Qingmu never expected to get a real answer from Su Huilan. He had kept his questions in his heart for so many years, and he had gotten through them. In fact, he didn't remember exactly how many years had passed, or even when he had started living in Liuying Lane.
He once chatted with the residents of Liuying Lane, who said that when he first came to Liuying Lane, he was dressed like this, standing under an old willow tree with a bird perched on his head. At first, everyone thought he was shooting an advertisement or a photoshoot. Because Liuying Lane is an old street, people often come here to take pictures, and film crews have even filmed there. So at the time, the residents didn't think much of it. Later, when they found that there were no photographers or cameras around, they began to wonder if this person was mentally ill.
The neighbors said he stood under the willow tree for a day and a night, and when they saw him again, he was living in Ruhua's bar.
Qingmu had also asked Bi Shenghua how he got to the bar. Every time he asked this question, Bi Shenghua would touch his forehead and ask with concern, "Did you drink too much or have a fever? Are you out of your mind?"
He barely remembered the embarrassing situation of standing under the big willow tree for a day and a night.
That willow tree is very old. It is said to be the first willow tree planted in Liuying Lane. All the other willow trees were propagated from branches cut from this tree. Every spring, the old willow tree droops down many graceful green branches, covering its withered and gnarled trunk, to announce to the world that its vitality is still very strong.
Qingmu has no memory, he just can't find the memories before that point in time. At least the things that happened afterward are still very clear to him, but he just can't dream. But he always feels that he doesn't have no memory, but that there's something wrong with his brain. Every time he tries to recall something, he gets a headache, as if he's wearing a tight headband, and every time he tries to recall something, he gets chanted a spell.
Su Huilan looked at Qingmu, who was lost in thought, and asked, "What are you thinking about?"
Qingmu said, "It's nothing."
Su Huilan smiled but didn't say anything.
Subconscious thoughts are impossible to hide. For an ordinary person, what they think is equivalent to recalling memories, and it will appear in their dreams. But Qingmu doesn't even dream, so of course no one can know what he's thinking. He doesn't even need to use his Mental Power to hide or shield his thoughts.
"Get out," Qingmu said.
Su Huilan nodded. "It's time to go out."
Emerging from Su Huilan's dream, they returned to the hall.
He noticed that when Su Huilan exited the dream, she didn't exhibit the typical signs or sensations of a dream collapsing. He wondered if it was due to her special mental control techniques or some other unique aspect of the game.
The two of them stood in front of the mirror again.
Qingmu wondered if Su Huilan had entered through the mirror, and if she had emerged little by little through the mirror as well. He should have come out first and waited, so he could have seen how Su Huilan came out. But it was too late to regret it now; he couldn't very well ask her to go in again.
After standing in front of the mirror for a while, Qingmu asked, "Where are the save and exit options in this game?"
He and Su Huilan are currently inside that coffin-like box. The box, through some mechanism, has severed the connection between their consciousness and physical senses, and has directly inputted the game scenario into their brains. So, how does the box know when they want to leave the game?
From a game perspective, there should be a mechanism that allows players to quit at any time.
Su Huilan said, "Right now, we're just testing the device and the game's internal logic; the save and exit functions aren't ready yet. However, I've heard that these functions may never be available."
"Uh... how do I end the game?" Qingmu somewhat speechless. What game doesn't have an exit option?
"You can force a shutdown."
"Forced shutdown? We're inside the box, our senses have been cut off, we can't move our hands and feet, how can we force a shutdown?"
"The first generation of the Space Box product wasn't perfect yet," Su Huilan said. "So, when we came in, Professor Mei helped us set a time."
"So that means we can only wait here now?" Qingmu wanted to say that this was a timed shutdown, not a forced shutdown, okay?
"That's right."
"How long did the professor give us?"
"Two minutes, I guess. Including the time for powering on and off, the actual time we spend in the dream won't exceed thirty seconds," Su Huilan laughed. "That's also the most fascinating aspect of this game."
Qingmu nodded in agreement.
The biggest problem with games nowadays is that they consume too much of the player's time and energy, affecting their studies and work. However, with the game " Dream Guide," players can play for a long time while only a few minutes have passed in the real world, without interfering with their work, studies, or daily life.
While you're waiting for the elevator, after class, waiting for the driver after calling a car, while your wife is showering after being intimate, or making instant noodles... you can wear the Space Box (if its derivative products are convenient enough). That little bit of time is enough for you to expand your territory and build a career in the game world.
However, Qingmu couldn't help but feel a little worried.
Can humans really be satisfied with playing for just a few minutes?
"Perhaps," Su Huilan replied, her answer sounding somewhat uncertain.
What has humanity ever truly been satisfied with? If one becomes addicted to this kind of game, it will be far more terrifying than ordinary games!
Qingmu always felt that the development of this Space Box and " The Dream Guide " had deviated from the professor's original intention.
Two minutes pass quickly in reality, but in the world of pure consciousness, time hardly seems to pass. If it weren't for the fact that retrieving memories requires stimulating brain cells—and brain cells are, after all, active substances that only become excited and active in a certain chemical environment, and chemical reactions take time—then human consciousness, remaining in a dream-like space, would truly become an eternity in a single second.
Qingmu and Su Huilan waited in the hall, and the atmosphere became somewhat awkward and boring.
"Actually, we can go for a walk," Su Huilan suggested. "The lower our brain's level of excitement, the slower time passes. This Prehistoric Town also has some scenery to enjoy."
"Alright," Qingmu readily agreed.
The two walked out of the pyramid's hall and onto the town's streets. Qingmu glanced back; the pyramids soared into the clouds, with the inverted pyramid on top seemingly about to fall at any moment.
"Do you think the two pyramids might turn upside down?" Su Huilan asked.
Qingmu was startled. "Why?"
Su Huilan chuckled, "No reason, I just think this design is strange."
Qingmu wasn't sure if Su Huilan knew anything, but she clearly didn't want to say anything more.
They were walking around the town.
There's no one else in the town right now. I wonder if it will become overcrowded when more players join, or if everyone else will just be engrossed in their own game world and not care about the town at all.
"What's the point of setting up such a small town?" Qingmu asked.
"I don't know, but he must have some use."
"This is neither reality nor anyone's dream, so where is it?"
"This is a scene designed within the game. The computer simulates human perception in such a world, including sight, hearing, smell, taste, touch, vestibular system sensing, etc. Then, through the continuous action of high-frequency light pulses from the Space Box, these senses are directly input into the brain, so our consciousness will believe that we have entered this scene, making it difficult to distinguish between reality and illusion."
Su Huilan laughed and said, "To put it simply, it's an illusion."
"Hallucination?" Qingmu pondered. "What's the difference between a hallucination and a dream?"
Su Huilan said, "The difference is that hallucinations do not rely on a person's own memory, nor do they require Mental Power to support the space."
Qingmu agreed with Su Huilan's explanation of hallucinations and dreams, but he always felt that this Prehistoric Town and that pyramid hall were not so simple.
This isn't a human dream; could it be another kind of dream? Like, a computer's dream?
At that moment, he thought of the Ghost again.