Memory Contamination

[System Points: 6 (load deduction -1, cybernetic modification -5, training plan -1, hospital check-in +4)]

[Save-Load Count: 1]

After returning to his save point.

Chen Feng shook his head. It probably wasn't a big problem.

"Good thing I had the foresight to save beforehand. Otherwise, getting burned to death would've sent me back to that little black room to start all over again."

"Now I know how we gave ourselves away. All I have to do is stop Guolong from posting, and we'll be safe."

"Losing a life sucks, but looking on the bright side, points are tight right now, and the cybernetic modification system isn't much use to me anymore. Unlocking a new system wouldn't be bad."

Having worked that out, Chen Feng found the three who were playing games.

What he meant to say was, "Play games if you want, but don't post anything about the hospital or the school online. Those monsters are clever. They'll follow the trail straight to us."

What came out instead was, "My sins are grave. My deeds are unjust, and my actions are without mercy."

All three stared at him.

The fat guy asked, baffled, "Holy crap. I'm not a nun. Confessing to me won't do you any good."

How could this be?

Did I get hit again?

Chen Feng was just as confused. He clearly remembered saving right after She Qingqing left. White Coat wouldn't reach the building for a while yet.

Besides, Li Guolong had only just turned on his computer. He hadn't had time to post anything, so Dean Ox still didn't know where they were.

"Loading a save completely heals my injuries. Nothing carries over except my memories and the system rewards I've earned."

"Memories! Don't tell me..."

In an instant, Chen Feng understood. That chant had contaminated his memory.

"Even if I load again, as long as I remember that chant, I'll recite it without meaning to, then burn to death!"

The realization chilled him to the bone.

The Save-Load System would rank among the best cheats even in a cultivation novel.

Yet Chen Feng had been in Cihang City for less than half a month and had already run into two situations where his save seemed doomed.

Cihang City was a big stage, but if your cheat wasn't up to it, you'd better stay away.

He had to find a solution before he ran out of points!

Chen Feng immediately clamped a hand over his throat, forcing himself to stop chanting. As long as he didn't finish the chant, the flames wouldn't come.

Could I make myself mute somehow?

That was the first solution Chen Feng thought of.

Destroying his vocal cords was too complicated for him, but he could probably find a rag or some tissues and stuff them into his mouth.

Za Warudo!

Chen Feng activated the Sandevistan, rushed into the staff room, tore a piece off a bedsheet, and shoved it into his mouth.

But then a sentence flashed through his mind:

"As sinners, only by burning away all our sins under the witness of the Holy Cow can we reach Heaven."

The moment that thought crossed his mind, flames sprang up across Chen Feng's body.

Fuck, thinking it counts too?

Chen Feng was stunned. He truly hadn't expected the director's ability to be so overpowering and so hard to shake.

No wonder he was Rabbit Nurse's boss!

It pained Chen Feng to spend the points, but he had no choice.

Lu Xun's Blessing, activate!

[A modest gentleman, as gentle and refined as jade]

[You have activated Lu Xun's Blessing: Humility. The blessed are unaffected by spells, Magic, sorcery, or abnormal status effects.]

The instant the gentleman's phantom appeared, the flames on Chen Feng vanished.

It seemed he could speak now.

Chen Feng pulled the cloth from his mouth and tried saying "Ah." Sure enough, he no longer chanted.

Did it work?

Chen Feng closed his eyes and meditated for a moment. The memory of the chant was still there in his mind.

Something's wrong.

Chen Feng noticed that the green light of Lu Xun's Blessing was slowly fading, while his mouth was gradually slipping out of his control again.

No. The Blessing only protects me while it lasts. As long as the memory remains, I'll end up right back where I started when it wears off.

Sure enough, the instant the Blessing disappeared, flames sprang up on Chen Feng's body again.

Two failures in a row.

Chen Feng could only take a chance on the mystery boxes and hope a new system held the answer.

System!

At his call, three boxes appeared before him. They were:

ZT-03-LTQ, the Myriad Heavens Chat Group System.

