Chapter 196: Am I Playing Myself in a Virtual Reality Game? (Two-in-One)
Disaster of Intelligent Machinery?
Rast looked at the historical background introduction in his mind, falling into deep thought.
As a traveler, he was naturally no stranger to terms like “Disaster of Intelligent Machinery.”
The historical echoes generated within the Night World often correspond to some disaster that had occurred in a prior civilization, using it as the historical background—
For example, the historical echoes he had experienced in the past corresponded to the “Iron Cross Plague” that occurred in the Steam Age at Deep Blue Harbor and the “Zhuyue Mist” that took place during the Dark Ages.
At this moment, Rast found himself in a near-future sci-fi era… with the crisis of artificial intelligence and mechanical rebellion as the disaster background, which was somewhat reasonable.
However—
Rast glanced out the window at the bustling and peaceful modern urban landscape.
Clearly, the so-called “Disaster of Intelligent Machinery” was still in the stage of brewing in the shadows, gradually accumulating, not yet reaching the point of full outbreak.
It was similar to the cycle Rast had previously experienced in Deep Blue Harbor, where the whole city remained peaceful for the first twelve hours of a 24-hour day. He could still enjoy role-playing and play at being an ordinary person in the tranquil port city.
However, the latter twelve hours would experience a dramatic turn, the Iron Cross Plague breaking out, turning all of Deep Blue Harbor into a land of Iron Cross… and Rast’s gaming experience transformed abruptly from “The Sims,” “Grand Theft Auto,” and “Host Simulation Game” to “Resident Evil,” “Dying Light,” and “The Last of Us.”
This historical echo should have developed similarly.
The current world seemed calm, yet there were surging undercurrents slowly gathering in the shadows, waiting for the disaster to fully erupt.
If he were merely pursuing the most ordinary means of survival, then he only needed to wait for the “Disaster of Intelligent Machinery” described in the background to arrive and then figure out how to survive the calamity.
Rast believed that it wouldn’t be difficult for him if it was just about escaping and surviving.
Perhaps for the ordinary fifth or sixth-tier Night Travelers, this so-called “Disaster of Intelligent Machinery” might be extremely dangerous, but clearly, the civilization of the Sixth Epoch ultimately survived this catastrophe, indicating that it was not a guaranteed dead end.
Besides, he had secretly deceived Mr. Silver into joining him; as far as survival capabilities were concerned, Rast believed that there were not many who could surpass him in this world.
However, Rast’s purpose in this trip was not merely to clear the Night World—moreover, it was to explore the secrets behind it, clues related to Canaan and Xiao Ai, and the truth of his own identity.
With this in mind, Rast redirected his attention to the “Optional Quests” below the information on the Night World.
Obviously, compared to simply surviving the quest, these two inconspicuous optional tasks involved deeper mysteries within this Night World.
“Explore the Mechanical Research Institute of the Artificial Angel Project and uncover the truth of the Disaster of Intelligent Machinery?”
“It seems that the impending disaster of intelligent machinery must be closely related to the Artificial Angel Project… Artificial mechanical angels and intelligent machinery rebellion indeed sound very suspicious, and the former might even be the cause of the latter.”
“By the way, why does it seem like some inexplicable thing is mixed into these optional tasks?”
Rast stared at the line of text for “Optional Task 1: Participate in the limited-time event ‘Deep Blue Harbor Speed Challenge’ of the virtual reality game ‘Poetry of the Guardian’ and come in first place,” and fell into a long silence.
“Poetry of the Guardian” was the name of that virtual reality game that had swept across the entire continent.
According to Mr. Silver’s intelligence, the virtual reality game “Poetry of the Guardian” was also one of the last two things left behind by Grey before she abruptly went missing after breaking through to become an angel.
Many players believed that these two things contained the secrets Grey had left for the civilization of the Sixth Epoch… related to the mystery of her disappearance. Once all these secrets were explored, perhaps they could find clues about the whereabouts of leader Grey.
