"How many cases are there today?" The man behind his back suddenly said.
"Twenty-three." The white-haired man said: "Mental breakdown... The reason is the sixth world. These people went crazy just after returning. It was their families who sent them here for help. These people are pretty lucky... Those who have no one around them may not know where they collapsed.
——This time, the organizers finally revealed their true colors and are going to take action against us idiots. I hope most people can understand that this is not a charity game. "
"Damn it. This copy is simply a machine for mass-producing lunatics - the United Group is going crazy, with so many people asking for help, so many lunatics suddenly appearing..."
The white-haired man's pale pupils moved slightly, revealing a hint of sadness: "Not only that, as far as I know, the suicide rate is also on the rise."
"...Will anyone commit suicide? Here?" The man behind the back was stunned for a moment.
"Even in the original world, there were so many lives that committed suicide every day. In this world, there will only be more." The white-haired man sighed: "World Games, the organizers... they are like Da The sword of Morocrus generally hangs over our heads, and we don't know when it will fall. Those extreme conservatism, unacceptable thinkers, politicians, and scientists who cannot adapt to the changing rules...their collapse has started from the beginning. It's happening right now, but the information today is so mixed that we can't see it."
"..."
"Can't see it, but it doesn't mean it doesn't exist..." He took a puff of cigarette again: "The world is changing by leaps and bounds. People's ideological positions and methods are different. Some people choose to follow the trend, some choose to catch up, and some choose to catch up. Choose to gain experience from skills and props, and some people try to talk to the organizer directly... Then it is normal for some people to be unable to face it and choose to end their lives."
"...This is ridiculous."
"People in this world have long been like dead skins." He said: "Look at those walking on the street, those sitting in shops, those lying on beds, those speaking in forums...all of them , even though they look like bystanders, in fact, they are already dying... psychologically dead, they are like dehydrated patients."
"..."
"And our living space has long been squeezed to pieces. Now we are just trying our best to breathe." He tapped the cigarette body with his finger, and fluffy white ash floated down from the cigarette butt: "...You also saw it Well, Cole, I saw those people who committed suicide live in the main god space - those are really people who are completely despairing, and even their souls have been wiped out.
Those people believe that mankind has no future, that everyone is in endless shame, that people as bright as stars have been reduced to toys, that the long river of history has been cut off from our generation, and that tomorrow one year later will never come... "
"Stop talking," Cole said.
"Those who committed suicide, who died in a real sense, who will not be resurrected, have you seen the way they died in the forum screenshots? It is really shocking...their eyes are the most hopeless eyes I have ever seen, all of them My memories, fantasies, dreams, ideas... have all been wiped out." The white-haired man had no intention of stopping.
He leaned against the wall, blowing smoke rings, and his eyes gradually became indifferent:
"Some people burned themselves to death, and their ashes were scattered like snow. Some people died in explosions, with blood and flesh raining everywhere. Some people chose to swallow poison, and their skin shriveled up little by little in the live broadcast room...
Did they do something wrong? Not really. They have the power to give up their lives.
They have lost all hope. Like believers who have lost their faith and the gods in their hearts, they have come to a completely unknown era, where there may always be only darkness in front of them..."
"Stop talking." Cole repeated again.
He clenched his fists and closed his eyes, his face full of reluctance.
"Recognizing the facts and making a choice are two different things after all." The white-haired man said:
“Those people, those who seemed to die spectacularly, in front of so many people—they had already determined the pessimistic ending for everyone one year later, and made the choice to give up for this reason.
The mutual destruction of human beings has become a normal state. Although in such a world, we briefly put aside our prejudice and hatred on Zhai Star and became one... But after all, we are not on the same thread. Human beings It is also impossible to have group thinking like the intelligent brain. It is simply impossible to unite everyone as one.
The organizers are happy to divide humanity. Cole, you have also seen that there are so many identities that control different powers, so many people who have been assimilated into the dungeon world, and so many people who have decided not to be players anymore...
For the fifth world alone, there are many people who decide to stay in that world forever, who want to control their subordinates like gods, and no longer want to become ant-like humans.
Including those with special powers, they have abandoned their identities as human beings and actively moved closer to higher-dimensional creatures... They are actually not wrong. They have made their choice, very firmly.
As for us... You and I are standing here in the artificial rain, smoking inferior cigarettes nostalgic for the past, and talking about these nutritious topics.
Our behavior is essentially the same as the guys at the World Forum. It’s just that we say this verbally.
Human beings always like to beautify their behavior.
Cole, we probably can’t escape this barrier created by ourselves..."
"I'm just sympathizing with those guys, but I happened to meet such a copy." Cole said: "I came here just to find a moment of peace, not to listen to you talk about such a lot of nonsense. , Qin Er—find someone who is willing to listen to you, there will be a lot of them on the World Forum."
"...I'm just expressing some emotions." Qin Er smiled: "After all, if a person keeps suppressing himself and lives like a machine, he will really become a madman."
"You can become a lunatic if you don't participate in the dungeon. Human mental abilities are really fragile."
"Don't look down on human beings too highly, and don't look down upon them too little, Cole." Qin Er said, "Look, although there are always people who are hopeless, in such a world, there will always be pioneers of the times."
"Pioneer?" Cole grinned a slightly ferocious smile: "Are they just those lunatics from the previous players?"
"You think they're crazy?"
"In an abnormal world, the people who take the top spot will not be normal." Cole said: "The brain circuits of the top players are obviously consistent with the copy set by the organizer. How can humans who have the same brain circuits as the organizers be? What a normal human being.”