YX-03-HKS, Game Tech and Dirty Tricks.

And a new system from the fantasy realm, numbered XH-03-CJHS. It said, "An avatar is a wonderful thing."

The flames hurt so badly he nearly passed out.

Chen Feng fought through the pain and analyzed his options. "I'm practically being cremated. Chatting with other people won't help."

"So it's either the game system or the fantasy one. With the curse I'm under, fantasy sounds more promising. And that system mentioned avatars. Maybe one could die in my place."

"Come on, fantasy system!"

Chen Feng reached toward the box, and a notification sounded in his ear.

[Ding! Congratulations, host! You have successfully activated the Super Avatar System!]

[Avatar Liu Xiaohu acquired]

The Super... Super Avatar System?

Chen Feng's expression changed. He had just learned everything the Super Avatar System could do.

In short, it could revive someone who had just died and turn them into an alternate character he could control.

The host could access some of that person's memories from before they died. Any task the avatar completed counted as completed by the host, and the avatar could inherit all the host's skills.

If the avatar died by accident, it wouldn't affect the host.

The host could also spend one point to create another avatar.

It was an outrageously powerful system.

Chen Feng was currently wanted, but with this system, he could send Liu Xiaohu out to do as he pleased. Even if Liu Xiaohu died, Chen Feng himself would be fine. It was practically unbeatable.

Unfortunately, it did nothing to help him now!

"Looks like I'm not that lucky."

With a bitter smile, Chen Feng burned to a char.

He loaded his save again.

Chen Feng's Save-Load Count had reached zero, and because he had used Lu Xun's Blessing, his points had dropped to five.

Worse still, his death had ruined the training plan he'd started the time before last.

"I can't keep loading saves. I'll run out of points soon."

"Instead of counting on luck, I need to think about what I already have that could get me out of this."

"Water Ghost? No. I could jump into water to put out the flames, but I can't spend the rest of my life underwater."

"The Blessing treats the symptoms, not the cause."

"The Sandevistan can only slow the flames down."

Even with no obvious way out, Chen Feng didn't despair. He calmly searched for a way to break the deadlock.

The director's ability was a curse that acted directly on memory. If he could erase that memory, he would be free.

"How am I supposed to erase a memory? Hit myself over the head with a brick?"

Wait!

An idea struck Chen Feng.

He remembered that during his cybernetic modification, the system had warned him that overusing the Sandevistan could cause memory loss.

And in the original Cyberpunk anime and game, plenty of people had overused cybernetics until they lost their minds and became Cyberpsychos.

There was no time to hesitate. He had to gamble on it.

Enduring the headache, Chen Feng began activating the Sandevistan again and again.

In the Internet Cafe's private room.

The fat guy opened the game client and logged in, then suddenly felt the urge to pee. "Damn, I need to take a leak. Don't start without me, you two!"

He got up and ran toward the restroom. After only a couple of steps, he spotted someone sprawled in the hallway.

"Holy crap, Brother Feng?"

"Are you okay?"

The fat guy hurried over and helped Chen Feng up.

Chen Feng opened his eyes. They shone with a frightening brightness.

He was smiling.

At first he laughed quietly. Then his laughter grew louder and louder, turning into a madman's cackle.

"Haha, hahahaha! I did it!"

"Holy crap! Brother Feng, are you okay?"

The fat guy's heart skipped a beat. There was no warmth in Chen Feng's smile, only a coldness that chilled him to the bone.

Remembering that Li Guolong had met Chen Feng at the Mental Hospital, the fat guy suddenly grew afraid.

What if Brother Feng really is mentally ill?

What if he suddenly bites me?

The fat guy was still struggling with himself, unsure whether to turn and run.

Then Chen Feng's smile slowly faded. Under the fat guy's puzzled gaze, he walked silently to the gaming room, went inside, and shoved aside Li Guolong, who was registering a forum account.

"Do that again, and you're out."

With that, Chen Feng slammed his fist into the monitor and smashed it.