However, the confidentiality level of the Artificial Angel Project was extremely high, and most people had no chance of participating, so they could only release their enthusiasm for seeking the leader’s traces in the game “Poetry of the Guardian.”
Of course, as Mr. Silver put it, perhaps these players were simply addicts who needed to find a grand reason for their addiction.
But this limited-time event “Deep Blue Harbor Speed Challenge”…
If excluding the possibility of mere coincidence in naming, then the only explanation was that this was the “Deep Blue Harbor” he had experienced before—
“Rast, come here quickly!”
“I told you, the reason I’m playing this game isn’t out of personal desire, but to help you investigate the clues regarding the Artificial Angel Project and Canaan.”
“See, I’ve helped you find the clues! The way to enter the Mechanical Research Institute responsible for the Artificial Angel Project!”
From the nearby computer desk came Mr. Silver’s loud cries, interrupting Rast’s thoughts.
When Rast arrived at the computer desk, he saw Mr. Silver squatting on the desk, his little paws wildly tapping on the keyboard as if performing a phantom dance.
On the massive surround screen, lines of text were being rapidly typed out, indicating that Mr. Silver was passionately interacting with people online.
It appeared to be a Q&A forum for fans of “Poetry of the Guardian,” where people frequently asked questions, and netizens actively answered, resembling a Q&A platform Rast had experienced in his past life.
After watching Mr. Silver for a while, Rast found that most of the questions discussed were about things like “If the Guardian Organization during the Dark Ages were supplied instant noodles every day, could they conquer the Western Continent within three years?” with most of the characters involved being the guardians from the Dark Ages post-Iron Cross Plague.
His own name had become a hot topic frequently mentioned among these questions and discussions.
Rast glanced at the search bar, and two-thirds of the trending topics in the forum were related to him, with the remaining third involving Cecil and Grey.
Clatter clatter clatter—
Mr. Silver’s little paws performed a flurry of keyboard strokes like a beautiful sword dance before finally pausing.
He took out a small cup customized for his size from his sub-dimension, took a sip of water, and then heavily pressed Enter, sending off a response that began with “Thank you for the invitation, I’m at the Watchtower.”
“These people are actually debating whether the ‘hero forgotten by time,’ Rast, prefers cats or dogs… and their argument is based on the fact that Grey, as Rast’s will inheritor, later raised a cat, which is truly absurd!”
“Rast clearly prefers silver weasels! What’s so charming about those flashy cats and dogs compared to silver weasels!”
Mr. Silver furiously complained to the screen until he noticed Rast beside him, at which point he stopped talking.
“Oh, you’re here—”
“Just in time, tell me, what do you prefer, cats or dogs?”
“My favorite is definitely a cute and cuddly silver weasel like Mr. Silver, is that satisfactory?”
Rast picked up Mr. Silver and held him high: “Now can we talk about the clues you just called me over for?”
“Now you’re saying the right thing; you haven’t let down my usual care for you.”
Mr. Silver’s fluffy white tail immediately wagged happily.
“The clue I mentioned is this— the limited-time event of the ‘Poetry of the Guardian’ game, the ‘Deep Blue Harbor Speed Challenge.'”
He switched the webpage to what seemed to be an official announcement from the game, then read the announcement content word by word.
“In this limited-time event, players will travel back to the Dark Ages three hundred years ago, returning to the first year of the Catastrophic Era.”
“You will become the ancient guardian hero Rast, arriving in Deep Blue Harbor on the eve of the outbreak of the ‘Iron Cross Plague,’ facing the same desperate situation that Rast once faced—”
“Confronting the Iron Cross rampaging through the city, cultists, and the impending arrival of the Evil God… Can you survive from the endless crises just like the hero Rast did back then?”
“Or perhaps, do even better than he did?”
Mr. Silver scrolled the mouse to close the game official announcement page, swaying his tail: “This is it, this fully immersive virtual game ‘Poetry of the Guardian’—”
“It seems to be a game created by Grey, based on the great power of her ‘Fate’ Sequence, to trace back historical events and use these old histories as the backdrop.”
