T0 Gaming Guild Saves the World.

Chapter 359, Chapter 358: We are only truly valuable if the players care about us.
Level 4, second playthrough final score 6990/10000.

The results given by Xilu indirectly confirm the correctness of the second round of simulation of the virtual-real boundary.

If you don't wipe out the simulated territory inhabitants and cause a major disaster, advancing to the next level shouldn't be a problem.

6:37
They had enough time to quickly go through it again.

This is not difficult; they keep all the key decisions in mind, and their acting skills and attention to detail are impeccable.

As they had predicted, in the third cycle of the simulation, everything was in their hands.

Caen remains determined to buy the dragon girl he doesn't know, but the high price of 100 gold coins will still stop him.

But when the price drops to 1 gold coin, he buys it with great excitement, and the Dragon Girl will slip away without a word.

The hog lord dies suddenly at the start of the game, but his steward Navas will still cooperate, though he is already tired of his capricious master.

Navas's acting was superb; even the judge's well-trained subordinates were unable to extract any valuable information through conventional questioning.

The arrogant Basque family will still point fingers, and the Wirth family will still extend an olive branch.

The fourth layer of simulation is a main world that has been significantly scaled down.

When you choose one path and walk to its end, you will inevitably glimpse most of the possibilities.

The difficulty lies only in the unintentional triggering of bad outcomes.

10000/10000
Unsurprisingly, I easily cleared the fourth level of the boundary between reality and illusion on my third playthrough.

The candlelight in the spectator gazes at the distant, fading shadows of the setting sun.

"The 'chaos' of the Tower World is about to begin."

Earn 100 points to unlock the Evening Dew Shop and the possibility of encountering special merchants in subsequent levels.

People on the boundary between the virtual and the real world eagerly opened the store list.

Currently, Yuru only sells one item, "Floor Customization," which costs 4000 points.

The items for sale refresh once a day in real time.

20 points can refresh the currently available items for sale once.

Floor customization: After purchasing, players can select the challenge type for the next floor.

They read it again and again, and couldn't help but think of the candlelight.

As Candlelight mentioned in her introduction, she could not predict the future of the Chaos Tower world.

The Tower of Normal is a testing ground for assessing the compatibility between a doll's soul and body. In theory, the higher the doll's level, the more "human-like" it becomes.

The Tower World has 50 floors, and Candlelight has reached the 39th floor, already at the top level of the doll sequence.

The Chaos Tower world is different; it is not a training ground for puppets, but an amusement park.

Some people throw all sorts of game concepts into the chaos, while others throw "paintings" that combine their life experiences into the chaos.

In the chaotic vortex, materials are superimposed and merged, colliding fiercely to create levels with distinct styles and different appearances.

The basic three layers proceeded smoothly, the fourth layer was unremarkable, and the boundary between the real and the virtual was originally thought to be "chaos".

Unexpectedly, the true chaos is only now revealing the tip of the iceberg.

After each player gains points and interacts with Yuu-dew, the floors they conquer will vary wildly and will no longer be consistent.

If you want to copy each other's homework, you can only look for experience references from similar floors.

Instead of her previous anxious and agitated behavior, Zhifeng stood up on her own initiative.

The area where they were located was a vibrant sea of ​​flowers, and the bright sunshine warmed every inch of their skin.

She walked up to the candle and slowly leaned down to gaze into its calm, unwavering eyes.

Two individuals born from the same soul yet opposing each other, reunited for the first time since their separation.

She said, "I'm curious, what would you like to say?"

"Stop now and wait for my Lord to return. You may then have a chance to obtain a body."

“Dolls yearn for completeness!” Zhifeng gazed at every inch of his skin, looking inward at the core of the soul that gave them life and cognition. “The more complete they are, the more hope they have of becoming living beings.”

“I have long accepted my imperfections.” The candlelight was neither sad nor happy. “This is my last piece of advice. In this world, I have heard people say, ‘Surrender and you lose half.’”

"Although I hate you for bringing chaos into another world and am angry that you have broken free of control, we are already incomplete. If you are unwilling to become one with me, I will not force you."

"The challenge can be stopped if you wish."

"Are you scared?" Zhifeng laughed heartily. "To say you're surrendering now means you've lost half the battle. Doesn't that make you look cowardly?"

“You come from me, and I just instinctively want to give you a chance to live.” The candlelight exhaled heavily.

