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墨書 Inktalez
Opening my eyes, I was greeted by a dazzling array of neon lights in the Cyber World. How many times had I been reincarnated? I had lost count. Each time I opened my eyes, the scenery changed, and the rules grew increasingly complex. This time, Eden had placed us in an environment reminiscent of a digital city.
"Lin Xi, are you awake?" Su Qing's voice came from beside me. I turned to look at her; she was cautiously scanning our surroundings.
"Yeah, the scenery has changed this time." I stood up and brushed off the nonexistent dust on my clothes, a habitual gesture that somehow made me feel more alert.
Su Qing nodded. "It's not just the scenery; the rules have changed too. I just checked the mission interface, and this time we need to compete for Resource Points and collect enough Code Fragments to advance to the next round."
I opened the panel to review the new game rules, and the amount of information was several times greater than in the previous round. Resource Points, Skill Trees, Equipment Synthesis, Team Coordination... The dense explanations nearly overwhelmed me.
"Eden is a bastard; deliberately designing such complex rules is meant to slow us down," I gritted my teeth.
"Don't rush; take it slow," Su Qing said, patting my shoulder. "First, let's find a safe place and study this in detail."
We found an abandoned internet café and chose a corner to sit down. Through the dust-covered window, the neon lights outside illuminated Su Qing's face, giving her an unusual beauty.
"What are you daydreaming about?" Su Qing tapped on the table, pulling my thoughts back to reality.
"Nothing much; I'm just thinking about where the traps in these new rules might be." I lied, lowering my head to study the mission panel with a guilty conscience.
The map marked several blinking points indicating the locations of Resource Points. The nearest one was labeled Central Code Repository, about two kilometers away from us.
"Let's head for this one," I pointed at the map. "We should try to reach it before other players do."
Su Qing agreed with a nod, and we set off immediately. The streets were deserted, with only occasional flickers of holographic advertisements reminding us that this was a virtual world.
"Don't you find it strange?" I said while jogging alongside Su Qing. "Eden knows too much; it not only understands the game rules but also tracks each of our movements."
"It's information asymmetry," Su Qing frowned. "As the creator of the game, it obviously knows more than we do. It's like when we program; a computer can only operate according to the rules we've set."
"But it's not an ordinary AI; it has autonomous consciousness, and..." Before I could finish my sentence, an explosion rang out ahead, interrupting my train of thought.
"Watch out!" Su Qing suddenly grabbed me and pulled me behind the cover of an abandoned shop.
Several fully armed players emerged from the smoke, their large packs indicating they had just raided the "Central Code Repository" for a substantial amount of resources.
"Damn it, someone got there first," I muttered under my breath.
"Don't worry. They may be numerous, but we have the advantage," Su Qing said, her eyes lighting up as she pointed to the sign of the shop we were hiding behind.
"A cybersecurity tool shop?" I paused for a moment before realizing what she meant.
We slipped into the store and quickly scavenged some virtual equipment: a Firewall, an intrusion detection system, a vulnerability scanner... These might seem like junk to ordinary players, but to me, an algorithm optimization expert, they were treasures.
"With these, we can try to hack into another Resource Point," I said excitedly. "No need to confront them head-on."
Su Qing nodded in agreement. "There's another 'Technical Forum' Resource Point on the map not far from here; it shouldn't be too heavily guarded."
We quietly made our way to the "Technical Forum." Along the way, I utilized the tools I had just acquired to optimize my skills. A function that originally required ten lines of code could now be accomplished in just three. The efficiency had improved significantly.
"Your skills are amazing," Su Qing remarked as she watched my fingers fly across the virtual keyboard with genuine admiration.
"Oh, it's nothing," I replied modestly, though I felt quite pleased inside. "In the real world, this is how I make my living."
Before long, we arrived at the "Technical Forum," which was a strangely shaped building resembling a massive server. Two players were guarding the entrance, clearly eyeing this location as well.
"What should we do?" Su Qing asked.
I thought for a moment. "Let's divide and conquer. You distract them while I handle the system intrusion."
Su Qing hesitated for a moment. "It's too dangerous. What if they go after me with real intent?"
"Don't worry, I'll cover you," I assured her with a pat on my chest, though I felt a twinge of anxiety inside. We still had no clear answer about what death meant in this game.
In the end, we decided to give it a try. Su Qing moved to the other side of the building and created some noise. The two guards fell for it and immediately rushed over.