"Perhaps you are right." Qin Er rarely nodded in agreement: "But as far as I know, it seems that so far, there has been no situation where the top players on the list have gone crazy."
"It's very simple to explain." Cole sneered.
He raised his head and looked at the screen of the live broadcast room that was playing in the rain, his eyes turned bone-chilling for a moment:
"——Because those players at the top of the list have gone crazy a long time ago. How could a lunatic become crazy again?"
"Yeah?"
"From the first time I cleared the game, no one is a [normal person] anymore." Cole twitched his lips.
Qin Er looked away.
What he was looking at was a doctor in white holding a scalpel on a live broadcast screen, looking expressionlessly at a path of corpses on the ground.
Blood soaked in every corner of the narrow corridor, and even the orange escalators seemed to be painted with blood.
The weird, terrifying, cloud-like darkness seems to be slowly flowing out along the screen at any time.
...Just looking at this scene made him feel extremely uncomfortable.
Not to mention the players in it.
...Even if these players survive in the end, they are probably not that far away from lunatics in the end.
"This copy divides humans horizontally." He said: "Normal people, and [crazy people]."
"When humans reach a certain limit, they are no longer human." Cole said: "The way of thinking and the three views of this group of people will be very different from ours. They have long been led astray by these copies, but this This is especially obvious in dungeons - in my opinion, the stronger the player, the more deeply affected they are by the dungeons, and the crazier they become."
"For example, the strongest number one player?" Qin Er pursed his lips as he faced the screen.
"He." Cole laughed.
His hanging hands swayed slightly unconsciously, and in front of him was an almost upside-down world.
In my ears, the sound of raindrops continued to drip.
"...He is the biggest lunatic." Cole said: "If I expect that kind of lunatic to lead mankind - then I might as well find a chance. Believe in a religion and expect God to lead me."
"The first player is a madman." Qin Yi nodded: "But he is also the most sane and normal madman. Before he really goes crazy and loses his mind, everyone can believe that he is the most normal person."
"Qin Er?" Cole frowned.
"I've noticed the look in that man's eyes... have you seen it? The way he looks at us, it doesn't look like he's looking at human beings or his compatriots, but rather like he's looking at the NPC characters in the game." Qin Er said: "I was thinking at the time, why does this person have such eyes... It's like he values us very much, but also doesn't value us at all. I haven't thought about this question until now. I understand, so I simply gave up thinking."
"What do you mean?"
"It's not interesting... I was just talking casually." Qin Er suddenly changed the subject: "Ah, by the way, I forgot to tell you that I have recently become a believer."
"You, an atheist, would do such a thing?" Cole raised his eyebrows.
"Yes." Qin Er smiled: "I feel now that the future is bright."
"It's interesting that a guy like you can be so obsessed...what exactly is this teaching?"
"Lighthouse Cult."
"……What?"
"Lighthouse Cult." Qin Yi repeated in a very soft tone: "...Maybe I'm going crazy too."
"Are you crazy? Do you want to believe in that kind of guy?"
"Unexpectedly, I actually think it's not bad." Qin Er smiled:
"...In such a desperate world, everyone has his own god in his heart.
Treating madmen as gods... Do you think it's me who's crazy, or do you think it's the humans who believe in this way? "
…
Chiharu Hashimoto wakes up from a nightmare.
When she woke up, her back was soaked, there was a layer of fog in front of her eyes, and her whole body was filled with moisture. She looked like she had just climbed out of the sea.
The clock on the wall is ticking, and the hour hand is pointing to three o'clock.
Three o'clock in the morning.
She released her sticky hands from the corners and wiped the fine beads of sweat from her face.
Her hair was tangled together like seaweed. She struggled to pull it away, lifted the quilt, and checked the defensive array that had been arranged in advance.
...Fortunately, no one came in during the short period of time she fell asleep.
She was really scared.
When she saw the otherworldly scene in the previous fifth world, she was temporarily attracted and decided to get involved, but she did not expect to encounter such a dangerous copy.
San value setting, if you are crazy, you are really crazy. Even returning to the main god space will not repair your mental state...
This copy is different from any other, with substantial danger and ubiquitous fear.
A fear that drives people crazy.
Chiharu Hashimoto once had a partner before this.
On the first day, while chatting, she formed a companion with a female player she had not met before. They said they would support each other through five days and survive together until the end.
...But in just one day, the female player became mentally abnormal.
Standing in the corridor, still observing clues, she almost had her throat cut by a knife that the other party suddenly pulled out.
And on the second day, the other party's condition had not been relieved at all.
She saw the other party collapse instantly, become a madman, and then be killed by other players as an alien.
...And when she saw a normal person being driven into a lunatic, she felt real fear.
Even though the legendary number one player was present in her copy, her fear did not diminish by half.
She always pays attention to her sanity level, which is now over sixty.
And these more than sixty o'clock have made it difficult for her to sleep, and she has nightmares one after another.
As far as she knew, the female player who suddenly went crazy went crazy when she still had fifty points of sanity left.
There was no warning, as if a string was suddenly broken. In an instant, the man completely turned into a madman.
She didn't know at what point she would suddenly collapse, or even at the next moment...
Because of fear, she even thought about committing suicide. Even if she was emptied of all her strength and returned, it would be better than becoming a madman.
The main god space is not the original world. Returning is also returning to a small personal space. If there is no one else in the personal small space, no one will know if a person rots in it.
She was afraid of this outcome.
...Why did the originally gentle copy of the world become like this?
She simply couldn't get used to this real change.
She hugged the quilt nervously, as if she wanted to sink in, but suddenly she heard footsteps.
Calmly and slowly, like someone walking along the corridor step by step.
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