Variables and Possibilities

Doing one good deed a day was the greatest of virtues.

Li Yun was kind-hearted and could not bear to see others suffer so much. So he magnanimously shattered the wineglass in someone's hand, and incidentally gave that warrior—who dared to mix baijiu and beer with extra-spicy hot pot and was already nearing the countdown to the "gastric perforation plus alcohol poisoning" package—a memorable round of "physical induced vomiting."

This prevented the perfectly reasonable outcome where, by the time the problem was discovered and the person was sent to the hospital, it would probably already be too late, leaving him with no choice but to lie down on a slab.

Li Yun was quite satisfied with this.

After all, no one could find fault with such a thing. They might even give him a thumbs-up and praise this passing onlooker for stepping in so righteously!

...Of course, in reality, no one could actually "see" it.

—Except for a completely invisible "gaze."

"According to the Behavioral Data Model's assessment, you do not seem like someone who would proactively involve yourself in such trivial matters?"

That faint "voice," still audible only to Li Yun, quietly passed through the bustle of the streets and precisely entered its listener's ears.

Within the Main God's voice, which ought to have been as still as an ancient well, there remained a perfectly measured hint of "confusion."

Li Yun neither confirmed nor denied it.

"...That is why I said the 'humanity' you depict purely through data is not particularly accurate."

He casually dismissed the newly appeared public message—"Security Alert: Online fraud and illegal application links have recently become widespread. For the safety of your person and property, please do not casually click on unknown virus links..." —then glanced at the time on his phone.

Li Yun did not "speak" in any objective sense, either.

A simple mental signal spread outward from his consciousness. Compared to merely using biological vocal cords to vibrate the air, this alternative and efficient "language" conveyed his opinion in a far more precise and error-free form.

After all, in the eyes of others, a young man with a ponytail constantly "talking to himself" in front of empty air could only be either performance art or mentally ill.

He clearly had no intention of doing anything so absurd.

He raised his head and looked at the sky, allowing the blazing sunlight to flow from the side of his cheek down his back. Li Yun's expression remained calm.

"Main God, the human heart is filled with changeability. Its twists and turns cannot be fully depicted by a bit of data."

"Here is a simple example. Put someone before the same choice, and the decision he makes one second may be completely different from the one he makes the next. Because in that brief instant, with scarcely any gap between before and after, his intentions and thoughts may have undergone earth-shaking changes."

"When you observe people through their behavioral data, in essence, you can only see the dominant inclination at the instant they truly make a choice. You cannot determine what they were actually thinking, nor what complicated factors were involved along the way."

"Using actions to infer thoughts is like seeing only one cross-section of a sphere. It is not exactly wrong, but neither can it be called correct."

"Even human behavior itself does not completely correspond to one's thoughts. Instinctive impulses, absent-minded actions, rebellious psychology, casually going along with things because one does not care, seemingly baseless moments of 'I just want to do this,' or even wanting to do this but making a mistake with one's hands and doing that instead..."

Li Yun suddenly paused thoughtfully.

For some reason, his eyes gradually brightened.

"Generally speaking, humans are fundamentally a chaotic 'system.' With intelligence, they are no longer driven purely by instinct, and all sorts of thoughts emerge. Those complex thoughts further influence patterns of behavior, and within them lies... unpredictability."

"Unpredictability..."

"Or rather, variables... things that cannot be wholly brought within prediction using limited information."

It was as though some vague understanding had suddenly pierced that thin layer of window paper.

Li Yun was naturally no fool. He had previously entertained somewhat similar, indistinct thoughts, yet had never quite grasped the key point. Until this moment, a perfectly fitting word suddenly flashed through his mind—

"Variables."

That was right. Compared to unchanging dead things that simply drifted with the current, only living beings possessed this unpredictable nature.

Putting everything else aside.

At the most obvious level, dead things could not, like living things, "create" something new from an old foundation. Nor could they make "mistakes."

And compared to organisms driven primarily by instinct, this unpredictability—or "variables"—was obviously far richer in lives that possessed a certain degree of intelligence and selfhood, with ever-growing creativity...

Then, if that was the case... there seemed to be something special within it.

Deep in his thoughts, Li Yun keenly sensed some vague conjecture.

At first, he had not intended to extend his thoughts in this direction. That was until not long ago, when he realized that the "exchanges" which descended into certain users according to the Main God's requirements were essentially a measure of "possibility"...

Comparing the two.

This conjecture that had suddenly emerged now seemed particularly significant.

He adjusted his glasses, looked around, ignored the dust gathered on them, and simply sat down on a public bench beside the nearby roadside greenery.

With a thought, the clamor of the street beside his ears seemed to rapidly quiet down, fading bit by bit into a faint murmur, too soft to disturb his thoughts any longer.

Even the [Main God] had clearly noticed the thoughtful look on his face and, with great tact, stopped asking questions, allowing him to pause and think in peace.

Unpredictability, variables, living things, the heart, intelligent life, creativity, old and new...

Countless fragments of information from the past rapidly passed through his mind, one after another...

To be precise, Li Yun might already have guessed where the difference between "living beings" and "dead things" lay within that vast dream reflected in the Azure Mirror.

