Offline for Maintenance Again

Most of the people in the dream had died once, either drowning or being eaten by sharks.

In the end, an enormous sea beast whose face they could not see swallowed them into the world inside its belly, ending their ordeal at sea.

After landing in the world inside Great Whale, the Orange Star People were bewildered. They had no idea what had happened, and there was not a single person anywhere along the street.

Looking up, they could see a red wall of flesh overhead.

The wall of flesh was not a decoration. It was alive, quivering, with thick blood vessels twisted into a web across its surface, carrying luminous blood.

It was this luminous blood that lit up the little world inside the belly.

Researcher Li Shen looked up at the sky and saw little "incandescent bulbs" swimming swiftly through the thick blood vessels, giving off light.

There was light now, but the bloody wall overhead did not reassure him. Instead, it made the place feel even more eerie.

He privately speculated that this must be the fleshy inner wall of the giant sea beast.

But he had never expected to find an ancient human city inside its belly.

While the people explored the city and forest, Great Cthulhu was also using Synesthesia to observe their dreams.

Watching the nervous Orange Star People act as though they were trying to survive in another world, Ke Meng enjoyed the spectacle like a survival movie.

It was safe inside Great Whale, with no real danger, but they did not understand why Great Whale had swallowed them. They were still cautiously investigating what dangers might lurk in the ancient human city.

To the Orange Star People, the city's architecture was far too old-fashioned. It felt like modern people had returned to the age of swords and spears. The severe lack of smart technology made it difficult to adjust.

Ke Meng watched all night. New dreamers appeared one after another, all unfamiliar faces.

At nearly the three-hour mark, Ke Meng sensed through Synesthesia that one player had awakened early, and his dream bubble vanished.

This was the first person to leave the dream. Ke Meng figured that the player's Game Pod had activated his consciousness at a preset time, interrupting the dream.

Ke Meng counted the remaining dreams. There were fifty-eight people in all, and each had died once. During their suffering, they had all contributed some mental energy that Ke Meng could use to reshape the dream world.

Since I have nothing else to do, I might as well reshape the dream world, Ke Meng thought.

Considering that solitary dreams would be rather boring, Ke Meng wanted to connect them all, making the dream world more varied and, in turn, more interesting.

On Orange Star, inside player Everything Is Tough's private house in the virtual game "World."

Deep sleep has ended. You rested for 3 hours, 0 minutes, and 0 seconds.

The researcher slowly opened his eyes. Seeing the familiar game text and ceiling, he knew he was back.

"There really was no exit button, and its realism exceeded the limits of what a virtual Game Pod can simulate," the researcher murmured.

He got out of bed, and the memory of the pain of being eaten by a shark brought on another wave of nausea.

Only after a minute did he manage to steady himself and temporarily put those painful memories aside.

Having just emerged from the Reincarnation Dream, he had a profound understanding of how real it felt.

He wanted to know where the differences lay between the Reincarnation Dream and the virtual game.

He first explored the house in the game for a while, then pinched his own flesh. He also went to the practice range to try out the skills that came with his mage account.

"Fireball!"

Everything Is Tough activated Fireball in his mind. His mana bar lost ten points, and he felt a wave of scorching heat within his body.

The heat spread to his palm, then a small fireball ignited out of thin air on his magic staff.

He let out a surprised sound. He had originally intended to compare the physical sensations in "World" with those in the Reincarnation Dream.

His conclusion was that they seemed about the same.

He could hardly distinguish between the two. It seemed that the virtual game "World" was better optimized than even games from established major developers, with an extremely high degree of realism.

Established major developers could also reproduce that sensation of scorching heat spreading throughout the body, but Fireball here was somewhat different.

Li Shen could not explain exactly how it differed. That peculiar sensation was difficult to describe.

There really was something wrong with this game, too.

Researcher Li Shen logged out of the game, wrote a brief report and sent it to the director, then immediately logged into "Cultivation," a virtual game made by an established major developer, to try using its skills.

After a couple of tests, Li Shen became even more certain that the virtual game "World" was better optimized than games from established major developers!

Its gameplay experience might even exceed the Game Pod's upper limits.

That night, Li Shen's new findings stirred the researchers at the Intelligent Machinery Institute, and they all went to test the experience offered by the virtual game "World."

Some researchers specifically went into the game to sleep, having heard that the nightmare was exceptionally realistic and had no exit button.

The researchers wanted to know how it bypassed the AI's safety protocols.

However, a researcher who had not read through the nightmare's details was disappointed. He slept inside the game but encountered no nightmare.

The researchers who had carefully studied the nightmare documentation, on the other hand, experienced a nightmare while dreaming in the game.

The pain of being swallowed alive by a marine animal was never pleasant. Every recollection brought a deep, visceral nausea that made them want to vomit.

"This game's optimization has already exceeded the upper limits of consumer Game Pods. I believe we should temporarily take it offline for maintenance, then reopen it to players after further assessing its risk level," researcher Li Shen said.

Some researchers had not experienced a nightmare, but others had experienced the same one. This proved that there really was something toxic about "World," and it needed a comprehensive investigation.

"If we take it offline for maintenance, that mutated AI might notice something is wrong. Catching it afterward will be even harder," someone said uneasily.

"Safety first. We should shut down the game for now," Li Shen said, giving him a look, cautious but firm.

The director tapped the desk and ordered, "That mutated AI may already have moved into a Game Pod, then onto the public network. Catching it will be extremely difficult. Let's put public safety first and look for the mutated AI afterward."

In Deep-Sea R'lyeh, eight hours after Great Cthulhu had awakened.

The game will go offline for maintenance in one hour. All players, please return to a safe zone and log out.

Ke Meng heard the worldwide broadcast.

Offline for maintenance again? Is this game company's service really that bad? Ke Meng grumbled inwardly.

Still, if they were taking it offline, so be it. The number of dreamers on his end was actually growing.

In the scenes Ke Meng perceived through Synesthesia, the individual dreamers' dreams were finally connected.

It was also at that moment that Ke Meng woke up.