Pure Sea

"Can I pay for a ticket now? I have a ticket, but I didn't bring it."

Lin Ye did have a ticket, but he wasn't sure whether it had anything to do with the cruise ship.

The attendant's smile faded, but he did nothing else. He simply stared at Lin Ye expressionlessly, seemingly assessing the situation.

"You do indeed possess a ticket, but you did not bring it aboard. This is quite unusual, so it puts me in a difficult position."

The attendant merely stood outside the door without entering the room, giving Lin Ye a glimmer of hope.

"Could you tell me about the cruise ship? I nearly got lost when I boarded just now."

Lin Ye probed.

"If you had boarded with your ticket, someone would naturally have greeted you. Fortunately, you did not enter the deeper corridors. Otherwise, no one could have rescued you."

The attendant seemed to receive some message, and an unsettling smile appeared on his face again.

"I'm sorry. Although we generally do not harm our guests aboard, you did not bring your ticket, after all, so the captain would like you to disembark as soon as possible."

"Will you take me back? Or do I get off at the next stop?"

Lin Ye asked without much hope.

"I'm sorry. The captain said, as soon as possible."

The attendant did not enter the room. He merely gestured for Lin Ye to proceed, and Lin Ye walked out of the room himself and headed down the corridor.

Lin Ye tried to resist, only to discover that he had completely lost control of his body. All he could do was watch himself walk outside.

Although the corridor was still red, the rooms at either end had disappeared. Lin Ye examined the doors on both sides out of the corners of his eyes and found that the room numbers along this stretch of corridor had not changed.

After walking down a long red corridor and passing through an interior door, he entered an ordinary corridor like the one at the beginning, and the lighting grew dim and yellow.

Lin Ye saw room 1904.

It was just an ordinary room in an ordinary corridor, with nothing special about it.

Lin Ye wanted to do something, but he could do nothing except memorize the surrounding room numbers.

He could only move farther from his target room, step by step, following the corridor up to the deck.

As soon as he emerged from inside the ship, the sight outside caught Lin Ye's attention.

The cruise ship was now sailing across a pure white sea. The pure white water was as flat as level ground, without a single ripple.

Even the passing cruise ship could not stir the slightest ripple.

In the distance stood several pure white, column-shaped structures that reached straight into the sky. Even looking up, he could not see where their tops led.

Only then did Lin Ye realize that he could move again.

"It is time for you to disembark."

The attendant stood to one side and spoke respectfully.

Lin Ye stood at the edge of the deck. He only had to cross the railing to jump into that pure white water.

He wanted to resist, but found that he would rather jump into that pure white sea than resist.

"It's so beautiful. Does it have a name?"

Lin Ye asked dazedly.

"The Pure Sea."

The attendant also gazed at the sea, his eyes filled with awe.

"Is that so? What a good name."

Lin Ye leaned forward and fell into the sea without stirring the slightest ripple, merging into the Pure Sea as though he were part of it.

[Remaining simulations: 8]

Lin Ye woke up in bed in a daze. He only remembered following the attendant out onto the deck. No matter how hard he tried, he could not remember what had happened afterward, as though that part of his memory had been erased.

Fuck, what the hell happened? This feeling of not being able to remember no matter how hard I try is unbearable!

Lin Ye tugged hard at his hair, thinking in frustration.

At least my memories from before leaving the ship's interior are intact. I got some clues, at least.

...But are they really intact?

Lin Ye began recalling the entire previous simulation over and over, only stopping after confirming that nothing else seemed abnormal.

Looks like I can't wait until after the ship sets sail to act. Otherwise, this kind of memory loss could affect the entire simulation. And I can't deal with that attendant, either.

Lin Ye got dressed and went downstairs with the supervisors, constantly thinking along the way about what to do in this simulation.

Soon, the three of them boarded the cruise ship again.

This time, Lin Ye chose a new entrance. He knew little about the previous corridor, only that one room led to a red corridor. That amounted to ruling out one of thirty-two rooms, so changing corridors would not make much difference.

Six entrances, six corridors. Lin Ye had yet to decide whether to try each corridor in a separate simulation or focus on just one.

Before entering the corridor, Lin Ye tied the three of them's clothes together. Although he felt it would do little good, trying it would not waste much time.

Just like last time, Lin Ye once again entered a dim, enclosed corridor alone.

After making a circuit, he found thirty-two rooms again, with no room 1904 among them.

This time, Lin Ye chose to open room 987 by the entrance.

Inside was another ordinary standard room, with no danger or anything strange.

He shut the door, and there was no sound from the corridor. Lin Ye opened the door and found that an ordinary corridor still lay outside, except that room 1441 was now opposite his room.

He made a circuit of the corridor. There was no room 1904, and apart from room 987, none of the rooms were ones he had seen before.

Lin Ye opened room 1603 in the direction of the entrance.

Inside was an ordinary standard room, with no danger.

After entering, Lin Ye closed the door, then opened it half a second later. Outside was a red corridor flashing with red light.

Damn it, is there no pattern at all? Or is there some hidden pattern I haven't noticed?

Tugging at his hair, Lin Ye walked into the red corridor and made a circuit, but still found no familiar room numbers.

Can I only open doors at random?

Lin Ye was already trapped in this corridor. Unless he opened a new door, he could not leave, and he had little time left. Once the cruise ship set sail, the attendant would find him and take him onto the deck to experience some sort of memory-loss incident.

What should I do?

No matter how hard Lin Ye thought, he could find no pattern among the room numbers. He was not one of those mathematicians in movies who could work out formulas in their heads, nor did he have a knack for numbers. If his mental power had not been high enough, he would not even have been able to remember those numbers.

Maybe I don't have enough information. Maybe there isn't any pattern at all, and the rooms are random.

Lin Ye simply gave up thinking. He stopped dwelling on the jumble of numbers in his head and pushed open the door in front of him at random.

From the moment he boarded, Lin Ye had begun absorbing Psionic Energy to circulate it. With his experience from the previous simulation, along with absorbing Psionic Energy without regard for the consequences, he soon completed one circulation this time.

But the Psionic Energy defenses he had prepared proved unnecessary. Beyond the door was an ordinary standard room.

Phew, lucky me.

Lin Ye entered the room, closed the door, then opened it. Outside, the corridor had become an ordinary one.

He quickly made a circuit of the corridor, but there were still no familiar room numbers.

Lin Ye chose another door at random, entered the standard room, then closed and reopened the door.

Outside was a red corridor.