“And this limited-time event is one of the core gameplay mechanics of ‘Poetry of the Guardian,’ allowing players to immerse themselves in the virtual reality world, returning to fragments of past history and facing everything those historical figures once encountered.”
“I checked the game’s official historical operational announcement, and there was a previous limited-time event where players returned to the eve of the ‘Battle of the Broken Coast,’ trying to see if they could rewrite the outcome of that battle.”
“So, what do you think? Doesn’t it sound extremely similar to the existence of the Night World, even to a somewhat frightening extent?”
Mr. Silver glanced at Rast, slightly more serious in those ruby-like beast eyes.
“Yeah, it really does seem overly similar.”
Rast nodded as well.
Allowing players to return to ancient history and experience past historical fragments… wasn’t that precisely the underlying rule of the Night World?
The difference was that the former were game players, while the latter were Night Travelers— additionally, the former required technology like the “virtual reality game headset” to achieve, while the entry process to the historical echoes in the Night World didn’t have such obvious distinctions, almost as if they had truly traversed through time.
Rast had a vague guess that this virtual game called “Poetry of the Guardian” might actually be some kind of early attempt, an accumulation of experience.
One could even say it was the prototype of the “Night World”…
“As for the clue I’m speaking of, it’s hidden within this limited-time event ‘Deep Blue Harbor Speed Challenge.'”
“According to the official statements of the ‘Poetry of the Guardian’ game, the player who scores first place in the ‘Deep Blue Harbor Speed Challenge’ will receive an invitation to visit the Mechanical Research Institute and join the ‘Artificial Angel’ project.”
Mr. Silver looked at Rast: “At present, the most crucial secrets of the Sixth Epoch civilization, including the clues you want to know about Canaan, should be hidden within that ‘Mechanical Research Institute’ of the Artificial Angel Project.”
“And both ‘Poetry of the Guardian’ and the Artificial Angel Project were things left behind by Grey, clearly indicating some kind of connection behind them.”
“Completing the challenge through this limited-time game event to gain the qualification for an invitation to visit the Artificial Angel Project and the Mechanical Research Institute should be a shortcut.”
“Of course, you could also choose not to take this route and instead force your way to search for the Mechanical Research Institute and infiltrate it, unearthing its secrets through violence and stealth…”
Mr. Silver paused for a moment: “But if you were to fail in that case, you might have to go to war with the entire civilization, so you better be prepared—considering the prosperity level of this era, there may well be more than one legendary strongman stationed here.”
“Don’t expect too much from me; at most, I can help you escape, confronting legends directly is absolutely impossible.”
“I understand.”
Rast nodded.
No wonder the task panel of the Night World would give such two optional tasks—
Clearly, participating in the limited-time event of “Poetry of the Guardian” and exploring the secrets behind the Artificial Angel Project and the Disaster of Intelligent Machinery were complementary to each other, serving as prerequisites for the latter.
He looked out the window at the bustling urban landscape: “This is the order and civilization that little Grey has painstakingly rebuilt over the course of two hundred years on that shattered ruins.”
“If possible, I hope to avoid reaching the point of a rupture with this world.”
“Moreover—”
He glanced at the small game headset on the computer desk, his voice pausing slightly: “Playing myself in a historical game is indeed quite a novel experience.”
“If I can’t even get first place in a speed run of Deep Blue Harbor, I might as well just buy some tofu to d*e.”
“Yay! That’s more like it!”
Hearing Rast’s response, Mr. Silver visibly brightened up.
“This virtual reality headset is specially designed for humans, and silver weasels can’t use it at all, terrible! No consideration for user experience whatsoever!”
“If you play, then I can watch your speedrun livestream on the main screen and send some comments along the way.”
“So, Mr. Silver, you just want to line up comments in the livestream, right?”
(End of Chapter)