"Out of pity? How noble, how high and mighty." Zhifeng's face was full of disgust. "You are still ordering me around in a dominant position."

“Weaving Wind, since the opening of the Chaos Tower world, your overreaction has been to observe my performance. From beginning to end, you have believed that victory is in your grasp, which I understand. I have been dancing with you all along.”

"It sounds like you're coaxing a child."

“You were indeed born not long ago,” the candlelight said. “You were born from shattered memories, and your departure took away even more fragments. Perhaps you were once smug about it, thinking yourself more complete than me.”

"But when it comes to the challenges of the Tower World, you never realize where the advantages of my world lie."

"People here can adapt more easily to the transition between their real-world identity and their player identity."

"Their cultural foundation and literary creation have already laid the groundwork for the story to come to life."

Zhifeng, head held high and arms crossed, listened to the candlelight's narration with a defiant air.

The candlelight continued its calm narration.

Take the boundary between real and virtual elements as an example.

In real life, Jiang Heyi is an unemployed person who has just graduated from university.

French fries, a warm blanket, and orange tea are the staples for college students.

The prison guard is a shut-in otaku.

Zhong Zemo is a teacher.

Not long ago, the Tetraprototypes were overworked corporate slaves.

In the game, they are the renowned guild on the border between reality and illusion in Anna.

The hero in the eyes of the Fallen Star Siren.

An adventurer recognized by the demons of the Great Snow Mountain and Granny Metasequoia.

Peppermint and Cerberus are trusted by me.

"The Proof of the Stars, Anna Chapter, is also the 4th layer, and it is also a grand simulation."

"Its complexity and possibilities are hundreds of millions of times greater than the fourth layer."

"Even if it is the boundary between the virtual and the real, whether we can rely on simulations to place ourselves in the broken world of Anna and guide the right future is still unknown."

"They need to constantly transform their identities, adapt to different personas, make appropriate choices, and at the same time remember their most original selves."

Zhi Feng's eyes narrowed slightly.

The candle placed its hand on its heart: "We are puppets, born as individuals given by the Lord to play roles. We have no self, so you cannot understand the power of a complete being."

“When they see themselves as players, they develop an adaptive moral compass.”

"When they accept the characters in the game, they will regard them as beings no different from themselves."

"But if they believe that killing game characters will bring them greater benefits, they will go on a killing spree while crying."

"Their code of conduct rises and falls naturally with the environment and changes with the situation. It is their innate emotion and strength, not the fragmented code of conduct that we are given by the pieced-together fragments of our souls."

The candlelight laughed self-deprecatingly.

“It’s like you and me.” “My calmness is a performance that must be placed above my needs. Even though someone once told me that I look really good when I smile, it still constantly restrains my impulses.”

"I really wanted to smile more, just like he wanted, but it was a battle with my soul to put on a decent performance."

“Sometimes I wonder if it’s because I want to laugh, or if my ‘soul’ has granted me permission to smile.”

"Can't you feel it?"

Zhifeng interrupted sharply: "Enough!"

"This is just a side effect of you separating too many souls. We are not nearly that torn apart. As long as we come together as one, we can still move closer to becoming whole beings!"

Why deceive yourself?

Zhifeng abruptly flung his hand, leaving a fleeting shadow in the sea of ​​flowers before returning to reality.

Candlelight stood up, wanting to persuade him to stay.

She had fought against her soul; just now, "she" would have preferred to remain seated in the chair, motionless and composed.

The ringing of the bell echoed in her ears; it was a sound only she could hear.

Back to reality, the aroma of vinegar fills the air.

Chen Shaoyu had already bought her favorite breakfast and poured a small bowl of vinegar, placing it on her table.

"Ah, are you awake?" Chen Shaoyu caught a glimpse of the candlelight and noticed the body trembling slightly. "It's perfect to eat while it's hot. These are freshly baked shumai, made with pure meat. They're not easy to find around here, so I drove out specifically to buy them."

"Hmm, the crab roe soup dumplings and shumai are quite far apart, but luckily there aren't many cars in the morning."

"If only I could teleport instantly."

At first, Chen Shaoyu was very afraid of saying the wrong thing and losing his job.

As people get to know each other better, their relationship grows closer, and daily life gradually becomes less tense.

Because the candlelight was usually rather somber, Chen Shaoyu, who was not usually talkative, was gradually forced to become a chatterbox.

The candlelight, now back in reality, remained silent for a long time, a fact Chen Shaoyu was not surprised by.

