility of falsification, so there is no point in discussing it.

"The so-called Fantasy World is a world constructed by the interweaving of information born in the Benchmark World. Because the amount of information needed to construct Fantasy World usually requires a civilization in the real sense, you can also think of the Fantasy World as a world derived from the fantasies of intelligent beings in the Benchmark World."

Hearing Old Li's answer, Feng Xue pondered for a moment and realized it was somewhat similar to a theory she often used when writing novels in her previous life. Her expression became subtle as she said:

"In other words, if I write a novel, the information within the novel will construct a fantastical fictional world?"

"Possibly, but not necessarily," Old Li shook his head and said.

"Even the smallest Fantasy World requires an enormous amount of information. Unless it's a world-renowned masterpiece, it's almost impossible to construct a Fantasy World with just one work. But conversely, if many people create based on certain default rules, or by coincidence, create works with similar underlying structures, the information generated by these works will become intertwined, eventually creating a Fantasy World. Sometimes, even between two Benchmark World, certain ideas that happen to be synchronized by coincidence will become intertwined, constructing a shared Fantasy World between the two worlds."

"Hmm, so you're saying a single, flopped work lacks sufficient information, but a series of works based on shared settings can? For example, fantasy novels based on Sword and Magic frameworks could collectively construct a Fantasy World with fantasy rules? Or, if a novel has a large number of fan works, it's possible that a Fantasy World based on the novel's settings could emerge?"

As Feng Xue spoke, what came to mind wasn't the "Naruto world," the "One Piece world," the "mysterious world," or the "Infinite Flow world," but rather the "Koi Fan world." After all, the influence of a single work is limited, but the eroticism is a universal emotion. And what kind of landscape would Fantasy World based on the rules of Koi Fan and Eastern action films be?

Old Li clearly had no idea what Feng Xue was thinking. He simply nodded calmly, then changed the subject First Turn:

"So, how do you think the False Thing and True Thing are distinguished in the Landfill Area of Infinite City?"

"Ah, this..." Feng Xue was stunned for a long time before finally offering her guess based on Old Li's previous answer, not expecting Old Li to suddenly raise such a question.

"Are items from the Benchmark World True Thing, and items from the Fantasy World False Thing?"

"That's not a problem then." Old Li's answer was somewhat ambiguous. He paused for a moment, as if organizing his thoughts, until a new pot of water boiled, and he began brewing fresh tea, saying:

"To put it another way, do you think Fantasy World can become Benchmark World?"

"It should... be possible, right?" Feng Xue wasn't entirely sure, but judging from Old Li's tone, it should be.

"The answer is yes and no." Old Li's words were like a riddle, and Feng Xue almost wanted to punch him to make him think twice. However, Old Li didn't keep her in suspense; after uttering that seemingly pointless statement, he immediately gave his explanation—

"Having seen so many doors, you should understand that real people and matter from the present world are transformed into information after entering the Infinite City, and they revert back to 'matter' after leaving. Since information and matter can be transformed into each other, what is the difference between the Benchmark World constructed from matter and the Fantasy World constructed from information?"

"Then why do you say it can't be?" Feng Xue frowned. According to this theory, even the Infinite City, Weird Tale parasitizes a planet in the Benchmark World, can complete the conversion of information and matter. Why can't Fantasy World become a material world?

"Because there isn't enough information." Old Li's answer was simple and direct.

"It's like two islands having enough technology to build a bridge across the sea between them, but in reality they can't do it because the materials on both islands combined aren't enough to power the bridge."

"Similarly, although data can be converted into matter, the amount required is simply too large. The information overflowing from just one or two worlds is far from enough to make a Fantasy World the Benchmark World."

"So, the difference between True Thing and False Thing lies in the amount of information they contain? But that doesn't make sense. If that's all there is to it, there's no reason why True Thing can be eaten while False Thing cannot!"