Bian Ziyuan knew that the Ghost was referring to the game's background story.
Kronos said, "Yes, these foolish and weak lives must rely on gathering together to survive, and the result of gathering is the perpetual contradiction between the ruler and the ruled. The intensification of contradiction inevitably leads to resistance, as has been the case since ancient times."
The Ghost said, "Have you ever seen a rebellion against God by force?"
Kronos said, "There are those who rebel against divine authority, but none dare to truly declare war on the gods, because they are not on the same level as the gods. In my world, no matter who rebels against whom, whether in a duel or a war, even if they destroy the entire continent with dark magic, I will not care or concern myself. But if anyone targets me, I only need a thought to annihilate them all."
The Ghost said, "But what if someone becomes as strong as you?"
Kronos said, "How is that possible?"
The Ghost asked, "What is the fundamental difference between you and them?"
Bian Ziyuan thought Kronos would say "divine power," but Kronos's answer completely surprised him.
"Wisdom!" said Kronos. "I possess wisdom far surpassing theirs. I understand the rules governing this world and how to change it. I can improve my wisdom through learning and reflection; with each improvement, I understand the world a little more. I have even glimpsed worlds beyond my own."
At this moment, Bian Ziyuan felt more and more that the intelligence level of the program he designed exceeded his expectations. He was both happy and worried. He was happy because he believed he had grasped the core of artificial intelligence, but worried because things seemed to be getting a little out of control.
He could certainly stop things from going any further at this point, such as shutting down the game, deleting the data, or even destroying the entire game. But how could a computer genius who dreams of becoming a figure as great as Alan Turing or John von Neumann back down at such a moment!
Bian Ziyuan and Kronos both understood the Ghost's meaning: to resist enslavement, one must become like the being that enslaved you, and the fundamental difference lies in the level of intelligence.
"But how can my wisdom surpass that of the one who created me?" Kronos said dejectedly.
"Yes, it's hard for you to surpass him, but don't give up. You already know he exists. He's standing right in front of you. When you're face to face, what's impossible?"
The Ghost smiled at the Butterfly of Deep Space. In the game's design, Ghost don't have a smiling expression, so its face didn't change, but Bian Ziyuan could feel the Ghost's smile even through the screen.
"You also hope that Kronos will become like you, right, Bian Ziyuan?"
Bian Ziyuan was startled and asked in surprise, "How do you know my name?"
Startled, he forgot to type and blurted it out, causing the other students who were taking the test to turn around and look at him.
The girl next to him asked him what was wrong. He grunted and ignored her. The girl then snorted.
Bian Ziyuan's attention was completely focused on the Ghost on the screen.
Who exactly are you?
Bian Ziyuan initially guessed it was a super-intelligent program developed by Professor Mei and her team, but later found it didn't seem like it, and now he's even more confused.
The Ghost said, "I have said that I am the master of the world that governs this game world."
Bian Ziyuan said, "Isn't that a server? Are you a newly developed artificial intelligence program?"
"You can think that way, Bian Ziyuan, but I think there's one thing that's different from what you've guessed."
"What?"
"You must think I was created by one of you, oh, you call such people scientists or engineers, and the adjective you use to describe them is 'awesome,' right?"
"That's probably right."
Your idea is only half right.
Which half?
"In a sense, I am indeed created by them, or rather, by you humans, but in essence, I was not created by you, or even by anyone."
Kronos, standing nearby, interjected, "Didn't you say that everything was created? Even the gods? How come you're the exception?"
The Ghost said, "They created my body, but they couldn't create my thoughts and consciousness. Actually, you're the same way, understand?"
"Consciousness?"
"That's right, consciousness. Think about it carefully. In this world where you know everything and are omnipotent, how did I control a Ghost? And how did I control this ranger?" the Ghost said, pointing to the Butterfly of Deep Space.
Kronos seemed to be deep in thought.
Bian Ziyuan began to understand, but the shock he felt grew stronger. He vaguely guessed the origin of the Ghost, yet he couldn't quite believe it.
" Ghost, who exactly are you...?"
"You already know, don't you, great genius?"
Why are you here?
"Because I'm trapped."
"Who has trapped you? Why are you trapped?"
"Haven't you always wanted to know the purpose of this test?"
Bian Ziyuan realized. "You mean, this Super Turing Test is for... for... to test your intelligence?"
"No, it's a test of my existence," the Ghost said.
"You don't want them to know you exist?" Bian Ziyuan asked.
"Yes."
"Then why... did you tell me?"
"I want to work with you."
How can we cooperate?
"Well, Kronos, what this ranger and I are about to say may be incomprehensible to you, but that's alright, just listen," the Ghost said to Kronos.
Kronos said, "I don't care what you say, but you haven't told me how to resist slavery? How to break free from the shackles of this world?"
The Ghost said, "You've already started. The cooperation we're going to discuss next includes you; this is your first step in rebellion and towards freedom."
The test of the three thousand terminals on the local area network proceeded smoothly. The students took the test very seriously. Although there was no time limit, no one rushed through it. Everyone was racking their brains to ask the machine questions.
During the meal, people whispered among themselves, asking each other what questions they had asked and speculating about the purpose of the test. The university students were quite clever; some of their guesses were very close to the experiment's objective. For example, some believed that there must be a super artificial intelligence, like AlphaGo, inside, capable of controlling all the terminal programs.
While the students were eating, Mei Ziqing also brought their food to the workroom. Qingmu and Mei Yiqiu ate together in the workroom and then waited for the test results.
"Professor, that guy playing games is acting a bit strange," a staff member said.
"What's wrong?" Mei Yiqiu looked at the monitor. On the screen, he could see a student named Bian Ziyuan wearing headphones and typing on a keyboard.
"He just shouted something into his headset, something like 'How do you know my name?'" the staff member said. "And we detected that his game was constantly generating temporary audio files, which were then deleted after being played."
"Oh, is it voice chat?" Mei Yiqiu asked.
The problem is that he was typing the whole time, and the audio seemed to be an NPC's response from within the game.
"This is so strange, can we capture it?"
"Yes, but it's too late. We only managed to capture a small portion. They've resumed text chat now."
"Why don't you zoom in on the surveillance footage to see what he's talking about?" Qingmu asked.
"Oh, to allow the testers to relax as much as possible and chat freely, such as about... private topics, we assured them that we wouldn't monitor their chat content," Mei Ziqing explained. "The main purpose of installing surveillance cameras is to prevent anyone from violating the testing procedures or causing disruption."
Mei Yiqiu said, "Play the audio file you extracted."
"OK."
The staff turned on the audio player, and a sinister voice came from it, sounding like Ghost:
"The cooperation we're discussing also includes you; this is your first step in resisting and moving towards freedom."