That's always been her way; she only throws out a whole bunch of things when she feels like it.

When he's feeling down, he's completely silent. You can ramble on and on, and all you'll get is a simple "oh" or "I understand."

"Your lips have been trembling, what's wrong?"

Candlelight, expressionless, pinched the corner of her trembling lips: "The bodies are fighting against each other."

Chen Shaoyu, who was eating corn porridge, suddenly looked up like a curious child.

"Mutual resistance means that the orders you give are not carried out by other departments?"

Chen Shaoyu laughed: "Although I had made that connection when I saw you being torn apart by five horses before, could you perform that, you know, the Flying Head?

"You know about the Flying Head Barbarian, right?"

Suddenly, a dark shadow filled Chen Shaoyu's entire field of vision, and the corn porridge he was holding was bitten off along with the plastic bowl.

The candle's head detached from its body; having completed the robbery, it spun in the air, still holding a half-finished bowl of corn porridge in its mouth.

Chen Shaoyu clapped his hands and cheered: "Great! This is exactly what I wanted to see, but does that mean you won't be able to speak?"

"Using mouths to make sounds is just to fulfill the anthropomorphic setting of dolls. Even without a head, we can still make sounds through magic."

The sound was coming from across the table.

"Just like we don't need to eat or drink, this function is set up simply to make us more like human beings."

The candlelight reattached his head. Chen Shaoyu glanced at the saliva-stained bowl of porridge and decided to order another serving instead of asking for it back.

"But you do derive pleasure from eating, isn't that a kind of enjoyment too?"

Faced with the swaying vinegar bottle in front of him, the candlelight triumphed over his soul, and he laughed from the bottom of his heart.

The two of them ate, one bite for you, one bite for me.

Seeing the dull atmosphere, Chen Shaoyu quickly started a new topic.

"If we ultimately win the Chaos Tower world, and your master finds this place and confirms that the boundary between reality and illusion is the solution needed, will you receive the reward?"

"Yes, generally speaking, it is when one expresses their wish, and if the Lord can grant it, then the Lord will grant it. If the Lord cannot grant it, or if there is a dispute, then the Lord will respond."

"Oh, so have you decided what you want to wish for?"

The candlelight went silent.

In the past, similar question-and-answer sessions had always gone very smoothly. When it came to questions that could not be answered, the candle would truthfully reply, "No comment."

A jam is a very rare occurrence.

A sense of tranquility filled the room as she remained motionless, continuing her habitual sucking motion from the crab roe soup dumpling.

"I don't have any wishes yet."

"Huh?" Chen Shaoyu was shocked: "How can a person not have desires? Just amplify your desires, and you'll have them!"

“If I were a human, I should have,” said the candlelight, “but I am a puppet.”

"Don't dolls have wishes?"

“Most of the wishes of dolls are meaningless,” Candlelight said. “Our life cycle is mostly the same as that of humans.”

"But can't you change bodies?"

"Each time it is replaced, the imprint in the soul will weaken until finally, new soul fragments need to be filled in."

"The Ship of Theseus, huh..."

The corners of her mouth twitched slightly, the restraint breaking through, and she smiled earnestly.

"The doll looks very much like the NPCs in the game."

"Players will give us meaning; we are only valuable when players care about us."

For some reason, a strange emotion suddenly arose in Chen Shaoyu's mind.

It remembered the mobile game it hadn't logged into in a long time, where there was a paper doll that it used to hug, shout, and announce to its group members, "This is my wife."

At these times, the group members always rush to jump out.

"What do you mean 'your wife'? She's clearly my wife."

As time went by, people gradually quit the game and switched to other games.

The little game in that corner is no longer played. It only resonates in my mind when a content creator mentions it during a game announcement.

In the group chat, when she appears, it's usually related to memories, with frequent expressions of sentiment like "we can never go back to a few years ago."

It was a quiet electronic grave, burying her and their youth.

Upon logging in, she would still repeat the same heartfelt words she would say to each player.

It's like a beloved person who will always be waiting for you to go back and reunite with her.

The eternal Waiting-for-Husband Rock by the sea.

Chen Shaoyu couldn't help but look up and gaze at the candlelight.

She is laughing.

The smile was very strange, as if the muscles on his face were uncoordinated and fighting each other. The slightly upturned corners of his mouth and the trembling face all revealed the atmosphere of the uncanny valley.

But it's strange...

Chen Shaoyu was not afraid.

(End of this chapter)