Compared to all manner of "dead things," which fell into a rut the moment they were fully born, becoming "fixed" and effectively losing their initiative.

"Living beings," which symbolized subjective initiative and possessed a self, undoubtedly held seemingly endless motion and change. Amid the choices and collisions of countless variables, they could produce all kinds of outcomes, use variables to interfere with variables, use possibilities to create possibilities, and thus nurture new developments...

And what truly drew the boundary between the two... was perhaps that insignificant "heart."

Where there was a heart, change was born.

At that moment, for some reason, Li Yun suddenly thought of a strange question—

What if, after obtaining that Azure Jade Mirror, he had not carefully considered matters, spent great amounts of time and energy, and painstakingly outlined the minute remnants of the [Cosmic Model], thereby arranging everything that followed.

What if, instead, following that vague impulse, with little left in the world to hold him back anyway, he had chosen to completely abandon those meaningless "principles," gathered resources with all his strength, piled them all onto his own "path," and climbed upward at all costs...

Then, based on his understanding of himself, at such a frenzied pace that might have been like climbing stairs to heaven, would the little accumulation of experience from merely twenty-some years of life truly have been enough to preserve his true self?

...Would that version of himself have "happened" to resemble the figure reflected within that boundless void not long ago?

Sitting by the street like a clay statue, Li Yun silently pondered for a long time. Sunlight passed through layers of leaves, scattering fragmented patches of light across his hair and shoulders, making several strands glimmer faintly as though edged in gold.

He paid no attention whatsoever to the people passing around him. Occasionally, pedestrians who noticed him as they passed would quietly stop, their gazes lingering on him. Some even discreetly pulled out their phones beneath the cover of their clothes, silently aimed their cameras at the quiet figure on the bench, and pressed the shutter.

After all, following his slight transformation, the young man's appearance could once only be described as somewhat refined and elegant, even somewhat diminished by the dull, numb aura of a perpetually overworked office drone.

But now, as all those seemingly slight and inconspicuous natural changes to his figure, skin, bearing, and spirit layered together, it was like a rough stone being cut open to reveal jade, its beauty shining forth.

At a glance, even with those particularly unfashionable black-rimmed glasses covering half his face, anyone with discerning eyes could vaguely sense the captivating grace beneath them.

In the distance, two young women had just emerged from the convenience store nearby. They opened their sun umbrellas, carried their bags, chatted, and laughed, their voices crisp and clear.

One of them, with shoulder-length hair, seemed particularly sharp-eyed. Her gaze swept over the street and accidentally noticed the figure on the bench. She gently nudged her companion with her elbow and tilted her chin in that direction.

The other followed her gaze. At first, she paid no attention, but when she looked again, her eyes brightened.

The two exchanged a glance filled with smiles and a touch of timidity.

After several rounds of nudging and exchanged looks, they hesitated for a long while, whispered a few words to each other, gathered their courage, and finally walked over.

Before long, their footsteps stopped beside the bench.

"Um... hello?"

Enviously glancing at the other man's black hair, which was even softer and more smoothly draped than her own.

The shoulder-length-haired girl spoke first. There was a probing politeness in her voice, and it even sounded a little softer than usual.

Unexpectedly, the young man did not react at all to the stranger's greeting. It was as though the sound had been directly cut off from his senses. He looked completely immersed in his own "performance art," oblivious to the world around him.

The other girl, whose hair was somewhat shorter and who still carried a shopping bag, blinked in confusion. Thinking he had not heard, she raised her voice slightly and called out again, "Hey? Student?"

Well, it had to be admitted.

With that numb office-drone air gone, Li Yun now did indeed look exceptionally young in terms of appearance and temperament. Calling him a university student was clearly more believable than calling him an office worker.

Yet even now, the figure on the bench maintained the same posture. Even the focus of his gaze did not shift. He looked entirely as though his mind had wandered far beyond the heavens.

A faint awkwardness spread through the air.

The short-haired girl frowned. After hesitating, she seemed to carefully inspect whether he wore hearing aids or anything similar. Finally, she cautiously reached out and waved a hand before his eyes.

"Hey? Are you okay?"

Seeing that he still gave no reaction at all, as though he were playing a game of wooden mannequin.

Soon, another small hand—apparently playful and somewhat mischievous—joined in, waving before him as well in an attempt to call his attention back.

There was still no response.

It moved closer and waved more forcefully, yet there was still no response...

Then, an accident happened.

Perhaps the long-haired girl had leaned in a little too close, or perhaps her gesture had been a little too broad. Her constantly waving fingertips accidentally brushed against his glasses frame.

"Click."

With a soft sound, those black-rimmed glasses slipped off cleanly and fell onto the ground beside the bench, looking exactly like they were saying, "If you dare accuse me of faking it, I dare lie down."

The two young women instantly froze.

The next moment, a gaze that seemed to have just awakened from a dream finally moved, shooting coldly toward the two somewhat reckless girls.

Only then did they clearly see the true face of the person before them.

Beneath those nearly stereotypical black-rimmed glasses were exceptionally refined brows and eyes, though his gaze was indifferent, still as a silent pool.