Memory Contamination

[System Points: 6 (Load Save recharge -1, Cybernetic Modification -5, training plan -1, hospital Check-In +4)]

[Save-Load Count: 1]

After coming back to life,

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 dark little room to start all over again."

"Now I know where I slipped up. I just need to stop Guolong from posting, and we'll be safe."

"Losing a life sucks, but on the bright side, I'm short on Points, and the Cybernetic Modification system isn't much use to me anymore. Unlocking a new system wouldn't be bad."

Having worked it out, Chen Feng went to find the three playing games.

What he meant to say was, "You can play games, but don't post anything online about the hospital or the school. Those monsters are smart. 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, "Whoa. I'm not a nun. Confessing to me won't do you any good."

How could this happen?

Did I get hit again?

Chen Feng was confused too. He clearly remembered saving right after She Qingqing left. White Coat shouldn't be downstairs for a while yet.

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

"After I load a save, all my injuries heal. Nothing carries over except my memories and system rewards."

"Memories! Don't tell me—"

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

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

Once he understood, a chill sank through him.

Even in a Cultivation novel, the Save-Load System would be a top-tier cheat.

Yet Chen Feng had been in Cihang City for less than half a month and had already run into two situations where his save could trap him in a death loop.

Cihang was one hell of a stage. If your cheat was weak, you had no business stepping onto it.

He had to find a solution before his Points ran out!

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

Could I make myself mute somehow?

That was the first solution Chen Feng thought of.

Damaging his vocal cords was too complicated, but he could probably stuff a rag or some tissues into his mouth.

Za Warudo!

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

But then a sentence flashed through his mind:

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

The moment it did, flames sprang up across Chen Feng's body.

Shit, even thinking it counts?

Chen Feng was stunned. He hadn't expected the Director's ability to be this overwhelming, this hard to deal with.

No wonder he was Rabbit Nurse's boss!

Chen Feng hated to spend the Points, but he had no choice.

Lu Xun's Blessing, activate!

[A modest gentleman, gentle as jade]

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

The instant a gentlemanly figure appeared, the flames on Chen Feng's body vanished.

Looks like I can speak now.

Chen Feng pulled the cloth from his mouth and tried saying "Ah." Sure enough, he didn't start chanting.

Did it work?

Chen Feng closed his eyes and searched his memory. The chant was still there.

Something's wrong.

Chen Feng noticed the green glow of Lu Xun's Blessing slowly fading, while his mouth gradually slipped out of his control.

No. The Blessing only protects me while it lasts. As long as the memory remains, I'll fall into the same trap when it wears off.

Sure enough, the instant the Blessing vanished, flames flared up on Chen Feng again.

Two failures in a row.

Chen Feng could only take a gamble on the mystery boxes and hope a new system offered a solution.

System!

At his call, three boxes appeared before him:

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

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

And a new system from Xuanhuan, Identifier XH-03-CJHS. It said, "A Substitute is a wonderful thing."

The burning pain was enough to make him pass out.

Chen Feng endured it and analyzed his options. "I'm practically being cremated. Chatting with someone won't help."

"So it's either the game system or Xuanhuan. Given the curse I'm under, Xuanhuan's probably the safer bet. And that system mentioned a Substitute. Maybe it can die in my place."

"Please, Xuanhuan 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!]

[Incarnation Liu Xiaohu acquired]

The Super... Super Avatar System?

Chen Feng's expression changed. In that instant, he learned everything the Super Avatar System could do.

In short, it could resurrect someone who had just died and turn them into an alternate character for him to control.

The host could gain some of that person's memories from before death. Any task the alternate character completed counted as completed by the host, and the alternate character could inherit all the host's skills.

If the alternate character died, the host himself would be unaffected.

The host could also spend one Point to unlock another alternate character.

It was an absurdly powerful system.

Chen Feng was wanted, but now he could send Liu Xiaohu out to do as he pleased. Even if Liu Xiaohu died, Chen Feng would be safe. It was practically unbeatable.

Unfortunately, it did nothing to help him right now!

"Looks like my luck isn't that good."

Chen Feng gave a bitter smile and turned to charcoal.

He loaded his save again.

Chen Feng's Save-Load Count was now zero. His Points had also dropped to five because he had used Lu Xun's Blessing.

Worse, his death had ruined the training plan he'd started two saves ago.

"I can't keep loading saves like this. I'll run out of Points soon."

"Instead of relying on luck, I need to figure out which of the tools I already have can get me out of this."

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

"The Blessing only treats the symptom, not the cause."

"The Sandevistan can only slow the flames down."

Even with no options left, Chen Feng didn't despair. He calmly searched for a way out.

The Director's ability was a curse that acted directly on memory. If he could erase that memory, he'd be fine.

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

Wait!

An idea struck Chen Feng.

He remembered the system warning him during Cybernetic Modification that overusing the Sandevistan could cause memory loss.

And in the original Cyberpunk anime and game, plenty of people had overused Cybernetic Bodies, lost their minds, and become Cyberpsychos.

There was no time to hesitate. He had to take the gamble.

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

A private room in the Internet Cafe.

The fat guy launched the game and logged into the client, then suddenly felt the need to pee. "Oh man, I'm gonna take a leak. Don't start without me, you two. Wait up!"

He got up and ran toward the bathroom. After only a couple of steps, he saw someone lying facedown in the hallway.

"Whoa, Brother Feng?"

"Are you okay?"

The fat guy hurried over and helped Chen Feng up.

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

He was smiling.

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

"Haha... Hahahaha! I did it!"

"Whoa! Brother Feng, are you okay?"

The fat guy's heart lurched. There was no warmth in that smile, only a coldness that went straight to the bone.

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

What if Brother Feng really is mentally ill?

What if he suddenly bites me?

While the fat guy wrestled with whether to turn and run,

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

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

With that, Chen Feng drove his fist into the monitor and smashed the screen.