Consciousness Entity

After walking for another hour, Lin Ye finally confirmed that he probably would not get out this way.

Over the past two hours, he had passed nearly a hundred intersections, and he had kept heading outward without retracing any route.

This place really was that big.

Lin Ye stopped.

If he kept doing something without gaining anything, that meant he might need to direct his efforts elsewhere.

After condensing Mental Strength in the supermarket, Lin Ye had fully acquired that ability. Although it was now far weaker than when he had received the injection there, using Mental Strength normally would not negatively affect his body.

The simulation did not allow him to bring in items or use his own body, but it did not seem to restrict Mental Strength.

Lin Ye sat cross-legged where he was and began absorbing and guiding the surrounding psionic energy to strengthen his body. He could not run his own Evolution Pathway through Jason's body, so he had to strengthen it using the basic pathway he had worked out himself.

It took Lin Ye just over ten minutes to complete one basic cycle.

After familiarizing himself with it once, Lin Ye stood up and began jogging through the corridors, absorbing psionic energy and cycling it as he ran.

Like this, Lin Ye ran for another hour.

Looks like I can't run my way out... and I can't spend hours running back, either...

Lin Ye began one final sprint.

After exhausting his stamina, he killed himself.

[Simulations remaining: 9]

Lin Ye opened his eyes in the starting room. This time, he was in no hurry to leave.

Throughout his earlier tedious exploration, Lin Ye had never stopped thinking.

The system's description of his innate ability was:

Randomly simulate a Class-D Personnel member on a mission.

So I'm in the middle of a mission. The question I need to consider now is, why would the organization throw a Class-D Personnel member into a place like this?

Even expendables should have all their value squeezed out before being discarded, rather than being wasted at random.

Even if I were scouting the way, they should have given me a helmet.

Lin Ye checked his body and the starting room, but found no surveillance equipment.

Was it an accident? But would an accident count as carrying out a mission?

No.

So it wasn't an accident. This was a mission arranged by the organization.

But what is my mission? Why wasn't there even a briefing?

Lin Ye checked his body again. This time, he examined it very carefully and finally discovered a line written in permanent marker on his inner thigh:

Consciousness experiment, reality combined with consciousness.

Everything from the handwriting to the writing direction and the language indicated that Lin Ye had written this line.

But he had absolutely no memory of writing it.

The handwriting is messy. I must have been in a hurry when I wrote it.

Is this really a consciousness experiment?

But I saw a system notification when I woke up in the room. If I really wrote these words, shouldn't I have already received a system notification back then? And would killing myself in a consciousness experiment also reduce my remaining simulations?

Lin Ye grabbed his hair and suddenly thought of a possibility.

Could these system notifications have been fabricated by my consciousness?

If so, will I wake up once I've used up all ten simulations?

Suppressing that dangerous thought, Lin Ye closed his eyes and began imagining that this was not the Red Room, but his own shelter.

After a while, Lin Ye furtively opened one eye and found that his surroundings were still the familiar Red Room.

He tried several more times afterward, but every attempt failed.

People could not truly deceive themselves, especially someone as smart as Lin Ye.

There's an ocean outside the door. No, that won't work. I went out earlier. I know there's a red corridor outside.

Consciousness combined with reality... that means this isn't purely a world of consciousness.

I can't change the fact that this is the Red Maze, but perhaps some other things could reasonably appear here.

Let's make some associations. The Red Maze, mutated creatures. Why is there nothing here? Right, perhaps this is how the Red Maze is supposed to be. Without the system's influence, mutated creatures can't survive here either. But since I can come in, other mutated creatures should be able to come in too.

This is a mission from the organization, so something ought to happen...

Let me think. Mutated Creatures, preferably ones that left a strong impression and could possibly appear here...

Footsteps sounded in the corridor.

A girl with black hair and red eyes pushed open the door and smiled at Lin Ye from the corridor.

Oh, I'm screwed.

Lin Ye gave an awkward but polite smile. This was not a site mission, and he had no weapons at all. He was already waiting to die.

Perhaps using up all ten simulations was not entirely unacceptable.

Now that Lin Ye had recognized the girl's appearance, she would still push open that door even if he restarted.

"Stop grinning like an idiot. I smile because I'm pretty. What are you smiling for?"

The girl's tone was rude, but the fact that she was willing to speak genuinely relieved Lin Ye.

"Who are you?"

Lin Ye was a little uncertain. The girl's way of speaking felt familiar.

"I'm a product of your imagination mixed with certain parts of reality, so I know some things you don't."

The girl gave an extremely direct and straightforward answer. In that respect, she was very much like Lin Ye.

"What is this place?"

Lin Ye went straight to the point.

"No idea."

The girl was entirely unabashed.

"How do I get out?"

Lin Ye continued asking.

"I can get you out, but do you really want to leave?"

The girl's answer carried an implication.

"...What do you mean?"

Thinking of a certain possibility, Lin Ye's heart sank.

"You know what I mean. A consciousness experiment is naturally meant to study consciousness."

The girl walked up to Lin Ye and rested her head against his chest.

"So this is targeting me?"

Lin Ye abruptly raised his head and scanned his surroundings suspiciously.

"You're very cautious, but you don't understand the Class-D Personnel serving as your vessels, so some of your behavior will inevitably differ from the original person's. Once might be fine, but after two or three times, the organization will naturally notice clues. Especially with the last mission. Dr. Caroline is still alive. All they need to do is compare notes to discover the anomalies."

The girl circled Lin Ye once, then looked up to meet his eyes. From Lin Ye's angle, he could see the deep chill in her eyes.

She was smiling, but there was no mirth in it.

"What should I do?"

Lin Ye decided to hear the girl's advice.

"Do nothing. This is only a consciousness experiment, after all. They can't pinpoint you. As long as you do nothing, it'll end on its own. The more you do, the more problems there'll be. Sending you out directly would cause the most trouble. The organization would pinpoint your consciousness completely.

"Or..."

The girl sat on the floor in a corner of the room, then patted the spot beside her.

"Or what?"

Lin Ye sat down beside her.

"Or raise hell and let them know the price of messing with you."