Abyss Consciousness

Lin Ye was once again the first to enter the tunnel.

Unlike the previous simulation mission, the order in which they entered the tunnel had little bearing on whether they could resolve the incident, while talking to the Captain and having No. 2 and No. 3 go in first could both cause unforeseen trouble.

He could try, but there was no need.

Lin Ye did nothing that would affect the course of events. This time, he did not want to drastically change the outcome of the previous simulation. He only wanted to be quietly killed by himself.

The time loop was extremely dangerous. If he relied on his remaining simulations to act recklessly, he could very well end up in a situation where he could not even kill himself.

He wanted to spend one simulation thinking about how to end the time loop safely.

Lin Ye did not throw away the Abyssal Egg. It was troublesome: throwing it away might have unpredictable consequences, but carrying it would cause him to mutate.

Without the Abyssal Egg, Lin Ye could keep communicating with his self from the next loop, giving him more time to think in each simulation.

But without the Abyssal Egg, he could not gain a deeper understanding of the mutation process either. It was hard to say which was better.

This time, Lin Ye silently monitored his physical condition as he moved, so he would not turn into a monster without even knowing it, as he had last time.

Perhaps it was a matter of awareness, but this time he could clearly sense the Abyssal Egg affecting him.

After walking for about half an hour, Lin Ye's vision went black. He took a step forward, and his already monstrous self appeared diagonally across from him.

Lin Ye approached himself. Just as he was about to ask a question, the monstrous Lin Ye suddenly spoke.

"It's all right. This time, I controlled the mutation process and retained the ability to speak, though I probably won't be able to speak in the next loop."

His voice was hoarse and sounded somewhat distorted, but it was still easier than communicating by writing in blood.

"Get to the point. We don't have much time. Have you found a way to end the loop?"

This was Lin Ye's first time talking to himself. It felt a little strange.

"Don't rush. We're standing at a particular point in time. As long as we don't move forward, we have infinite time."

The monstrous Lin Ye looked perfectly calm, as though everything was under control.

"What are you talking about? Our body is still in the Shelter. Can you be sure time here is synchronized with time in the Shelter? What if the time spent in simulations adds up? I'm even afraid I'll go back and find I've already starved to death!"

Lin Ye felt something was odd. His "self" should not have overlooked something so simple.

The monstrous Lin Ye's composure faded little by little. He seemed to have only just realized the problem.

"...I probably can't help you anymore. This simulation has failed. Kill me."

Lin Ye did not rush to act. He needed to understand where the problem lay.

"What happened?"

"The Abyss is even more terrifying than I thought. As my understanding of the Abyss deepens, the Abyss Consciousness's influence on me deepens too. I've already become trapped in it. You have to kill me. You mustn't enter the next loop."

The monstrous Lin Ye tore open his own body and handed Lin Ye the dagger at his waist.

"Don't rush. We still have time. Just as you said, we're standing at a point in time. The Abyss Consciousness's influence on you won't deepen."

Lin Ye looked at his self before him, unsure whether the other was acting or had truly forgotten.

Because time formed a loop, once the loop had begun, he should already have experienced this conversation once, only standing in Lin Ye's position then.

"No, the Abyss is far from that simple. Neither time nor space can block the Abyss's influence.

Walking along the edge of the Abyss-no, I've already gone deep inside."

The monstrous Lin Ye gave an eerie smile and spread his arms, letting his body fall freely toward the ground behind him. Blood gushed from his chest, splashing all over Lin Ye.

Lin Ye did not dodge. Instead, he quickly stepped forward and stabbed him several more times, killing his "self" completely.

The other seemed to be trying to alert him to something, but he could not understand at all what his "self" was trying to convey. He could only keep moving forward.

As Lin Ye walked, he monitored his body's mutation. Under the Abyssal Egg's influence, some kind of free energy in the air poured into his body in vast quantities.

In these circumstances, Lin Ye could only influence which parts mutated. He could hardly slow the mutation down, leaving him no way to attempt moderate mutation.

As the free energy suffused him, Lin Ye's heart was the first to mutate, gradually forming his first mutation organ.

The moment his mutated heart took shape, Lin Ye perceived a vaster world.

It was an Abyss with no visible bottom or boundaries. It was a void, a world, everything.

Lin Ye stood at the edge of the Abyss and looked inside. He seemed to see a great deal, yet also seemed to see nothing at all.

"What are you talking about? Our body is still in the Shelter. Can you be sure time here is synchronized with time in the Shelter? What if the time spent in simulations adds up? I'm even afraid I'll go back and find I've already starved to death!"

Coming to his senses, Lin Ye discovered that his "self" was already standing before him.

"...I probably can't help you anymore. This simulation has failed. Kill me."

The Lin Ye opposite him did not act, but instead asked:

"What happened?"

"The Abyss is even more terrifying than I thought. As my understanding of the Abyss deepens, the Abyss Consciousness's influence on me deepens too. I've already become trapped in it. You have to kill me. You mustn't enter the next loop."

Lin Ye tore open his own body, exposing his mutated heart, and handed the dagger at his waist to his other "self."

"Don't rush. We still have time. Just as you said, we're standing at a point in time. The Abyss Consciousness's influence on you won't deepen."

The Lin Ye before him said.

"No, the Abyss is far from that simple. Neither time nor space can block the Abyss's influence.

Walking along the edge of the Abyss-no, I've already gone deep inside."

Lin Ye gave an eerie smile. He finally understood how to leave this place, so he spread his arms and let his body fall freely toward the ground behind him. Blood gushed from his chest, splashing all over the Lin Ye opposite him.

The corpse fell to the ground, and Lin Ye fell into the Abyss.

Bzzzz...

Lin Ye opened his eyes. He was sitting in the familiar seat, with Class-D Personnel No. 3 beside him.

[Remaining simulations: 8]

The simulation hasn't ended. Do I have to leave the tunnel alive? Or do I have to resolve the Anomalous Event? Forget it. It's more or less the same either way.

Lin Ye already knew how to deal with this tunnel.

He only needed to connect the Abyss to the tunnel. The Abyss would solve every problem for him. In fact, Lin Ye had already resolved the tunnel loop in the previous simulation, but perhaps because he had already died then, a new simulation had begun. This time, he only needed to come out alive.

Ye█s, all he had to do was █leave everything to█ the Abyss█.

Lin Ye gave an eerie smile.