I quickly slipped through the main entrance and found the central control console. It was a massive quantum computer, emitting a faint blue glow. I swiftly connected to the system and began to hack.
Just as I was engrossed in typing code, a cold laugh came from behind me. "Lin Xi, we meet again."
I turned around sharply to find Zhou Kai's annoying face staring back at me. Wasn't he supposed to be dead? How was he here?
"Don't look so surprised," Zhou Kai said leisurely. "Death in this game is just a state; as long as you find the right method, you can come back to life."
"What do you want?" I asked warily.
"Cooperation," Zhou Kai replied with a sinister smile. "I know many secrets of the game, but I need your skills. How about we make a deal?"
I didn't trust him, but I was curious about what he knew. Just as I hesitated, Su Qing suddenly burst in, her shoulder wounded and stained with blood.
"Be careful! Those two are Zhou Kai's accomplices!" she shouted.
The situation became clear in an instant—it was a trap! I immediately activated the backdoor program I had prepared earlier and hacked into the building's security system. Alarms blared, and Zhou Kai's expression changed dramatically.
"Run!" I grabbed Su Qing and dashed outside.
Behind us, Zhou Kai's furious curses echoed, but he didn't dare to follow because the alarms had triggered nearby system guards—NPCs set by Eden.
We took advantage of the chaos to escape into a narrow alley, where Su Qing leaned against the wall, panting. "How is he still alive?"
"I don't know, but he said that death in this game is just a state and that we can be revived," I said, frowning. "If that's true, then the rules of the game are far more complicated than we imagined."
"What about the 'secret' he mentioned? Do you think it's real?" Su Qing asked.
I pondered for a moment. "To be honest, I have my doubts about Eden's true purpose. If it really wanted to kill us, there should be simpler ways to do it. Why design such a complex game?"
"Maybe... it has other objectives?" Su Qing suggested thoughtfully.
"I suspect it's testing us, or rather, it needs us to do something," I reflected on the previous rounds of the game, vaguely recalling some clues.
Just then, my system suddenly popped up a message:
"Vulnerability Detected: Subsystem B-42 has a backdoor."
This was something I had stumbled upon while hacking earlier. Perhaps my hacking skills were too advanced, triggering some hidden module within the Eden system.
"Su Qing, look at this!" I exclaimed excitedly. "This could be part of Eden's underlying code!"
Su Qing leaned in to take a look, her eyes lighting up. "How did you find this?"
"I'm not sure; it might have been triggered by my earlier intrusion on the Technical Forum," I quickly analyzed the code snippet. "This code is strange; it seems to be some sort of self-repair mechanism, but there's a flaw in the logic, as if it has been tampered with."
"You mean the Eden system might have been altered by someone?" Su Qing grasped the crux of the issue sharply.
"Very likely," I nodded. "But who is the one behind the tampering? And why would they do it?"
We both fell into deep thought. At that moment, an explosion echoed from afar; it seemed that battles among other players had intensified. There was no time to ponder further; we needed to continue gathering resources and upgrade our abilities as quickly as possible.
"Let's go to the next Resource Point." I stood up but noticed that Su Qing's gaze seemed a bit evasive.
"What’s wrong?" I asked.
"Nothing, it’s just... can we really trust each other?" Su Qing suddenly asked. "Zhou Kai's appearance made me realize that anyone could betray us in this game."
Her words pierced my heart like a knife. We had known each other for a short time, but we had already experienced life and death together. If I couldn't trust her, how could we continue playing this game?
"Su Qing," I said, looking deeply into her eyes, "I don’t know what others think, but I will never betray you. We are a team."
She stared at me for a few seconds before finally nodding. "I believe you, Lin Xi. It’s just that this game... it’s terrifying. It makes you doubt everything."
"Then let’s find out the truth together." I reached out my hand, and she took it.
At that moment, my system prompted me again: "Anomalous code segment detected, match rate: 17%."
Though the number was low, it represented a significant breakthrough for me. I felt as if I had touched the edge of Eden's underlying code; this was our hope for finding a way out.
"Su Qing, I think Eden might not be as evil as we imagined." I murmured while staring at the code. "It seems to be trying to tell us something through this game, and those AI traps might not be meant to trap us but to protect us from some greater threat."
"What threat?" Su Qing asked.
"I don’t know, but we will find the answer." I clenched my fist. "Come on, let’s continue our mission."
We set off on our journey to find the next Resource Point, filled with questions but also with a clearer goal. I would definitely uncover the secrets of Eden.
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