Teacher Xiao Ye

"Are you kidding? What price could there be for messing with me?"

Lin Ye almost laughed out loud.

"You can fool anyone, but you can't fool yourself. I'm you, just a different gender. If you didn't have that thought, how could I say it?"

The girl rested her head on Lin Ye's shoulder and held his hand as she spoke.

"You're not me, or you wouldn't make such a stupid suggestion. I know next to nothing about the organization. Why would I risk going up against it?"

Lin Ye pushed the girl away. He felt that she did have things in common with him, but was somewhat different at her core.

"Don't you think it'd be exciting? Besides, you underestimate us. Taking on the whole organization isn't realistic, sure, but if it's just the branch outside, wiping it out would be child's play."

The girl closed her eyes and produced a blood-red ice pop with two wooden sticks from somewhere, snapped it in half, and handed one half to Lin Ye.

"You can get out?"

Lin Ye looked at the ice pop in his hand in puzzlement and licked it. It was icy cold, sweet and tart, and utterly delicious.

"That depends on your choice. If you choose to muddle through, then I'm just a fleeting scene, and this ice pop is already my limit. But if you're ready to teach them a lesson and tell them you're not someone to mess with, then I'm a storm that will sweep across the world."

The girl sucked leisurely on her ice pop, but her words were decidedly dangerous.

"Can't you choose for yourself?"

Lin Ye found that a little strange. He didn't think he could order the girl around.

"Of course I can, but I'm you. Why would I hurt myself? Besides, I'll disappear sooner or later, and you'll be the one left taking responsibility. I'm not that irresponsible."

The girl spoke as though it were only natural.

"Then thank you very much."

Lin Ye expressed his sincere gratitude. Luckily, the girl wasn't like the clones in trashy novels that were always trying to kill their originals. Otherwise, he would have been in trouble.

"We still have a little time. Let me teach you something."

The girl held out her hand. Psionic energy gathered in it, forming a thin layer of Psionic Energy Protection.

Lin Ye's eyes lit up. This was a move that could withstand all-out attacks from Zhao Yong and Xu Min. It looked seriously advanced.

"You know how to do that too?"

"To be precise, only I know how to do this."

The girl said rather proudly:

"The Tier 1 Creature in that Site Mission could only use it, but with my astounding intelligence, I can teach you how."

"Impressive, Teacher Lin. Hurry up and teach me."

Lin Ye spoke shamelessly.

"Lin? On second thought, forget it. That makes me sound like your daughter. Just call me Xiao Ye."

"All right, Teacher Xiao Ye."

"Student Lin, what's called Psionic Energy Protection is actually the outward manifestation of rune application."

"Runes?"

"Yes. Runes are a little like the power of words in legends. God said, 'Let there be light,' and there was light.

But runes are nowhere near as easy to use as that power.

Runes are mental script.

With mental power as the guide and psionic energy as the foundation, they are the pinnacle of techniques for controlling all things in the world.

That slash you made in the supermarket earlier was also an outward manifestation of using the Cutting rune.

That's right. That mural contained Cutting and Fusion runes, and their tiers weren't low, either.

What I'm going to teach you now is the Protection Rune.

The Protection Rune has a wide range of uses. It's inscribed on many psionic items and relics. It's not just for shields."

Xiao Ye didn't continue explaining. Instead, she grabbed Lin Ye's collar, pressed her forehead against his, and closed her eyes.

A vast amount of complex information crammed into Lin Ye's brain. If he hadn't developed mental power, he probably wouldn't have lasted even a moment.

By expending mental power, Lin Ye quickly received the information, but he had only taken it in temporarily. Fully digesting it, let alone using it, would take a long time.

"We can only do this because we're practically the same person. Don't do this with anyone else. Your head will explode.

Mental contact is the most dangerous form of contact. If you want to learn runes, your best bet is still the system's Rune Cards. Other methods are all unreliable."

Xiao Ye reminded him.

"Got it. Thank you, Teacher Xiao Ye."

Lin Ye rubbed his head. The experience had been fairly good. His head only felt a little swollen.

"Ah, time's almost up. Time to say goodbye."

Xiao Ye looked through the roof toward somewhere farther away, somewhere very distant.

"...What will happen to you afterward?"

Though they had only spent a short time together, Lin Ye felt as if he'd met a friend he'd known for years. He rarely felt this way.

"I don't know.

The Red Maze was born from the combination of your consciousness and this place. It should collapse after you leave.

My birth was more complicated, and I'm also a conscious individual. I don't know what will happen to me afterward, either."

Xiao Ye seemed to have come to terms with it, not caring at all about what she would face next.

"I've thought it over. Let's go out and teach them a lesson after all. Let them know the consequences of messing with us."

A crack appeared in the roof. Lin Ye decided to take a gamble. He didn't know whether this could change anything, but doing something or doing nothing was itself a kind of change, and part of the outcome.

"Forget it. Even though deep down I have this urge to destroy everything, at my core, I really am still you. Let's just say goodbye like this."

Xiao Ye smiled as she turned Lin Ye down.

"Will we meet again?"

Lin Ye didn't invite her again. At their core, they were the same kind of person.

"As long as we're alive, we'll meet again, won't we?"

"True."

They both smiled, at peace. The Red Maze began to collapse, and Lin Ye's consciousness gradually blurred.

"Since it's already collapsing, I suppose no one will notice if I do something out of line."

Lin Ye disappeared. Standing on the only remaining patch of red floor in the void, Xiao Ye murmured to herself.

Lin Ye woke up in a hospital bed with an outlandish helmet on his head. Various instruments stood beside the bed, and next to them stood a man in a white coat, with a row of permanent markers tucked into its breast pocket.

Several fully armed guards stood in the corner of the room.

"He's fine. Bring in the next one."

The man spoke.

Afterward, the guards took Lin Ye back to his own room, or rather, his solitary cell.

As soon as he entered the cell, Lin Ye lost consciousness.

[Simulation ended]

[Remaining simulations: 10]

[No simulation attempts consumed. Obtain core items?]

"Obtain."

[Obtained core item: Consciousness Upload Device ×1]

[Obtained Xiao Ye's Gift Box ×1]

[Obtained title: Consciousness Awakening]

After climbing out of bed, Lin Ye glanced at the system clock and found that less than two hours had passed. The duck was still on the bed.

Time in that consciousness world seemed to flow much faster than in Shelter World. Of course, there were other possibilities, such as time in the consciousness world being unstable.

Lin Ye didn't dwell on it or check his simulation rewards. He had just lost a friend, and all he wanted now was a bowl of duck blood vermicelli soup.